Modalities of Desire
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Modalities of Desire Representations of Sadomasochism in Popular Music Jon Mikkel Broch Ålvik Master Thesis Department of Musicology University of Oslo Spring semester 2008 2 Acknowledgements This master thesis was made possible in no small part through the support and cooperation of a number of people. I would like to express my gratitude to the following: My supervisor, Professor Stan Hawkins at the Department of Musicology, University of Oslo, for three years of thorough tutelage in Oslo and Antibes, helping me navigate the complex field(s) from which this thesis arises, and never losing faith in my ideas. Associate Professor Erik Steinskog at the Grieg Academy, University of Bergen, for his inspirational courses at the University of Oslo in 2003 and 2004, turning me on to a wealth of relevant books, and opening my eyes to all the things academia can entail. Professor Tor Dybo at the Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Agder, for useful comments and suggestions during our seminar in Kristiansand in September 2006. The staff at the Department of Musicology, notably PhD fellows Mats Johansson and Kyrre Tromm Lindvig for cheering me on; and a very special thank you to research assistant Eirik Askerøi for sound advice and the most useful exchange of opinions – and for remaining a close friend in the process. My colleagues past and present at Morgenbladet, especially Svein Egil Hatlevik for helpful tips, and Lasse Midttun for suggesting Blue Öyster Cult. The students at the Department of Musicology, particularly my fellow travellers Marita Buanes (for Antibes) and Siv Tonje Håkensen and Silje Indrebø (for Kristiansand). Also Marie Strand Skånland for printing tips, Rohan M. Sandemo Fernando, Anette Forsbakk, and Solveig Riiser for fruitful discussions, and Ingrid, Janne, and Kristin for refreshing conversations in the crucial days before deadline. 3 In addition, thanks are due to Reidar Haugan for the live recording of Naked City; to Thomas Hildebrand for sharing views and experiences; to Tron Hirsti for asking pertinent questions; and to Hanna Trondalen Høyem for Agent Provocateur. Merci à Monique et François for taking good care of us in Antibes, and to the masters and mistresses of IDL for their significant support and contribution – especially on Friday nights – and for expanding my field of knowledge considerably. Finally, I would like to thank my closest ones: Nina Broch, Siri Wright, and Trond Ålvik – virtually a faculty unto themselves – for criticism, encouragement, and housing in troubled times. My circle(s) of friends at home and abroad, especially Ola Alnæs and Ola Hansen, for keeping me on track. And, last, but certainly not least, my boundless gratitude to Mari Barwin for her constant enrichment of my life – into my wildest dreams and beyond. Oslo, 1 May 2008 Jon Mikkel Broch Ålvik 4 Table of contents Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................3 Table of contents ..........................................................................................................5 Introduction..................................................................................................................7 Fairytales of Slavery: Narrating Sadomasochism in Popular Music......................7 Chapter One ...............................................................................................................13 Modalities of desire: Traits of sadomasochism in popular music .........................13 Sadomasochism: The eroticisation of pain ..............................................................17 The sexualisation of S/M in popular culture........................................................17 Sadism and masochism: A historical overview ...................................................18 Tainted Love: De-exoticizing Sadomasochism ...................................................21 Musicological considerations...................................................................................23 Searching for a method ............................................................................................26 “Why an S/M approach?”: Empirical reflections ....................................................32 Voice, performance, and representations.............................................................32 Illusions of transgression: S/M as patriarchal strategy ........................................35 Chapter Two...............................................................................................................41 Idols of Perversity: Queering the Narrative Voice in Blue Öyster Cult’s “Dominance and Submission” ..................................................................................41 Secret Treaties: BÖC and popularity .......................................................................41 “Steaming man sex”: “Dominance and Submission” and the gaze .........................46 Cock rock: The voice and the phallus......................................................................54 Chapter Three ............................................................................................................61 Slave to the Rhythm: Depeche Mode’s ”Master and Servant” and Negotiating Masculinity .................................................................................................................61 Reading the script: The lyrics ..............................................................................64 A theatre of voices: The music ............................................................................69 Music for the masses: Escaping the double gaze.................................................74 Chapter Four..............................................................................................................79 Identity and Violence: Sadomasochism, Aggression and the Aestheticisation of Pain in John Zorn’s Naked City...............................................................................79 ”John Zorn’s S&M Circus”: Naked City and Aesthetics of Violence.....................80 The double gaze: Normalising violence?.................................................................92 Chapter Five...............................................................................................................97 Concludory thoughts .................................................................................................97 “Right, said Fred”: A discourse on music and power..............................................97 In the S/M zone: (Un)doing sadomasochism...........................................................99 “Where to now?”: Suggestions for further readings..............................................101 Index of Works Cited...............................................................................................103 5 6 Introduction Fairytales of Slavery: Narrating Sadomasochism in Popular Music The S&M world is a secret world. It has been described as a “velvet underground.” (Weinberg 1995: 22) In 1967, the band The Velvet Underground released their first album, The Velvet Underground and Nico. The lyrics on the album dealt with a palette of topics including sex, drugs, and narcissism, and also showed som very interesting theatrical traits. Among the songs was “Venus in Furs”, whose lyrics were based on the singer/songwriter’s reading of Leopold von Sacher-Masoch’s novella by the same name. In the song’s narrative, the band’s singer Lou Reed performs a persona which comes across as a composite of the various characters in the story, but also with the detached attitude of an external narrator. By staging a story of domination and submission, where the range of emotios stretches from scornful laughter to the mention of “different colors made of tears”, Reed creates a narrative that works on several levels, and therefore is able to inject an ambiguity into both the story and the narrative voice. When the narrator commands Severin down on his bended knee, we cannot tell for sure who plays the role of the person who tells him to ”taste the whip”. This was an unprecedented exhibition of sadomasochistic aesthetics in popular music. Earlier occurrences were mostly unsubtle, either in a context of love songs (The Crystals’ ”He Hit Me (It Felt Like A Kiss)”, 1962) or comedy (Tom Lehrer’s “The Masochism Tango”, 1959). While the latter example suggests that the record-buying audience was indeed familiar with a term such as “masochism” in the late 1950s, the Velvets’ music was a definite step up the educational ladder. With “Venus in Furs”, the Velvets demanded attention from their audience, not just to the music, but also to the surrounding elements: literary influences, sexual ambiguity, the theatricality and theatricalisation of identity politics. In retrospect, “Venus in Furs” marks a turn in popular music on several levels. Recorded and released during the years when The Beatles abandoned the concert halls and opted to explore the possibilities of the recording studio with albums like Revolver and Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, and The Beach Boys made similar progress with orchestral pop of Pet Sounds and Smiley Smile, the Velvets’ track stands out with its austere sound (one guitar, bass, a stripped-down drum kit, and a viola perform the backing track for Reed’s disinterested, almost monotone vocals), which is more reminiscent of the live-in-the-studio aesthetics of the garage rock of the preceding decade. Their connection with pop artist Andy Warhol