BLACK

Goth Goth Goth

Gothic themes and dark aesthetics influence contemporary art and design.

The gothic style is characterized by a blend of imagery drawn from Gothic fiction, with its themes of death, darkness, and the supernatural, and the hedonistic lifestyle of the Decadents. The gothic subculture has been described as "morbidly decadent," reflecting the influence of both these sources.

The gothic subculture is influenced by a sense of pessimism and despair about the future, fueled by the numerous social and environmental issues facing the world today, which reflect issues ath the turn of the century. These issues ranged from climate change and the destruction of the ozone layer, to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and economic instability, to the dangers posed by HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis C, and antibiotic-resistant bacteria. As we approached the next millennium, many people felt a growing sense of fear and uncertainty about the future.

The gothic genre, as exemplified by Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein," also explores these fears and speculates about the future in a way that evokes horror and a sense of insignificance. Over time, gothic fiction, music, and subculture have drawn upon these psychological themes and imaginatively extrapolated them to express a foreboding pessimism about the future of humanity. This pessimism is reflected in the melancholic and depressive nature of gothic music and the dark aesthetic of the gothic subculture.

All the towers of ivory are crumbling

And the swallows have sharpened their beaks

This is the time of our great undoing

This is the time that I'll come running

Straight to you

For I am captured

Straight to you

For I am captured one more time

The light in our window is fading

The candle gutters on the ledge

Well now sorrow, it comes a-stealing

And I'll cry girl, but I'll come a-running

Straight to you

For I am captured

Straight to you

For I am captured

Once again

Gone are the days of rainbows

Gone are the nights of swinging from the stars

For the sea will swallow up the mountains

And the sky will throw thunder-bolts and sparks

Straight at you

But I'll come a-running

Straight to you

But I'll come a-running

One more time

Heaven has denied us its kingdom

The saints are drunk and howling at the moon

The chariots of angels are colliding

Well, I'll run, babe, but I'll come running

Straight to you

For I am captured

Straight to you

For I am captured

One more time

STRAIGHT TO YOU

Cave, 1992

In Nick Cave's music, pessimistic themes of apocalypse are combined with a romantic tone of melancholy, such as in the lyrics "All the towers of ivory are crumbling" and "One more time." Within the Gothic subculture, there is a perception that it "allows members to perform, sometimes parody, two key emotions often suppressed by mainstream society: melancholy/depression and love/romance." In the video for "Straight to You," Cave parodies his own stage style to present a melodramatic performance of the cliched "tortured" artist.

Apocalyptic images surface in many of Cave's lyrics from the early nineties on. They

are particularly prevalent on the Henry's Dream (1992) album.

Entire towns being washed away

Favelas exploding in inflammable spillways

Lynch-mobs, death squads, babies being born without brains

("Papa Won't Leave You, Henry", Cave, 1992, track 1)

A common theme in apocalyptic imagery is the idea that corruption and decadence contribute to or are symptoms of humanity's downfall. This theme is often referenced through the use of dark, gothic imagery and the ambivalence towards transgression in gothic culture and literature. In his work, Cave explores this theme of corruption and the eventual demise of humanity, highlighting the psychological impact of pessimism about the future on a disaffected society.

The motifs and themes present in Gothic fiction serve as a means of exploring the tension between an individual's fear and desire in regards to transgressing societal boundaries. This genre particularly highlights the psychological impact that rapid social changes and conflicting values can have on the individual within society, leading to a breakdown in relationships and communication. In the works of Cave, this theme is shown through the inability of the narrating character to effectively communicate or interact with their female counterparts, resulting in a overwhelming sense of alienation and lack of connection, isolated with nowhere to turn.

Overall, the gothic genre provides a means of examining the ways in which changing social conditions can affect the individual and their sense of self within society.

I remember a girl so very well

The carnival drums all mad in the air

Grim reapers and skeletons and a missionary bell

0 where do we go now but nowhere

In a colonial hotel we fucked up the sun

And then we fucked it down again

Well the sun comes up and the sun goes down

Going round and round to nowhere

The kitten that padded and purred on my lap

Now swipes at my face with the paw of a bear

I tum the other cheek and you lay into that

0 where do we go now but nowhere

0 wake up, my love, my lover wake up

Across clinical benches with nothing to talk

Breathing tea and biscuits and the Serenity Prayer

While the bones of our child crumble like chalk

0 where do we go now but nowhere

I remember a girl so bold and so bright

Loose-limbed and laughing and brazen and bare

Sits gnawing her knuckles in the chemical light

0 where do we go now but nowhere

You come for me now with a cake that you've made

Ravaged avenger with a clip in your hair

Full of glass and bleach and my old razorblades

0 where do we go now but nowhere

0 wake up, my love, my lover wake up

If they'd give my clothes back then I could go home

From this fresh, this clean, antiseptic air

Behind the locked gates an old donkey moans

0 where do we go now but nowhere

Around the duck pond we grimly mope

Gloomily and mournfully we go rounds again

And one more doomed time and without much hope

Going round and around to nowhere

From the balcony we watched the carnival band

The crack of the drum a little child did scare

I can still feel his fingers pressed in my hand

0 where do we go now but nowhere

If I could relive one day of my life

If I could relive just a single one

You on the balcony, my future wife

0 who could have known, but no one

0 wake up, my love, my lover wake up

Where Do We Go Now But Nowhere