(no subject)
This is funny.
This is scary.
I am intrigued by the phenomenon of musician's blogs. I know lots of famous people have blogs, but none that I've ever given a crap about. But it's fascinating to read, say, Rogue from the Cruxshadows or Sascha from KMFDM. These really aren't proper blogs, more like band news, but very interesting. You get a feel for someone's personality in such an interesting way, when they're writing their own words.... It's more like looking into someone's head instead of into the physical appearance or performance that you're used to them presenting....
I was watching the NIN "closure" video last night (their video compilation), and started thinking academically about the phenomenon of "industrial music," or whatever you want to call it. (This is what happens when you do cultural studies in college... why, btw, is it that they have like 50 classes on hip hop but none on rock music?) So anyway, I mean, looking at it from the outside, why was/is this music popular? I mean, NIN was huge in the mid-90s, and there was a whole scene, tons of similar bands selling lots of records (I'm thinking like bands on Wax Trax! or nothing records ....), plenty of whom are still around. But why would people want to listen to stuff like
"smashed up my sanity
smashed up my integrity
smashed up what i believed in
smashed up what's left of me
smashed up my everything
smashed up all that was true
gonna smash myself to pieces
i don't know what else to do"
and such? It's like the music of victimization, degradation, humiliation, personal destruction and self-hatred ....
And I guess you have to look at the cultural/economic group with which it was most popular, which is largely white middle class male suburban teenagers and young adults. Is growing up suburban really that dehumanizing? I don't want to just dismiss it as spoiled kids or whatever, because there's real pain and real meaning and real art here. (And of course I don't mean that that demographic is true of all fans of this music; I'm talking general trends.)
I was also thinking about the topics in these songs that recur most often. It seems like those topics would be sex and violence (usually both together). Interesting that if you take, say, cheesy 80s hair metal, sex and violence are also common topics. But there it's like a celebration and enjoyment of sex and violence, hot cars and girls in spandex or whatever, whereas in say NIN it's about sex and violence in a disturbing, destructive way. Like "Closer," probably their most famous song, that chorus: "I want to fuck you like an animal," the pain and desperation mixed in with that lust. And this obsession with death, things rotting, animal bodies, pigs, every gross thing you can think of .... why do people want to dwell on that? Is it a reaction against the fake bland pastel consumerist "happiness" that's shoved down your throat throughout your entire suburban life? Digging up everything that's culturally taboo? Is it about exorcising negative emotions, getting them out through music so that you can enjoy life...?
It's interesting that this is the subculture so many "different" young people gravitate toward. I'm thinking about the sixties--wasn't the music of subculture back then about hope and optimism and idealism? And then the 70s was punk, anger and rebellion. What was the 80s, that depressing goth/alternative type stuff? The real "subculture" music of the 90s I suppose would be "grunge," heavy metal/punk/alternative, rebellious and angry and self-hating and leftist-political. But then that led to "industrial" being in the mainstream for a short while at least, NIN was huge around 94/95/96, when grunge was dying (and the "industrial" subculture was around before and after the mainstream-ness).
I don't know, like it's interesting to think of rebellion in the 60s being about idealism and rebellion in the 90s being about nihilism and self-hatred. And what happened in our culture to generate that ... the dying of the 60s progressive social movements, the re-emergence of conservatism with Reagan in the 80s.... It's like instead of talking about how the world can be a beautiful place if we just all work together, the music is just giving up and saying the world is a horrible ugly place and you may as well die because there's no hope of fixing it.
I don't know, maybe we're in the dying days of an empire that's rotting from the inside, and this is what it's producing in its youth? At least, those who can take their eyes off of Reality TV long enough to look at what's going on around them...
Although that whole analysis is ignoring the "fun" side of this music, which is all about (over)indulgence in everything you're not supposed to do, and celebrating your individiuality/differences ... not to mention the sense of humor and (self)parody you get with bands like KMFDM or even some Manson songs....
