Death Themes in Adolescent Music: the Classic Years (IN: Adolecence and Death, ed. by J A Corr and J N McNeil)

This chapter examines death themes in adolescent music from the mid-1960’s to the start of the 1980’s in terms of (1) personal encounters with or reflections on death e.g. old age, immortality, bereavement, suicide & (2) the broader cultural context of death & dying e.g. war, alienated generations, drugs, hunger. The author feels that the music provides unexpected clues to the understanding of both adolescents & death. He also describes a possible future 2 step research study. (CM)