Singing For Satan---Part 23

This week I continue my once-per-month series of posts regarding an informal study I undertook in the early 1990s regarding rock and pop music. The purpose of my study (and the background to it) can be read in the first installment of August 7, 2017. If you have not read that post, I strongly encourage you to do so before reading this installment. I will only repeat here the seven (7) evil elements that pervade today's music:

1. Violence/Murder/Suicide
2. Nihilism/Despair
3. Drug and alcohol glorification
4. Adultery/ Fornication and sexual perversion
5. The occult
6. Rebellion against lawful superiors
7. Blasphemy against God, Jesus Christ in particular, and the Church

 The exposing of the bands/artists continues.

The "Clean-Cut" Boys of the 80s

 While parents of children and teenagers in the 1980s didn't like most of the pop and rock music, there were some artists who appeared "wholesome" and didn't sport the long hair and spandex pants of the heavy metal groups, or have the "drugged out" look of some other artists. Their songs seemed upbeat and not particularly offensive, so they got a "pass" from many parents. These are the musicians I've dubbed "the clean-cut boys." Looking relatively normal (or even handsome), and with seemingly innocuous lyrics, parents looked the other way when their children listened to them. That was a big mistake. 

Just as marijuana is a "gateway drug" to harder substances, so too are these bands/artists a "gateway" to more evil. Rather than looking rebellious, mostly singing about drugs and alcohol, and making frequent occult references, the vast majority of the "clean-cut boys" music revolves around promiscuity. They also throw in some sappy love songs, which really are harmless, to mask their true designs. Compared to the other bands in this series of posts, it probably seems harmless enough. Herein lies the problem. First, God does not "compare" sinners. In other words, if you are in mortal sin, you are at enmity with God. If you die unrepentant, you will go to Hell. Yes, there are varying degrees of suffering in Hell, but eternal torture away from God is the end result whether it's one mortal sin or one thousand. One mortal sin against the Second Commandment makes you worthy of Hell, just as one mortal sin against the Seventh Commandment. 

Second, there is no more insidious way to get someone to lose their Faith (and subsequently their morals) than by sins of impurity. Our Blessed Mother is claimed to have said at Fatima, "More souls go to Hell for sins of the flesh (i.e., mortal sins against the Sixth and Ninth Commandments) than for any other reason." I believe it. No one has a natural desire for drugs or violence, but there is a natural desire for sexual gratification. Since the Fall, humanity's nature is wounded and is inclined to evil. The Catholic Encyclopedia (1913) has this to say about concupiscence:

 In its widest acceptation, concupiscence is any yearning of the soul for good; in its strict and specific acceptation, a desire of the lower appetite contrary to reason. To understand how the sensuous and the rational appetite can be opposed, it should be borne in mind that their natural objects are altogether different. The object of the former is the gratification of the senses; the object of the latter is the good of the entire human nature and consists in the subordination of reason to God, its supreme good and ultimate end. But the lower appetite is of itself unrestrained, so as to pursue sensuous gratifications independently of the understanding and without regard to the good of the higher faculties. Hence desires contrary to the real good and order of reason may, and often do, rise in it, previous to the attention of the mind, and once risen, dispose the bodily organs to the pursuit and solicit the will to consent, while they more or less hinder reason from considering their lawfulness or unlawfulness. This is concupiscence in its strict and specific sense.(See http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04208a.htm). 

By passing off songs of lust as "love songs," these "clean-cut boys" arouse the base passions. They also take some subtle jabs at religion in general and Christianity in particular, trying to make it look foolish---as just some "nonsense" that gets in the way of "fun." True fun is no sin, and real sin is no fun. The only thing sin and fun have in common is that they are both three letter words. People listening to these artists will think sexual sins are "no big deal." Once you start down that road, you're on the wide road that leads to Hell. Below are four of the "clean-cut boys" who hit the peak of popularity in the 1980s.

1. Huey Lewis and the News

Hugh Anthony Cregg III (b. 1950) is better known by his stage name, Huey Lewis. Lewis was baptized and raised in the One True Church. He and six others formed the band Huey Lewis and the News in 1979. They had a run of hit singles during the 1980s and early 1990s, with nineteen top ten singles cutting across the Billboard Hot 100, Adult Contemporary, and Mainstream Rock charts.

