Screams, guitars, and abstinence: The evolution of straight edge lyrics

Abstract

Straight edge hardcore emerged in the United States in the 1980s as both a music genre and as a lifestyle. The straight edge lifestyle is characterized by abstinence from alcohol and drugs, in many instances refraining from promiscuous sex, and sometimes following vegetarian or vegan diets. Although straight edge has received some scholarly attention, some of its aspects have largely been overlooked. This thesis is intended to fill the gap in contemporary academic literature on straight edge lyrics by discussing the development of the lyrical content of straight edge hardcore. The research question for this thesis is: how do straight edge hardcore lyrics reflect the evolution of straight edge identity from the year 2000 onward? This question is answered by first looking at Robert T. Wood’s article “‘Nailed to the X’: A Lyrical History of the Straightedge Youth Subculture” in order to understand how straight edge lyrics reflect the straight edge identity between 1980 and 1999. Secondly, I performed lyrical analysis on lyrics between 2000 and the present day, and compared the lyrical content of these two time periods to see how these relate to each other and ultimately reflect the development of straight edge identity.