Wrong Planet Goths and Darkly Inclined People?! ʕ￫ᴥ￩ʔ

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Henlo!

I am making this thread for all my goths and darkly inclined people (emos/scene people, and/or people who like the macabre but don't listen to gothic music/read gothic literature, etc.) ʕ•ᴥ•ʔﾉ♡

Let's hear about your favorite gothic music and literature!

This question is what sparked me to make this thread--would you consider Depeche Mode to be gothic/make some gothic music? The gothic-esque songs that come to mind from Depeche Mode are Dressed in Black, Memphisto, Shake the Disease and Enjoy the Silence.

I used to like Depeche mode back in the 80s

I wasn't aware of the genre back then but it was just classed as pop music back then but we didn't really have goths beck then to my knowledge

Love this post!

My all time favorite goth band is Sopor Aeturnus. It's so sad, beautiful, dark, lonely, and honest. And I love The Damned, The Cramps, Strawberry Switchblade, and Cocteau Twins.

I just read Frankenstein and really enjoyed it. Interesting fact about it: Mary Shelley's mother died while giving birth to her, and the trauma and burden of guilt that Mary suffered throughout her life because of it is a major (lesser talked about) theme of Frankenstein.
Also- We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson!

What is the threshold for what can be "macabre"?

I would say they fall into that category, but they wouldn't be 100% goth. I would consider them ~dark wave~, new wave, eletronica, sythie, dark moody music. They were influenced and knew the bands such as the The Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees, but were also influenced by then modern pop music. I think later in their career they became a bit darker with tone and lyrics.

"Depeche Mode's music has been variously described as synth-pop, electronic rock, new wave, dark wave, dance-rock, post-punk, alternative rock, and pop rock. The band have also experimented with other genres throughout their career, including avant-garde, electronica, pop, soul, techno, industrial rock and heavy metal. "

via wiki.

I got called goth a lot in highschool as I usually wore black clothes, though not exactly stylish stuff. At the time I was more getting into metal music so I was more of a metalhead.

But once into my later 20's I heard some joy division and kind of got hooked on that, so looked into if that was a band that still tours or anything...but then found the band had disbanded when the lead singer killed himself. That said I really liked their music even though I heard it long after they made it, so started listening to more post punk stuff and of course those playlists had some goth music which I also like. At this point in life I probably listen to more post punk, goth, electronic and even disco than metal

To say that I like Depeche Mode would be a bit of an understatement. In fact I used to have a Depeche Mode appreciation thread on here.
Into the 'Mode
You may be surprised when you click that link that you don't see the thread. That's because one of the mods on here one day was trippin' balls and removed it in a fit of rage. It's all a bunch of YouTube links to Depeche Mode songs and covers in that thread, there was never anything else in there, nothing to break the rules. Mods be mods.

Anyhow, Depeche Mode is pretty much a bottomless well from which you could pull refreshment from, not just the originals, but all the covers and remixes.

Now, on the subject whether Depeche Mode is for "goths", I'll say that a lot of people like their music in general. I think if I were to identify as anything other than a sea urchin I'm definitely a metalhead. And metalheads liking Depeche Mode is a well documented phenomenon, there is plenty of discussion on the subject.
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/are-depeche-mode-metals-biggest-secret-influence-56191/2/
Too many Reddit and Quora results to put here.
And when you start drilling further into it, you also discover that metalheads like a lot of synth music as well, especially the more recent genres like synthwave and darksynth. I've looked into that phenomenon before, lots of hits on Google on the subject. Personally I've been listening to a lot of synthwave and darksynth myself in recent years, stuff like Perturbator, and so on.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-O3cZ3M4hAo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7f8TWRxTVPE

Last edited by r00tb33r on 23 Jun 2024, 12:11 am, edited 1 time in total.

Now, as for goth-proper music, exploring the old school goth, the stuff that you'd be playing when you're "gothier than thou" (that expression is kind of an in-joke between goths, regarding perceived "elitism" on the scene), based on what I've read and heard Sisters of Mercy, and Fields of the Nephilim attracted the early goth scene. As far as I know both bands are kind of weirded out by the scene they attract...

I personally like some of the early Fields of the Nephilim stuff back when they had the dirty sax (later versions of the old songs don't have it).
Like from Burning the Fields E.P. from 1985 for example:





Likewise I selectively like some stuff from Sisters of Mercy, all of it old.
The 1985 concert at the Royal Albert Hall was an epic spectacle. There was an HD restoration (better sound, better angles and no shaky camera) that disappeared from YouTube. I kick myself for not downloading the rare stuff that can just disappear and never be found again.

A crappy transfer of the official concert record, without the lost restoration:


And don't get me started on The Cure.

Last edited by r00tb33r on 22 Jun 2024, 11:43 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I want to be scenemo! My family is against it though and some things goths hate I am Nostalgic for sometimes.

18th century Gothic literature -

My faves are Ann Radcliffe, Horace Walpole, and Matthew Lewis.

The Castle of Otranto (Walpole, 1764) is considered the first Gothic novel.

I do check out the goth charts for time to time and find new stuff I like.

A couple the more recent finds are She Past Away and Lebanon Hanover.


Full Part Time Punks session playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nYrhQjHKLnlyCPt2Kp7gZDz72Xd7LohTE




In summer camp in 2001 a guy who lived in the same bungalow got me hooked on HIM, the stuff through year 1999 I think, still on proper casette tape , stuff like the Razorblade Romance album and other early songs of theirs.

What, you live in a castle?

I don't know about anyone else but I wanna hear more about this castle

I like goths. They seem to be the only remaining subculture that is easy to identify by their appearance. Everyone else looks the same to me.

Can't mistake a woman with bright blue hair. You'll know exactly what's up.

Sadly we see a lot fewer punks, punks-proper that is. That stuff went mostly out of fashion.

Sure, they all do it to make a "statement" (a statement of rebellion most often), but why does one need to make a statement at all? Just be yourself to yourself. I guess that would make them look like everyone else, creating the problem you seem to be having, but it's a sign of inner resolve, that the person is able to control and contain their emotions, a sign of maturity if you will.
One more thing, those "statements" tend to also interfere with a person's employment opportunities, as often businesses aren't interested in making any statements beyond their business goals, and on the clock employees are expected to be projecting a message of the business, rather than their own. That's where the association of extreme appearances with unemployment comes from.