The social construction of a music Mecca

Abstract

This article examines the interrelations between song, music genre and social context with reference to the interrelations between music, place and identity, in the case of the social representation of the city of New Orleans as a music Mecca. It argues that the metaphor and mythology expressed in the lyrics of Ken Colyer's 'Goin' Home' (1953) have been pivotal in the social construction of a jazz genre rooted in place and identity and sets forth a 'trajectory' approach that places the song in the context of its composition, recording, and aftermath, with particular reference to relevant popular music studies literature and the 'serious leisure' perspective within the sociology of tourism.