Language Investigation 1

“Are you gonna come see the Reverend?” This is a question I was asked just last week. The friend who asked was not talking about church. She was asking if I was going to a particular concert, the Reverend Horton Heat concert. Reverend Horton Heat is a rockabilly band. As a member of the culture of rockabilly fans, I have certain words and phrases that mean very different things to me when I am speaking with other rockabilly fans. We have a very distinct culture, or subculture, I suppose.

When we go out, our style of dress is a combination of current fashions and those of the 1940s and 1950s. Men wear their hair in a pompadour, a 1950s hairstyle that is high in front, then slicked back to the back of the head, or a “fin,” a hairstyle that is similar to a mohawk, but thicker and tilted forward. Women wear their hair either in a pompadour, or more traditional 1950s styles. These kinds of images allow us to distinguish one another, and to know with whom we can use our unique slang.

One of the most common slang words used in this group is psychobilly, which describes a genre of music which combines rockabilly with punk rock. This word is commonly shortened to just psycho when talking about the music or the bands, as in the phrase, “Hey, I just heard about this new psycho band called…” The lyrics are typically reminiscent of horror movies or subjects that are considered “taboo.” I believe that is the reason the word psycho is used to describe it.

Another frequently used word is upright. This refers to the upright bass played in most rockabilly and psychobilly bands. These days that sort of bass is typically only seen in orchestras, unless you are a fan of rockabilly. It is amazing to see the way that it is played, and even abused, by pyschobilly bands. Most often, the bassists play “slap bass,” where instead of plucking or picking the strings, they are slapped with the heel of the hand and the thumb. Due to this sort of playing, the bassline is often punctuated by the clicking noise caused by the strings being slapped against the fingerboard. The upright bass is a source of much pride in a rockabilly or psychobilly band, and the players of them get huge amounts of respect and adoration. It is the special sound of an upright bass that really makes this music unique.

I think the most common word used in this group is greaser. A greaser is basically anyone who is a member of this group, though it is more often directed at the males. The term comes from the “grease” or pomade that is used to create and maintain the style of a pompadour. Although most people use hairspray, they are still called greasers because the shine of a thick coat of hairspray looks greasy even though it is not.

I’m sure that in this context I use many other words that are very group specific, though I cannot think of them unless I am actually using them. I often accidentally use these words around people who are not part of this group, and spend a great deal of time explaining myself. However, in the correct setting, my rockabilly slang defines me as a member of the group, allowing me to be treated as an “insider.”