Don't Support Devilish Music(Rock Music)!!!

[LilyM]

I think I can see where friend Portrait is coming from. He mentioned Johnny Bristol: I remember almost every K-Tel album that came out in 1974/75 had “Hang On In There, Baby” on it. I was about 9 or 10, and I remember feeling sort of “dirty” listening to that song, even though I was quite naive.

But then again, it was the lyrical content, not the music. That song would’ve still creeped me out if it had been set to sacred polyphony. On the other hand, beautiful verses of praise and worship could be set to the melody, and it would be all right – or it could be anything at all in a foreign language, and I’d never understand it to either be uplifted or cast down, and would rely only on the melody and rhythm. Sort of like my first exposure to “Lady Marmalade” – it was the French version by Nanette Workman, and all I remember from it was “lama say foo sassy foo sassy foo”. Definite toe-tapper, had no idea it was about prostitutes in N’awlins.

Lady Marmalade? Seriously? The song that goes ‘Kitchy kitchy yah yah tah tah, kitchy kitchy yah yah here, mocha choco-late-a yah yah, be a Lady Marmalade?’ Yep, those lyrics just reek of sin, don’t they. Must be the references to chocolate and marmalade inspiring people to gluttony or something

 

[Portrait]

Okay, honest question. Do you struggle with scrupulosity? I fail to see the sin in listening to EWF, Diana Ross, etc. Unless listening to them actually causes you to go sin, I don’t see how you feeling “unclean and impure” makes the music itself inherently sinful. From the information you’ve given us, I guess it may be better for you to avoid it, but the same may not hold true for everyone.

Which brings me to another point. Different kinds of music can have different effects on different people. I mean, composers like Debussy have been described as “sensual”. Just something to consider.

Dear CTA1967,

Hello again.

Re EWF

The groups name comes from the three major elements in the cosmos. Their song ‘Serpentine Fire’ speaks of the sinal life entity system found in the Shah Krishna Yogi Meditation Cult. On U.S. TV show they were filmed in the home of a member of the group which was full of Eastern gods and occultic symbols. On the programme, they claimed to ‘have an interest in Eastern religion, astrology, numerology and the occult’. Lead vocalist, Maurice White, believes that he possesses powers from previous incarnations and has the group join hands in a circle before beginning a show, so as to tune into the force of the ‘higher powers’.

This might help explain why I feel that I should not be listening to the music of EWF.

Warmest good wishes,

Portrait

 

[Portrait]

I think I can see where friend Portrait is coming from. He mentioned Johnny Bristol: I remember almost every K-Tel album that came out in 1974/75 had “Hang On In There, Baby” on it. I was about 9 or 10, and I remember feeling sort of “dirty” listening to that song, even though I was quite naive.

But then again, it was the lyrical content, not the music. That song would’ve still creeped me out if it had been set to sacred polyphony. On the other hand, beautiful verses of praise and worship could be set to the melody, and it would be all right – or it could be anything at all in a foreign language, and I’d never understand it to either be uplifted or cast down, and would rely only on the melody and rhythm. Sort of like my first exposure to “Lady Marmalade” – it was the French version by Nanette Workman, and all I remember from it was “lama say foo sassy foo sassy foo”. Definite toe-tapper, had no idea it was about prostitutes in N’awlins.

Dear Ghoti,

Thankyou for your posting stating that you appreciate my position .

Yes much of that 1970’s soul/Disco music is very tuneful and just makes you want to get up and dance, dance and dance!! However it was not all innocent as might at first sight appear. This is hardly surprising when one considers the fact that Satan and his forces have deeply invaded man’s social and cultural structures - and music has not been overlooked.

Just a marginal note on Johnny Bristol. His smash hit ‘Hang on in there Baby’, which reached No. 3 here in the U.K. charts in August 1974, was one of my best loved tracks from that decade. However this is what he has said:

“Sex is where it’s at in music…and I like it”.

