I have been listening to heavy metal and hard rock ever since I was a kid and that is quite a long time ago. When I was a teenager, people expressed concern to my mother about my music choices. Their ignorant comments included, “I think your daughter does drugs.” “Maybe she worships the devil.” “I bet she’s not doing so well in school.” To my mother’s credit, she always defended me because she knew me and she trusted me. I never did drugs and to this day, have never done drugs. I never drank. I had excellent grades in school and was an honor student. I did try cigarettes in high school but who didn’t? They were disgusting and I haven’t smoked since. And I never slept around. To say that I was a “good girl” was putting it mildly. As a teenager, I worked three jobs and paid my own college tuition. Other than being a sarcastic smartass, which I still am, my parents never had any issues with me.
I listen to heavy metal and hard rock to this day and I still enjoy it. I am a Christian and an ordained minister and I don’t think Jesus cares that I listen to bands like Queensryche and Zebra because I have not made idols out of the music I listen to. I listen to this music because I enjoy it, because it is energetic and it gets me pumped up.
When I was a teen and in my 20’s, I went to concerts all the time. I’ve seen bands such as White Zombie, Metallica, Pantera, Anthrax, and my personal favorites, Type O Negative and Rush. I enjoy the music but I don’t smoke weed or sacrifice babies to the devil. I am about as normal as a person can be, whatever normal is these days. I still enjoy this music and to be perfectly honest, I believe rap music is much, much worse. I’ve listened to some rap songs and cannot believe the filth that comes out of it.
There is a plethora of Christian heavy metal bands that sing and give praise to Jesus Christ. The most famous of these bands is Stryper. Their music is heavy metal to the max but their lyrics are amazingly profound and beautiful. There are some metal bands whose lyrics are very dark and evil and they profess to worship satan. I don’t take these bands seriously and anyone who does definitely is a candidate for professional help.
Through the years, heavy metal music has gone through so much opposition but it has survived because of its endurance and charisma. Back in the 80’s, Tipper Gore and her cohorts in the PMRC brought metal front and center when it tried to give parents more control over the music their children listened to. This resulted in having parental advisory stickers put on records to warn parents that the music contained references to violence or sex or anything else that was deemed harmful to them. At the time, I found the whole situation amusing because I listened to some music that contained questionable lyrics but I never took it seriously. I was a well -rounded individual who knew it was just a song and not something that should be taken to heart.
And while young teenagers who were depressed and had emotional issues were committing suicide and doing drugs, it was because they had emotional issues to begin with. Blaming bands like Judas Priest or Black Sabbath was just a scapegoat. I said this back then and I stand by this statement today. These bands were just scapegoats because people were looking to blame someone else for their children’s problems and not themselves.
Heavy metal and hard rock are not the only music I listen to. I happen to be crazy about Buddy Holly and the music of the 50’s and 60’s. My favorite female singer is Enya and I love Andrea Boccelli. I also listen to Neil Diamond, Gordon Lightfoot, and Glen Campbell. But I will continue to listen to hard rock and metal because it has always been my favorite. I believe music has gotten progressively worse over the years and I think rap has played a big part in that. You also have mainstreamers such as Beyonce and Cardi B who are terrible role models for young girls. And parents worry just because a song has an explosive guitar riff.
Dee Snider, the lead singer and frontman of Twisted Sister, was the face of rock and metal during the days of the PMRC. He said “Most of my songs were about believing in yourself, standing up for yourself, and fighting for what you believe in.”
Snider, who was born and raised a Christian, said he lived by the principles of Christianity but chose to express himself in the most outrageous way possible by putting on makeup and crazy outfits while on stage. And that’s all it was…a stage persona. It was his job, and still is, to entertain. And that’s what he does. It’s not to be taken seriously. Anyone with half a brain will know this.
People will not take any form of entertainment seriously, be it horror movies, music, or video games, if they are well-rounded to begin with. These things, like anything else, become dangerous, when someone is already susceptible to the influences of another or if they have some sort of mental illness. I will always defend the music I listen to because it’s what I enjoy. It has no power over me whatsoever except that I can’t help but feel energized when I listen to it. I’m not about to rush out and shoot anyone or do any harm to myself or anyone else. I am a Christian who happens to love hard rock and heavy metal. And there is nothing wrong with that.
And like Twisted Sister says, “You can’t stop rock and roll.”
I have dedicated this article to the memory of my friend A.J. Pero and to Pete Steele and Neil Peart. Going to their shows are some of the best memories of my life. You guys will never be forgotten.