Here for You (From a Distance): Theorizing How Musicians of Intense Genres Provide Social Support to Their Listeners


Dorian DiTommaso, University of Toronto

Social support has been defined as the ability to, or the belief that one will be able to, discuss their own personal problems with someone who is “supportive and understanding” in a manner beyond the “surface of each other’s lives” (Pearlin et al., 1989; Ross and Mirowsky 1989:208). Research in this area has often emphasized personal relationships in the sense of close network ties. In other words, it has focused on connections between an individual and those who are known personally to them as possible, but not guaranteed, sources of social support. Literature has not grappled with the idea of social support stemming from impersonal relationships. My paper builds on the breadth of social support literature (Pearlin 1981; Ross and Mirowsky 1989; Cheng 2017; Sharifan and O’Brien 2019) to theorize about how musicians who are unknown personally to the individual might provide social support for cultural consumers through their lyrics. More specifically, I seek to question how a unidirectional relationship (i.e., the consumer knows the artist; the artist does not know the consumer) can help the consumer cope with their personal problems in a healthy and resilient manner. I contemplate a few ways in which musicians, through their lyrics, might benefit consumers in this way. First, I suggest that musicians provide a form of “perceived support” through their lyrics (Ross and Mirowsky 1989). This form of support is predicated upon the belief that the individual providing support would actually offer tangible assistance if requested. I consider how this belief, and the support gained through lyrical connection between consumer and musician may enable consumers to adopt “protective and functional behaviours to cope with stresses and life events” while living in detrimental social environments (Rowe and Guerin 2018). Second, I discuss the possible origins of the perceived support connection between consumer and musician. I forward the idea that this one-way bond may stem from the consumer’s admiration of the musician’s persistence through personal hardship; an experience which the musician portrays lyrically. By seeing someone else go through similar struggles, the consumer may become more resilient to their own personal problems. I further explore the origins of this connection and its potential benefits through a discussion of shared narratives; similar experiences that bond individuals in group settings (Fine and Corte 2017). I consider how song lyrics may bond consumers with artists through shared experiences presented lyrically. This sharing of experience might foster feelings of “solidarity and trust” in an informal but still “intimate” communication between consumer and producer (Ross and Mirowsky 1989). Following this theorizing, I offer potential ways for measuring the experience of perceived support and provide lyrical cases from the punk/emo/metal genres that I believe might be valuable for future research. The punk/emo/metal genres are chosen as cases due to their highly emotional lyrics, and their previous correlative (not causative) connection to suicide vulnerability (Baker and Bor 2008). I present cases to explain how intense genres like these foster connection and support through self-presentation and shared lived experience.

This paper will be presented at the following session: