Menu |
U2, Globalization, and the Identity Trade |
U2, Globalization, and the Identity Trade
|
U2: Pop/Rock Authenticity |
To consider the Irish identity of U2 is to analyze their authenticity as an Irish band, and therefore one must overcome the problematic subject of authenticity in pop/rock music. According to some, authenticity cannot exist in a musical genre such as pop/rock where commercial sales and market access are so important. For example, Adorno and the Frankfurt school claim that popular music “suppresses and smothers political thought and cannot be progressive” (Rolston 2001, 50). Adorno himself believed that popular music produced nothing but “silly love songs.” Many now discount Adorno’s pessimistic attitude toward pop music as a condescending “top-down” view where pop/rock can only result from the commercial manipulation and destruction of higher art (see Middleton and Manuel 2008 for discussion of popular music throughout world history). On the other hand, optimistic authors such as Allan Moore would cite the “prematurity of any dismissal of the notion of authenticity as meaningful within popular music discourse” (Moore 2002, 209). Popular music is often mystifying or confusing, “and that is precisely its power; the listener attaches meaning and in doing so identifies with the music” (Rolston 2001, 50). Therefore, it must be that authentic popular music derives its power not only from the artistic expression, music, and lyrics, but also from the collective spirit of the audience. Following this train of thought, one must understand that “authenticity is not [necessarily] a property of…but something [one can] ascribe to a performance” (Rubidge 1996, 219). Gilbert and Pearson provided a vague but useful strategy for the determination of pop/rock authenticity back in the 1980s. They argued that, for rock to be authentic, it must include “artists who speak the truth about their (or others’) situations, a specific type of instrumentation, and lead singers who represent the culture from which he (or she) comes” (Gilbert and Pearson 1999, 164-165). Thus, given the large amount of subjectivity involved in classifying music as genuine, one can safely disregard the flippant remarks of elitist critics like Adorno. Here, Gilbert and Pearson’s method of pop/rock authentication will be used as a starting point in the subsequent analysis of U2’s identity as not just a rock band, but an Irish rock band. |