goth

Short for Gothic. Used to refer to a musical subculture. Orginally, the goth movement was an outgrowth of the late 50's Bohemian poet-culture (the original black beret-wearing coffee-swilling poetry-reading hipsters. Be zorch, daddy-o!). The goth movement celebrated dark music and dark poetry; eloquence and intellectualism was praised. Goths dressed well, often in Victorian or Edwardian garb, always formal. Goths were fatalistic celebrants; they were dancing in the Apocalypse. Musical icons include Machines of Loving Grace and the Sisters of Mercy. Over the years, the goth movement has changed. Your typical Goth is much younger, typically in their teens. The emphasis is currently not upon creativity, but upon fashion (the blacker the better) and wannabe Alice Cooper makeup. Sarchasm and sneers are cultured and practiced. Musical darkness has changed to musical disaffection (the two are not the same, people!). Goths are no longer about creativity; they are about out-complaining each other. Attempts at creativity are mocked, with the exception of self-pitying would-be suicide-note poetry. Goth is a thing of the past.