There is no mention of music anywhere in this 1972 work, which offers a new theory of human behavior based primarily on an analysis of ancient Greek tragedy mixed with audacious sociological speculations. Here again, I was initially reluctant to accept the ideas in this book. To be bluntly honest, when I first read it back in my college days I gave up after a couple chapters—complaining that the author never provided clinical studies or empirical tests for his theories. I now deeply regret that I didn’t take a course from Girard. He was teaching at that same college, and I saw him in the flesh regularly, although I never spoke with him. It was only later that I returned to Girard with humility and respect, after I saw how perfectly his concepts explain otherwise confusing aspects of contemporary society.

I now believe that we are living in a Girardian world, whether we like it or not, and his key ideas—mimetic desire, reciprocal violence, sacrificial rituals that defuse hostilities, an obsession with scapegoats who are both celebrated and attacked, etc.—are driving forces at every turn. I now look at concerts, music festivals, band breakups, musician Instagram posts, viral YouTube videos, etc. differently because of Girard. He helps me understand everything from the cannons in the 1812 Overture to to why rock stars trash their hotel rooms (and, even more, why fans expect it). Girard never mentions rock music once anywhere in his books, but is the theorist par excellence of the rock experience—and much else besides.