BUTTHOLE SURFERS' "22 GOING ON 23": A READING OF MARGINAL PUNK MUSIC

 The function of literary theory in academia is often purported to be one of uncovering and decoding messages that were already present within culture in order to gain a clearer understanding of semiotic codes. While this is a cause of noble intent, there sometimes is an interpretive chasm between the intellegesia and the rest of society. What becomes at issue is the validity of academic readings of texts (which may eloquently and convincingly argue about what the dynamics of works of art are and how they influence culture) and the interpretation of texts by those who are actually engaged in such a cultural process. Teresa De Lauretis' book Technologies of Gender includes an essay entitled "The Rhetoric of Violence" in which she quotes Pierce that applies to this very topic:

"...immediate object's relation to the representamem is established by the interpretant, which is itself another sign, 'perhaps a more developed sign'. Thus, in a process of unlimited semiosis, the nexus object-sign-meaning is a series of ongoing mediations between 'outer world' and 'inner' or mental representation. The key term, the principle that supports the series of mediations, is of course the interpretant" (OMG WHERE DID I GET THIS FROM? WHO KNOWS!!!!!!!!!)

In order to gain a better understanding of how this sociological process occurs in relation to a song by a band that is decidedly out of the dominant culture, I went to the interpretants themselves- fans of the Butthole Surfers. This is also to minimize the gap between academic assumptions I would bring to my analysis of "22 Going on 23" and the way it is read by other listeners. I developed a questionnaire and interviewed people prior to a recent (OMG 1991) concert by the band.

However, the most primary concern here should be the song itself. Most of the lyrics were taken from a radio call-in show where callers discuss their personal lives. In the short drama that the Butthole Surfers have constructed there are three characters: two female callers, a male host, and the band's added chorus of voices. The song is roughly as follows: 

Caller: "I enjoy your show and I've been trying to get through for quite a while.'

Host: "Well we're glad you kept trying."

Caller: "Um, I have this problem. Last July, I was assaulted sexually. And ever since then I cannot sleep. I've been having trouble sleeping."

Host: "How old are you?"

Caller: "I'm 22..... going on 23."

At this point the chorus of voices call out variously, "Medicine"..... "anxiety,",,,, "oppression:..."sleep problems"... "counseling"... "depression"... "guilt" with the caller's voice repeating "I cannot sleep."

Caller: "Well, they told me, when I have these bad dreams, to try and put endings on the, the dreams, like I come out a winner. But every time I try to do that, I just...can't get anywhere. It seems that I keep having the same dream over and over again and...I had one again tonight, and this is why I'm up so late."

Guitar solo. The chorus begins to "moo."

Caller 2: "And I watch one soap opera a day. And if he happens to walk in the house, I'm paranoid. I just jump up and turn off the TV. Because he says, "Is that all you're gonna do all day, just sit around and watch TV?" And I love to travel, so I've mentioned traveling to him. And finances are no problem. And he says that he did all the traveling that he wanted to do while he was in the service."

Chorus "moos" to fade.

The malleability of interpretation allows for several different and even contradictory meanings of this text in an academic context. As one survey respondent put it, "The mind is free to think of its excitement."

Does the fact that these are men singing about sexual abuse of women (although they had a female drummer in the band at this time, it is not evident from listening to this song) invalidate the work from a feminist perspective because they are appropriating a female perspective that can necessarily be part of their personal experiences? Would it be fair to claim that this is just another example of how men contextualize women in art, yet retain final authority over how women are presented due to their authorial position? One respondent said, "I think it is important for men to express there (sic) disgust of rape to other men instead of treating it as only a female problem." So are these enlightened men who have chosen to demonstrate through their art the pain women experience when sexually abused? Or are they upholding a tradition of representing women as weak and as victims? A stance on the issue could be taken, and evidence presented, to support one opinion or another, but I decided that a good quasi-Marxist approach was to ask "the people"  themselves.

The survey included the following questions as well as encouragement for comments. 

1. Are the politics or content of lyrics a concern for you when judging music?

2. Do you feel that this song is offensive or downgrading to women?

3. Do you feel that this song celebrates the sexual abuse of women or explores the effect of such an experience?

4. Do you think it is possible for men to sing songs about rape that do not glorify the act?

Although the political content of texts is very much at issue in academic circles, the critical attention of the layperson may not consider this an important concern. The first therefore serves as an indication of the context in which the respondent answered. The results: 12 said yes, 10 said no, and two gave answers which can best be described as "other". While it is debatable how much of an impact the politics of textual structures can have on a person is they do not consciously recognize them, none of the respondents felt "22 Going on 23" celebrates sexual abuse. Those political and apolitical agreed that this song does not fall in the category of being offensive to women.

The rise of deconstruction and the trend toward re-reading texts in contemporary contexts has led to the uncoding of many cultural codes that were previously not under the attention of critical scrutiny, such as the feminist realization that the Western tradition has systematically excluded voices of women, and that the objectification of women has been a long accepted standard. How does this song relate to such a history? while the Butthole Surfers' use of radio tapes for their own purposes, which could be perceived as the appropriation of women's voices for men's art, it is important to consider how this dynamic affects the final outcome of the piece, seen in how listeners feel about the song. As one respondent put it, "It is an awful, bad trip song. It is an awful, bad trip experience." Many felt that this song  explores how women are affected by sexual abuse, although a good portion of respondents expressed ambivilance or addressed the flexibility of interpretation in their surveys.Some responses to question three were, "No, I can't figure the hell what they're trying to get across", and "If you want it to."

DeLauretis' claims that "sexuality is produced institutionally (discursively) by the deployment of sexuality" (p36).  Given that model, one could claim that because "22 Going on 23" represents a woman caller as a sexual victim, this song is upholding this positioning of her identity. However, one survey respondent chose a positive way to look at this, "I think that this song ventures in the effects of an experience that many women dela with alone because of the shame that our culture puts upon them."

DeLauretis provides a quote by Pierce that demonstrates more precisely how the use of signs functions in this piece: 

"A sign, or representamen, is something which stands to somebody for something in some respect or capacity. It addresses somebody, that is, creates in the mind of that person an equivalent sign or perhaps a more developed sign." (CITE SOURCES? HAHAHA NO)

When put into context with the musical form, the lyrics of "22 Going on 23" become altered and create a distance between this piece and traditional representations of women. The instrument create sounds that parallel the pain of the callers, punctuating their emotions and suggesting that the female perspective cannot fully be understood through words alone. The situations that provided women's words also affects the meaning of the song.