Häufig gestellte Fragen zu "Das Ende der Welt in der Rockmusik der 80er und 90er Jahre"
Was ist das Thema dieser Arbeit?
Diese Arbeit untersucht, wie Rockmusik der 80er und 90er Jahre das Thema "Das Ende der Welt" behandelt, wobei der Fokus auf zwei Hauptkategorien liegt: Werke, die von religiösen oder biblischen Vorstellungen beeinflusst sind, und Werke, die sich allgemein mit dem Untergang der Menschheit auseinandersetzen. Die Arbeit analysiert die Verwendung von satanischen und apokalyptischen Bildern und Ideen als Provokation oder als ernsthaftes Auseinandersetzen mit dem Thema.
Welche biblischen und religiösen Konzepte werden behandelt?
Die Arbeit befasst sich ausführlich mit der Offenbarung des Johannes, einschließlich der sieben Siegel, der sieben Posaunen, der Frau und dem Drachen, der Zahl des Tieres (666), dem Antichrist und den letzten Plagen/Armageddon. Sie erklärt die symbolische Bedeutung verschiedener Figuren und Ereignisse und verfolgt die Entwicklung des Begriffs des Teufels von der alttestamentarischen Figur des Satan bis zur christlichen Dämonologie.
Welche Rockbands und Musikrichtungen werden untersucht?
Die Arbeit analysiert die Verwendung von satanischen und apokalyptischen Motiven in verschiedenen Rock- und Metal-Genres, darunter Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Glam Metal, Death Metal, Doom Metal, White Metal, Black Metal, Thrash Metal, Speed Metal, Power Metal, Epic Metal und Gothic Metal. Sie untersucht exemplarisch die Bands Slayer (Thrash/Black Metal), Iron Maiden (Heavy Metal) und Marillion (Mainstream Rock) und deren Umgang mit dem Thema "Das Ende der Welt".
Wie verwenden die untersuchten Bands satanische und apokalyptische Motive?
Die Arbeit unterscheidet zwischen Bands, die satanische Symbolik und apokalyptische Bilder rein als Provokation oder Imagefaktor einsetzen, und solchen, die sich ernsthafter mit den zugrundeliegenden religiösen und philosophischen Konzepten auseinandersetzen. Sie zeigt auf, dass die Interpretation der Texte von Band zu Band und von Song zu Song variiert. Die Analyse der ausgewählten Songs verdeutlicht die unterschiedlichen Herangehensweisen und Interpretationsspielräume.
Gibt es eine klare Definition von Satanismus in der Arbeit?
Ja, die Arbeit bietet eine kurze Definition von Satanismus, die zwischen der religiösen Praxis des Satanismus und der oft reißerischen, von Fundamentalisten verbreiteten Darstellung als antichristliche Verschwörung unterscheidet. Sie weist darauf hin, dass nur ein Teil der Black-Metal-Szene tatsächlich satanischen Glaubensvorstellungen anhing, während viele Bands die Symbolik eher als Imagemittel nutzten.
Welche konkreten Songs werden analysiert?
Die Arbeit analysiert folgende Songs im Detail: "Raining Blood" von Slayer, "Revelations" und "The Number of the Beast" von Iron Maiden, und "The Last Straw" von Marillion. Die Analysen gehen auf die Texte, die musikalische Gestaltung und die möglichen Interpretationen ein.
Wie wird das Thema "Das Ende der Welt" ausserhalb eines biblischen Kontextes dargestellt?
Die Arbeit zeigt, dass das Thema "Das Ende der Welt" nicht zwingend einen biblischen Kontext benötigt. Marillions "The Last Straw" dient als Beispiel für eine Darstellung des Untergangs der Menschheit, die nicht auf satanischen oder religiösen Motiven basiert, sondern sich mit dem Verlust von Empathie und Sinn in der modernen Gesellschaft auseinandersetzt.
Welches Fazit zieht die Arbeit?
Die Arbeit schliesst mit der Feststellung, dass es keine einfache Antwort auf die Fragen nach dem "Ende der Welt" gibt. Sie zeigt, dass die biblischen Vorstellungen vom Jüngsten Gericht in der Rockmusik unterschiedlich interpretiert und adaptiert werden. Sie prognostiziert, dass der Fokus zukünftig eher auf dem Ende des Individuums innerhalb einer desintegrierten Gesellschaft oder dem Ende von Gesellschaften an sich liegen wird.
Welche Literatur und Quellen werden verwendet?
Die Arbeit zitiert eine Vielzahl von Büchern zur Bibelinterpretation, Dämonologie, Rockmusikgeschichte und -soziologie. Sie bezieht sich auf Interviews aus dem Metal Hammer Magazin und nennt konkrete Musikalben und -songs, die als Quellen dienen. Die Literaturliste enthält sowohl wissenschaftliche Werke als auch populärwissenschaftliche Literatur.
0. Preface
Have you ever thought about the aspects of "end"? What ends? - how does it end? - when does it end? - is it merely a subjective point of view? - and what will come afterwards? There goes the saying that every end has a beginning, therefore we could ask the same questions about "beginning". Although in a different context, it is Elton John's "The Circle of Life"1 that formulates the general idea . However, this idea does not quite fit when it comes to the end of a whole generation or a whole population - or simply "of a whole". Arts, literature and music dealt and still deal with it, and apparently it divides into two main categories: works influenced by religious or biblical ideas, and works dealing generally with the decline of the human race. This essay will focus on how rock music of the eighties and nineties used either the first or the latter.
1. The Bible and Christian Apocalypse
1.1 The Pope and the Devil
"We believe in THE God, in the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, the Creator of the visible things, just as they exist in this world, on which we live our life, and of the invisible things, such as the pure ghosts, which we call angels.2 ", Pope Paul VI. said in his speech on November 15th 1972. Unlike others, he dared to mention and include the Fallen Angels, with the Devil leading them. "Does the threat of pain and death, of despicableness, cruelty, sin, in short the evil, does ist have no meaning to us?[...] Those two sides [good and evil] are opposing each other. The one side seeks the Good, the other side drives itself to Evil." Although the Church apparently knows about the existence of evil and therefore has to accept it, it is seldom mentioned specifically in a precise and proper way. Still, the Holy Bible is the source and proof, that there was, is and will be the fight between good and evil. Mentioning and adoring the devil and satan is felt to be a provocation of the christian believe and even society as such - and provocation is felt to be the best way to step into the public spotlight.
For a good 15 years, starting at the beginning of the eighties and ending around the middle of the nineties, a lot of Hard Rock and Heavy Metal bands used the idea of satanism and Judgement Day as a means of provocation, and there were only a few who really dealt with the issue instead of creating a mere image with it. The result was that bands defined themselves through belonging to one of the categories of Glam Metal, Death Metal, Doom Metal, White Metal, Black Metal, Thrash Metal, Speed Metal, Power Metal, Epic Metal, Gothic Metal etc. For an outsider, those categories seemed to be chosen by chance and without a consistent background, but for the musicians and the fans it was a necessary and important destinction, last not least to belong and count themselves to a certain group. Consequently it was impossible to be a publicly confessing fan of both Black Metal and White Metal, of Death Metal and Hard Rock etc. (the Hard Rockers were often considered as the wimps of Heavy Metal and got the devaluating title "Poser", since they were said to be posing on stage instead of playing rock). On the other hand, one wasn't "crucified" by his peers when he listened to Doom Metal and Dark Metal, maybe together with Black Metal and Thrash Metal, since they were similar in their "heaviness", meaning in their similarity of guitar sounds, arrangments, vocal styles and lyrics content.
A lot of bands used satanic symbols, runes and lyrics only to provocate or swim in the stream of contemporary popularity, and some really worked on biblical images and ideas in connection. To separate the wheat from the chaff, it is necessary to know the basic biblical and prophetical images and concepts, and then to search for them in the whole Heavy Metal genre of the eighties and nineties.
1.2 The Book of Revelations
Apocalyptic visions can not solely be found in the New Testament. In the Old Testament Daniel (7-12) wrote verses in order to tell the israelites to keep the faith in God in the times of persecution through Antioch Iv. Epiphane. In the New Testament, the Book of Revelation certainly is THE visionary basis of most of the end time fantasies in the western world. The Book of Revelation (or "The Apocalypse", which can be used synonymously) was written by John around A.D. 95. It is placed in a time of persecution in the reign of the emperor Domitian and could de divided into an introductory explanation, the letters to the seven churches, visions of the time between the prophet's situation and the end of time, Christ's return and the new world, and John's last remarks.
1.2.1 The Seven Seals
As a prophet, John received a whole series of visions which were adressed to seven churches in Asia Minor3. The tenor of these visions was that the seven cities should open their eyes and see that they worship a false God (meaning the Roman Emperor).Then John saw heaven and God sitting on his throne with a scroll in his right hand. The scroll had seven seals. As the first four were opened by a lamb (as a symbol for Christ), four riders appeared4 - the first rider "was given a crown, and as a conqueror he rode out to conquer his enemies." The second was "granted permission to take peace from the earth, so that people would butcher one another." The third rider "had a balanced scale in his hand.[...] "A quart of what will cost a day's pay and three quarts of barley will cost a day pay. But do not damage the olive oil and the wine!". The fourth rider was "Death, and Hades followed with him. They were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill ist population by the sword, by famine, by pestilence, and by the wild animals of the earth.".
The fifth seal revealed the souls "who had been violently killed because of the word of God and because of the testimony they had given." It was the sixth seal when "the sun became as black as sackcloth made of hair and the full moon became blood red; and the stars in the sky fell to the earth [...] The sky was split apart like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved from its place."5. As the lamb opened the seventh seal, seven angels stood in front of God, each with a trumpet in its hands.
1.2.2 The Seven Trumpets
The sound of each trumpet had consequences on earth and humanity.
The first trumpet brought "hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was thrown at the earth so that a third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up and all the green grass was burned up.
When the second trumpet sounded, "something like a great mountain of burning fire was thrown into the sea. A third of the sea became blood, and a third of the creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were completely destroyed."
Then the third angel sound his trumpet, "and a huge star burning like a torch fell from the sky." It landed in a river "and many people died from these waters because they had turned bitter."
A third of the sun, the moon and the stars was struck when the fourth trumpet sounded.
John saw "a star fallen from the sky to the earth" as the fifth angel sounded his trumpet. The star "was given a key to the shaft of the abyss. He opened the shaft of the abyss[...]." Locusts escaped who were not to damage nature but to torture the people for five months.
At the sound of the sixth trumpet John heard a voice saying to the sixth angel: "Set free the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates." The four angels killed a third of the population on earth. Still "the rest of the humanity, who had not been killed [...], did not repent of the works of their hands so as to stop worshiping demons and idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood. [...] They did not repent of their murders, of their magic spells, of their sexual immorality, or of their stealing."
Then an angel appeared, roared like a lion, and seven thunders raised their voice. John was not allowed write down what they said. Instead the angels swears that "in the days when the seventh angel is about to sound his trumpet, the mystery of God is completed." Two prophets are to come with the power to "close up the sky [...], to turn the waters to blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague whenever they want."