It's sort of interesting to think about musical trends, too ... the mix of techno and heavy metal is fascinating to me. Because metal fans laugh their asses off at dance music, and what would dance music fans want to do with heavy metal? But somehow you put the two together and get the most amazing music....
Obligatory warning that comes whenever I try to philosophize: I realize that this is full of generalizations; I'm talking about trends, not individuals, and not actively trying to exclude the zillion other related things that I haven't mentioned here. And also that by trying to look at this from some kind of distance, it doesn't mean that I actually look at it from a distance (she says as she turns up the volume of KMFDM's NIHIL).
ETA:
(I'm using the shorthand word "industrial" to refer to a segment of bands that may not call themselves that, and that "true" industrial fans usually whine aren't "really" industrial... disclaimer, disclaimer, disclaimer.... people get so elitist and prickly about this shit.... And this analysis is really terribly lacking because I mainly listen to "industrial metal," stuff with guitars ... I never could get into Skinny Puppy and such....)
Anyway....
Just more thoughts to consider ... I was thinking about what you might call the "fascist aesthetic" in a lot of industrial music, both in its visuals and musical elements. There's one stereotypical industrial clothing style that is almost a military uniform, boots and the button-up collared shirt, there is a lot of group chanting and "marching" type sounds in some songs... It's interesting in, for example, the KMFDM "Beat by Beat" video, the almost fetishization, the lingering images, of boots, band and crew members walking in these military style boots .... it's interesting to think of in relation to the fact that much of this music originates or is most popular in Germany (and is also very popular in Japan) ... it's also interesting in light of the fact that Eric Harris (Columbine killer) was a big KMFDM fan and the media immediately assumed that KMFDM were Nazis (KMFDM then put out an official statement saying that, though some band members are German, they do not support Nazi beliefs). And that aesthetic appears even in the very well-known Marilyn Manson stage show, with him up on a podium chanting Hitler-style, surrounded by big red Nazi-style banners (with the Manson logo on them instead) and the fans saluting and chanting "Heil!"
I'm not saying that these bands support Nazi beliefs (I mean, there are probably industrial bands out there that do, but none that I know of or listen to). In fact I'm more like saying the opposite ... that these bands use images of fascism to criticize modern society and it's lock-step enforcement of conformity, again there's that relation to growing up suburban and criticizing the suburban establishment's enforcement of conformity..... It's a criticism of America and how America is becoming fascist in its repression of individual freedoms.... Take Manson's "Irresponsible Hate Anthem" or KMFDM's entire visual aesthetic (esp their WWIII album)....
Manson, Irresponsible Hate Anthem:
I am so all-american, I’d sell you suicide
I am totalitarian, I’ve got abortions in my eyes
I hate the hater, I’d rape the raper
I am the animal who will not be himself
Fuck it
Hey victim, should I black your eyes again?
Hey victim,
You were the one who put the stick in my hand
I am the ism, my hate’s a prism
Let’s jut kill everyone and let your God sort them out
Fuck it
Everybody’s someone else’s nigger/i know you are so am i
I wasn’t born with enough middle fingers/
I don’t need to choose a side
I better, better, better, better not say this
Better, better, better, better not tell
I hate the hater, I’d rape the raper
I am the idiot who will not be himself
Fuck it
Or KMFDM's Stars & Stripes:
A tyrant is a man who allows his people no freedom
Who is puffed-up by pride
Driven by the lust of power
Impelled by greed
Provoked by thirst for fame
Divided and conquered
Gripped by fear
Wishful thinking that it can't happen hear
It's well underways but nobody knows
A repeat of history
That's how it goes
Tell the people that they're under attack
By man-eating foes from mars or iraq
Mobilize outrage
Muzzle dissent
Send in the troops
Strike the pre-empt
Stars & stripes
Learn how to fight
We come together by the dawn of the light
Oh so proudly we hail as the rockets red glare
Stars & stripes
Control the airwaves
Fuel the reaction
Use every weapon of mass-distraction
Turn active people into passive consumers
Feed 'em bogus polls and harebrained rumours
Cut back civil rights
Make no mistake
Tell 'em homeland security is now at stake
Whip up a frenzy keep 'em suspended
Don't let 'em know that their liberty's ended
Everything goes in the desperate states
The veneer of democracy rapidly fades
Wreak total havoc on all opposition
In any event fulfill your mission
Totalitarian media sensation
You will give 'em domination
Never mind they call you a liar and thief
By now you're undisputed commander-in-chief
I mean it's interesting that these guys generally have leftist political leanings, or at least anti-fascist anti-conformity anti-repression inclinations, but they use the language and visuals of fascism in order to criticize it ... that's a contrast to a lot of other musical styles which critize in a more traditionally leftist way, like folk music or "pacifist" type music ... long flowing hair and sandals ... instead these industrial bands are critizing military(-type) power while dressing like they're in the military....
