Hit or Miss
December 22, 2006 by Jo Minor
Rock music can be a thinking man’s game, or a foolish warble of the uneducated.
While the manipulative media tries to sell us the manufactured droning they create for their personal gain, those with a sense of taste and passion for music can see through the illusion weaved around these pieces of audible rubbish.
The record companies, radio stations and other such media implement devious tactics to subliminally persuade and lure unknowing victims into their money-making machines - and if that isn’t bad enough, these factions work in tandem with each other to secure more profits through album sales.
We, the music fans, have the upper hand. We have the choice to listen to what we want to, without being told to do so. We can see the folly of manufactured music.
Sadly, though, it’s these manufactured bands and artistes that rake in the money and fame - thanks to the unseen hands of the elements mentioned above - and the result of this oligopoly of popular bands that cast a blinding shadow over their talented peers.
Let me pit some authentic rock bands against their manufactured counterparts, just so we can see the difference in creativity and talent present in their respective lyrics on paper.
Fly To The Rainbow by Scorpions
Spoken Word:
Somewhere in the blue distance
Are those long forgotten trees of yore
A broken violin floating alone in December
Darkness everywhere, and nothing more
Symbol, strange symbol, melancholy
Painting torrid colors on a sky of green
Candle breathing one night only
Far away, in chillness, bleak, unseen
Drifting galley, ghostlike shadow
Sails rigged to catch and kill the time
Echoes wandering down an endless meadow
I feel … sublime
Taken from their album of the same title, Fly To The Rainbow stands out as the band’s most progressive and enigmatic song in their illustrious career - largely due to guitar virtuoso Uli Jon Roth still playing in the band at the time. These spoken words towards the end of the song help create a lush, mystical landscape for a supernatural escape of the mind from the material world.
It truly is rare to see such breathtaking lyrics in popular music today.
This Godless Endeavor by Nevermore
Third Verse:
Our organic equation has shown its flaw
Can we agree to disagree on the concept of God?
As I lifted up my brother he said to me,
“Abandon naive realism, surrender thought in cold precision”
Fourth Verse:
We contemplate oblivion as we resonate our dissonance
In godless random interpretation
The universe still expands, mankind still can’t understand
Taken from the title track of their 2005 masterpiece by the titans of progressive thrash metal, Nevermore’s vocal wizard Warrel Dane derives much of his inspiration from subjects such as artificial intelligence, and political and theological issues as well.
The words for This Godless Endeavor capture the inability of the human race to transcend the limitations of our very own existence, thus echoing the endless questions that hound every man who seeks the key of life.
This is an absolutely brilliant example of thought-provoking lyrics.
I’m Not OK by My Chemical Romance
First Verse:
Well if you wanted honesty, that’s all you had to say
I never want to let you down or have you go, its better off this way
For all the dirty looks, the photographs your boyfriend took
Remember when you broke your foot from jumping out the second floor?
Chorus:
I’m not okay
I’m not okay
I’m not okay
You wear me out
Terrible…this is just terrible.
The only thing worse than the lyrics to this song is the actual song itself - I wonder how this bunch of bratty emo clowns who resemble a bunch of schoolgirls made it so far.
Shut Up! by Simple Plan
Chorus:
So shut up shut up shut up
Don’t wanna hear it
Get out get out get out
Get out of my way
Step up step up step up
You’ll never stop me
Nothing you say today
Is gonna bring me down
These words belong in the diary of a 13-year old, not on the liner notes of a CD. I guess their simple plan was to come up with lyrics even a mentally-retarded person would write so they can appeal to prepubescent girls around the world.
Please, do get out of my way.
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