On Black Metal, and Why It's Funny... and Cussing

Okay, I made the mistake this morning of picking up a Black Metal CD (that's music) and reading the lyric sheet. I then (wisely, or no) fired this off on Facebook;

Timothy Jones... Thinks Black Metal is hilarious. For a bunch of supposed Neo-Pagans (*snerk*), they sure talk about Jesus alot. They're obsessed with Christianity. Don't like my religion? Fine. Sleep in on Sunday, or play World of Warcraft if you can work up sufficient mental energy. The infantile fixation on my religion I find very funny.

Also, the badass Black Metal lyrics (you know, they're all going to drink blood from the skulls of the vanquished, yadda, yadda...) are incredibly ironic coming from what appear to be such pasty faced youngsters. Get some sun, boys. You wouldn't know a warrior if he walked out of the VFW and kicked your scrawny ass up between your shoulder blades.

Okay, I said "ass". Looks like time for a post on swearing, too. Over at Jimmy Akin's blog, a commenter noted that alot of French Canadian swear words are based on Catholic sacraments and other holy things. Makes sense in a dark sort of way, kind of like the way these Black Metal dudes just can't get Jesus out of their minds. To swear really effectively, you have to have something to swear by, or swear on. There are the perenially obvious scatological references, of course, and sexual words, but the shock of these things is just the idea of dragging them out of private thought and into the open air of conversation. The shock of real swearing - cursing - is quite different and involves a different kind and degree of profanation, which assumes the existence o something really holy that can be profaned.

And that is what gives these Black Metal and Death Metal and Whatever-Metal lyrics the only power they have; the profanation of something powerfully sacred. Without the Sacred Things to tear down and rail against, they simply have nothing at all to say. What potency their music has is smuggled in from the archetypal image of God.

Without the Mona Lisa, Salvador Dali's painting is just some facial hair floating in the air. Without the energy and genius of a small army of architects and engineers, the 9-11 terrorists would have had no Twin Towers to knock down, and no planes to fly into them. Their only power is stolen from the inspired work of others. They, like Satan, can only destroy, and without anything to destroy, they have nothing to do. They are absolutely dependent on the life and creativity of God for their raw materials.

Comments

[M. B.]

On swearing, an observation from Saint Josemaria Escriva:

"This is the solution: first pray for them, and offer up some sacrifice; then face them like a man and make use of the 'strong language apostolate'. — The next time we meet I'll tell you — in a whisper — a few useful words."

[Patrick]

@ Tim J: "They are absolutely dependent on the life and creativity of God for their raw materials."

If you've ever read Friedrich Nietzsche's *The Anti-Christ*, he goes through a whole wailing screed about how silly, lazy-minded, slavish, etc. etc. Christianity is, only to, in the middle of the screed, admit that one can still lead a worthy life as a Christian. This illustrates the same point, writ large (I wouldn't dismiss Nietzsche as easily as some people.) Essentially, even this anti-Christian philosophical mood is simply parasitic to the extent that, underneath the smoke and sarcasm, even the Nietzscheans are drawing off the primary energy of God.

[Shakespeare's Cobbler the ever loginner forgetter who needs to sync all his blog IDs]

Lazy-minded, Christianity? And these people believe in evidence?

Anyway, I was popping into the combox to say just plain old wow. Because I never thought somebody would get a worthwhile thought out of exposure to death metal.