Then the seventh angel blowed his trumpet, and it was time for God to begin to reign.
1.2.3 The Woman and the Dragon
Like various other images, the dragon was used as a symbol for the devil. After the temple of God was opened and the ark of his testament was seen, a great wonder appeard: a woman "clothed with the sun and the moon under her feet". This woman was pregnant and gave birth to a child. At this very moment another wonder appeared in heaven and a great red dragon came, destroying the third part of the stars with his tail. The dragon intended to "devour her child as soon as ist was born." The woman "brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron." To save it from the dragon, God took the child to his throne and sent
Michael and his angels to fight the dragon. They were victorious and cast Satan and his angels down to earth. Satan seeks for the woman, tries to kill her but fails. In his rage he decides to persecute all those people "which kept the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." He stood at the beach , and a beast came out of the sea, terribly ugly and combining various animals in one.
1.2.4 666 - The Number of the Beast
The dragon gave all his power to the beast, and people started to worship Satan and his beast. The beast, full of blasphemies against God, was allowed to fight against the saints, "and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations." 13,7.
Let him that has understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is six hundred threescore and six.
The image of the beast is taken from the Book of Daniel. The "human number" 666 is the disastrous characteristic of the coming beast, sent by Satan to be the future king of the whole world. The beast will subjugate all people and tribes in the world with utmost brutality, cruelty and hatred. Every man will have to have written the number of the beast either on their forehead or their right hand6. The Secret Revelation says that the number 666 is the number of a name and the number (or name) of a human person.
Another beast appears who could be seen as an assistant of the first beast, since he "exercised all the power of the beast before him and caused the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast." 13,12 The second beast usually is seen to be the antichrist.
1.2.5 The Antichrist
The concept of the Antichrist has actually two sources, one source more prophetical and the other more political7. Both ideas are concerned with a single person or a small group, who want to lead humanity into its ruin. The prophetical idea deals with "pseudo-prophets"8 who perform miracles and thereby claim to be the real endtime prophet, the one and only Christ. They are are threat for humanity, since they imitate the actions of Jesus Christ and are in their whole appearance very similar to the real saviour9. People will only be able to distinguish the false and the true Christ, that only the latter will come down from heaven.
The political idea of the Antichrist is concerned with the Roman Empire. The first beast received its power directly from the Devil10. Nobody doubts that this has to be the Roman Emperor. The beast is supported by a prophetical assistant who is to be called the Antichrist.
Both the prophetical and the political concept show the Antichrist very similiar to the real Messiah.
Then three angels appeared, one praising God, one telling about the fallen Babylon and the third warning that he who worships the beast and has his number on the forehead or his right hand shall "drink of the wine of God's anger." 14,10.
1.2.6 The Final Plagues - Armageddon
Another wonder appeared in heaven and seven angels came with the seven final plagues. The people on earth who carried the beast's mark suffered from ugly and painful sores as the first angel poured out the bowls of wrath. The second angel brought death to a third of the living creatures in the sea. The third turns all rivers into blood while the fourth makes the sun burn people to death. The fifth angel poures the bowl of anger over the throne of the beast. Afterwards all the kings of world gather in Armageddon for Judgement Day, since the ghosts of the dragon and the beasts was released by the sixth angel. Finally the seventh angel pours the bowl of anger into the air, and a tremendous earthquake split the great city into three parts.
1.2.7 The Great Prostitute and the Beast
One angel leads John to a place in the desert to show him "the condemnation and the punishment of the great prostitute.11 ", meaning the city of Babylon. John "was greatly astounded" at the sight of all the marks on the prostitute. However, the angel says:"Why are you astounded? [...] The beast you saw was, and is not, but is to come up from the abyss and then go to destruction."12. Only those whose names were not written in the book of life will be astounded. John is taught that the ten horns of the beast are a synonym for the ten kings who will fight against Christ (the lamb) and perish - and this is exactly what happened afterwards. The whore Babylon fell, the beast and the false prophet (the antichrist) were thrown into a lake of sulfur, and the the rest was killed by the sword.
1.2.8 The Thousand Year Reign and Satan's Final Defeat
Once again an angel appeared13 who went down to the abyss to seize Satan and tie him for a thousand years. When these thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison. He will "go out to deceive the nations at the four corners of the world, Gog and Magog14, to bring them together for the battle.[...] They encircled the camp of the saints and the beloved city, but fire came down from heaven and devoured them completely." The devil is thrown back into the lake of sulfur, where the beast and the antichrist are still hanging around, and they all will be tormented there "day and night for ever and ever." Finally, a new heaven and a new earth come into existence, and God will live there among his people and "will shine on them, and they will reign forever and ever."15
1.3 "On the Highway to Hell" - The road to the Devil via Lucifer and Satan
The notion of devil (greek: diabolos= libeller, bewilderer) goes back to the Satan in the Old Testament. It was in the apocryphs when Satan became the enemy of God and eventually was called "the devil". This is the main reason why you can read "Satan" as a synonym for "devil" in the New Testament. Additionally symbols like a snake or a dragon are used for the devil, symbols which are most common today in music as well as in arts or movies16. Other symbols, especially in the Middle Ages, were toad , fish17, dragon, cat, dog, wolf, pig, oxen, the infamous black man or a beautiful girl18.
