Page - 100 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 06/02

100 | Natalie Fritz and Anna-Katharina Höpflinger www.jrfm.eu 2020, 6/2, 91–102 Cave has increasingly gained the aura of a leader of a cult, as is particularly evident when we see Cave and the band play live and celebrate their music together with their fans. Perhaps their transformation of questions into mu- sic and into performance constitutes an aesthetic sense or meaningfulness. Deploying Victor Turner’s ritual theory, we can conclude that the meaning of the song is established during its quasi-ritual performance. Cave, who is well versed in the Bible, refers to Scripture as a manual for vital issues and orienta- tion and also adopts an emotional performativity that we know from Ameri- can televangelists. Even though we can assume that this form of performance carries a touch of irony (just read his blog), it is fascinating that as he sings, this critical ex-punk rocker – now usually clad in expensive, tailored suits – holds out his hand over the heads of the fans as in a gesture of blessing11 (fig. 7) or encourages them to feel his heart beat12 (fig. 8). In addition to referring to biblical narratives with their texts, on a perform- ative level Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds also bring people to their “church”, where everyone who dares can find meaning in life – or as Cave sings in “Into My Arms”: “I don’t believe in an interventionist God / But I know, darling, that you do / But if I did I would kneel down and ask Him / Not to intervene when it came to you / Not to touch a hair on your head / To leave you as you are / And if He felt He had to direct you / Then direct you into my arms”.13 Music as a sign of religious expectations As the examples show, the interrelation of popular music and religion is em- bedded in an intermedia network; different perspectives open up different questions. At the same time, these interrelations are also part of a larger cul- tural and time-specific context with particular norms, values, conventions and expectations. Through popular music, normative values are conveyed. The negotiation can trigger protest as in the case of Madonna’s song, or ap- proval, but in both cases it shapes responses to existential questions and ideas of basic human norms and transmits these ideas through global distribution. 11 Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, 2015, “Magneto”, performed live in Copenhagen, uploaded 13 September, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1XKc8lROTs [accessed 22 August 2020]. 12 Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds ,2015, “Higgs Boson Blues”, performed live at the Beacon Theater, NYC, 14 June 2017, uploaded 15 June, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTpd0 RPZi5s [accessed 22 August 2020]. 13 For the lyrics of “Into My Arms” see Cave 1997.