I guess it's all about irony ... KMFDM using the US army motto "Be all that you can be" in the song "World War III" which is a massive criticism of the Bush administration and the current war in Iraq.
KMFDM, World War III:
I declare war on the world
War in outer space
I declare war in a nutshell
War all over the place
I declare war on every government
War against all odds
I declare war on your inner sanctum
On your blood thirsty gods
I declare war on the axis of morons
All out war on complacent consent
I declare war on the war against drugs
Rape and Slaughter of the innocent
War on big brother
Warmongers and profiteers
War on your dogma dubya
Armageddon's engineers
War in a heartbeat
I declare war on so-called civilization
World trade globalization
Organized desinformation
War on ambassadors of pretense
War on MTV and CNN
Macdonald's walt disney and bethlehem
On christina britney and eminem
I declare war on the world of anti-choice
On violent unilaterality
On the amassment of murderous high-tech toys
And all crimes against humanity
War on the moral majority
On corporate.com imperialism
On mindlessly bumbling stupidity
And police-state terrorism
Worldwar three - be all that you can be
(Though you also have to look at the connection between fascism and elitism ... I've known too many industrial fans who were genuine elitist assholes toward anyone who didn't like their very limited style of music.... *thinks back on those oh-so-industrial assholes who used to beat up my friends in high school because they listened to NIN and Manson; god forbid you should like a band that more than three other people on the planet are aware of*)
Then there's also the possibility that fascist elements are coming as a result of the way this music plays with power and power dynamics, in terms of both politics and sexuality ... you get these recurring contrasting elements of being ultra-powerful, using and destroying, with being ultra-submissive, giving up and giving in.... you get lots of fetishistic stuff, corsets and leather and whips and such, I wonder if the fascist visual elements are related to that.... look at NIN's video for Happiness in Slavery maybe....
And then there's the whole play on gender that you see sometimes... which is maybe a descendant of the way this music partially originated in the "New Wave" 80s gothic type music .... it's sort of a fusion of punk and goth, the mohawks and the black clothes, sort an angry (punk) moping (goth).... But you get stuff like Manson in drag, and the popularity of corsets on men .... though there are also those who more embrace the punk or militaristic elements and present sort of exaggerated masculine visual aesthetics....
And you also have to wonder about the use of technology in this music... part of it is because this music evolved out of the New Wave synthesizer type 80s music ... and the name "industrial" which comes from the fact that genre began with people sampling "industrial" sounds, machines and things banging together and buzzing noises, manipulated it electronically and made music out of it. (What I'm talking about here isn't true "industrial," since it's got real instruments and all. But it's been labeled that way by marketing departments.) But how interesting that music that criticizes our modern industrial and technological society also relies on those elements in order to exist.... like it's a symptom, an unexpected byproduct, of those very processes, or once again a use of irony in that it's using what it criticizes.... And there's this recurring theme of humans merging with machines, like our humanity is being assimilated and destroyed by technology and this modern technological society. And that's actually what the music IS, a merging of human (voice and instruments) and technological (programmed) elements. It goes along with the conformity theme actually.... the idea of losing your individuality and being assimilated into one big machine....