This is why I feel so ill-at-ease as a Christian when I listen to this sort of music now. So why do I, if I feel so strongly, continue to listen to it. The short and simple answer is because I am weak and like the music itself, the rythym and the beat. However I feel very guilty about listening to it and really want to renounce it as I feel it does not sit comfortable with the Gospel or my Christian profession. So much of the rock media is tainted with occult connections, filth, blasphemy and hedonism - even the secular press, which can never be accused of being overly prissy about morality, has conceded as much.

Many thanks for your support in the debate.

Warmest good wishes,

Portrait

 

[Lost_Wanderer]

Portrait, are you saying that the music itself (as in the tunes, rhythm, and beat) are inherently evil solely because of the bad rep of people who play such a rhythm?

Look I listen to a lot of songs here people have never even heard of but they’re still technically rock (just in a different language). The only meaning I get from them is how I associate the music with a certain T.V. show and whatnot. Anybody who reads the lyrics and translations of the songs however, will still have a chance to ignore the association and give a more musically aligned interpretation of the lyrics. They can also make another association with the artists playing the song and come up with yet another take on the song’s meaning.

With that said, it is impossible to even insinuate that the beat, tune, or melody of rock music is inherently evil. The words of artists that you cited regarding their views on music are just that: words. It’s just their opinion and obviously I’d bet there’s gonna be somebody out there who has a different one.

As much as I don’t do well in the subject of Literary Theory/Criticism, one thing I’ve learned from it is that all art forms (not just Literature mind you) can be up for interpretation. Even if you insist on focusing on the author/composer/lyricist’s intention, that still won’t keep other individuals from having their own take. Rock music is not spared from this. Thus, I really, really cannot understand your logic.

 

[LilyM]

Portrait, you are in essence saying that we are to reject rock music because some (not all) of it is produced by people who lead unrepentantly sinful lives.

If that’s the case then we must reject a certain amount of Church teachings (certainly the lives and public example of numerous Popes, Cardinals and Bishops could easily put any rock star to shame) as well as a lot of other things - scientific achievements, achievements in literature, the visual and performing arts and the like - because of the questionable private and public lives of the people who produced those teachings and those achievements.

 

[BrooklynBoy200]

You are not a Christian just because you say so. Look up Elvis’ new age background and beliefs. Look up his fascination with Madame Blavatsky. This site says it all- adherents.com/people/pp/Elvis_Presley.html

I agree that you still shouldn’t call him a “phony Christian”. You don’t know the state of his soul.

 

[BrooklynBoy200]

lol…did I really see a David Bowie quote? As if that ends the discussion? haha “well, David Bowie thinks it’s the devil’s music, so there you go.”

“then again…he also wears sparkling spandex and sings sons about aliens and spiders…”

 

[CTA1967]

Dear CTA1967,

Hello again.

Re EWF

The groups name comes from the three major elements in the cosmos. Their song ‘Serpentine Fire’ speaks of the sinal life entity system found in the Shah Krishna Yogi Meditation Cult. On U.S. TV show they were filmed in the home of a member of the group which was full of Eastern gods and occultic symbols. On the programme, they claimed to ‘have an interest in Eastern religion, astrology, numerology and the occult’. Lead vocalist, Maurice White, believes that he possesses powers from previous incarnations and has the group join hands in a circle before beginning a show, so as to tune into the force of the ‘higher powers’.

This might help explain why I feel that I should not be listening to the music of EWF.

Warmest good wishes,

Portrait

And there’s plenty of classical music with blatant connections to freemasonry, which was strongly condemned by the Church. Mozart’s Magic Flute, for example. Are you suggesting good Christians should shun all secular music altogether?

 

[Ocupado]

If song lyrics are going to affect your faith negatively at all, you don’t really have that strong of a faith to begin with.

 

[Ghoti]

Lady Marmalade? Seriously? The song that goes ‘Kitchy kitchy yah yah tah tah, kitchy kitchy yah yah here, mocha choco-late-a yah yah, be a Lady Marmalade?’ Yep, those lyrics just reek of sin, don’t they. Must be the references to chocolate and marmalade inspiring people to gluttony or something

Seriously. It’s a song about a New Orleans prostitute. There’s the line, “Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir?” (“Do you want to sleep with me tonight?”) The line you quote is actually,

“Gitcha gitcha ya-ya, da-da, (“get your ya-yas, daddy”)
Gitcha gitcha ya-ya here,
Mocha chocolat-a ya-ya, (reference to the woman’s skin tone as the particular flavour of “ya-ya”)
Creole Lady Marmalade.”

