Pop Trauma vs. Shemo

I'm not a big fan of the new buzzword on the block, "SHEMO," describing the angst/confessional/therapy-rock c. 1999-present, although practically it's closer to c. 2001. Skye, you need an ANTI-AVRIL sticker on your guitar to go with your ANTI-MATRIX sticker, although that's mighty big of you not to name names.

So for an upcoming column, since my wannabe academic musings on this site tend to sprawl aimlessly for pages without saying all that much, I'm going to explore this stuff a little bit and try to establish a workable framework for myself, to be expanded in a more manageable setting. Shemo doesn't work because it contains both "she" and "emo," neither of which adequately describe confessional rock (that's still probably the safest category for it, wouldn't call it a genre exactly). Being a woman isn't a prerequisite to making this sort of music work; women just happen to be overwhelmingly better at it. But males can be shemo, like Ashley Parker Angel, and guy/gal units can be shemo, too, just got Flyleaf and Meg and Dia in the male. I mean, mail. Granted, lead singers are female in both of those groups, but the SHE part (singing) isn't necessarily what defines the EMO part (music, maybe singing, too). Women can be "emo" if they wannabe, just don't really know why anyone would aspire to it (and Lindsay and Ashlee and Fefe and Marion don't aspire to it. So wait, who are we even talking about?).

Hey that's not even what I wanted to write about. Point is I started reading the reference copy of Aesthetics of Rock in the library today and by page 50 my mind's been blown. Of many ideas, one I'm interested in is Meltzer's commentary on tragedy and the role of overstatement and tragedy in rock music. He states that "only rock 'n' roll of all contemporary arts is capable of dealing with overstatement in the necessary manner," going on to connect the idea of overstatement (good example was from the Beatles' Hard Day's Night [movie]; a homoerotic scene ["how bout a kiss?"] confounds Freudian analysis by being overstated, capitalizing on the strange pull between the awesome [Beatles' performance atmosphere, aura, mythology, whatever] and trivial [wink wink nudge nudge]) with implicit tragedy.

"Originally, all rock n' roll dealt with tragedy as it is manifest most blatantly to the almost-present-day buyer of rock records." That included high school tragedies (hit by train while lookin' for your, er, promise ring[?]), adolescent existential angst, buncha other stuff. Which rings true for "shemo" themes, except I don't know that "tragedy" is quite adequate -- the moment of shock, the "Patches" moment, has been replaced by something much more complex, something (which I also hinted at writing about "Family Portrait" on the summer mixtape, didn't expand as much as I'd like) about the trauma of time, of growing older.

I still haven't explored this enough yet (or at all, really, just got home from the library, gimme a break), but I'm thinking about how these songs are defining what kind of tragedy is "manifest most blatantly" to the record buyers, downloaders, whomever. The tragedy happens over time, happens with experience, happens with a slow, painful loss of innocence that may be due to parental separation, heartbreak, whatever -- but it's lasting, these aren't straightforward narratives, but rather reflective assessments not only of the imagined "moment" of trauma, but the lasting wounds, that -- according to Kelly Clarkson among others -- can never heal. That's why there is no Patches, there's no story most of the time, just a kind of exposure or glimpse of ongoing trauma. Hence, pop trauma. Also because so many songs are about father-daughter (or -son, can't think of any current examples...Everclear I guess, Ashley does this in reverse, a pre-emptive PRO-SON song to make sure Ashley Parker Angel, Jr. [Lyric Angel, yeeeeeeesh] doesn't write "Son to Father" in fifteen years, except he probably will anyway because the trauma will be there no matter what Ashley says or does, it's just a part of growing up, particularly growing up with a name like LYRIC ANGEL). Or maybe trauma-pop. I think there's something to it, but I'll write about it more elsewhere if they let me.

Oh, and I'm also interested in this bit right now: "Girls cried and girls pretended to cry, and both responses were valid." Meltzer re girl reactions to the Beatles live, compared to the baffled indifference of the males (everyone is bafflingly indifferent to Ashlee, which I guess makes her better than the Beatles?). Mostly interested in it because there was a kindred passage about Corsican death rituals in a Sebald essay I read the night before.

AUGH MORE TO WRITE CAN'T THINK OR TYPE FAST ENOUGH BUT TIME TO DRINK COFFEE AND TALK ABOUT TRAUMA VS. TRAGEDY WITH EMILY WHOSE STANCE IS UNSHAKABLY TRAGIC SO OH WELL.

(Shemo Schmemo? Or is it just Schshemo?)