Interesting how many songs include the theme of the narrator becoming what it is he hates (i.e. NIN "After everything I've done I hate myself for what I've become") which probably ties into the way that these songs are often written from the POV of what they're criticizing. Like they are criticizing something but also realizing that that something is part of them too. Take NIN's "Big Man with a Gun" ... it manages to critize a certain mentality while also expressing that mentality in a really self-hating way:
I am a big man
(yes I am)
and I have a big gun
got me a big old dick and I
I like to have fun
held against your forehead
I'll make you suck it
maybe I'll put a hole in your head
you know, just for the fuck of it
I can reduce you if I want
I can devour
I'm hard as fucking steel, and I’ve got the power
I'm every inch a man, and I'll show you somehow
me and my fucking gun
nothing can stop me now
shoot shoot shoot shoot shoot
I'm going to come all over you
me and my fucking gun
me and my fucking gun
Or then we could talk about religion in this music ... thinking about rejecting conformity, what's more conformity-encouraging than organized religion?
Manson, The Reflecting God:
I went to god just to see
and I was looking at me
saw that heaven and hell were lies
when I'm god everyone dies
or NIN, Heresy:
He sewed his eyes shut because he is afraid to see
He tries to tell me what I put inside of me
He’s got the answers to ease my curiosity
He dreamed up a God and called it christianity
Your God is dead and no one cares
If there is a hell I will see you there
He flexed his muscles to keep his flock of sheep in line
He made a virus that would kill off all the swine
His perfect kingdom of killing, suffering and pain
Demands devotion atrocities done in his name
Your God is dead and no one cares
Drowning in his own hypocrisy
And if there is a hell I will see you there
Burning with your God in humility
Will you die for this?
Just throwing out thoughts.
In closing:
http://www.sonic-boom.com/industrial/
This is scary.
I am intrigued by the phenomenon of musician's blogs. I know lots of famous people have blogs, but none that I've ever given a crap about. But it's fascinating to read, say, Rogue from the Cruxshadows or Sascha from KMFDM. These really aren't proper blogs, more like band news, but very interesting. You get a feel for someone's personality in such an interesting way, when they're writing their own words.... It's more like looking into someone's head instead of into the physical appearance or performance that you're used to them presenting....
I was watching the NIN "closure" video last night (their video compilation), and started thinking academically about the phenomenon of "industrial music," or whatever you want to call it. (This is what happens when you do cultural studies in college... why, btw, is it that they have like 50 classes on hip hop but none on rock music?) So anyway, I mean, looking at it from the outside, why was/is this music popular? I mean, NIN was huge in the mid-90s, and there was a whole scene, tons of similar bands selling lots of records (I'm thinking like bands on Wax Trax! or nothing records ....), plenty of whom are still around. But why would people want to listen to stuff like
"smashed up my sanity
smashed up my integrity
smashed up what i believed in
smashed up what's left of me
smashed up my everything
smashed up all that was true
gonna smash myself to pieces
i don't know what else to do"
and such? It's like the music of victimization, degradation, humiliation, personal destruction and self-hatred ....
And I guess you have to look at the cultural/economic group with which it was most popular, which is largely white middle class male suburban teenagers and young adults. Is growing up suburban really that dehumanizing? I don't want to just dismiss it as spoiled kids or whatever, because there's real pain and real meaning and real art here. (And of course I don't mean that that demographic is true of all fans of this music; I'm talking general trends.)