Jes.14,12 mentions an angel who falls into the underworld and who is named the son of dawn19. In Luke 10,18 this fallen angel called Lucifer is said to be satan, and from now on Lucifer is a synonym for satan. Afterwards the newplatonian cosmology was responsible for the development of the notion of devil in christian demonology. Since demons have an airlike body, they are able to intrude into other (=human) bodys and to control their soul and spirit. The church's only weapon against this possession is to practice exorcism. Exorcists are clerical specialists who are trained in curing possessed bodys.
In the Old Testament, satan (hebrew: satan = adversary, opponent) actually is an important part in the genesis and even is said to be a child of God. In his first days is used by God as an instrument to test mankind20. The New Testament conjuncts two ideas of the Devil. Firstly the Satan who is quite similar to the Satan in the Book of Job21, and secondly the leader of the fallen angels, whose aim is to hurt Jesus Christ and to lead mankind into temptation. The New Testament shows up with a lot more extreme situation. There Satan /the devil turns out to be a most serious and inexorable opponent22 und increasingly gains the facettes of "the other one", "The Evil" in clear contrast to "The Good".
To sum up, Satan
1. is the leader of the fallen angels
2. can be identified with the snake in paradise
3. is no longer God's instrument but his opponent
2. Short History of Satan in Rock Music
One of the most popular rock bands in the world is probably "The Rolling Stones". Influenced by Kenneth Anger, who was a scholar of Aleister Crowley, the leader of the cult "Ordo Templi Orients"23, they published a song called "Sympathy for the Devil", which actually "just" dealt with the mere notion of the devil without having a real satanic content. However, Jagger and the Stones broke with Anger, when the 18-year-old black Meredith Hunter was stabbed to death by members of the Hell's Angels, while the Stones were playing "Sympathy...". Later, Anger said about Jagger that "he understood the whole magic just as a game, but now it became reality in such a way, that it could destroy the band."24 At the beginning of the seventies Black Sabbath professionally introduced the idea of occultism in Rock
Music25 and became the idol of the Black Metal scene in the eighties. From this time, the Heavy Metal scene started to develop and gained more and more fans all over the world. The big bang of success was the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (which was abbreviated by the unpronouncable NWoBHM). Bands like Saxon, Judas Priest or Iron Maiden26 influenced a whole generation of metal bands to come. Still the lyric contents of these three bands differed very much from one another. Saxon worked mostly on harmless martial expressions, while Judas Priest sang about all possible ideas without creating or following a precise band image27 except the one of being a Heavy Metal band. The lyrics of Iron Maiden will contribute very much to the topic of "The End of the World in Rock Music". They frequently used images and ideas from the bible28 or created own fantasy concepts29.
In the middle of the eighties, the NWoBHM slowly ebbed away, with only their main protagonists still swimming in the water of success, the whole Heavy Metal scene split up into various categories. Bands started to define themselve through belonging to one of the categories of Mainstream Rock, Hard Rock, Glam Rock, Heavy Metal, Speed Metal, Death Metal, Doom Metal, White Metal, Black Metal, Thrash Metal, Power Metal, Epic Metal, Gothic Metal etc. For an outsider, those categories seemed to be chosen by chance and without a consistent background, but for the musicians and the fans it was a necessary and important destinction, last not least to belong and count themselves to a certain group. Consequently it was impossible to be a publicly confessing fan of both Black Metal and White Metal, of Death Metal and Hard Rock etc. (the Hard Rockers were often considered as the wimps of Heavy Metal and got the devaluating title "Poser", since they were said to be posing on stage instead of playing rock). On the other hand, one wasn't "crucified" by his peers when he listened to Doom Metal and Dark Metal, maybe together with Black Metal and Thrash Metal, since they were similar in their "heaviness", meaning in their similarity of guitar sounds, arrangments, vocal styles and lyrics content.
While a lot of bands from the Hard Rock and Heavy Metal side, being more compatible to the taste of the masses, increasingly found themselves in the charts in Europe and the United States30, the bands from the other categories stayed in the second row of commercialisation. Of course there were a few exception like Metallica, but mostly the range from Speed Metal to Gothic Metal never really stepped out of the shadow of being an underground music. In the second half of the eighties the "big ones" in this sector were called Metallica, Slayer, Venom, Testament, Megadeth or Anthrax. Especially Slayer worked exceedingly on satanic images. Towards the end of the eighties the use of satanic symbols and ideas lost a lot of its provocative attitude that it used to have in the first days of Black Sabbath in the 70's or Alice Cooper and Ozzy Osbourne in the 80's.
The media and most of the fans either did not care anyway or had an increased interest in satanism31. The press dealt with it and only a few orthodox organisations in the USA like the PMRC still censored bands and put them on a black list (which ironically increased the bands popularity). The whole genre was at its climax around the end of the eighties and the beginning of the nineties. From this moment on, the way lead downwards again - slow but unstoppable. Maybe the whole music scene and style was overdone and overcommercialised, or it was simply that the new generation did not want to listen to music that was popular a decade ago. Soon the way out of this dilemma was found - Grunge. Out of the blue a band called Nirvana became extremely successful all over the world, nobody really knew why, but the music industry blindly signed all promising bands in Seattle. Nirvana did not care about satanism, but sang about the fall of the individual empire - the destruction and decline of the self, the end of the own small world32.
The two deacades of plain Hard Rock, Heavy Metal and such are over, and only a few bands like Metallica or Bon Jovi still appear on MTV more or less frequently. The genres started to mix, Rap with Heavy Metal, Grunge with Pop. Still the influence of the two "Rock Decades" can certainly be seen in artists and bands like Kid Rock, Monster Magnet or Marilyn Manson (who is one of the very few who shows satanic influences in his lyrics like in "Antichrist Superstar" or "Cryptorchild"33 ).
