A little background on me is in order. I was raised Catholic, but even at a young age, hated the religious aspect of my schooling and hated going to church. When my grandfather died, and I was told he "went to heaven," I freaked out: all I could think was him alone up in some clouds, missing his family. It sounded so horrible. At five years old, I already had issues with what I was supposed to be indoctrinated in. Over the years, I came to resent the whole idea of Catholicism, later, organized religion in general. I couldn't abide by the rules of an organization that was anti-homosexuality, anti-sex for anything but procreation, anti-birth control, anti-abortion, and just all around, in my eyes, full of draconian laws and nonsense doctrine. I just ceased to believe, and have a lot of resentment at what was pushed at me - particularly being forced to make my confirmation.
With that in mind, you can imagine I'm not too thrilled when I discover bands that rock and sound like something I'd like are coming from an entirely different place than I can even remotely relate to.
Here's something I grabbed from The Devil Wears Prada's Wikipedia:
"We've all accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as our savior, and lead our lives based on that relationship with God. That being said, it is obviously going to have an impact on the music we make. We're not about disrespecting anybody or shoving our beliefs down anyone's throat, but we're also not going to deny the one thing we believe as the ultimate truth. I know Mike's lyrics are largely scripturally and spiritually based, and he can tell you more about that than I can. But I do know that I take comfort in the fact that in a scene so largely based around death, and morbidness, and negativity there are still bands that we play with all the time that look at things without those negative blinders on. We're just not about tearing people down, or lifting ourselves up, because none of that stuff really matters. All that being said, we love you no matter who you are, no matter what your beliefs or dis-beliefs are. We just ask for the same respect back. We are not ashamed to say that we're a Christian band. Every effort we make is for one reason, and one reason alone: our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. We support many bands with many different goals, but we feel that this is what God has called each of us to do. I don't expect everyone to agree with that, and that's fine, but I like to think of I Corinthians 10:31 'Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.'" - Jeremy DePoyster (guitars/vocals)
Whoah, there, Jeremy. Get off your high horse. "Death, morbidness, and negativity?" From someone who worships a dead guy, who ostensibly attends services where people "eat" and "drink" the "body and the blood" of said guy, and wears/hangs the symbol of the violent demise of their savior, the cross, all the time? Are you joking?
So I investigated the band's lyrics, and sure enough, they're all about God, Jesus, the bible, and faith. Interestingly, the album titles and song titles are incredibly deceitful. The band's full length album? Dear Love, A Beautiful Discord. The tracklisting includes:
"Gauntlet of Solitude"
"Dogs Can Grow Beards All Over"
"Swords, Dragons, and Diet Coke"
"Who Speaks Spanish? Colon Quesadilla"
Does that sound "Christian" to you?
The band is a screamo/metal band, and the lyrics are hard to make out.
Listen:
I honestly had no idea these were the lyrics to "Dogs Can Grow Beards All Over," a song I have listened to a good amount of times:
"Welcome to the war; a martyr's challenge
Chainsaw brutality tornado strength
King of the diamond; king of the grave
Lawlessness stains black on whitewashed tombs
We're too strong to compromise
Don't be ashamed of your faith
Dear Lord - deliver me from hypocrisy and surcease the scarlet desire
He wears a slick jacket and gold watch
Her dishonesty has scarred hands"
Someone tell me -- what does this have to do with dogs, beards, or anything of the sort?
And that's where the deceit comes in. It's as if they're very open about their Christianity - if you seek out the lyrics and seek out interviews, but a casual listener may just miss that. I think that's why they, more than other bands, annoy me so much. Maybe I'm just mad because I feel like I got suckered. Pulled in to something I don't agree with, or want to be exposed to... and I feel like that's what they wanted to do.
See, you can take a band like Norma Jean - and it's all really in there... you know what you're getting into. A band with an album called Bless the Martyr and Kiss the Child or O God, The Aftermath is not for me. And they're letting me know.
Bands signed to Tooth & Nail Records? They're letting me know. They're saying, right up front, "this is who I am, this is what I am." I can respect that. Be upfront; don't lead me to believe you're something you're not, don't try to appear to be something other than what you are.
I'll even admit it -- maybe I'm the fucked-up one here. Suddenly, because I learned The Devil Wears Prada and Haste the Day are all about Jesus, their music means nothing to me anymore. I can't even have them on my iPod, when yesterday, I'd have listened to them happily? I had to think about why -- and then I realized: it's partly that I simply don't trust the message. But even more than that, I don't think religion has a place in emo, hardcore, and metal.
When I got into this music, I was in high school -- the aforementioned close-minded Catholic school. Uniforms and conformity, be like everyone else, believe what everyone believes, and most importantly, don't question it. That was the main message I learned, every time I got in trouble for asking things like, "Why would Jesus be mad if two women fell in love? I thought we were supposed to love one another?"
To escape all of this, I turned to music. I found bands that ranged from the silly [The Dead Milkmen, The Dickies] to plain old punk [Misfits, Ramones] to serious [Dead Kennedys, Bad Religion] and I found solace in this music. I found a place in the goth scene as well, embracing Joy Division and The Smiths and The Cure, and finding out that I didn't have to be like everybody else - and even better - there were other people in the world like me.
Clearly, that is the main reason why I am annoyed by the sudden prominence of both openly and not-so-openly Christian bands in "the scene." What was once a haven for those of us who didn't have those mainstream values and beliefs... now feels like it is being invaded by the same people we sought to separate ourselves from, and we sought to protect ourselves from, in a sense.
I don't know. Some people have been able to put that aside and decide music is just music. I don't have such an easy time. Being that many Christian groups seek to quiet my voice - and things that are important to me -- by opposing freedom of choice, opposing birth control, and opposing gay rights - I have a hard time accepting or supporting any aspect of that culture. It's sort of a reverse outrage; you constantly hear how the world is "corrupting" Christian values with sex and violence and things of that nature - so maybe we feel like they're corrupting our sex, violence, drugs -- our rock n' roll -- with Christianity.
And I, for one, just can't abide by that.
Do what you want, make whatever music you want, but be upfront and let people know what you stand for before they buy your music or see your tour. It's only fair... but then again, that might also cut into your potential audience quite a bit, no?
I see what a lot of these bands are doing, and I don't like it. Of course, I don't know what to do about it, either. Instead, I just bring it to people's attention, and each individual can decide what makes the most sense for themselves.
**Disclaimer** This article is the opinion of one person, pixie, and in no way speaks for the views, beliefs, or general attitiude of anyone else who works for Shoutmouth.com. I stand behind my beliefs, and am glad to have a place where I can share them, uncensored, but in no way claim to speak for anyone but myself.