I was also thinking about the topics in these songs that recur most often. It seems like those topics would be sex and violence (usually both together). Interesting that if you take, say, cheesy 80s hair metal, sex and violence are also common topics. But there it's like a celebration and enjoyment of sex and violence, hot cars and girls in spandex or whatever, whereas in say NIN it's about sex and violence in a disturbing, destructive way. Like "Closer," probably their most famous song, that chorus: "I want to fuck you like an animal," the pain and desperation mixed in with that lust. And this obsession with death, things rotting, animal bodies, pigs, every gross thing you can think of .... why do people want to dwell on that? Is it a reaction against the fake bland pastel consumerist "happiness" that's shoved down your throat throughout your entire suburban life? Digging up everything that's culturally taboo? Is it about exorcising negative emotions, getting them out through music so that you can enjoy life...?
It's interesting that this is the subculture so many "different" young people gravitate toward. I'm thinking about the sixties--wasn't the music of subculture back then about hope and optimism and idealism? And then the 70s was punk, anger and rebellion. What was the 80s, that depressing goth/alternative type stuff? The real "subculture" music of the 90s I suppose would be "grunge," heavy metal/punk/alternative, rebellious and angry and self-hating and leftist-political. But then that led to "industrial" being in the mainstream for a short while at least, NIN was huge around 94/95/96, when grunge was dying (and the "industrial" subculture was around before and after the mainstream-ness).
I don't know, like it's interesting to think of rebellion in the 60s being about idealism and rebellion in the 90s being about nihilism and self-hatred. And what happened in our culture to generate that ... the dying of the 60s progressive social movements, the re-emergence of conservatism with Reagan in the 80s.... It's like instead of talking about how the world can be a beautiful place if we just all work together, the music is just giving up and saying the world is a horrible ugly place and you may as well die because there's no hope of fixing it.
I don't know, maybe we're in the dying days of an empire that's rotting from the inside, and this is what it's producing in its youth? At least, those who can take their eyes off of Reality TV long enough to look at what's going on around them...
Although that whole analysis is ignoring the "fun" side of this music, which is all about (over)indulgence in everything you're not supposed to do, and celebrating your individiuality/differences ... not to mention the sense of humor and (self)parody you get with bands like KMFDM or even some Manson songs....
It's sort of interesting to think about musical trends, too ... the mix of techno and heavy metal is fascinating to me. Because metal fans laugh their asses off at dance music, and what would dance music fans want to do with heavy metal? But somehow you put the two together and get the most amazing music....
Obligatory warning that comes whenever I try to philosophize: I realize that this is full of generalizations; I'm talking about trends, not individuals, and not actively trying to exclude the zillion other related things that I haven't mentioned here. And also that by trying to look at this from some kind of distance, it doesn't mean that I actually look at it from a distance (she says as she turns up the volume of KMFDM's NIHIL).
ETA:
(I'm using the shorthand word "industrial" to refer to a segment of bands that may not call themselves that, and that "true" industrial fans usually whine aren't "really" industrial... disclaimer, disclaimer, disclaimer.... people get so elitist and prickly about this shit.... And this analysis is really terribly lacking because I mainly listen to "industrial metal," stuff with guitars ... I never could get into Skinny Puppy and such....)
Anyway....
Just more thoughts to consider ... I was thinking about what you might call the "fascist aesthetic" in a lot of industrial music, both in its visuals and musical elements. There's one stereotypical industrial clothing style that is almost a military uniform, boots and the button-up collared shirt, there is a lot of group chanting and "marching" type sounds in some songs... It's interesting in, for example, the KMFDM "Beat by Beat" video, the almost fetishization, the lingering images, of boots, band and crew members walking in these military style boots .... it's interesting to think of in relation to the fact that much of this music originates or is most popular in Germany (and is also very popular in Japan) ... it's also interesting in light of the fact that Eric Harris (Columbine killer) was a big KMFDM fan and the media immediately assumed that KMFDM were Nazis (KMFDM then put out an official statement saying that, though some band members are German, they do not support Nazi beliefs). And that aesthetic appears even in the very well-known Marilyn Manson stage show, with him up on a podium chanting Hitler-style, surrounded by big red Nazi-style banners (with the Manson logo on them instead) and the fans saluting and chanting "Heil!"
