The Seattle Grunge Movement
Mildred Lopez Salazar
How did Seattle Grunge reflect the style of the youth during the mid 80's and early 90's?
I choose to research this topic as I wanted to understand more about what grunge music stood for, as the music industry has evolved so much from grunge, although some of its sounds are still incorporated in some of the music.
Grunge or Seattle Sound is a subgenre of alternative rock that was created in the mid 1980’s by bands is the state of Washington especially those in the Seattle area. Inspired by hardcore punk, heavy metal, an indie rock, grunge is able to mesh together sounds from hardcore punk and heavy metal, which carried a “dirty” guitar, heavy drumming, and angst-filled lyrics. Grunge bands are noticed and characterized by their indie attitudes and their rejection of mainstream success.The simple indifference attitude, and disregard towards the typical “In” look most artists sported was reflected in the disheveled and thrift-shop look that the grunge artists adopted.
Smells Like Teen Spirit
This song has no real meaning behind it but the fact that it reflects the recklessness, and freedom of a teenage with the soft rifts, and un-coordinated lyrics
Jeremy
"Jeremy" reflects a time in America in which school shooting were becoming an issue. The song was written after Eddie Vedder the lead singer allegedly read the newspaper in which the story of Jeremy Delle a 16 year old in Richardson, Texas killed himself in front of his class as a form of revenge on the students who tormented him.
Hunger Strike
the 80’s recession can be found in the song “Hunger Strike” in which it states “I don't mind stealing bread from the mouth of decadents.” The poverty during this time, was at an all time high, families were losing everything they had, and the lack of jobs made it hard for families to find a job in which they would be able to sustain their families comfortably.
Man in the Box
is able to reflect some type of censorship when they refer to “Jesus Christ, deny your maker, he who tries will be wasted.” Alice in Chains is in an aspect suppressing those thoughts so deeply engraved into the Grunge movement, which are filled with doubt, and depression.
Seven
Sunny Day Real Estate is able to create a more centralized idea of what should be the life of a human as it says “reflected in savage shards, a new face, a soul reborn.” The songs is able to transmit a more positive message from what a terrible life, could become the opportunity to make it better.
Nutshell
"Nutshell" similarly expresses the journey of a person’s life as the song states “ we face the same path” although “Nutshell” focuses more on the path that a person could possibly travel through, it is able to tie together the messages of some of the songs by Alice in Chains that try to reflect a more positive atmosphere.