Got the context now?

Bob Crewe wrote the song after seeing some prostitutes in the, ahem, “Big Easy”.

Aagin, the lyrics are what make the song morally problematic. When I first heard the French version, I couldn’t understand any of it – thus, personally, no harm, no foul. Now that I know – well…

 

[CTA1967]

I feel like we need an anti-prostitution song to cancel this out now.
new.music.yahoo.com/videos/The+Police/Roxanne–21785054

 

[Lost_Wanderer]

Seriously. It’s a song about a New Orleans prostitute. There’s the line, “Voulez-vous coucher avec moi ce soir?” (“Do you want to sleep with me tonight?”) The line you quote is actually,

“Gitcha gitcha ya-ya, da-da, (“get your ya-yas, daddy”)
Gitcha gitcha ya-ya here,
Mocha chocolat-a ya-ya, (reference to the woman’s skin tone as the particular flavour of “ya-ya”)
Creole Lady Marmalade.”

Got the context now?

Bob Crewe wrote the song after seeing some prostitutes in the, ahem, “Big Easy”.

Aagin, the lyrics are what make the song morally problematic. When I first heard the French version, I couldn’t understand any of it – thus, personally, no harm, no foul. Now that I know – well…

You know, I actually heard that tune when I was a kid (and it was almost impossible to get it out my head ugh >_<;; ) but I never thought too much about the lyrics’ meanings either.

You know. This also brings another thing to my mind. I think the biggest blows you could give the anti-rock religious is the fact that there are many songs that could have double meanings. Throw in a few additional different interpretations or mere associations of a song and it would really be impossible for them to label a good majority of rock as demonic since they can mean so many various things.

 

[Scott_D]

I agree that you still shouldn’t call him a “phony Christian”. You don’t know the state of his soul.

I never said that I new the state of his soul. Elvis used Christianity for his own means. He was an occultist and devotee of Madame Blavatsky, a satanist comparable to Aleister Crowely. During Elvis’ life he used Christianity, he was not devoted to it. Just do the tiniest bit of research and you can find that out. Elvis embraced a host of eastern philosophies including Taoism and Hinduism. By the way, Adolph Hitler was also a Madame Blavatsky fan.

Rock music is not as benign as many of you out there are saying. I should know. I’ve been a rock musician for 30 years. I’ve played all around Boston, New Hampshire, Connecticut. I’ve seen the trail of destruction it always leaves from drugs and promiscuity, to banal music at mass.

Just look at the seemingly harmless John Lennon. Why is Aleister Crowely on the cover of Sgt. Pepper’s? Because Lennon was an ardent admirer of Crowely, who was dubbed, “The most evil man on earth.” The fact is that Crowely has influenced the largest acts in rock history-John Lennon, Jimmy Page, Ozzy, David Bowie, Sting, Darryl Hall, Marilyn Manson, etc. Crowely was a 33rd degree mason, heroin addict, bisexual, and the father of modern satanism.

All you need is love? Bah! All you need is the cross!

 

[Lost_Wanderer]

Rock music is not as benign as many of you out there are saying. I should know. I’ve been a rock musician for 30 years. I’ve played all around Boston, New Hampshire, Connecticut. I’ve seen the trail of destruction it always leaves from drugs and promiscuity, to banal music at mass.

The destruction is 100% your fault and not that of the music. I could pretty much say the same for mangaka and comic book artists but does that mark their crafts as inherently evil? What about books? Tons of authors didn’t exactly live virtuous lives either. The same with classical composers, painters, etc.

Until you and others come up with some really solid proof that rock music is inherently evil, don’t expect us to take you seriously (having musical experience is not a factor unless you do so).

