+1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoN6XfyQsr4
I guess I'm gonna be crucified (upside down, ofc.) for this. Music is kinda mediocre but lyrics are good

I dislike religion more than I used to six years ago, but this could also be a "natural" evolution.

this thread is really getting off topic. (not that i have been helping at all.)

Interestingly enough, blasphemous metal lyrics are what caused me to loose my Catholic faith I was raised in.

That's why I don't understand why people say blasphemous lyrics are immature and pointless; they have a social impact.

They do have an impact. Me and my good friend are both influenced so much by metal and everything about it that he is even mentioned in Lords of Chaos for murdering someone. That is when it is taken to far. LOL@

Most lyrics in metal suck ass.

However, there are some great lyrics to be found.

I think we should concentrate on discovering and sharing the good lyrics.

Kreator - Material World Paranoia

Don't dream about how life can be
Experience your dreams
Before this prefab culture wastes your life
Stay on the straight and narrow course
Material wealth is yours
But the promise of a better future is a lie

Have any of you ever considered that by bashing Christianity and the herd mentality and instead zealously following black metal bands and metal, you're doing the exact same thing just with a different image?

Regardless, Rush and Megadeth definitely have some good lyrics. Although Megadeth's political accuracy is questionable, they still have more substance than the 90% of "trying too hard" type of bands. I also second Agalloch. Wonderful band!

Notice no metal bands on that list... Wonder why?

No we aren't. Not all of us believe in the same thing.

Absolutely I actually abide by Black Metal Kommando. These are the most life changing lyrics i've ever heard, no joke.

Born in secretion
Goat horns impale the Lambs of God
Tearing open the sacred womb
War against the alien faith

Black metal kommando, burn down the Jewish creation
Black metal kommando, bring damnation upon the cross
DEVASTATION

Christian persecution, in the night
Scream as the pyre ignites
Your god is dead, and so are you

Black metal kommando, (???) in the night
Black metal kommando, crush the face of Christian belief


I fucking spit on your pathetic trendy metal


INCINERATION


Burn the Bible, the book of lies
Resurrection of a Satanic cult
Look me in the eyes and say you defy

Black metal kommando, horny vengeance of Aryan steel
Black metal kommando, (???)

I guess you can put whatever you'd like in place of 'the next big thing'.

Yep, not exactly, but it is similar. That's the reason why so many of us say things like "metal's our religion" and we have Biff Byford trying to get metal legally recognized as a faith.

Metal's not the same as typical religion because metal glorifies free-thought, though. That's one major difference.

Oh gawd, this is too much.

lmfao.
Ohh dear I didnt know it was made of steel.

Overall it's hard for me to properly tell how much metal has changed me. I got into it at the onset of puberty (like most people here did, I'm sure) and so I would've changed anyway as I grew up. Who knows, really. Perhaps I enjoy my being my "own man" and caring less about what people expect, but that's as likely to be a result of my upbringing, and I can't really attribute that to any lyrics, short of some Metallica songs (Wherever I may Roam being a big favourite of mine when I was young, and probably quite the influence).

Miguel de Cervantes... Just an author
William Shakespeare... Just an author
Edgar Allan Poe... Just an author
Friedich Nietzsche... Just an author
Charles Darwin... Just an author

and so forth...

these lyrics are horribly written. a middle schooler could have came up with that.

I used to worship this shit when I was fifteen and sixteen. -_-

I'm glad really I haven't gave a fuck about these things since.

This is bullshit. You're basically telling us that no band had any more of an impact on society, culture, musical history, etc. than any other? Fact is, some of these artists are more than 'just bands,' even if I personally don't like them or if you might think people are sheep for doing so.

Erm, you might want to read what I was replying to, what I made bold or maybe the whole lyrics if you still don't get it Those bands made some pretty good music, yet you shouldn't treat them as prophets who speak the only truth. They were just bands. And yes, the same can be applied to to the authors mentioned above. They are correct at many points but also wrong at some (for example most of them were religious ). Instead of taking their writings as they are, you should think for yourself.

What you were replying to shouldn't have been posted in a topic about lyrics having an impact on you - it's very easy to let lyrics impact you emotionally and still "think for yourself." Plus, seriously? Ooh, "I think for myself." How original! Nobody has ever said that before! So original and unique. Come on.

But yeah...I see what you're saying, it makes enough sense, but my point is that while they might indeed be bands, those bands are made up of human beings who are putting their personal experiences and writing stuff that can possibly be related to. Also, several of those bands, like The Beatles, Led Zeppelin and The Clash influenced many, many other artists and bands to pick up instruments and play music. Just a band? That's pretty fucking insulting and insipid. There's a reason that they are put on pedestals, and it isn't because people are treating them like "prophets." Doesn't say anything for their quality or what people will think of them now, but they played their part in history, which cannot be undermined.

Read the full lyrics...sure, there are some OK points made, but it's pretty irrelevant to the topic at hand, and I still don't buy the whole "just a band" thing. That's bullshit.

Of course! How can you not see the dominating religious themes featured in Don Quixote, Hamlet, The Origin of the Species and Murderers in the Rue Morgue? Or am I misinterpreting the meaning of the word "most"?

OF STEEL!

On topic, I don't really listen to any music that has changed my life philosophy or anything like that, but I've come to appreciate the whole concept of 'epicness' since listening to stuff like Rhapsody. You can be as ridiculous, silly and over the top as you like, as long as it's EPIC. I respect that.

Also, I went on a tour of a lot of battlefields recently and I took my MP3 Player with a load of Sabaton, and it can actually be really moving when listened to in the right context.

I think some of the IDEAS and THEMES presented by metal and punk helped shape my current worldview but it wasn't any particular lyric. Too many lyrics suck too much to do that. But the ideas that the lyrics put forth are another story.

I was talking about the authors and not exact works. Stop quibbling and keep your arrogance to yourself.

By the way something can still have religious meanings without having a religious topic. For example Hamlet is just full of it. To mention one, even the most well-known monologue has heavy religious reference. Hamlet wants to commit suicide, but he doesn't do it because he find it 'unethical'. We all know it's the teaching of religion (Christianity to be exact).

But now it's getting really off-topic...

@Empyreal: Fair enough.

Metal actually converted me to Christianity. It's an awfully convoluted story, don't ask me about it.

Also, I've taken up an interest in history, mythology, and nature... because of metal!

I found satanic subliminal backmasking message in the heavy metal band from USA - CAGE. It is in the CD release HELL DESTROYER - released in 2007 - track no. 10 - Cremation of care. If you play the song backwards you can hear the satanic message: "Rise master. Hail mighty satan! - 4x, We await your arrival. Deliver unto us armageddon."

While the lyrics ain't great per se, a line in Entombed 'Left Hand Path' really sums up my philosophy.

"Live your life you're gonna die your own death
There's no one above that's gonna take your breath"

I can't say if and specific lyrics have had any sway in the results I have obtained from metal but I have definitely become much stronger mentally thanks to metal. Living a life with mere stresses, and anxieties made me realize how fucking pathetic that would be becoming a Metalhead and these past few years have brought me from being a sniveling cur to an outright, tough as steel, bastard. Metal was the best Motivation someone like me could possibly obtain.

yeah, that's absolutely hilarious. Come on, I'm chuckling far to hard to have my "eyes opened"

You were talking about the authors, and yet you provide no argument for your point. By simply saying that they were religious and not backing it up with something, you are saying nothing, I can say Aleister Crowley was a Muslim, but if I don't back it up, it's a bunch of bullshit. If you believe I'm being arrogant and/or offensive, then I apologize.

I believe murder and rape are unethical and I'm an atheist. Thus the monologue does not imply that Hamlet was influenced by religion. You drew that conclusion yourself.

