Blink-182 and The Ritual of the Teenage Years

In Sacred Matters, Gary Laderman asks, “How do the music and lyrics contribute to popular religious experiences that reimagine and reconstruct the world…, invigorate and reinvigorate social bonds, and stimulate and liberate the body first, and then the soul?”

The band Blink-182 provided the teenage soundtrack for much of the current generation of 18-22 year olds. It offered them an outlet that related to their feelings of angst, difference, and self-consciousness. In a world where no one seemed to understand their struggles, Blink-182 was an influence that was on their side. It “reimagined and reconstructed the world” for teenagers by writing music contrary to adulthood and all that was expected of them. It provided teenagers with a common interest and connection which “reinvigorated social bonds.” Listening at home or attending a concert facilitated connects between the listeners and the music and the listeners and each other, “stimulating and liberating the body first, and then the soul.” It is in this way that the music transcended time and space, and acted religiously in connecting people across the world.

The ritual of listening to Blink-182 or going to a concert provided the listeners with, as James Livingstone puts it, “a primary means of social communication and cohesion.” The music bonded listeners over shared feelings that were common in the teenage years. Even after those years have passed, fans of the band still feel a connection to the music as it brings them back to their adolescence. It even forms bonds with new friends who also loved the band and their music, much as religion does cross culturally and cross generationally.