Their most successful album, entitled Sports, was released in 1983. The album shot the group to worldwide fame, which expanded when the song The Power of Love was featured in the hit film Back to the Future, and was nominated for an Academy Award. Making use of catchy hook lines and an updated 1970s horn section, the ruggedly handsome and generally well-dressed Mr. Lewis is quite the deceiver. In an interview about his beliefs, Lewis had the following to say:

I believe god (sic) is alive today, forever and tomorrow. I feel that a lot of the folklore attached to rock and roll is drug orientated. In retrospect I thank god (sic) that I was blessed with a clean and sober attitude towards myself and others around me. When we shot "I Need a New Drug," I think I was confronting that reality. The bible helped me in larger than life ways. It clarified things for me and helped me to avoid romantic notions concerning drug abuse. (See http://yearofthe.tripod.com/weirdmagazinebidweirdlyso/id44.html)

The Bible clearly didn't help him clarify many other important things.  His song I Need a New Drug, replaces narcotics with sex. His videos are very suggestive. He says, "I've always been a big lover of women. I think that MTV gave me a chance to portray myself as a lover.I can't think of a thing that could be more romantic than being on stage." (Ibid).

I want a new drug, one that won't go away
One that won't keep me up all night
One that won't make me sleep all day
One that won't make me nervous
Wonderin' what to do
One that makes me feel like I feel when I'm with you
I'm alone with you
I'm alone with you, baby (Emphasis mine)

Lewis frequently uses God's Name in vain. He also takes a jab at Christianity in the song Jacob's Ladder:

I met a fan dancer
Down in South Side Birmingham
She was running from a fat man 
Selling salvation in his hand
Now he's trying to save me
We'll I'm doing alright, the best that I can
Just another fallen angel
Trying to get through the night
Step by step, one by one, higher and higher
Step by step, rung by rung 
Climbing Jacob's ladder
Coming over the airwaves
The man says I'm overdue
Sing along, send some money
Join the chosen few
Well, Mister I'm not in a hurry
And I don't want to be like you
All I want from tomorrow
Is to get it better than today (Emphasis mine)

Lewis equates Christianity with TV Protestant preachers out for money. Despite his claim that the Bible clarifies things for him, "Jacob's Ladder" is spoken about in Genesis 28:12. During his dream, Jacob saw "the angels of God" ascending and descending on it. Yet, Lewis has himself going up on it as "another fallen angel" (demon). In the song Whole Lotta Lovin' a man is looking at pornographic magazines. He's tired of masturbating and wants to get back to the "real thing."

I'm tired of these girly magazines
I want to stop dreamin', and get back home to the real thing
Late last night I read the letter you sent
Woke up this morning, under a tent
We've got a whole lotta lovin' to do (Emphasis mine)

2. John Cougar Mellencamp 

John Mellencamp (b. 1951), went by the stage name John Cougar, then John Cougar-Mellencamp, and finally back to his birthname. He has amassed twenty-two Top 40 hits in the United States. In addition, he holds the record for the most tracks by a solo artist to hit number one on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, with seven. In 2008, Mellencamp was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Possessing youthful good looks, Mellencamp attempts to portray himself as a "good old Midwestern country boy."

He's been married three times, starting when he got his seventeen year old girlfriend pregnant and eloped. His daughter, Michelle, emulating the excellent example set by her father, had a daughter at age 18, making Mellencamp a grandfather at 37. His musical message is clear; if you only follow the lyrics.

His song Hurt So Good is about sado-masochism:
You don't have to be so exciting
Just trying to give myself a little bit of fun, yeah
You always look so inviting
You ain't as green as you are young
Hey baby it's you
Come on girl now it's you
Sink your teeth right through my bones, baby
Let's see what we can do
Come on and make it a
Hurt so good
Come on baby make it hurt so good
Sometimes love don't feel like it should
You make it hurt so good

His song I Need A Lover tells the story of a man who just wants to use women for sex and tell them to "hit the highway" when it's over:

Some girl who'll thrill me and then go away
(I need a lover that won't drive me crazy)
Some girl that knows the meaning of ah-
Hey hit the highway!

The song Golden Gates mocks Christianity:

Ain't no golden gates gonna swing open
Ain't no streets paved in natural pearl
Ain't no angel with a harp come singin'
Leastways not that I know of in this world...