Just look at the seemingly harmless John Lennon. Why is Aleister Crowely on the cover of Sgt. Pepper’s? Because Lennon was an ardent admirer of Crowely, who was dubbed, “The most evil man on earth.” The fact is that Crowely has influenced the largest acts in rock history-John Lennon, Jimmy Page, Ozzy, David Bowie, Sting, Darryl Hall, Marilyn Manson, etc. Crowely was a 33rd degree mason, heroin addict, bisexual, and the father of modern satanism.

Why is it that you people only cite American or British rock musicians and never even consider that the style is global? I highly doubt J-rock or even my own country’s Pinoy bands worship Aleister Crowely.

 

[BrooklynBoy200]

Just look at the seemingly harmless John Lennon. Why is Aleister Crowely on the cover of Sgt. Pepper’s? Because Lennon was an ardent admirer of Crowely, who was dubbed, “The most evil man on earth.” The fact is that Crowely has influenced the largest acts in rock history-John Lennon, Jimmy Page, Ozzy, David Bowie, Sting, Darryl Hall, Marilyn Manson, etc. Crowely was a 33rd degree mason, heroin addict, bisexual, and the father of modern satanism.

All you need is love? Bah! All you need is the cross!

I still don’t understand how this matters. I could name 7 rock musicians who WEREN’T crowley fans. And i noticed you’ve picked some obviously anti-religion and/or pro-devil musicians…Lennon, Page, Ozzy, Manson.

How about Creed? They’re not satanist. Neither is Bono. Johnny Cash did quite a few religious songs, although he also did a few…not so religious songs. What i’m saying is that you can’t just pick out a few artists who were “fans” of an occultist and then say that all of rock music is bad.
Plus…have you seen the cover of Sgt. Pepper?! it’s not like it’s just Crowley on there…Gandhi was supposed to be on there but they had to take him off so they didn’t offend anybody.
And what does Elvis being a fan of Blavadsky have to do with his music? “I can’t help falling in love with you”? doesn’t sound satanist…
I’m also curious as to your answer of Wanderer’s question. Is writing evil? There have been many authors (probably more than musicians) that have lived very immoral lives.

 

[Scott_D]

I still don’t understand how this matters. I could name 7 rock musicians who WEREN’T crowley fans. And i noticed you’ve picked some obviously anti-religion and/or pro-devil musicians…Lennon, Page, Ozzy, Manson.

How about Creed? They’re not satanist. Neither is Bono. Johnny Cash did quite a few religious songs, although he also did a few…not so religious songs. What i’m saying is that you can’t just pick out a few artists who were “fans” of an occultist and then say that all of rock music is bad.
Plus…have you seen the cover of Sgt. Pepper?! it’s not like it’s just Crowley on there…Gandhi was supposed to be on there but they had to take him off so they didn’t offend anybody.
And what does Elvis being a fan of Blavadsky have to do with his music? “I can’t help falling in love with you”? doesn’t sound satanist…
I’m also curious as to your answer of Wanderer’s question. Is writing evil? There have been many authors (probably more than musicians) that have lived very immoral lives.

As I stated before, look up the film, “They Sold Their Souls for Rock and Roll” on You Tube. They do a great job of explaining it. By the way…I defy you to find where I said “all of rock music is bad.” Many of the most influential rock artists have been affected by Aleister Crowely, either directly or second hand. Also, bringing up one Elvis tune does nothing to disprove his adherence to eastern mysticism and occultism. He actually didn’t write any of his songs.

 

[CTA1967]

As I stated before, look up the film, “They Sold Their Souls for Rock and Roll” on You Tube. They do a great job of explaining it. By the way…I defy you to find where I said “all of rock music is bad.” Many of the most influential rock artists have been affected by Aleister Crowely, either directly or second hand. Also, bringing up one Elvis tune does nothing to disprove his adherence to eastern mysticism and occultism. He actually didn’t write any of his songs.

Right, because YouTube is such a valuable wealth of accurate information.

So has anyone answered my point yet about how many classical composers were directly influenced by freemasonry, a spirituality which is harshly condemned by the Church?

