| The mediated myth (Barthes, 1957) of rock and roll is simultaneously simple and complex, discussed openly and mired in code, and contains both surface level and deep structures. It is at once a rejection of American capitalism through its insistence on the existence "pure" rock and roll outside of industry while being the very embodiment of it through its meritocratic and agentic views of rock and roll success, where the best product sells the most records. The myth of rock and roll contains promises of openness and equality to "anyone" who wishes to "do it" while disguising "averageness" as white, male, and heterosexual. As with the function of all myths, each of these dualistic statements contains a degree of truth to allow its circulation throughout culture (Dyer, 1982). However, musicians negotiate what constitutes "truth" through the lens of the myth throughout the various stages of their careers. Additionally, the cultural forms and individual concepts of rock and roll are not inherently good or bad, or true or false, rather, they serve different functions.;In the myth of rock and roll, either form or concept by itself would not work; the interplay between the two provides the key to understanding the longevity of rock and roll. The forms provide a widely available cultural resource and draw musicians into "doing" rock and roll. The forms promise social/economic mobility and experiential pleasures that can be attained by "anyone" willing to follow a seductively logical set of steps. These musicians' concepts initially reflected the hopefulness of these forms, providing the logistics and encouragement for those willing to step into performing rock and roll. In this stage, musicians had agency in their own success through an egalitarian process. However, material reality cannot match the clarity and unity of the forms, and these musicians had to shift their concepts to continue doing rock and roll.;These musicians recognized "truth" in experiential moments and valued present moments in pursuit of the ideal core of rock and roll. The ideal core contains the potential of a religion, magic, or drugs, providing both pleasures as well as a dependency. Rock and roll offers a spiritual, transformative, and pleasurable, but ultimately temporary, experience. When these pleasures combine with a mythic promise where "anything" can happen, doing rock and roll provides a rewarding alternative to ordinary life. While the myth promises unrivaled pleasure, these promises seldom come to fruition, and after the rock and roll experience, the magic show ends, the epiphany fades, and the drugs wear off until the next time. For all of rock and roll's promises of freedom from ordinary lives and day jobs, musicians become beholden to the mythic experience of rock and roll itself. This myth is terribly flawed, the promises largely unfulfilled, but in those brief present moments where these musicians believe they have touched the ideal core of rock and roll, all other experiences pale in comparison. While cultural pressures suggest that these musicians should be pursuing "better" endeavors than doing rock and roll, they can never know them as these musicians are blinded by a myth and addicted to finding that next moment. |