I don't need to see the whole thing go down
I don't need to see another lonely man
I don't need to see a woman crying for the savior
Holding on to some moneyman's hand (Emphasis mine)

In Serious Business, Mellencamp sings:
So have some dinner, baby
Play some records
Just remember one thing, son
This is serious business
Sex and violence and rock and roll
This is serious business
Sex and violence and rock and roll (Emphasis mine)

Mellencamp nicely summed up his philosophy of life in a 1982 interview with People magazine, "...I hate schools, governments and churches." (October, 1982). He is an ardent supporter of sodomites and other sexual perverts. (See, e.g.,  https://ultimateclassicrock.com/john-mellencamp-indiana-religious-freedom-law/)

3. Bryan Adams 

Bryan Adams (b. 1959) rose to fame in Canada and the United States with his 1983 album Cuts Like a Knife and turned into a global star with his 1984 album Reckless. He was nominated for 15 Grammy Awards, and was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame in March 2011. He has sold over 17 million albums worldwide.

Adams is a handsome Canadian, and looked like "the boy next door" when he rose to fame at age 24. His songs are all about the libido. The hit song Run to You details Adams' need for self-gratification with multiple sex partners, as he cheats on one woman with another.

She says her love for me could never die
But that'd change if she ever found out about you and I
Oh but her love is cold
Wouldn't hurt her if she didn't know, 'cause
When it gets too much
I need to feel your touch...

She's got a heart of gold, she'd never let me down
But you're the one that always turns me on
You keep me comin' 'round
I know her love is true
But it's so damn easy makin' love to you (Emphasis mine)

In the February 1985 edition of Rock magazine, Adams says promiscuity is an acceptable way to deal with loneliness (pg. 62). His song One Night Love Affair confirms this idea:

You're the silent type
And you caught my eye
But I never thought that I'd be touchin' you
How was I to know
I'd let my feelings go
And that I'd be yours before the night was through
Yeah, one night love affair
Tryin' to make like we don't care
We were both reachin' out for somethin'
Oh, one night love affair
Pretendin' it ain't there
Oh, and now we're left with nothin'
When the mornin' breaks
We go our separate ways
If the night was made for love it ain't for keeps (Emphasis mine)

Also, the song Summer of '69 tells of having sex "now or never."

Ain't no use in complainin'
When you've got a job to do
Spent my evenings down at the drive-in
And that's when I met you, yeah
Standin' on your mama's porch
You told me that you'd wait forever
Oh, and when you held my hand
I knew that it was now or never
Those were the best days of my life
Oh, yeah (Emphasis mine)

4. Genesis and Phil Collins/Peter Gabriel

Genesis was formed in England in 1967. Thought to be Christian because of the name (and their debut album entitled From Genesis to Revelation), they are quite evil. The two most well known members were their first lead singer and songwriter Peter Gabriel (b. 1950), and the drummer who took Gabriel's place after he left, Philip (Phil) Collins (b. 1951). Both Gabriel and Collins had solo careers that surpassed Genesis by far.

Genesis has sold approximately 150 million albums worldwide. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010. All of the musicians in the band looked respectable in contrast to their contemporaries in rock and pop. On their first album, Nursery Cryme, there is a song entitled The Musical Box. The lyrics are based on a story written by Gabriel, about two children in a country house. The girl, Cynthia, kills the boy, Henry, by lopping his head off with a croquet mallet. She later discovers Henry's musical box. When she opens it, Old King Cole plays, and Henry's spirit returns. The spirit begins aging fast. This causes him to experience a lifetime of sexual arousal in a couple of minutes, and he tries to convince the girl to have sexual intercourse with him. However, the noise causes his nurse to arrive, and Cynthia throws the musical box at the spirit, destroying them both. The album cover shows Cynthia holding a croquet mallet, with a few heads lying on the ground.

