The entire op-ed page section of January 11th’s Washington Post was devoted to two subjects: gun control and the “inflamatory rhetoric” that might have inspired Jared Loughner’s violent attack in Tuscon, Arizona this past weekend. In his column, Dana Milbank suggested that the heat needs to be turned up on figures like Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck:
“While the accusations sometimes go too far …the heat is well deserved. Both are finally being held to account for recklessly playing with violent images in a way that is bound to incite the unstable.” (Emphasis mine)
I am confused as to why Mr. Milbank did not include the hardcore band, “Drowning Pool,” in his indictment. J. Freedom du Lac’s story in the Style section of the Post seems to have gone unnoticed by Mr. Milbank. The story reveals that Jared Loughner made use of Drowning Pool’s song “Bodies” as a soundtrack for one of his final youtube postings which featured someone (possibly him) desecrating an American flag (I assume there were no recordings of Beck or Palin’s speeches available?). If you’re not familiar with the song, it contains the ominous refrain, “let the bodies hit the floor,” which is repeated ad nauseum. Turns out that “Bodies” has shown up before in a criminal case. As du Lac reports:
“The Drowning Pool song served as the soundtrack to a double murder in Oakton where in 2003, then-19-year-old Joshua Cooke cranked the throbbing tune on his headphones, walked out of his bedroom holding a 12-gauge shotgun and killed his parents.”
Drowning Pool maintains that the song was mis-interpreted both then and now. They were quick to release a statement on Monday that they were, “devastated,” by the shootings and their music was misunderstood yet again. According to DP, the lyrics are an ode to a brotherhood:
“‘Bodies’ was written about the brotherhood of the mosh pit and the respect people have for each other in the pit. If you push others down, you have to pick them back up. It was never about violence. It’s about a certain amount of respect and a code.” (DP Statement)
You would expect that the video the band produced would have celebrated that idea with shots of the brotherhood in action. Instead the video takes place in what appears to be a psych ward with the lyrics being screamed at an obviously disturbed person.
“Skin against skin blood and bone /You’re all by yourself but you’re not alone
You wanted in now you’re here / Driven by hate , consumed by fear”
(from “Bodies”)
It seems to pain the band that their lyrics would be confused with any kind of call to violence. and their statement included a judgement on those who would:
“For someone to put out a video misinterpreting a song about a mosh pit as fuel for a violent act shows just how sick they really are.” (DP Statement)
I must confess, the effort required for me not to resort to petty sarcasm is enormous.
In the song, “Hate” off the Drowning Pool 2004 Desensitized CD, the band offers the following:
Bury the priest and burn religion alive …
Forget about the crucifix / My rising sign is 666 …
You want the world I’ll show the way / Just raise your fist and let me hear you say
Hate you want it / Hate you need it / Say hate, you want it…
I’m sure this is only an ode to those who were abused by pedophile priests and should not be interpreted as any call to violence? Besides, anyone who committed a violent act due to misunderstanding the song, well, they would be the sicko. Right?
To be fair, I’m sure many hard core bands would say they are simply giving voice to the angst and anger of young people much like The Who did with, “Behind Blue Eyes,” or the Doors did with “The End,” for an earlier generation. By the same logic, isn’t that what people like Beck and his ilk are doing with talk radio? Aren’t they just giving voice to the angst and anger a certain audience feels?
Sarah Palin uses a graphic on Facebook with cross-hairs and says “Don’t retreat, reload!” This is the kind of stuff that Milbanks and others suggest is poisoning our public discourse. But couldn’t it be that the Jared Loughners of the world might be pumping bands like Emmuer into their headphones? Emmuer’s 2009 release, “Felony,” includes these lyrics in the song “Sunday Bacon”:
Top drawer
I grab the glock
I grab the ammo
Locked and Loaded
Blow your brains right out your skull
I’m addicted to your suffering
I came to bring the f******g pain
And, by the way, that’s pretty mild.
When I was working with the PMRC, artists would routinely decry what they perceived as efforts to censor them. The first amendment was wielded by the industry like Yoda’s light saber against the imperialistic forces of the morality police. The truth was, we simply believed that ideas have consequences, that music is powerful, and while artists have the right to say what they want, it does not mean they have no responsibility for what they are saying.
