“Sometimes a scream is better than a thesis.”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
Rock music and its cousins are the only genres where screaming is acceptable. I can't think of another where a scream wouldn't feel odd if it showed up…I guess country music has some hollers and whoops occasionally, but not screams. Jazz…No. Easy listening or adult contemporary? Come on. Opera? I'm not sure what it is they're doing, but it's not screaming. Rap? No, just angry yelling. But in rock, alternative, punk, metal and the like, you can scream to your heart's content and it's perfectly fine, encouraged, even. It's a little like athletes swatting their teammates on the butt. It's okay in that arena, but don't try it anywhere else.
Rock music does have some iconic screams. Roger Daltrey's howling of YEEEEAAAAHHHHH! in the Who's Won't Get Fooled Again is considered by many to be the pinnacle of the rock and roll scream. There are numerous others. Steven Tyler's in Dream On is memorable. One time in my teen years, I was working with my dad out around the barn on our farm. The truck was parked close by and I had the windows down and the radio up loud to hear a little music. It was my small attempt to make the drudgery of farm work bearable. Dream On happened to come on and when Tyler launched into his shrieking near the song's end, my dad, unimpressed, said, “Sounds to me like somebody's got that ol' boy by the earlobe with a pair of vice grips." That confirmed it. I knew then it was a pretty good rock song.
I think the technique in what's left of rock has faded, has it not? It's all corporate now, and anyway, who needs to scream when you can just go on Tik Tok to get attention? I suppose the scream's origins in rock comes from the idea of youthful rebellion, angst and all that. It's a quaint notion now. There's a different kind of angst out there these days.
Anyway, what are some favorite screams among the rock songs?
I'm going to pull one out from way, way deep centerfield. Henry Lee Summer was a one-hit-wonder back in 1988 with his song I Wish I Had a Girl. Despite that being the only song of his that most anyone knew, he built a pretty successful career. He toured in support of John Mellencamp, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Eddie Money, The Doobie Brothers, Chicago, Don Henley, Robert Palmer, Cheap Trick and .38 Special. Not bad for a fella from Clay County, Indiana.
Here he is with his full-on mullet and opening scream (not angsty, though) in the video confirming that 1988 truly was a more innocent time. Check it out, Leroy. Have mercy.