SEWARD: Indie rock serves as important platform for queer community
Column: Exploring Humanity with Sam Seward
It is hard to imagine now, but R.E.M. — more commonly known as your father's favorite band — was merely an underground, rather than a national, sensation. Releases such as "Chronic Town," "Murmur" and "Reckoning" became college radio station favorites, with listeners adoring Peter Buck's arpeggiated guitar lines, Mike Mills' melodic bass, Bill Berry's insistent yet reserved drum patterns and Michael Stipe's impenetrable, and occasionally incomprehensible, poetic lyricism.
R.E.M.'s underground success contributed greatly to expanding a budding subgenre of music dubbed "college rock," which later evolved into indie rock. While R.E.M.'s success contributed to the expansion of the subgenre, it also imbued an acceptance toward the LGBTQ+ community. But this connection was not revealed until 1994 when Stipe dubbed himself an "equal opportunity lech" when asked about his sexuality.
While Stipe was the most famous member of the early underground scene to come out as queer, he certainly was not the only one.
Two members of acclaimed Minneapolis hardcore punk band Hüsker Dü were queer, as lead singer and songwriter Bob Mould is gay, and drummer and co-songwriter Grant Hart was bisexual. Even bands that did not have any queer members were still supporters of the LGBTQ+ movement, as summarized by the lyrics of The Replacements' "Androgynous," which describes a pair of cross-dressing lovers.
Though Paul Westerberg, lead singer of The Replacements, is straight, he did experiment with makeup and women's clothing with R.E.M.'s Buck, whom The Replacements briefly shared a manager with. Naturally, as was the case in the 1980s, some locals got into it with Westerberg and Buck, with one woman tossing out the term "androgynous" toward Westerberg in a derogatory manner.
Westerberg based the song off of this incident, which has since become one of the band's most acclaimed songs, and serves as a plea for tolerance, a reminder that "they are just ordinary people and should be treated with the same respect as anyone else."
Queerness within indie rock did not exist exclusively in the 1980s. While Stipe, Mould and Hart should be recognized as the trailblazers that they are, they could not carry the LGBTQ+ flag in indie rock forever. Queerness in indie rock lacked a standard-bearer throughout the 1990s, too, although Kurt Cobain was a known supporter of the community.
Cobain boldly stated in the liner notes of the compilation album "Incesticide," "If any of you in any way hate homosexuals, people of different color or women, please do this one favor for us: leave us the f*ck alone! Don't come to our shows, and don't buy our records."
Cobain, like Westerberg, was an ardent supporter of the LGBTQ+ community but was not a part of it himself. Despite this, the queer subculture in indie rock thrived and experienced a boom during the early 2010s, claiming two new leaders: Bradford Cox of Deerhunter and Will Toledo of Car Seat Headrest.
Both artists differ greatly from the queer icons of the early indie rock scene. While Stipe, Mould and Hart either avoided discussing their queerness or vaguely alluded to it, Cox and Toledo both openly address their queerness and appreciation for queer culture.
Cox has always cited author and queer icon Dennis Cooper to be a major source of inspiration for his music, which was most prominently seen on Deerhunter's 2010 single "Helicopter." The song is inspired by a short story Cooper had written about a gay Russian sex worker named Dima, who had allegedly been murdered by being pushed out of a helicopter.
While this story is pure fiction, Cox incorporates his own queerness into his song's line by saying, "Can you pray for us?"
This directly asks the listener if Dima and Cox's queerness is worth praying for. Am I worth your time? Am I your equal even though I am queer? These are questions that have gotten a firm "no" over the years, and Cox, perhaps, already knows this, but he asks anyway, hoping for a different answer, a different future.
Toledo's lyrics differ greatly from Cox's, as they often reflect an autobiographical experience. The entirety of the 2011 album "Twin Fantasy" is based on one of Toldeo's past relationships. Not only did this album launch him into stardom in underground circles, but it also contained emotionally profound lyricism about Toledo's relationship.
While the queerness of the relationship is not the pre-eminent focus of the album, it is a key aspect, and it shows Toledo is a human being who deserves love and respect, regardless of his sexual identity.
Indie rock has always been one of my favorite genres, with Stipe, Mould, Hart, Cox and Toledo being among my personal favorites. What they, along with what Westerberg and Cobain, among many others, argue, is simple.
Love your neighbor as you love yourself, no matter their sexuality or personal identification.
Samuel Seward is a junior in the School of Arts and Sciences, majoring in political science and minoring in English. His column, "Exploring Humanity with Sam Seward," runs on alternate Wednesdays.
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