Four songs of three bands, that are representative for their section within the Heavy Metal genre, will be closer looked at. Slayer will be used as an example for Thrash Metal / Black Metal lyrics, two songs of Iron Maiden shall represent the NWoBHM and Heavy Metal as such, and the Mainstream Rock of Marillion working on the notion of "The End of the World", though definetely without a satanic content.
3. "It's Black, it's White. Yeah." - The Devil and God as an Image Factor
Short definition of Satanism: a religion in which Satan is worshipped, either as a deity or as a principle. Adherents purportedly follow simple rules of behavior: give kindness to those who deserve it; indulge in your lusts and wants; seek vengeance rather than turning the other cheek. Although their beliefs are different from Christianity, Satanists are not particularly anti- Christian. They may include insulting references to Wicca in their rituals. Satanists are either dabblers or members of the Church of Satan, Temple of Set or Church of Satanic Liberation. Their membership in North America is unknown. Conservative usage: a violently anti-Christian religion worshipping Satan; a secret conspiracy which engages in satanic ritual abuse and human sacrifices - usually of children; membership rapidly rising.
Some fundamentalists define all non-Christian faith groups as Satanic.
Only a minority of the Black Metal scene apparently was into apocalyptic topics like King Diamond, who said he knew " a lot about occoultism, since I have intensively studied it in the last years. You can read a lot of good books about this topic, which introduce you into the idea and the depth of this science." The majority of Black - or Death Metal bands used satanic and apocalyptic ideas as a mere image tool. Questioned, wether the musicians of Slayer considered themselves being satanists, the shouter34 Tom Araya answered: "If I would negate this question, a lot of people would have doubts about our image. Basically it's just what the individual considers to be the truth.35 " The band members of Venom were of the same opinion: "You shouldn't overestimate it, it's a lot about image."36 Interestingly enough there was a kind of counter-movement called "White Metal", and a band named "Stryper" was its pioneer. Although trying hard to convince people that they are true about their christian mission, it was just another way of creating an image that was supposed to tell people not to worship Satan (and especially not the evil, evil Black Metal bands) but to believe in the Coming of Jesus the Saviour. The story of the bands success (which they only had in America) reads as follows: "One day there was this guy who came into our rehearsal rooms and said that we will be extremely successfull if we would lay our fate into the hands of God. That's why we started it all over again. And that's why we are now newborn Christians37 [...].We have something to tell, to every single American, and that's the main reason for our success. If you love God, but not Rock'n Roll, you'll like Stryper. On the other hand, if you love Rock 'n Roll, but don't care about God, you'll like Stryper, too.
And if you like both, God and Rock 'n Roll, you will love Stryper, go to all our concerts, buy all our records, and be happy for the rest of your life.38 "
4. The Protagonists
4.1 Slayer
The name "Slayer" was closely bound with the idea of a typical satanic and sadistic Thrash band. From time to time even fanzines critised the violent and "pro-devil" message of Slayer songs. The musicians of Slayer usually reacted on this accusation like they did in a Metal Hammer interview. "We don't provoke, we don't say " Do this or do that.", and don't state what's good or evil. In certain things we do believe, in others we don't. How people see it or how they understand it, is their opinion."39
Raining Blood
Trapped in purgatory A lifeless object alive Awaiting reprisal
Death will be their aquisition
The sky is turning red
Return to power draws near Fall into me
The sky's crimson tears
Abolish the rules made of stone
Pierced from below, souls of my treacherous past Betrayed by many
Now ornaments dripping above
Awaiting the hour of reprisal Your times slip away
Raining blood
From a lacerated sky
Bleeding its horror
Creating my structure
Now I shall reign in blood!
The song starts with moody sound effects, creating a dark and creepy atmosphere. Then the music begins, being very dramatic in the first sixteen bars and erupting into aggressive treatment of the instruments. The vocals are about the same, it would be a compliment if you would say Tom Araya cannot sing. The lyrics of "Raining Blood" are written from the perspective of Satan himself, as he sits in purgatory40, "awaiting reprisal" for the defeat he suffered when an angel locked him in the bottomless pit41, where he has to wait for a thousand years. The sky turns into an apocalyptic blood red, and Satan is about to strike back ("Return to power draws near") and to abolish "the rules made of stone", meaning Moses' ten commandments. All the souls which were not in the book of life and therefore thrown into the lake of fire42 wait with him, watch the time of the confessing christians slip away. At this point of the song, the music emphazises the notion of "time" by playing straight "second-like" guitar riffs in one tune, of Judgement Day coming nearer inch by inch. Again, the music erupts into the refrain, which ends with the prediction: "Now I shall reign in blood.", meaning that there will be no New Jerusalem but the bloody reign of Satan.
4.2 Iron Maiden
The British Heavy Metal band Iron Maiden continually worked on apocalyptic ideas like "The Prophecy" or "Seventh Son of a Seventh Son"43 or on descriptive ideas taken from the Bible like in "Revelations" and "The Number of the Beast", which shall be used as an example.
Revelations
"O God of Earth and Altar Bow down and hear our cry Our earthly rulers falter Our people drift and die The walls of gold entomb us The swords of scorn divide Take not thy thunder from us But take away our pride."
