FOR FANS OF: PVRIS, Babes In Toyland, Halsey
VENUS GRRRLS released powerful alternative rock single, "Goth Girl," on January 22nd, 2021, a track which discusses the stereotypes associated with goth culture and witchcraft. VENUS GRRRLS are from Leeds, England and consist of all-women: Grace 'GK' Kelly (lead vocals), Jess Ayres (lead guitar), Hannah Barraclough (bass), Grace Stubbings (synth), and Gabby Cooke (drums). They're a rock band that I adore; from their killer tracks to their impeccable fashion sense. "Goth Girl" is a powerful track that captures frustration and yearning in a way that will leave you feeling both seen and haunted. "Goth Girl" sounds like a song that would've came out in the mid-00s, a song that younger me definitely needed to hear, but for current, 22 year old me, it's nostalgic and comforting. It's comforting to know that how I felt growing up wasn't feelings that only resided in me.
"The idea of borrowing each other's shoes and listening to music together felt comforting, but I quickly began to think about the strange and unique stereotypes people associate with alt/goth people."
Lead singer GK, says on the meaning behind the track: "Goth Girl is most definitely a story, there is a running order to it. It begins painting a picture of two friends hanging out, who eventually realize their struggles for their choice of clothes and makeup. It's no surprise to those that know us that it was Rebel Girl by Bikini Kill that glued all of VENUS GRRRLS together when we first met. My favorite thing about that song was the upmost appreciation it had for women, the idea of empowering each other and holding each other up high. I was thinking about this when writing the lyrics to Goth Girl, I wanted there to be this figure in it that I could bond with. The idea of borrowing each other's shoes and listening to music together felt comforting, but I quickly began to think about the strange and unique stereotypes people associate with alt/goth people."
She follows up with acknowledging how even though there are struggles Goths and those who practice witchcraft face, times have changed for those who choose to dive into a counter-culture, "There are still struggles and strange interpretations of counter-culture, e.g. Witches/Goths 'hexing' people, but currently Goth has come more into fashion than it used to be, which is fine. Albeit, I imagine it to be difficult for those who were treated unfairly in the past to accept this, just because something was less socially acceptable at the time. The rest of the song went from there, considering all of these different ideas and feelings. It just got us thinking about how fickle society is, and how it's always ready to point the finger at something new. "Goth Girl" clings to all of these notions, and most definitely is an ode to our younger selves."
I originally interpreted "Goth Girl" as a sapphic anthem. Growing up, emo, goth, and grunge fashions were what I admired, were what me and my friend group were drawn to, although not hitting the point more often than not. Any alternative version of fashion and music - most popularly, pop punk, was fascinating to me. There was the All Time Low, zebra print, side bangs, dressing-in-all-black, Monster energy drinks, heavy black eyeliner pop punk/emo of my childhood & preteen years. In high school, there was the defend-pop-punk, shirts of bands you didn't listen to, pizza, The Story So Far, plaid flannel shirts, and Warped Tour pop punk/emo, which quickly derived into 2014-Tumblr soft grunge, Halsey and Arctic Monkeys, tennis skirts, fishnet tights, poetry, and blue hair alternative culture. All of this was what I wanted to be during different times of my life, even now there's alternative musical aesthetics and scenes which I admire and feel inspired by. There's always a pretty alternative girl out there who is able to capture almost perfectly the aesthetic I want to be...and want to be with. "Make me look like you, so edgy and cool, I'm obsessed with your dress, tell me where you get it, can we be friends?...I wanna be a Goth Girl, 'cos I was never popular."
I never fit in with all the popular kids all that well, I always was different in some way, always was a little weird; be it because I was missing social cues & lacking the right communication skills because I'm autistic, or because I was heavily into some kind of alternative music - from emo all the way to kpop. I luckily have always found friends in school & online who enjoyed the same music I did, found friends in people who were different like me, who liked alternative music, who were finding out where they fit in the LGBT acronym, who were disabled like I am in some way, or were another kind of person that resided in the outcast group. But regardless of our found family sheltering us from the rest of the world, there definitely was judgement that you faced; hate that got under your skin from people outside of our friend group. In my case, it was for liking alternative music, for not dressing on trend or being able to afford it, for being sapphic, for being autistic. "Ahhh, we had it so hard, the freaks from the dark."
Like GK noted, times have changed. Alternative rock music is trendy. Kpop's trendy as well. People are much more accepting about & welcoming those who are apart of the LGBT community. Higher levels of accessibility and understanding of disabled people are on the rise. Goth and other alternative styles are trendy, as with the influences of social media platforms such as Tik Tok. Even witchcraft, a spiritual practice which has been found in many different cultures around the world for centuries, is more accepted and praised now. But that's not to say hate & judgement of those who are different doesn't exist anymore, it still unfortunately does. I don't know when things will be fully good for alternative people, there's still a lot of work to be done in the fight for equality and peace. "Goth Girl," is, to say this lightly - a sign of the times. It's a song that comes in a moment where we're moving away from a past of ignorance & hate into what I hope is a more accepting & respectful time, an easier one for those who are different in any way, such as their appearance, spiritually, sexuality, and more.
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