I was once a Muslim and now I realize that the struggle of my soul before conversion, in fact, include my musical inclination. Possibly the same reason that as of now, the core debate between brother Muslims is whether Allah, in fact, even though Mohammed actually prohibited the use of the music by the faithful.
Conversely, I am surprised that someone like Cat Stevens (Stephen Demetri Georgiu) could be converted by Islam by the alien-like sound of adha when he is known as the composer of the lyrical Christian inspirational song “Morning Has Broken”. But I do understand now how his dawn was broken.
Even evil spirits for that matter use sounds in getting someone’s attention. Hauntings are known to be accompanied by sounds and spirits possessing humans make animal-like sounds such as grunts and shrieks and yet they can also produce melodic sounds to distract exorcists. Sirens like the mythical Amaya of a local folk legend and even the Scandinavian Lorelei sing to encaptivate or lure men. Even spirits of the air like the Tausug magandara, who inhabit the upper waters like Sailana (they allegedly also have fish tails) can also sing but their songs should rather be interpreted as funeral dirges for a possible deluge. I only mention this less one forgets that theangel Lucifer is a musical genius.It’s not that Catholics and other Christians also shun bad music. In fact, the Church hierarchy and even pastors discern some music laden with evil messages and it is exactly the reason for this article to be written; to warn the faithfull about them. However, the church is foremost in understanding that good music is uplifting for the soul such that church music are usually composed for liturgy. One great pope even composed what is now the Gregorian chant which carlassics of the masters as
But in this article, we will focus more on music which lyrics carry suspicious or even obvious anti-Christian lyrics and those which may be carrying innocent but problematic ideas. Hence, we will try to use our discernment in recognizing which ones they are.
We first sample on the lyrics which may have been composed as passionate expressions but are unwittingly using language which are only meant for God. An obvious example of this is Rey Valera’s “Sinasamba Kita”. We are aware of the fact that the lyricist only wanted to express intense passion in the song but the word samba means worship and such superlative expressions are also present in foreign songs such as in “Till” where it says “till then ‘ll worship you.” Anyway, for as long as the singer only means intense passionate love for a creature and isn’t equating a mere creature with the Creator, then we don’t see any problem as laymen. But now, we see the more problematic ones.
Earlier, we mentioned noise-laden music because it is usually the technique by which backmasking is achieved. Backmasking is accomplished by hiding other messages win the recording. This would be similar to animated movies which have different messages hidden in their moving scenes but are not at once recognizable unless one tries to slow down the visuals. Accordingly, “Stairway to Heaven” doesn’t really allude to the real heaven because it’s hidden message, “Home with my sweet Satan’ is hidden in its heavy acoustics. Aside from the materialism which the lady in the song espouses, Led Zepellin did not fail to issue a warning because words can have ‘two meanings” and there’s a ring of smoke in the trees manifested in the lyrics themselves.
Some, in fact are utterly irreverent, blasphemous or sacrilegious apparently in their lyrics or even in their titles. XTC in its “Dear God” says “the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit/ is just somebody’s unholy hoax” as Andy Page hints at exploitation using prayer books. Nine-Inch Nails in its cacophony of destruction nails the listener with its “Heresy”, “God is dead/and no one cares.” and proposes “if there is a hell, I’ll see you there.” The Feedz feed their flock with “Jesus Entering from the Rear” and so with Ghost with their anti-religious themes. Modest Meme in “Brukowski” had the following words pronounced, “If God gives life/he’s an Indian giver”, “Who would want to be such a control freak?” and “God, if I have to die/you would have to die.” Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins in “Born Secular” declared: “God goes where He wants/ And who knows where He’s not/Not in me.”
The Eagles’ “Hotel California” however beats all these in popularity because of lyrical musicality but this is quite a disturbing dark journey for the soul as it shows allegorical entrapment (“you can check out anytime but you can’t leave.”) and the change of its status into being profanely evil (“that spirit does not live here anymore.”). but “Bohemian Rhapsody” is more explicit in naming the one of the principal demons when Queen’s Freddie Mercury asserts the almost hidden words:” Belzebub had a devil put aside for me…for me…for me!” in “Bohemian Rhapsody.”
But nobody beats the ingenious John Lennon in subtlety. If he was quite obvious in “God” when he said, “I don’t believe in Jesus Christ”, he manifested himself differently when he proposed the great contingency in “Imagine” proposing a world which does not need to believe in God in his dream of universal peace. This could as well possibly be serving as the anthem for the Anti-Christ’s one-religion: one government plan in the future.
As for the less ambitious perverts, perhaps they could have had their day in selling their dark by-products. There was Alice Cooper who admitted his necrophiliac tendencies in his “I Love the Dead” and his allowing the dead to possess him. Eric Clapton must be alluding to his lost child in “Tears in Heaven” and to a great sin related to it as he admitted lyrically “…cause I know I don’t belong here in heaven”. But Neil Diamond’s fans are perhaps praying that he wasn’t indeed imagining touching Caroline Kennedy when she was still a child when he wrote “Sweet Caroline” and wishing instead as they believe now that it was indeed for his former wife. But why should I believe now the ayatollahs and imams when they say they don’t like indecent music if they believe in a fatwa that would allow child marriage with an adult man?
That one I couldn’t swallow nor sing even when I was still a Haji.