G. K. Chesterton; English Hymnal
Just a babe in a black abyss
No reason for a place like this
The walls are cold and souls cry out in pain An easy way for the blind to go
A clever path for the fools who know
The secret of the hanged man - the smile on his lips
The light of the blind-you'll see
The venom that tears my spine
The eyes of the Nile are opening-you'll see
She came to me with a serpent's kiss
As the eye of the sun rose on her lips
Moonlight catches silver tears I cry
So we lay in the black embrace
And the seed is sown in a holy place
And I watched, and I waited for the dawn
The light of the blind-you'll see The venom that tears my spine
The eyes of the Nile are opening - you'll see
Bind all of us together
Ablaze with hope and free No storm or heavy weather Will rock the boat you'll see
The time has come to close your eyes And still the wind and rain
For the one who will be king Is the watcher in the ring It is you
The whole song is kept in a very hymnal tune, and the lines of Chesterton's "English Hymnal" perfectly fit. Chesterton relates to the situation in Revelations 5-18 when God lets down the seven angels and punishes the people because of their ignorance of his power and their lack of faith in him. Iron Maiden continues to use metaphors which relate to Satan (babe in a black abyss, venom, serpent's kiss). The "babe" could relate to Satan locked in the lake of sulphur, to be freed after thousand years, surrounded by the souls who had to go with him. The "Nile" leaves more place for interpretation. It could be a synonym for Egypt, a nation that supressed Moses and his people until they decided to revolt and go on their way to Israel. Egypt again might be a symbol for evil oppression as such, just like Satan's reign would promise. Nile's opening of his eyes could allude to Satan's rise out of the lake of sulphur. Apparently the whole song is written from the view of the devil, since he lies with the woman (the one to give birth to the devils seed) in a black embrace. The third verse calls for a summit or the creation of a new community lead by whom? Satan? For the author it is not that obvious who "the watcher of the ring" is. Maybe it is not really important for the whole interpretation, and the last verse is simply used by the band as a means of dramatisation.
The second example by Iron Maiden is "The number of the beast".
The Number of the Beast
Woe to you oh earth and sea
For the devil sends the beast with roth Because he knows that time is short Let him who hath understanding Reckon the number of the beast For it is a human number
It's number is six hundred and sixty six
I left alone
My mind was blank I needed time to think
To get the memories from my mind What did I see
Can I believe
That what saw that night
Was real and not just fantasy Just what I saw
In my own dreams
Was the reflections of my warped mind staring back at me Cause in my dreams
It's always there
The evil face the twists my mind And brings me to despair Yeah
Night was black
Was no use turning back Cause I just had to see Was someone watching me
In the mist dark fingers move and twist Was all this for real
Or just some kind of hell
The number of the beast Hell and fire
Was spawned to be released
Torches blazed and scared chants were phrased As they start to cry, hands held to the sky In the night the fires are burning bright
The ritual has begun, Satan's work is done
The number of the beast Sacrifice
Is going on tonight
This can't go on
I must inform the law
Can this still be real
Or just some crazy dream But I feel drawn
Towards the chanting hordes Seem to mesmerise
Can't avoid their eyes
The number of the beast 666
The one for you and me
I'm coming back
I will return
And I'll posess your body And I'll make you burn I have the fire
I have the force
I have the power to make my evil Take it's course
Basically, this song is about a character who finds himself watching a ritual for designed to let Satan rise again. He (the character: let us call him Zladko) does not quite know wether "all this is for real or just some kind of hell". Zladko sees torches, hears chants and crys, somebody is sacrificed to fulfill Satan's work. As he is just about to "inform the law", Zladko is converted by the hordes and joins Satans followers ("the one for you and me"). The last verse can be seen as "Satans personal prophecy". The lyrics are not really challenging, still they underline the rise of the beast and the probable end of the actual world.
4.3 Marillion
However, the end of the world does not necessarily need a biblical context, as the wonderful "The Last Straw" written by Marillion shows.
The Last Straw
Hotel hobbies padding dawns hollow corridors A Typewriter cackles out a stream of memories
Drying out a conscience, evicting a nightmare
Opening the doors for the dreams to come home
We live our lives in private shells
Ignore our senses and fool ourselves
Into thinking that out htere there's someone else cares Someone to answer all our prayers
Are we too far gone, are we so irresponsible Have we lost our balls, or do we just not care We're terminal cases that keep taking medicine Pretending the end isn't quite that near We make futile gestures, act to the cameras With our made up faces and PR smiles And then the angel comes down to deliver us We'll find out after all, we're only men of straw
But everything is still the same
Passing the time passing the blame
We carry on in the same old way
Wel'll find out we left it too late one day To say what we meant to say.
Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the water
Those problems seem to arise the one you never really thought of
The feeling you get is similar to some sort of drowning
When you are out of your mind, out of your depth, you should have taken soundings
We're clutching at straws, we're clutching at straws, we're clutching at straws
And if you ever come across us don't give us your sympathy You can buy us a drink and just shake our hands
And you'll recognise by the reflection in our eyes That deep down inside we're all one and the same We're clutching at straws, still drowning.
This song suggests that all of us only pretend to lead a happy life, pretend to be contented with what we are doing. The generations living on this planet lack of empathy, natural and unstained behaviour, and seriousness, and shallowness is one of our main characteristics. If we would be able to learn from this, man could change it, but "everything is still the same, [...] we carry on in the same old way." The text does speak for itself, since it is not packed with too many metaphors. To pack the whole possible meaning into one simple phrase you could say that mankind apparently lives itself to death, to its own end. The farther it moves from it own nature, the closer mankind comes to its own end.
