I remember listening to Led Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven when I was a kid and thinking it was the most beautiful song ever written. Apparently, many others agreed. According to Wikipedia, the most famous song off Led Zeppelin's classic 1971 album was the most requested song on FM radio station in the U.S. throughout the 1970s. It was among the most requested songs for me and my brothers growing up as we raided my fathers music collection, and all of us at one point in time even learned how to play the song on piano or guitar. What we didn't realize, though, was the controversy that has followed the song for so many years, specifically it's content. It amazed me to find out how many people at church believed Led Zeppelin was a satanic band, and that Stairway to Heaven was an occultist song with pagan themes (check out the Wikipedia section on backwards masking Stairway and judge for yourselves: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stairway_to_heaven#Allegation_of_backward_masking). I'm not sure about the satanic accusation, but the pagan themes in the song are real and probably ignited the firestorm about anti-Christian themes in the band's music.
Fast forward to 2010. Thanks to the internet, diverse music sub-cultures are able to thrive via chat rooms and message boards, and the ease of travel and increased connectivity in the world have allowed such people to even coordinate and gather at more and more music festivals all around the world. Heavy metal has evolved from a niche branch of rock music in the mid to late 1970s to a fully-blown genre that has seen more and more of the popular music charts. While the popular and broader side of the genre has captured a segment of the public, more niche branches have evolved, and sub-cultures within the metal community have taken root around the world.
One of the more interesting branches is the pagan or folk metal branch. These bands, mostly from Scandinavian countries, use folk instruments in their extreme styles of music in an attempt to fuse heavy metal with native folk influences. Lyrical themes are usually related to pre-Christian pagan beliefs and mythology. If you're brave, check out a song from the Finnish band “Turisas” (most of the vocal parts are harsh):
This form of music has a small yet devoted fan base worldwide. There is probably some correlation between these bands springing up in the region lately and the rise of Neo-Paganism in Europe recently, but that's not the most interesting part of this genre, mostly because they're from those countries and are getting in touch with their history. It's the people outside of the countries that are taking on this pre-Christian paganism as their own religion, if just for a few hours each day. Take a listen to the first few minutes of an interview with a member of “Tyr”, a band from the Faroe Islands:
I had several friends who saw this band in concert in Salt Lake City. When the lead singer asked in there were any pagans in the audience, most of the crowd yelled in agreement. I doubt many of you believe most of that audience would classify their official religion as some form of paganism, but at least for one night, many in the audience identified themselves within the culture surrounding the music, a culture we got a glimpse of in the interview. I've read message boards with fans from Maine to Pennsylvania to Texas to California all wishing they lived in Finland or Sweden, with some outwardly admitting they considered themselves pagan even after admitting they were raised Christian.
My question: is it necessarily bad that some people are identifying themselves with another people's culture and religion through these musical communities? Or is this passing “fad” destructive on one or more levels to a person's “religion” development? Remember that most, if not all, of these fans see themselves and deeply entrenched within a culture and community.
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I do not believe that it is a necessarily a bad thing that people are discovering new culture and religion through music. To say that is a bad thing would likewise condone someone being converted to Mormonism after listening to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.
ReplyDeleteFor most it may be a passing fad that currently holds its interest, but to some it may be a finding of one's self. For those who it is just a passing fad once the new idea comes along they will just jump on that band wagon and continue the same process. They also obviously were not satisfied with their prior religion or culture or they would not have been looking for something to fill that void.
Having listened to my fair share of metal, I know my own personal experience in not "becoming" the lyrics of the music I listened to. Sure, the metal I listened to wasn't pagan at it's core, but the topics of discussion were the most uplifting.
ReplyDeleteLooking back at myself when I was engulfed with that music, I do notice I was a very different person, with a different attitude about life and a greater sense of negativity (maybe it was just the teenage years). Since I've purged that music, almost completely, from my "system" I feel much brighter. So while the lyrics may not have a direct impact on my beliefs, the music definitely has an impact on my spirituality, causing me to have a lesser degree of "spirit."
Yes, I think it is bad for people to lose their own religious identity because they are entrenched in and identify themselves with a new culture and community strips them of there faith.
ReplyDeleteI like the point Cansirboi made though. I guess my answer is better if I say, I think it is bad for people to lose faith in Jesus Christ and to identify with pagan, agnostic, or atheist beliefs because of the musical community they have involved themselves with. Anything we expose ourselves to over and over again will eventually shape the way we view the world and the religious lens through which we see the world.
I think we can be shaped and changed by the things we are exposed to or expose ourselves to.
Wow, I didn't know about Stairway to Heaven and Paganism. So I guess I think it depends on what the hearer is getting out of the song/culture. I've listened to Zepplin for years and don't feel any leaning towards paganism. However, if Led Zepplin did lead me towards paganism that would deffinently be bad. I think that this priciple also applies to music in general, even non pagan music.
ReplyDeletePersonally, if a heavy metal listener took the time to research the pagan or other religious influence of their music, they would not spend as much time listening to heavy metal - their time would be spent in more studious endeavors. The only ones who seem to do this type of study are those who want to fight the music, not support it.
ReplyDeleteHow many of us take the time to delve into the symbolism of the lyrics of any genre of music we listen to? In the modern age, the things that draws a listener to a song is the beat or the tempo rather than words or meaning. People just seem to want to listen "blindly" for lack of a better word.
Funnily enough, being pagan was part of what led me to be exposed to more metal music, rather than the other way around. I don't see anything wrong with the pagan religions (obviously), so I wouldn't think that if metal music led to an interest in paganism, that would be a problem. Some of the comments above seem to be based on the premise that being pagan would be a negative thing for someone's spiritual life. Personally, I have had a very fulfilling and enriching spiritual life through paganism, so I can't help but wonder...what's up with that, guys? Plus metal is great. ;)
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