Evolving, Rewriting, and Masking Orphic Performance: Autobiographical Authorship in Popular Music

Abstract

This research explores the use of orphic performance, a new concept in the performance studies field, introduced by Ross Cole; who defines his approach as an “ecological history of music.” Cole proposes a framework to address the interpretation of a songwriter’s personal life; which according to him, the performance studies approach is too quick to overlook. He uses the concept of orphic performance to explain the influence of artists’ personal lives on their music; the part of the character-persona-person trinity that is often underexposed. Orphic performance addresses the ambiguity of truth that is necessary to translate a personal experience into song. By doing this, Cole delves into the autobiographical aspects of artists’ music, or what Allen Moore would categorize as first person authenticity. I will examine notions of autobiographical writing and its authenticity through the process of orphic performance and test its usefulness to the field by adding additional classifications to the concept, to determine whether Cole has succeeded in filling the theoretical gap he aims to close. To explain how autobiographical instances are authentic and contextualize them, I use Moore’s typology of authenticity. The new direction for performance studies Cole proposes, is exciting but open-ended. He proposes a new framework to examine the artist’s person, a part of performance studies that has lacked structured examination so far. However, the boundaries of the model are vague and demand more exploration. Cole is unclear regarding the impact of orphic performance after a song is written. Can songs change meaning when placed in different contexts or interpreted by different artists? In Cole’s case study of Vic Chesnutt, it becomes apparent that different contexts or different performances might open the door to changing interpretations. My thesis aims to extend the scope of orphic performance –by making alterations and additions– and reconnecting it with the broader performance studies discourse, to show whether it holds up when problematizing musical authenticity of more complicated examples. To illustrate the scope of use of orphic performance, I will use three case studies. First, I will explore how U2’s “Kite” refers to Bono’s (Paul Hewson) personal life in a live context. For this, I will use performances from the year his father passed away. Following the examination of live orphic performance, I will delve into orphic performance in covers. Something I will refer to as orphic rewriting. To show how an artist can attribute new autobiographical meaning to a song, I will analyze Johnny Cash’s cover of ‘Hurt’ by Nine Inch Nails. Lastly, I will examine what happens when autobiographical lyricism is misleading, due to the masking of autobiographical elements (orphic masking). Have A Nice Life’s “Big Gloom” will serve as a case study for this inverse relationship.