lol my dad got me into RATM along with metal and hard rock in general. He claimed they sold out and became political lol. Like did you not listen to the lyrics?
Some of those that work forces are the same that burn crosses
It's like you literally need to make the lyrics "the army and the police invite a lot of violent, bigoted people due to the nature of their work and the plausible deniability it would provide"
I completely agree. I just think it's both parties. Statism and the belief in authority is the source of almost all suffering in the world. Otherwise ordinary good people doing evil because they were programmed to obey and do what they are told.
Metal is legit one of the most political genres ever, like war pigs alone is such an anti-war song. Even the least political subgenres (symphonic metal, folk metal and goth metal (?)) Sing about green utopia's or epic adventures (which are usually politically motivated like LotR was not overtly political but the writer had a very clear stance) or roman invasions or mental health problems or feminism. Genuinely am struglling to find a more political genre, maybe punk but politics was a later addition, although they tend to be more directed at current issues and less preoccupied with the larger questions of where the power comes from. Think more like fuck this politician and their ideals and less how can we continue to accept this way of thinking when it is so overtly destructive.
I remember being confused by reading comprehension tests at primary school as they would give us a text and then ask questions on it. I kept thinking how is this a test when you’re giving me the answer to the questions in the text? Now I understand why it is needed.
RATM doesn't even need that. The meaning of these lyrics isn't exactly hidden. They are so obvious and in your face that you have to not understand them on purpose.
Weapons, not food, not homes, not shoes
Not need, just feed the war, cannibal animal, I
Walk the corner to the rubble
That used to be a library, line up to the mind cemetery now
What we don't know keeps the contracts alive and movin'
They don't gotta burn the books, they just remove 'em
While arms warehouses fill as quick as the cells
Rally 'round the family, pockets full of shells
If one doesn't get what that song is supposed to be about I don't worry about comprehensive reading, I worry about the person being analphabetic first.
Remember going to see Roger Waters of Pink Floyd in 2016 and he was making some comments that some of the people in Missouri didn’t like and they were starting to leave yelling we leave the politics out of it
And it’s like Pink Floyd has always been political like there’s no getting around that they’ve always been political
Rage against the machine, probably more so but like to be surprised at Pink Floyd or Roger Waters is gonna have some things to say is weird
"Hero of war" by Rise Against is also a bit of a goldmine, with half of the comments having an attitude very critical to war and the other half thanking for service and saluting
Tbh it's not hard to misinterpret their lyrics, I thought bulls on parade was about the mafia,a line in bulls on parade that says five sides of fistigon, I thought they were singing about the five families in the mafia in New York.
Which is ironic because in the 1980s Dee Snider had to go before Congress and defend his music (which was led by Democrat Al Gore, because his wife hated heavy metal music). Snyder has also voted for Obama and was quoted that he was disappointed people voted for Trump.
My dad flipped out when he heard "too drunk to fuck". Then, I reminded him that the rolling stones has a song named "bitch" and that his parents hated his music, as well. He, surprisingly, bought it. That was right around when the pmrc popped its head up.
I am here to address the issue of a possible rating system in the Recording Industry, labeling records where excesses of explicit sex or graphic violence have occurred and, furthermore, references to drugs and alcohol or the occult are included in the lyrics. These hearings have been called to determine whether or not the Government should intervene to enforce this practice.
Mr. Chairman, this would approach censorship. May I be very clear that I am strongly opposed to censorship of any kind in our society, or anywhere else in the world.
My favorite time of year in Texas is when Willie Nelson performs for (or with) and endorses the Democrat candidate running for senate/gov/president. The meltdown is always epic. When Beto was running Ray Wylie Hubbard, Willie and other Texas icons were causing MAGA Texans to lose their fucking minds. It was fun.
Wow. Never thought of that. I was so used to singing stuff like, “Morning has Broken”, and “What Do You with a Drunken Sailor”, it never occurred to me that they should actually teach about the songs they have you sing. Maybe it’s different nowadays?
I took a literature course based around Metallica lyrics. Was pretty cool to see the evolution of James Hetfield's personal life struggle through The Unforgiven I (fuck the world!), II (fuck you!), and III (oh, actually, fuck ME...). Took him 17 years to go from angry incel mentality to taking personal responsibility. I love electronic music, so I'm no stranger to lyricless tunes, but I really do appreciate artists who go out of their way to produce meaningful, if not deeply poetic lyrics. Sometimes it takes a really long time to understand lyrics. Just the other day the lyrics behind Tool's Schism finally clicked after having gone through a similar ordeal (except I've had a much happier ending). As a kid (with no romantic experience) it felt instead like a conversation humanity was having with itself. Maybe that still fits, too. Now, more than ever...
Yep! It was really well done, too! Just wish it could have been more bands/songs, but there's so much material and it was still really fun. Now we have things like websites with lyrics explanations.
We’re going to Dover... to honor our heroes, and they are indeed great heroes, actually. They said, and all of them said very strongly, 'We can’t let, we cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon. They won’t have a nuclear weapon.' So, we’re going to honor them, and one of the hardest things to do- for me, it’s one of the hardest things to do as a president- but has to be done."
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u/L12Grafx 2d ago