American Idiot, the Broadway musical by the band Green Day and theater veteran Michael Mayer, embodies the experience of a generation of Americans. The story revolves around youths coming of age during the presidency of George W. Bush, living through the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, two wars, ever increasing media and technology saturation, and a breakdown of the suburban ideal. As the primary theme and the driving force in the dramatic action of American Idiot, the characters’ internal struggle between rage and love is reinforced through several devices present in the music. There are four notable ones. First, allusion to a variety of rock styles and songs highlight themes of disillusionment, alienation, and false hope. Second, the use of recurring musical material draws connections in the storyline, promotes continuity, and creates foreshadowing. Third, the modification of songs from their original versions reinforce dramatic climaxes, and fourth, the use of specific styles to represent characters adds to their depth and significance. In order to provide context for the musical, this thesis will examine some of its antecedents and influences. The three most important of these are the history of Green Day and its members, the position of American Idiot in the rock opera genre, and the transformation of the original 2004 album into the 2010 Broadway musical. Finally, an examination of youth and suburbia in America at the turn of the twenty-first century will demonstrate the connection to themes expressed in the narrative of American Idiot.

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Den här uppsatsen handlar om bandet Daft Punk och deras inverkan på populärkulturen. Studien har utförts genom att samla in egen empiri från tidigare forskning, en enkätundersökning och en intervju som gjordes på distans. Det övervägande resultatet tyder på att det är fyra kriterier som korrelerar med varandra för att en musikalisk akt ska kunna göra ett intryck på populärkulturen, Daft Punk använde sig av dessa kriterier för att sticka ut från andra musiker som var populära under mitten av 1990-talet. Undersökningen bidrar till ytterligare kunskap om vilka förutsättningar som underlättar för en artist att uppnå hög popularitet och starkt kulturellt inflytande. Den bidrar även till kunskap om vilka kriterier som finns och hur dessa kan användas. Forskningen som presenteras är användbart både för personer som är aktiva inom musikindustrin, eller folk som endast lyssnar på musik till vardags.

Purpose - Research on punk culture often falls prey to three main dilemmas. First, an ageist bias exists in most popular music research, resulting in the continued equating of music and youth. Second, punk culture research often uses a Marxist economic lens that implies fieldwork reveals already known conceptions of class and culture. Third, research on punk culture lacks ethnographic and narrative examinations. This ethnographic project explores my reentry into punk culture as an adult, exploring it from a new researcher perspective. It provides an insider's view of emerging cultural themes at the site that disrupts these traditional research approaches. Methodology/approach - This ethnography examines punk culture at an inner city nonprofit arts establishment. Through grounded theory and using a fictional literary account, this research probes how rituals and cultural narratives pervade and maintain the scene. Findings - Concepts such as carnival, jamming as an organizing process - and as an aesthetic moment - emerged through the research process. This ethnography found narratives constituted personal and communal identity. Research limitations/implications - As a personal ethnography, this research contains experiences in one local arts center, and therefore is not necessarily generalizable to other sites or experiences. Originality/value of paper - Using ethnography, I explored punk as one of my primary identities in tandem with younger members of the scene. It critiques Marxist and youth approaches that have stunted music scene research for decades.

Protestlåtar finns i alla möjliga former och genrer, men det som är genomgående är att det är låtar som handlar om förändring och motstånd. Låtars budskap är oftastkopplade till låttexten, så därför undersöker denna uppsats vilka andra faktorer som också bidrar till att låtar är protestlåtar. Genom att undersöka tre protestlåtar i olika genrer visar den här studien hur de behandlar ämnet protest, vilka element i musiken eller ljudet som antingen själva, eller i samspel med texten som pekar på protest och slutligen också om likheter och skillnader kan tas fram mellan dem. Genom att använda musikanalys kan man se att det finns ljudeffekter, genrebundna ellermusikaliska element som också används för att uttrycka protest i låtarna. Det förekommer också en diskussion om varför dessa saker skulle förstärka protesten i låtarna. Analyserna visar också beståndsdelarna av protestlåtarna och diskuterar kring hur de framför sin protest. Resultatet pekar på att det, förutom textens mening,finns andra aspekter som exempelvis ljudeffekter, form, hur låtarna berättar historien och ton som kan kopplas till protestkänslan en lyssnare får av låtarna.

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This study investigates presence of religion in Hardcore/Punk. While Hardcore/Punk traditionally is a secular subculture, study investigates how bands with religious agendas claim space within this subculture and the attitudes they encounter within it. That is, how they relate to the subculture, and consequently the mainstream culture. Further, the study takes interest in how non-religious bands relate to religious history, institutions and faith. This is done through a qualitative content analysis of lyrics from American hardcore/punkbands between 1986-2007. The bands investigated devote themselves to one of the three beliefs: Hare Krishna, Christians or Non-believers. The main findings are that hardcore/punk bands, despite of religion, share common ground. They all carry strong convictions, share the same artistic expressions and make use of the same language. Yet, the respective convictions, grounded in different religious worldviews, sometimes clash. Religious as well as nonreligious bands express the same attitudes to a large extent, even though these attitudes are grounded in different worldviews (e.g., religious or political). However, in spite such differences, they still have managed to share space within the subculture. What we see is that the two religious’ groups of Hare Krishna and Christians make themselves, through their presence in hardcore/punk, subcultures within a subculture.