5. The End of the Essay
Apparently there is no real answer to the questions of " What ends? - how does it end? - when does it end? - is it merely a subjective point of view? - and what will come afterwards?" The Holy Bible suggests ideas which are precise in the beginning and a lot fuzzier at the end. We still do not know the time or place of the Second Coming, and even cannot be sure wether we will be able to recognise it or to distinct it from Satan. There will always be ending world fantasies in music, but in our world where the importance of religion seems to diminish, satanistic references in music lyrics will not be enough to provoke the public. There might be some satanic hints, and there might come a new music genre which would perfectly fit to these ideas, but at the moment it only exists in single bands like Marylin Manson. In the future the focus will probably ly on either the end of the individual within a society that is not able to integrate or the end of societies as such like in "The Last Straw". Still, we should not lose all our faith and hope, and keep it with Terence Trent D'Arby:
"But Baby, it ain't over till it's over."
6. Appendix:
Megadeth
Set the World Afire
Red flash clouds choking out the morning sky
They say it'd never come, we knew it was a lie
All forms of life die now the humans all succumb
Time to kiss your ass goodbye, the end has just begun.
Distorted figures walk in the streets, it's 1989
Weeds once underneath your feet have grown to vines Bodies melted like a canldle, a land without a face No time to change your fate, no time left, it's too late.
The arsenal of Megadeth can't be rid they said And if it comes, the living will envy the dead Racing for power, and all come in last No winning first stone cast
This falsehood wordly peace.
Its treaties soon will cease
No one will be left to prove that humans existed Maybe soon the children will be born open fisted We all live on one planet it will all go up in smoke.
Too bad they couldn't see this lethal energy And now the final scene, a global darkening.
Dig deep the piles of rubble and ruins
Towering overhead both far and wide
There's unknown tools for World War III
Einstein said "We'll use rocks on the other side" No survivors set the world afire.
Iron Maiden
Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
Here they stand brothers them all All the sons divided they fall Here await the birth of the son
The seventh, the heavenly, the chosen one
Here the birth from an unbroken line
Born the healer the seventh, his time
Unknowingly blessed and as his life unfolds Slowly unveiling the power he holds
Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
Then they watch the progress he makes
The Good and the Evil which path he will take Both of them trying to manipulate
The use of his powers before it's too late.
Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
Today is born the seventh one Born of woman the seventh son And he in turn of a seventh son He has the power to heal
He has the gift of the second sight He is the chosen one
So it shall be written So it shall be done.
Iron Maiden The Prophecy
Now that I know that the right time has come My prediction will surely be true
The impending disaster it looms
And the whole of the village is doomed Why won't you listen to me
Is it so hard to understand
That I am the real seventh son
Your life or death on me depends.
Suffering and pain impending disaster Souls crying the devil's laughter Heard the cry of the seven whistlers Lucifer smiles looks and waits
I'll take your life in my hands
Your fate your fortune's in my visions Heed what I say and you'll see what What will be
Please listen to me
Now that they see the disaster is done
Now they put all the blame unto me
They feel I brought on a curse
Don't they know that the torment
It stays with me knowing that I walk alone Through the eyes of the future I see They don't even know what fear is Don't they know I'm the one who is cursed
Purgatory beckons souls lost forever
Life after death or heaven hereafter
Heard the call of the seven whistlers again Now Lucifer laughs hell awaits
I had their lives in my hands
Their fate their fortune is in my visions No one believed in my true prophecy And now it's too late.
Black Sabbath Black Sabbath
What is this that stands before me? Figure in black which points at me Turn around quick, and start to run Find out I'm the chosen one Oh nooo!
Big black shape with eyes of fire Telling people their desire Satan's sitting there, he's smiling
Watches those flames get higher and higher Oh no, no, please God help me!
Is it the end, my friend?
Satan's coming 'round the bend
people running 'cause they're scared The people better go and beware! No, no, please, no!
Marilyn Manson Cryptorchild
Each time I make my mother cry an
angel dies and falls from heaven
when the boy is still a worm it's hard to learn the number seven
but when they get to you
it's the first thing that they do each time I look outside
my mother dies, I feel my back is changing shape when the worm consumes the boy it's never considered rape
when they get to you
prick your finger it is done...
the moon has now eclipsed the sun... the angel has spread its wings... the time has come for bitter things...
Antichrist Superstar
you built me up with your wishing hell I didn't have to sell you
you threw your money in the pissing well you do just what they tell you
REPENT, that's what I'm talking about i shed the skin to feed the fake REPENT, that's what I'm talking about whose mistake am i anyway?
Cut the head off
Grows back hard I am the hydra
now you'll see your star
prick your finger it is done
the moon has now eclipsed the sun the angel has spread its wings
the time has come for bitter things (chorus) the time has come it is quite clear our antichrist
is almost here... it is done
Stryper
Battle Hymn of the Republic
Mine eyes have seen the glory
Of the coming of the Lord
He is trampling out the vintage
Where the grapes of wrath are stored He hath loosed the fateful lightening Of His terrible swift sword
His truth is marching on
Glory, Glory Hallelujah Glory, Glory Hallelujah Glory, Glory Hallelujah His truth is marching on His truth is marching on
From Wrong to Right
I've changed my ways from wrong to right.
The devil never pays, no, he robs just like a thief in the night So many bands give the devil all the glory
It's hard to understand, we want to change the story
We want to rock one way, on and on.
You'll see the light some day All say Jesus is the way.
Satan is a fool and it's so insane.
Some people think he's cool, you play with fire, You'll feel the pain.
Why lose when you could win? Give God a try. The devil's not your friend, the truth is not a lie.
I've changed my ways from wrong to wright Evil never pays, no, the truth is not a lie.
7. Literature
Bekh, Wolfgang Johannes (1998), Das Ende der Welt - Visionen, Prophezeiungen, Wahrsagungen. Pattloch Verlag, Augsburg.
Berger, Klaus (1999), Wie kommt das Ende der Welt? Quell Verlag, Stuttgart.
