so one of the topics i could pick for my final paper for rock & roll in philosophy paper (yeah this totally isn't a real school) is writing about a band whose work is philosophically important to me, so i chose nevermore. my paper is basically just a run-through of the themes of the lyrics from s/t t- dnb (paper was getting too long and those are the best lyrics anyway) and i just finished it and would looove feedback, critiques, etc. thanks!
Laura James
Rock & Roll in Philosophy
Prof. Bill Stewart
Final Paper
A band whose work I believe has consistently had deep philosophical meaning is the Seattle-based progressive thrash band Nevermore.
On their self-titled first album, released in 1995, they use several of the songs as vehicles to explore social ills. The song Chrome Black Future is a scathing condemnation of people who use hard drugs and how their addictions hurt those around them. The song The Sanity Assassin is about a less tangible subject. It talks about a man who never had a dream to call his own so he he takes an innocent's vision and made a mask of faults, defensive anger and false emotion. Though this can describe someone that you could meet in any kind of social setting, who lacks originality and always wants to take other peoples ideas and take credit for them, uses them, or just ruin other peoples happiness with their own bitterness, it could also be referring to people like evangelists and others who prey on and manipulate peoples emotional weaknesses. There are many other references in the lyrics to the blind, such as the use of the idiom the blind lead the blind, and the lyrics:
And the sanity assassin
Is coming down in a stream of black
So he takes what he cannot live
The black leads the blind astray
The usage of the color black is especially telling of something more malicious in this persons nature. The song Godmoney also touches on that theme though is a more direct reference to televangelists and people who exploit the faith of others for their own gain, specifically money. Timothy Leary is an account of the teachings that the writer and LSD-advocate and the hostility he faced for his ideas about expanding mental awareness.
Their next album was more of an homage to Leary, using the title of the book as the title of the album and even the title of the first chapter as the title of the first song, The Politics and Ecstasy and The Seven Tongues of God, respectively. The lyrics here are much more complex and ambitious and the themes are more philosophical but there are still songs that are grounded in real-life events. The Seven Tongues of God and Next In Line are cynical critiques of religious ideals. This Sacrament, Lost, and 42147 explore the effects of psychedelic drugs. Passenger is about a man who dies never having taken any risks in his life and leaves no real impact on anyone. The title track of the album is actually a caustic criticism of current state of the world and the greed that fuels the people who run it. The Tiananman Man is an abstract account of the events at Tiananmen Square. The Learning, one of their most musically and lyrically experimental songs, contemplates the possibility of machines becoming self-aware.
Their next release was In Memory. It was an EP of tracks recorded around the same time as Politics of Ecstasy, but that had a very different sound both musically and lyrically. The themes of these lyrics showed a clear distinction between them and many other heavy metal bands at the time. Whereas most other bands tried to make their lyrics violent and misanthropic, In Memory included songs such as Matricide, which focused on the need for humans to stop destroying the earth, and the title track In Memory, which emphasizes that people shouldnt let any pain or bitterness in their past ruin the good memories they have. The lyrics of the song Optimist or Pessimist actually talk about how out of control and chaotic the world has become but state The only world I know is the world I cling to/It's a world that I'd want to save. It acknowledges the futility of this idea against the overwhelming negativity but establishes:
the optimist understands why the world's gone down the drain
the pessimist never bends, constricting thoughts in vain
from the pessimist's point of view there's nothing we can do
as I paint this picture gray and taste the pain
I'll play the optimist
The song on that release that probably best illustrates their distinctive lyrics themes is the The Sorrowed Man, which is much slower and more melodic than the majority of their songs. It paints a vivid picture of a mans dream of a blissful afterlife where there is only happiness and no pain, and describes his decision to change his life for the better so he can be there one day.
Their next album, Dreaming Neon Black, was a more straight-forward concept album based around dreams the bands singer, Warrel Dane, was having about an ex-girlfriend whod disappeared after going on a religious retreat to Mexico. The first song, Beyond Within is another song with a more Dystopian world view, and establishes the kind of world where this story is taking place. The next song, The Death of Passion, goes into one characters personal hopelessness at the loss of someone close to him. The next song, I Am the Dog describes the dreams he has of her, using many images of drowning, and talks about how deep her conviction was to the faith she followed. The title track of the album is about the depth of his love for her and his hopes to meet her again, but the track after that, Deconstruction, goes back to the Apocalyptic theme of Beyond Within but uses religious references and cynically questions how society will continue to thrive if people lose the self-interest that seems to be their only motivation. The song after that, Fault of the Flesh, builds upon that idea but takes an almost sympathetic parallel stance, saying that humans cant be blamed for the wrong we do because we are flawed and its only in our nature. The next song, The Lotus Eaters, uses an allusion to Greek mythology to elaborate on the concept of peoples lack of control leading them to peril. In the Greek heroic epic The Odyssey, Odysseuss crew lands on an island of people who survive on a mysterious lotus that causes the men to forget anything of their homes once they eat it. The lyrics of the song use direct references to God, asking why must we fear you why did you take her away? meaning that, for the woman, devoting herself to faith wouldve enabled her to forget the state of the world referenced earlier. The song after that, Poison Godmachine elaborates on that theme, referring to the safety that religion provides for people who are inundated with the negativity of the world, but that when people use it as an escape it can become a kind of poison. The song All Play Dead furthers that into a numbness like death. Cenotaph becomes a sort of literal end to his search for her, as he builds the cenotaph in her name and accepts that shes resigned herself to a metaphorical sleep he will not be able to retrieve her from. The song No More Will is the mans own closure, when he realizes that he would never be able to believe in the kind of things she became a slave to, and that his dedication to finding her isnt the way to live, but the last song, Forever is a pledge that her memory will always be in his heart.
