Forum: 

Insects in Gothic Culture

Fael's picture
Submitted by Fael on

I was Googling "Cultural Entomology" with a 24-hour-candyapple-martini hangover, and I found this.

The Metamorphisis

https://www.randomhouse.com/crown/metamorphosis/

...and a question:

Does anyone know any goth songs with Insect themes? Any gothic poems, pictures or alternative media with insect themes? Spiderlore? Creepy crawly mythologies?

I'm not really doing any formal research, more just a burnt coffee ponderance...

I know we are digging back into the "classic rock" genre (but SwoopGuy started it), but who can forget the Who's " Boris  The Spider", which had an arguably "Gothic" overtone to it ( it was certainly "anti-pop" for its time).

There is also Zombie Girl's "Creepy Crawler" , not sure it has reference to bugs though, but the title kind of implies it.

Mission Uk's "Butterfly on the Wheel"

Also there is the German Darkwave  band  "Umbra Et Imago".  "Imago" is from my understanding the final stage of metamorphises(sp) of butterflies and moths.

In Skinny Puppy's new album "Myth Maker", the song "Haze" has the line "death feels like the butterfly" and has a song called "Pedafly" (not sure if there is such a bug as "pedafly". This is Skinny Puppy we are talking about! LOL)

And there are album covers that may qualify: Delerium's "Karma" album has dragonflies in artwork and I think the Delerium interactive website has  bugs as gif icons (haven't been there in awhile).

I hope some or all of these may be useful to you.

Will early Bowie fit into the mix?  I know Bowie is loved by many goths, but was labeled as "Glam Rock" or "Glam Punk" in the early days.  Regardless, I offer the submission of Ziggy Stardust.

So where were the Spiders

While the flies tried to break our balls

Lullaby was the first song to popped into my head, but Val beat me to it.  (Damn you, foiled agian!!! *waves fist madly*)

At this point in my "research", any vague tie in will do ie. metaphors, analogies, freudian slips?

So far I have found:

Rasputina - Five Fleas

Download - Moths

Download - Flight of Luminous Insects

Moonspell - Butterfly Effect

Nox Arcana - Mythos

Xorcist - Insecticide

Xorcist - Spider

Graeme Revell - The Insect Musicians

Die Warzau - Insect

The Mission - Spider and the Fly

Bauhaus - In the Flast Flields ( the guitars remind me of bugs...how's that for a stretch)

tacking on:

Cure - Lullaby

Bauhaus - Wasp

Assemblage 23 - King of Insects

(hesitantly :P ) System of a down - Spiders

Switchblade Symphony - Cocoon

More to come as my compulsiveness ensues....

Hmm...

Do you mean actual insect themes? ie songs about insects? Or songs that use metaphors or make references about insects?

The only ones that comes to mind off the top of my head are [color=cyan]King of Insects by Assemblage 23,  and also [color=cyan]Spiders by SOAD(though that's not really gothy) . Of course, neither of these are actually about insects, but they do make references.  Hence my question.

oh yes, and [color=cyan]Cocoon by Switchblade Symphony.