Musical mourning in Manchester: Cultural norms, expectations, and meaning in grief

Abstract

Grief is a culturally-situated praxis, where cultural phenomena convey norms and expectations for grief expression and reconciliation. Music is one example of a cultural phenomenon that can inform grief and mourning. Utilizing narrative thematic analysis, the author examined cultural messages within music lyrics of 36 songs performed at the One Love Manchester 2017 benefit concert. Four themes—emotional expression, active mourning, expectations, and meaning-making—are presented as a poem to reflect the creative form and delivery of music. Findings indicated conflicting emotional and behavioral grief expressions, and time was an influential factor in expectations and meaning-making processes conveyed throughout lyrics.