The progression of that albums lyrics are like an encapsulation of the overall attitude of the bands lyrics: that things can become absolutely abysmal but that if you dont let yourself be consumed by negativity, you will persevere.
Laura James
Rock & Roll in Philosophy
Prof. Bill Stewart
Final Paper
A band whose work I believe has consistently had deep philosophical meaning is the Seattle-based progressive thrash band Nevermore.
On their self-titled first album, released in 1995, they use several of the songs as vehicles to explore social ills. The song Chrome Black Future is a scathing condemnation of people who use hard drugs and how their addictions hurt those around them. The song The Sanity Assassin is about a less tangible subject. It talks about a man who never had a dream to call his own so he he takes an innocent's vision and made a mask of faults, defensive anger and false emotion. Though this can describe someone that you could meet in any kind of social setting, who lacks originality and always wants to take other peoples ideas and take credit for them, uses them, or just ruin other peoples happiness with their own bitterness, it could also be referring to people like evangelists and others who prey on and manipulate peoples emotional weaknesses. There are many other references in the lyrics to the blind, such as the use of the idiom the blind lead the blind, and the lyrics:
And the sanity assassin
Is coming down in a stream of black
So he takes what he cannot live
The black leads the blind astray
The usage of the color black is especially telling of something more malicious in this persons nature. The song Godmoney also touches on that theme though is a more direct reference to televangelists and people who exploit the faith of others for their own gain, specifically money. Timothy Leary is an account of the teachings that the writer and LSD-advocate and the hostility he faced for his ideas about expanding mental awareness.
Their next album was more of an homage to Leary, using the title of the book as the title of the album and even the title of the first chapter as the title of the first song, The Politics and Ecstasy and The Seven Tongues of God, respectively. The lyrics here are much more complex and ambitious and the themes are more philosophical but there are still songs that are grounded in real-life events. The Seven Tongues of God and Next In Line are cynical critiques of religious ideals. This Sacrament, Lost, and 42147 explore the effects of psychedelic drugs. Passenger is about a man who dies never having taken any risks in his life and leaves no real impact on anyone. The title track of the album is actually a caustic criticism of current state of the world and the greed that fuels the people who run it. The Tiananman Man is an abstract account of the events at Tiananmen Square. The Learning, one of their most musically and lyrically experimental songs, contemplates the possibility of machines becoming self-aware.
Their next release was In Memory. It was an EP of tracks recorded around the same time as Politics of Ecstasy, but that had a very different sound both musically and lyrically. The themes of these lyrics showed a clear distinction between them and many other heavy metal bands at the time. Whereas most other bands tried to make their lyrics violent and misanthropic, In Memory included songs such as Matricide, which focused on the need for humans to stop destroying the earth, and the title track In Memory, which emphasizes that people shouldnt let any pain or bitterness in their past ruin the good memories they have. The lyrics of the song Optimist or Pessimist actually talk about how out of control and chaotic the world has become but state The only world I know is the world I cling to/It's a world that I'd want to save. It acknowledges the futility of this idea against the overwhelming negativity but establishes:
the optimist understands why the world's gone down the drain
the pessimist never bends, constricting thoughts in vain
from the pessimist's point of view there's nothing we can do
as I paint this picture gray and taste the pain
I'll play the optimist
The song on that release that probably best illustrates their distinctive lyrics themes is the The Sorrowed Man, which is much slower and more melodic than the majority of their songs. It paints a vivid picture of a mans dream of a blissful afterlife where there is only happiness and no pain, and describes his decision to change his life for the better so he can be there one day.
Their next album, Dreaming Neon Black, was a more straight-forward concept album based around dreams the bands singer, Warrel Dane, was having about an ex-girlfriend whod disappeared after going on a religious retreat to Mexico. The first song, Beyond Within is another song with a more Dystopian world view, and establishes the kind of world where this story is taking place. The next song, The Death of Passion, goes into one characters personal hopelessness at the loss of someone close to him. The next song, I Am the Dog describes the dreams he has of her, using many images of drowning, and talks about how deep her conviction was to the faith she followed. The title track of the album is about the depth of his love for her and his hopes to meet her again, but the track after that, Deconstruction, goes back to the Apocalyptic theme of Beyond Within but uses religious references and cynically questions how society will continue to thrive if people lose the self-interest that seems to be their only motivation. The song after that, Fault of the Flesh, builds upon that idea but takes an almost sympathetic parallel stance, saying that humans cant be blamed for the wrong we do because we are flawed and its only in our nature. The next song, The Lotus Eaters, uses an allusion to Greek mythology to elaborate on the concept of peoples lack of control leading them to peril. In the Greek heroic epic The Odyssey, Odysseuss crew lands on an island of people who survive on a mysterious lotus that causes the men to forget anything of their homes once they eat it. The lyrics of the song use direct references to God, asking why must we fear you why did you take her away? meaning that, for the woman, devoting herself to faith wouldve enabled her to forget the state of the world referenced earlier. The song after that, Poison Godmachine elaborates on that theme, referring to the safety that religion provides for people who are inundated with the negativity of the world, but that when people use it as an escape it can become a kind of poison. The song All Play Dead furthers that into a numbness like death. Cenotaph becomes a sort of literal end to his search for her, as he builds the cenotaph in her name and accepts that shes resigned herself to a metaphorical sleep he will not be able to retrieve her from. The song No More Will is the mans own closure, when he realizes that he would never be able to believe in the kind of things she became a slave to, and that his dedication to finding her isnt the way to live, but the last song, Forever is a pledge that her memory will always be in his heart.
The progression of that albums lyrics are like an encapsulation of the overall attitude of the bands lyrics: that things can become absolutely abysmal but that if you dont let yourself be consumed by negativity, you will persevere.
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