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Popular Culture Review
be the Self. Historically, this is the final refuge of theory. / must be the
thing that is stable, permanent, and eternal: the still point around which
the culture and the cosmos turn. And so, is that constant thing you, your
self, your ego, your own identity? Like Heraclitus’ river, you, too, are in
constant flux, which must make us initially wary of this approach. But it
is worth an investigation. And, interestingly, there is no better place to
turn for answers to the question of personal identity than the song that
held the number one position on the Billboard charts for the first week of
January back in 1988.
2. Faith: Performing Identity Across Time
George Michael had four number one singles in 1988—more
than any other artist that year. He did not have the number one song of
the year (we will encounter that classic at the end of our investigations),
but the album from which his four number-one singles came sold more
than 25 million copies. He also launched a world tour to support his first
solo album in 1988. It was a year in which George Michael was re
making his identity.
Do you remember who you were in 1988?
Are you sure who you are right now?
In 1988 1 was still in college. I was thinking ahead to grad
school, trying to make up my mind about whether or not to get my Ph.D.
in physics or philosophy. 1 remember hearing George Michael’s song, “I
Want Your Sex,” the year before, and I also remember that many radio
stations were unwilling to play it. Kasey Kasem even refused to say the
title of it when announcing it on his Top 40 Countdown, and George had
to add an introductory disclaimer to the video before MTV would show it
(which they still only agreed to do late at night), claiming that his song
was not about casual sex and should merely be seen as an endorsement
of “exploring monogamy.” Indeed, the times have changed. But to be
honest, none of this controversy really interested me back in 1988.1 was
aware of George Michael, but I was not listening to his music. I had a
band at the time. The Foolish Mortals, and we were more excited about
playing material that didn’t stand much of a chance of crossing paths
with Top 40 music. We defined ourselves by who we listened to, but also
by who we didn’t listen to in the culture. We established our identity that
way as a band—as, I am willing to bet, most bands still do today. But
when I say “I” had a band, what exactly do I mean by that? In what sense
am I the same person that I was back then?
When the mind and behavior change, as they always do as the