 

[Lost_Wanderer]

As I stated before, look up the film, “They Sold Their Souls for Rock and Roll” on You Tube. They do a great job of explaining it. By the way…I defy you to find where I said “all of rock music is bad.” Many of the most influential rock artists have been affected by Aleister Crowely, either directly or second hand. Also, bringing up one Elvis tune does nothing to disprove his adherence to eastern mysticism and occultism. He actually didn’t write any of his songs.

In case you’ve missed my posts (like the last the last one ) I’ve actually watched it. Here, I’ll do you a favor and quote myself so you won’t have to go back:

Yeah I watched. It was nothing but pure overgeneralizing bogus and I stopped watching since all they could come up with were bad examples and vain attempts to lump all rock with them.

I’d also like to add that the guy hosting this “documentary” advocated King James Only-ism. Yeah, that sounds like an intellectual.

Seriously, people, do not waste your time on that. Take my word for it. It uses the same, fallacious, guilt-by-association rhetoric typical of Jack Chick-style Christians.

 

[Gottle_of_Geer]

Dear Scott D,

That there is a strong and definite link between rock music and the occult is surely incontrovertible. What follows now is a selection of musicians whose life-styles or music reveal occultic influence of one kind or another:

AC/DC: A halllmark of their albums is the satanic ‘S’. Their album ‘Back in Black’ has a song entitled ‘Hell’s Bell’, including the words ‘Satan’s gonna get you’.

The Beach Boys: Dennis Wilson had connections with the notorious Manson family; Mike Love and Al Jardine were into Transcendental Meditation. Bob Larson clailms that “the fame of the Beach Boys was a launching pad for the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s introduction of TM and occultic mysticism into the mainstream of America” .

Blondie: Hailing the group as ‘America’s favoutite new wave rock band’, *Newsweek *reported that lead singer Debbie Harry’s act began with a wizard anointing a sacrophagus before Harry was realed from it to commence her first song.

The Eagles: The name comes from the chief spirit in the Indian cosmos, and the group was formed under the occultic influence of Carlos Castaneda. They confess to writing most of their songs whilst under the influence of the drug peyote. Moreover, several of their songs, such as ‘Withchy Woman’, ‘One of these Nights’ and ‘Good Day in Hell’, include satanic or occultic lyrics; one of their songs, ‘Undercover angel’, speaks of having copulation with evil spirits and one of their albums bears the goat’s head insignia (an occultic symbol).

Iron Maiden: The title track of their album ‘The number of the Beast’ is a song called, not suprisingly, ‘666’. Lead singer Bruce Dickinson admitted that during the recordeing of this album a succession of things went wrong, including an accident involving producer Martin Birch’s car which produced a repair bill for £666.56. Dickinson admitted, ‘Theat was just too close for comfort. He was absolutely terrified and the rest of us were very shaken’.

Queen: The lyrics of their ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ include the statement that Beelzebub has a devil set aside for them.

Stevie Wonder: His album ‘Song’s in the Key of Life’ was released to coincide with his astrological birth-sign Taurus. The album cover for ‘Inner Visions’ depicts the symbol of astral projection.

Yes: The groups album ‘Tales from Topographic Oceans’ contains songs said to reveal the science of God, tantric sexual rituals and reincarnation.

This catalouge is both sickening and very frightening - res ipsa loquitor (the facts speak for themselves). Moreover, there is no saying how many other bands, singers and musicians may be involved in the occult and whose music may be impregnated with the poison. For people to blithely say that the issue is limited to an occasional rock singer dabbling with the occult is dangerously naive. For Catholics to arise and vehemently defend such wickedness and evil is nothing short of shameful and embarrassing.

Warmest good wishes,

Portrait

For someone opposed to rock, you seem to know an awful lot about it - very suspicious…​

 

[Gottle_of_Geer]

Yeah, I know he was a fan of Bob Dylan, B.B. King, Bono, and others.

Bob Dylan can’t sing for toffee. Dylan, OTOH: Rockin’ OutDylan​