When you consider it, isn’t that exactly what Mr. Milbank is stating? That people should bear some responsibility for their speech? Aren’t the liberal pundits red faced and furious over the exact same kind of issue that the PMRC was when it was highlighting the lack of responsibility shown by the recording industry?
Enter Keith Olbermann at MSNBC who offered the following:
If Glenn Beck, who obsesses nearly as strangely as Mr. Loughner did about gold and debt, and who wistfully joked about killing Michael Moore, and Bill O’Reilly, who blithely repeated “Tiller the Killer” until the phrase was burned into the minds of his viewers, do not begin their next broadcasts with solemn apologies for ever turning to the death-fantasies and the dreams of blood-lust, for ever having provided just the oxygen to those deep in madness to whom violence is an acceptable solution, then those commentators and the others must be repudiated by their viewers, and by all politicians, and by sponsors, and by the networks that employ them. (Emphasis mine.)
Wow! I was demonized just for saying there should be warning labels on such stuff. I would like to formally offer to echo Oberman’s call for the repudiation of right wing talk show hosts if he will join me in calling on Steve Jobs to quit providing space on itunes for musicians who routinely glamorize rape, brutality, murder, necrophilia, blood lust and genocide. Start with Canibal Corpse; they’re a fun bunch.
Olbermann, Milbanks and others may suggest that political speech is different than entertainment. Not if they stand by their own criteria:
Milbanks: “recklessly playing with violent images in a way that is bound to incite the unstable.”
Olbermann: “apologies for ever turning to the death-fantasies and the dreams of blood-lust, for ever having provided just the oxygen to those deep in madness to whom violence is an acceptable solution.”
I could share countless examples with Misters Olbermann and Milbanks. Words that would hopefully make them as ill as they appear to be over the pundits. Why the double standards? Why do right wing talk show hosts get a pass from conservatives? Why do entertainers get a pass from liberals?
According to the comments by David Horowitz, executive director of the First Amendment group Media Coalition, that appeared in the Freedom du Lac column, speech is free or it’s not.
“The idea that we would diminish the speech that we allow based on how it might be received by the most unstable listener would leave us with little speech whatsoever,” he said, adding that “people commit murders in the name of the Bible or the Koran. To somehow hold the artist, the author, the speaker responsible for how the most unstable person drawn to the music or literature or movie might later act would deprive the 99.999 percent of people who never do anything illegal or violent.”
To top it all off, Drowning Pool comes out with a second statement crying about the Post making them look bad!
“…instead of telling the whole story, the writer decided to edit what we had to say in order to make it seem like we were somehow responsible for what happened last weekend… We find it inappropriate to imply that our song or rock music in general is to blame for this tragic event. It is premature to make this assumption without having all the facts in the case. It is just as likely that this horrible act was caused by the irresponsible and violent rhetoric used by mainstream media outlets such as the Washington Post. (Emphasis mine)
Well there you go. It’s officially a three-ring circus.
Frankly, I have little stomach for Drowning Pool, Keith Olbermann or Glenn Beck. They all abuse the medium by the same methods. Tap into frustration and fear. Rock it or talk it. Make a bunch of money.
Shame on them all.
There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing. (Proverbs 12:18 ESV)
09. Sep, 2011 
2 Comments
Back before the costumes, the glasses and the notoriety, Reginald Kenneth Dwight (aka Elton John) released one the best recordings of a brilliant live performance ever, 11-17-70. I will confess quickly that Elton lost me somewhere between Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and Caribou. It was obvious that he had turned his talents in different directions and the culture that was “Elton John” was taking over. Still, his early works remain some of my favorites and 11-17-70 stands front and center.
There are three covers on the LP, a full version of Honky Tonk Women by the Stones and a nod to Get Back (Lennon-McCartney) and My Baby Left Me (Arthur Crudup) which appear as a medley in the extended (18:20) Burn Down the Mission. The rest of the tracks are Elton and collaborator Bernie Taupin’s works: Take Me To the Pilot, Sixty Years On, Can I Put You On, Bad Side of the Moon and Burn Down the Mission.
I think 
. Looks well worth getting! The author, Michael Ward, is a life long reader and student of C.S. Lewis’s works and his insights are extraordinarily perceptive. Tyndale has produced a DVD about code. You can view the trailer at the Narnia Code 
. The book releases in March and looks to be a must read for those trying to wade reformation waters.