I'm not saying that these bands support Nazi beliefs (I mean, there are probably industrial bands out there that do, but none that I know of or listen to). In fact I'm more like saying the opposite ... that these bands use images of fascism to criticize modern society and it's lock-step enforcement of conformity, again there's that relation to growing up suburban and criticizing the suburban establishment's enforcement of conformity..... It's a criticism of America and how America is becoming fascist in its repression of individual freedoms.... Take Manson's "Irresponsible Hate Anthem" or KMFDM's entire visual aesthetic (esp their WWIII album)....
Manson, Irresponsible Hate Anthem:
I am so all-american, I’d sell you suicide
I am totalitarian, I’ve got abortions in my eyes
I hate the hater, I’d rape the raper
I am the animal who will not be himself
Fuck it
Hey victim, should I black your eyes again?
Hey victim,
You were the one who put the stick in my hand
I am the ism, my hate’s a prism
Let’s jut kill everyone and let your God sort them out
Fuck it
Everybody’s someone else’s nigger/i know you are so am i
I wasn’t born with enough middle fingers/
I don’t need to choose a side
I better, better, better, better not say this
Better, better, better, better not tell
I hate the hater, I’d rape the raper
I am the idiot who will not be himself
Fuck it
Or KMFDM's Stars & Stripes:
A tyrant is a man who allows his people no freedom
Who is puffed-up by pride
Driven by the lust of power
Impelled by greed
Provoked by thirst for fame
Divided and conquered
Gripped by fear
Wishful thinking that it can't happen hear
It's well underways but nobody knows
A repeat of history
That's how it goes
Tell the people that they're under attack
By man-eating foes from mars or iraq
Mobilize outrage
Muzzle dissent
Send in the troops
Strike the pre-empt
Stars & stripes
Learn how to fight
We come together by the dawn of the light
Oh so proudly we hail as the rockets red glare
Stars & stripes
Control the airwaves
Fuel the reaction
Use every weapon of mass-distraction
Turn active people into passive consumers
Feed 'em bogus polls and harebrained rumours
Cut back civil rights
Make no mistake
Tell 'em homeland security is now at stake
Whip up a frenzy keep 'em suspended
Don't let 'em know that their liberty's ended
Everything goes in the desperate states
The veneer of democracy rapidly fades
Wreak total havoc on all opposition
In any event fulfill your mission
Totalitarian media sensation
You will give 'em domination
Never mind they call you a liar and thief
By now you're undisputed commander-in-chief
I mean it's interesting that these guys generally have leftist political leanings, or at least anti-fascist anti-conformity anti-repression inclinations, but they use the language and visuals of fascism in order to criticize it ... that's a contrast to a lot of other musical styles which critize in a more traditionally leftist way, like folk music or "pacifist" type music ... long flowing hair and sandals ... instead these industrial bands are critizing military(-type) power while dressing like they're in the military....
I guess it's all about irony ... KMFDM using the US army motto "Be all that you can be" in the song "World War III" which is a massive criticism of the Bush administration and the current war in Iraq.
KMFDM, World War III:
I declare war on the world
War in outer space
I declare war in a nutshell
War all over the place
I declare war on every government
War against all odds
I declare war on your inner sanctum
On your blood thirsty gods
I declare war on the axis of morons
All out war on complacent consent
I declare war on the war against drugs
Rape and Slaughter of the innocent
War on big brother
Warmongers and profiteers
War on your dogma dubya
Armageddon's engineers
War in a heartbeat
I declare war on so-called civilization
World trade globalization
Organized desinformation
War on ambassadors of pretense
War on MTV and CNN
Macdonald's walt disney and bethlehem
On christina britney and eminem
I declare war on the world of anti-choice
On violent unilaterality
On the amassment of murderous high-tech toys
And all crimes against humanity
War on the moral majority
On corporate.com imperialism
On mindlessly bumbling stupidity
And police-state terrorism
Worldwar three - be all that you can be
(Though you also have to look at the connection between fascism and elitism ... I've known too many industrial fans who were genuine elitist assholes toward anyone who didn't like their very limited style of music.... *thinks back on those oh-so-industrial assholes who used to beat up my friends in high school because they listened to NIN and Manson; god forbid you should like a band that more than three other people on the planet are aware of*)
Then there's also the possibility that fascist elements are coming as a result of the way this music plays with power and power dynamics, in terms of both politics and sexuality ... you get these recurring contrasting elements of being ultra-powerful, using and destroying, with being ultra-submissive, giving up and giving in.... you get lots of fetishistic stuff, corsets and leather and whips and such, I wonder if the fascist visual elements are related to that.... look at NIN's video for Happiness in Slavery maybe....
