Teen Gothic

Yep, you read that right. I used to be terrified of the dark, when it's nighttime and all the lights are off. Whenever I slept without a night light I would get violent nightmares, or always felt someone's presence, even though there was noone there. Being fully alone in the dark terrified me. However, when I started listening to goth music, my fear started to dissapear. Why? Because of the lyrical content. For example, let's take the song "In Darkness You Will Feel Alright" by Horror Vacui. It's one of my favourites, and whenever I'm in the dark I just repeat to myself "in darkness i will feel alright", and that genuinely calms me down, I actually start feeling alright! That was the beginning. Then, as I discovered more goth songs, I found the Scary Bitches. Their song "Creepy Crawlies" definitely changed my perspective. Because I wasn't just afraid of the dark, I was specifically afraid of the terrifying eldrich horrors that could hide there. So, let's take a look at the lyrics: "Creepy crawlies crawling around my creepy house, dance around my bedroom when we are a sleepy house, ghouls and ghosts and the walking dead dance in circles around my bed". And, "In the living room we built a little bar where we drink fresh blood and strum guitars. The zombies give music and singing lessons, Frankenstein's monster gives tap dancing lessons". That song is what really "cured" my fear, because I'm a person with a very active and big imagination. My brain basically created a universe where I was a little helpless loner and in the dark there were creatures from horror stories who wanted to attack me. However, when I listened to this song, I felt like I belong to them, like I'm part of this creepy house, and I'm just having fun with all the monsters and ghouls. So my subconscious kinda shifted – instead of being a victim, I became a friend. I genuinely started getting less nightmares! My dreams about monsters no longer included me being lost, tortured, hunted, but instead I was having fun with the monsters. My fear and nightmares had a negative impact on my life, I was waking up feeling uncomfortable instead of refreshed, and I had trouble sleeping sometimes. But listening to goth music somehow affected my brain in such a positive manner! I'll be forever grateful for that! I don't know what you people are gonna think about this post, I've never in my life heard of someone having a similar experience. I'm just a kid with a strong imagination and a passion for music, so I wanted to share this experience with you! Have a good day everyone <3

I've been seeing an increase in people asking for general music suggestions, so I'm bringing up this topic again.

How do you find music? Are there any apps, services, or people who are your go to in order to find new goth music?

Hello! I'm just now really getting into goth music and culture. I find a lot of bands lack the etheral and spooky sound that I think (?) is goth. But those same songs have lyrics that make me, a total expert /j, go "That seems goth". I'm not looking to call those songs goth, it just made me curious. Is goth music more honed in on the sound? Or are lyrics equally important? Can goth music be one or the other?

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I'm sorry if that is a silly question! If my question is confusing, or my post is in the wrong section I apologize!

a little while ago i posted in here because i wanted to get more into goth culture but i was having a hard time. just wanted to share i’ve been getting into more goth music as of late! i listen to a lot of stuff, usually leaning towards alt/hard rock and art rock/pop (muse and radiohead are two of my favorite bands atm), but i’ve been listening to more goth music! groups i’ve been enjoying are the cure, cocteau twins, london after midnight, siouxsie and the banshees, and twin tribes! i’ve been having a good time and i hope to find more!

Hi lol. This is just a random post but I find this to be kind of funny.

I love gothic things soo much. Literature, art, music fashion, architecture, are just a few things that I like. I love to paint gothic things. I painted a portrait of Siouxsie Sioux using water colors. And last year when I graduated middle school, my dad bought me tickets for him and I to go see The Cure. It was so much fun! For my birthday he also bought me their greatest hits album on vinyl. But something interesting is that I don’t really dress gothic. Occasionally, I will. But for the most part I don’t. I don’t think even some of my friends know that I listen to goth music 😂. I just find it funny

Hello, I realized through an earlier post to this subreddit that I was HEAVILY misinformed on a lot of musicians being gothic and got lightly torn apart for it. (Aside from being told incorrect musicians flat out, it’s difficult for me to differentiate some similar genres from a goth subculture if that makes sense).

SO! I would like to update my playlist of dreamy/ethereal goth music and would love accurate suggestions!

I’m open to any music in general but preferably dreamy/ethereal. Thank you for being understanding! 😀

Genuine question. I first wondered about this when I saw a few comments on a tiktok profile’s video, where they mentioned being right-wing and held some not-so-wonderful political views. In the comments themselves, they were adamant about being labeled as goth and alternative.

If you are conservative, or in a group that isn’t as normally conforming to political beliefs of the majority of goths (as I’ve seen in my personal life, all the goths I’ve met are left-leaning), are you really goth? Punk is a different story. But are you goth if you’re on the right-leaning side of the political scale?

As for racists, fascists, bigots, or any of those sort, I don’t believe them to be welcomed in these sorts of communities to begin with.

And to note, this isn’t for me to argue for or against anyone’s beliefs or opinions. This is a question more so about how one labels themselves in their interests, and specifically, in the goth community. Please be respectful, this isn’t to create discourse.

Peace and love, thank you.

I've been thinking about this for a while, as "listening to the music" always seems to be the criteria when people ask if someone is goth. A lot of people who dress quite goth get called posers or something like it because they don't listen to any goth bands, but don't the clothes have at least some say in the matter?

Do any of you-like me-have very vivid imagines for goth music videos? Like, you hear a song and imagine your own video for it? For me, a song like that would be "For Her Light" by Fields of the Nephilim. As I listen, I can see very clearly a sunlit church with an angelic, yet uncanny looking female figure behind an altar. There are people languishing in the pews. Among them, a young boy about 9 years old sits dressed in a suit. One by one as the figure at the altar speaks, the elegent stainglass windows crash in on themselves–and suddenly, through the heavy door comes Carl Mccoy. He is being chased by someone (or something) and is desperately searching for something inside. When Carl finds the boy, the boy doesn't acknowledge that he is there (lyrics: "You can't wake up, you can't wake up."). The woman at the altar is stonefaced yet points at Carl with conviction. Then, the thing chasing Carl "attacks" him invisibly. This causes the boy to finally notice Carl and run from the church while other zombie-like churchgoers try to stop him. As the boy leaps from the gaping doors and the song is ending, he fades into the form of McCoy, revealing that the boy IS just the younger version of Carl. Thoughts? I know it's dramatic, but c'mon that song rocks. What are the songs for you where you imagine the video? Please describe what you imagine! I'm very interested!