It's not fucking wikipedia to cite sources for facts like 'grass is green'. But if you really serious, there you go:
http://www.nndb.com/people/454/000022388/
http://www.nndb.com/people/069/000084814/
http://www.nndb.com/people/914/000031821/
http://www.nndb.com/people/569/000024497/

Yeah, Poe might have been an atheist, oh well. The word 'most' is still correct. And before you start complaining about details like Agnosticism is almost atheism, let me add a quote from Darwin:



I said suicide and not murder or rape. Suicide is considered bad by religion. I don't have the slightest idea what made you think I'd come to any different conclusion but that Hamlet was religious.

Anyways, let me quote from Hamlet himself:

Finally you're making a point. I was sure that (at least) some of the authors I mentioned had religious beliefs (or any other kind really). However whether those ideas filter or not to their work is the central point of this. Maybe I haven't made myself clear. When I mentioned the authors I meant that these people have influences over the lives of other people because they are artists. We can only learn from those who are smarter than us or those who think differently, we don't come up with ideas about everything, we need intelligent people that part with pieces of their knowledge for all of us. That's what artists do, they stimulate thought. If a death metal band decides to write a song about eating babies' corpses then you are meant to see that image and analyze what is right or wrong about it. When a band decides to write about how cool are the forests in Norway, then you are meant to see and appreciate the scenery and understand its importance. You can (and should) learn from art, and all music is art, no matter how beautiful or disgusting it sounds, because to evoke thought and feeling is the purpose.

This is far easier. Me (being an atheist) often find myself using the Spanish word "ojala" (there's an acute on the last "a" but I don't have a numeric pad, so bear with me). This word is usually translated as "I hope so". The thing is "ojala" comes from an ancient Arabian word which means something along the lines of "May Allah also wish it to happen". As you can see, though I am certainly not a Muslim believer, I use the word because it's part of our language, and due to the context in which the expression "I'll go pray" is used, I do not think Hamlet was actually leaving home to grab a rosary.

if anything at all, metal has made me more of a free thinker. no bound by religions and political ethos. i look at it like this; either the band sing about gore or praising a satan or singing about gas chambers, i can look at it all perspectively. sometimes a subject matter will interest me enough to do some research and sometimes as in gore i get a good laugh. metal always had/has a sense of humor. some people take it too seriously though. think for yourself. boundaries and religion are all in the same.

I know that there are some very negative feelings towards Christianity, and I understand why a lot of people in metal are turned away from it. There is a lot of bullshit in the church and in many so-called Christians.

However, I myself am a follower of Christ. A band that has really helped me in my life and faith is Virgin Black. They have very poetic and deep lyrics that have caused me to shape my own ideas and mindset. Many Christians have a very shallow view that life is pretty good and humanity isn't all that bad. Virgin Black realizes that misery is an ever present aspect of life, and they really aren't afraid of facing the darkness of life. Their music reflects this. Unlike some other gothic metal bands that are kind of mediocre, VB really knows how to create intense, dark music.

There have been times that I have been tempted to turn away from my faith. Satanism is something that really fascinates me and I respect how many of the Satanists in black metal are very spiritually aware. Virgin Black, however, has really helped me to hold fast to my faith and discover my own ideals- to have a faith that isn't necessarily based on what the church says.

Spiritually aware? I sure as hell wouldn't say so. Deluded in some cases, just plain immature in others, or not totally serious in yet others. That would be more like it.

When it is done with what some people choose to call "a deeper understanding", or "from a more intelligent perspective", then it is usually nothing but some stupid pseudo-intellectual drivel which lost all contact with reality somewhere along the way, or some deluded fanatical preaching which reeks of said pseudo-intellectuality and which has also lost all contact with reality somewhere along the way.

These lyrics simply make you feel like hte ones who wrote them are total retards, and calling them spiritually aware is a bit like calling the Westboro Baptist Church is somehow spiritually aware. They are not. They are completely deluded fanatics whom have lost touch with reality, and since I actually have met some of these band's members in person, I can honestly say that comparing them to the Westboro Baptist Church or similar organizations isn't too far away from the truth.

I have, although, seen bands that practice occultism that manage to be spiritually aware beyond the wildest dreams of any satanic band I have ever come across.