And then there's the whole play on gender that you see sometimes... which is maybe a descendant of the way this music partially originated in the "New Wave" 80s gothic type music .... it's sort of a fusion of punk and goth, the mohawks and the black clothes, sort an angry (punk) moping (goth).... But you get stuff like Manson in drag, and the popularity of corsets on men .... though there are also those who more embrace the punk or militaristic elements and present sort of exaggerated masculine visual aesthetics....
And you also have to wonder about the use of technology in this music... part of it is because this music evolved out of the New Wave synthesizer type 80s music ... and the name "industrial" which comes from the fact that genre began with people sampling "industrial" sounds, machines and things banging together and buzzing noises, manipulated it electronically and made music out of it. (What I'm talking about here isn't true "industrial," since it's got real instruments and all. But it's been labeled that way by marketing departments.) But how interesting that music that criticizes our modern industrial and technological society also relies on those elements in order to exist.... like it's a symptom, an unexpected byproduct, of those very processes, or once again a use of irony in that it's using what it criticizes.... And there's this recurring theme of humans merging with machines, like our humanity is being assimilated and destroyed by technology and this modern technological society. And that's actually what the music IS, a merging of human (voice and instruments) and technological (programmed) elements. It goes along with the conformity theme actually.... the idea of losing your individuality and being assimilated into one big machine....
Interesting how many songs include the theme of the narrator becoming what it is he hates (i.e. NIN "After everything I've done I hate myself for what I've become") which probably ties into the way that these songs are often written from the POV of what they're criticizing. Like they are criticizing something but also realizing that that something is part of them too. Take NIN's "Big Man with a Gun" ... it manages to critize a certain mentality while also expressing that mentality in a really self-hating way:
I am a big man
(yes I am)
and I have a big gun
got me a big old dick and I
I like to have fun
held against your forehead
I'll make you suck it
maybe I'll put a hole in your head
you know, just for the fuck of it
I can reduce you if I want
I can devour
I'm hard as fucking steel, and I’ve got the power
I'm every inch a man, and I'll show you somehow
me and my fucking gun
nothing can stop me now
shoot shoot shoot shoot shoot
I'm going to come all over you
me and my fucking gun
me and my fucking gun
Or then we could talk about religion in this music ... thinking about rejecting conformity, what's more conformity-encouraging than organized religion?
Manson, The Reflecting God:
I went to god just to see
and I was looking at me
saw that heaven and hell were lies
when I'm god everyone dies
or NIN, Heresy:
He sewed his eyes shut because he is afraid to see
He tries to tell me what I put inside of me
He’s got the answers to ease my curiosity
He dreamed up a God and called it christianity
Your God is dead and no one cares
If there is a hell I will see you there
He flexed his muscles to keep his flock of sheep in line
He made a virus that would kill off all the swine
His perfect kingdom of killing, suffering and pain
Demands devotion atrocities done in his name
Your God is dead and no one cares
Drowning in his own hypocrisy
And if there is a hell I will see you there
Burning with your God in humility
Will you die for this?
Just throwing out thoughts.
In closing:
http://www.sonic-boom.com/industrial/