Die Bibel. Evangelische Haupt-Bibelgesellschaft, Berlin.
Hübner, Kurt (1994) Die zweite Schöpfung - Das Wirkliche in Kunst und Musik
Holy Bible - Everyday Study Edition. World Publishing, Dallas.
Holy Bible - King James Version. Cambridge Unviersity Press, Cambridge.
Kongregation für die Glaubenslehre in Rom (1999), Christlicher Glaube und Dämonenlehre. Christiana Verlag, Stein am Rhein
Mader, Matthias, Manfred Kerschke, Otger Jeske (1995), NWoBHM - The Glory Days. Verlag Jeske/Mader GbR, Berlin.
Metal Hammer Magazin, Jahrgang 1986, NEUMA Software und System GmbH, Lüdenscheid
Roccor, Bettina (1998), Heavy Metal - Die Bands. Die Fans. Die Gegner. C.H. Beck'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, München.
Rothkranz, Johannes (1996), 666 - die Zahl des Tieres. Pro Fide Catholica Verlag Anton a. Schmidt, Durach.
Webster's Comprehensive Dictionary. 1998, J.G.Ferguson Publishing Company, Chicago.
Ziefle, Helmut W. (1997) Modern Theological German. Baker Books, Grand Rapids.
http://www.pages.com/cgi/dir.pl?search="the+end+of+the+world"
http://www.bible.com/
Audio sources
Candlemass, Nightfall
Iron Maiden, Seventh Son of a Seventh Son. 1988, EMI Records
Iron Maiden, The Number of the Beast. Digitally Remastered 1998, EMI Records
Marillion, Clutching at straws. 1987, EMI Records
Ozzy Osbourne, The Ozzman Cometh. 1997, Sony Music Entertainment.
Slayer, Reign in Blood. 1986, Def Jam Records
Slayer, South of Heaven. 1988, Def Jam Records
Recommendations for further listening:
Songs with "*" will be on the enclosed tape Singles:
- Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath Crimson Glory - Where Dragons Rule, on Transcendence,
- Iron Maiden - Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
- Iron Maiden - The Prophecy
- Megadeth - Set the World Afire Metallica - Jump in the Fire Metallica - Master of Puppets
Representative Longplayers: Candlemass - Nightfall Iron Maiden - Piece of Mind King Diamond - Abigail Testament - The Legacy Stryper - In God We Trust Slayer - Reign in Blood Slayer - South of Heaven
[...]
1 Original Soundtrack "The Lion King", 1997
2 From Kongregation für die Glaubenslehre in Rom (1999), p.66
3 The seven churches in Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea
4 The four riders are metaphorical hints to the so called messiahnic woes: the ethnic war, the civil war, inflation and famine, pestilence and widespread deaths.
5 Book of Revelation 6, 1-17
6 Brief excursion: since "w" is an old greek sign for "6", some theories say that the world wide web (www) is probably the number of the beast. People usually sit in front of the computer screen and the www points to their forehead, or they use it via mouse with the www on their right hand.
7 see Berger, Klaus (1999) p.172
8 Mark 13,5.21
9 2 Thessalonians 2
10 Revelations 13,2
11 Revelations 17,1
12 Revelations 17,8
13 I wonder wether there's any place left for us in heaven when it is already overcrowded with so many angels. Or to say it with the Kelly Family: "Sometimes I wish I were an angel".
14 symbols for all heathen people or nations
15 Revelations 22,5
16 "End of Days" starring Arnold Schwarzenegger used the blood of a snake as a symbol for the devilish incubation of a baby. This baby shall give birth to satans seed 25 years later.
17 Interestingly enough, the fish is the symbol of christianity in our days. Certainly those different meanings of the symbol "fish" have a totally different background
18 I do believe in this one...J
19 The Roman Mythology calls him Lucifer
20 see The Book of Job
21 Luke 4, 6-7
22 Luke 22,3 and John 13,27
23 Metal Hammer 2/86, p.40
24 same
25 see Tape: Black Sabbath "Black Sabbath", for Lyrics see Appendix
26 see 4.2 The Protagonist - Iron Maiden
27 Their songs ranged from "Breaking the Law" to "Rock you all around the world"and "Turbo Lover"
28 "The Number of the Beast ", "Revelations", "Hallowed be thy name" etc.
29 "The Prophecy", "Seventh Son of a Seventh Son"
30 Firstly because of their mostly non-provocative appearance, secondly they still could be seen as a modern form of rock 'n roll, and thirdly their music style allowed to write ballads, that served the image of the "Hard Rocker with the soft heart". There were times in the second half of the eighties where you knew that the third or fourth song on a Hard Rock LP was most likely the obligatory ballad, and probably the first single of the album.
31 However, those certainly were the minority. The fans did not make such a fuss about the lyrics and images of their bands like the public did, since they cared for the music in the first place, and the image of a band actually just supported the range from power to aggression of the music.
32 "Jesus doesn't want me for a sunbeam", "Dumb", "Lithium" and many more.
33 See Appendix
34 Metal term for vocalist or singer.
35 Metal Hammer 2/86 p.4
36 Metal Hammer 2/86 p.41
37 Halleluja.
38 Metal Hammer 2/86 p.41
39 Metal Hammer 2/86 p.4
40 "any place or state of temporary banishment, suffering or punishment", Webster's Comprehensive Dictionary
41 Revelations 20, 1-3
42 Revelations 20, 15
43 see tape for audio examples and the Appendix for lyrics
- Quote paper
- Lutz Leukhardt (Author), 2000, The end of the world in rock music, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/99081
