It's a by-product of looking like we might have been the lead singer of one of the less successful New Wave Of British Heavy Metal acts from the eighties that the moment any song appears with remotely crunchy guitars and a growly vocal my inbox fills with messages saying "One for you here, Mr Apocalypse!" And while my ageing Viking features probably do betray a tendency towards the noisier side of music, I do have some standards you know. And you should all know the EA mantra by now - no rock is better than shit rock!
So you shouldn't be surprised that we no fans of this dreary, and perhaps marginally contentious, plod from Jorn. It grumbles along like the loud one from a deliberately edgy musical, thinking it's all important because it's talking about, like, issues, where in actual fact it's more like taking an enforced stroll with your politically dubious grandfather after a big Christmas dinner.
Sure, the subject matter is one that's worthy of discussion, but perhaps not quite this tritely and hamfistedly. I mean, what's that little interlude of Middle Eastern sounding music in the middle there trying to tell us, eh, Jorn mate? It just sounds like something the artist was really proud of in the demo despite everyone telling him it was a bad idea, but he insisted on keeping at least a part of it in the final edit.
If you want to hear this kind of subject matter dealt with in a much more intelligent and exciting manner, go listen to Slayer, because this is faintly embarrassing.
Tuesday, 12 January 2021
Norway 2021 - Jorn - Faith Bloody Faith
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How on earth you've come to the conclusion of this song being "politically dubious" and referring to the Middle East in particular I can't quite make out, but I can only suggest you open your eyes and ears because you are blatantly wrong. This song is a progressive and atheist anthem, criticising religion and faith as a whole. The line "God vs God vs Man vs Life" refers to different religious groups setting their gods up against each other, and ultimately as a result, against humanity. It's very well written, and there is nothing politically dubious about it. It seems you've assumed based on Jorn's age what kind of opinions you think he has. Please rectify this article as you're just embarassing yourself here.
ReplyDeleteHey Ed! Thanks for your note. You raise some very valid points there. However, your own assumptions are just a little bit telling. For a start, I'm four years older than Jorn, so I'm less likely to be coming to those kind of conclusions about him based on age alone. But I do also work in the rock'n'roll business, so I do also know the lay of the land a little. But the thing you appear to have missed in Jorn's song is his somewhat narrow definition of religion, quite noticeably basing his storyline only on those religions that originate from the Middle East. Now I'm always one to think well of people, but it doesn't come across well, and that little passage of vaguely Middle Eastern music in the middle didn't help matters any. I'm also a committed atheist, but that stance doesn't mean that you can't be sensitive to other cultures. And I fear that even if Jorn did come at this with a good heart and the right intentions, he's blundered into it hamfistedly and made it look a whole lot worse than he may have planned. Liking a song and an artist is one thing, and it's great that he has fans like you to defend him from nobodies like me. But look at the broader picture and hopefully you'll come to realise that there were aspects to the song - however innocently intended - that were colourblind at best, and borderline racist at worst. I totally get his probable intent, but boy did he make a great big mess of it!
DeleteHi again,
DeleteWell for a start I'm sorry I assumed ageism from your post, we all make mistakes it seems. That said, it seems to me that your only reason to believe that the song is "borderline racist" towards Middle Eastern religions seems to be the choice of arrangement for the small instrumental bridge, which hardly seems like convincing evidence. Let’s go through the lyrics bit by bit. The introduction is, I believe, a reference to the crusades - a series of wars undertaken by Christians a millennial ago. This reference is quite common in metal music. The verse draws on this historical example to make a general comment on how ignorance and credulity have led humans to kill each other in God’s name. The pre-chorus is an expression of frustration at how so many centuries later, the situation is still the same, and that humanity hasn’t really progressed in that respect. The chorus sums all this up by concluding that by setting different Gods up against each other, we end up setting them up against our own kind, humanity, resulting in a "bloody" outcome. Where in these lyrics are the problematic references you seem to notice? Because I for one don’t see them.
Then one suspects you never will, sir.
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