The songs were so long (The Musical Box was approximately 10 minutes), most listened for the beat and didn't pick up on just how sick some of the lyrics were on the album. They went more commercial (especially under the leadership of Collins) and changed to more subtle messages.Those messages were veiled references to drugs and taking jabs at religion. They would leave the sex to Gabriel and Collins as solo acts.  Invisible Touch (1986), was not about a woman but cocaine:

Well I've been waiting, waiting here so long
But thinking nothing, nothing could go wrong, but now I know
She has a built in ability
To take everything she sees
And now it seems I'm falling, falling for her.
She seems to have an invisible touch yeah
She reaches in, grabs right hold of your heart
She seems to have an invisible touch yeah
It takes control and slowly tears you apart

The song Jesus He Knows Me mocks Christianity by equating it with phony Protestant preachers--a favorite ploy of these artists:

You see the face on the TV screen
Coming at you every Sunday
See that face on the billboard
That man is me
On the cover of the magazine
There's no question why I'm smiling
You buy a piece of paradise
You buy a piece of me
I'll get you everything you wanted
I'll get you everything you need
Don't need to believe in hereafter
Just believe in me
'Cause Jesus he (sic--throughout the song) knows me
And he knows I'm right
I've been talking to Jesus all my life
Oh yes he knows me
And he knows I'm right
And he's been telling me
Everything is alright
I believe in the family
With my ever loving wife beside me
But she don't know about my girlfriend
Or the man I met last night
Do you believe in god (sic)
'Cause that's what I'm selling
And if you want to get to heaven
I'll see you right
You can see the mocking video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-rfCnW5VlE

Peter Gabriel was raised an Anglican, but considers himself a "Buddhist-Christian." He said, "When I’m thinking of God I’m a Buddhist, when I’m in pain and despair I’m a Christian." (See https://www.theawayteam.com/RANT/quotes.html). He also understands the power of music:
"There has always been a strong relationship between music and religion. It is because they both plug directly into the heart and can have real power for good or evil." (See https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0300272/bio; Emphasis mine)

He has been using his music for evil. He wrote the music for one of the most blasphemous movies, The Last Temptation of Christ, which denies the Divinity of Our Lord and depicts Christ being tempted by imagining Himself engaged in sexual activities. Gabriel was "proud" to have helped produce that trash:

"If people’s faith is so weak that it can be destroyed by a film, then it really isn’t much to begin with. I think people may find themselves reviewing their own lives and their own points of view on religion as a result of the film. I’m very proud to have been a part of it."

His most popular song, Sledgehammer, is about his penis. The term "sledgehammer" is a metaphor (one of many in the song) for his phallus, and wanting to engage in sex with the woman to whom he sings:

You could have a steam train
If you'd just lay down your tracks
You could have an aeroplane flying
If you bring your blue sky back
All you do is call me
I'll be anything you need
You could have a big dipper
Going up and down, all around the bends
You could have a bumper car, bumping
This amusement never ends
I want to be your sledgehammer
Why don't you call my name
Oh let me be your sledgehammer

Phil Collins is a Freemason, and as a general rule, will not discuss religion. (See https://hollowverse.com/phil-collins/). His song Thru These Walls is about a voyeur and pedophile pleasuring himself to what he sees and hears:

 I can hear through these walls
I can hear it when they're foolin' around
I can hear through these walls
And I hear every sign, every sound
I can hear through these walls
In the dark with the shades pulled down
Every word that they say
Every move they make feels it's coming my way
My favorite moment
Putting the glass up next to the wall
Imagination
Tho' I see nothing, I hear it all
Putting my sign up
Do not disturb me, speak or shout, inside out
Oh and my clothes, they're all laid out
I can see through my windows
I can see the girls and the boys
I can see through my windows
And I can imagine the noise
I can see through my windows
I can see them playing with toys
Oh, I hope it won't end
Ooh, if I promise not to touch, just be a friend...

Ah yeah
Ah yeah
Ah yeah
Ah yeah (Emphasis mine)

The song Like China is about him trying to seduce a virgin:

Your skin is smooth as silk and your eyes like stars
You're just like a picture book standing there
But I can't go on
No, I can't go on thinking you don't feel the same way as I do
I'll be so careful I'll hold you like china
I'll promise not to hurt you I'll hold you like china
You won't feel nothing, I'll hold you like china
'Cause I know it's your first time (Emphasis mine).

Conclusion

The "Clean-Cut Boys" are not what they appear to be, and what they want you to think of them. They are perverts and evil men trying to ensnare people into a general acceptance of sin. They look nice, but mostly (or exclusively) undermine God's Law on purity and entice people to sin against the Sixth and Ninth Commandments. These sins will lead, in many cases, to loss of faith and morals. Our Lord warned us of such people: "Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites; because you are like to whited sepulchers, which outwardly appear to men beautiful, but within are full of dead men's bones, and of all filthiness." (St. Matthew 23:27).