For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 6:23

Rock and Roll: Soundtrack of Evil – Part 2 – Ephesians 5:10-11

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Rock and Roll: Soundtrack of Evil – Part 2 – Ephesians 5:10-11

11 July, 2021

Series: Contemporary Issues, Measuring the Music

Book: Ephesians

Pastor Simeon Western

Pastor Simeon Western

Notes Download

Scripture: Ephesians 5:10-11, Matthew 7:15-20, James 3:11-12

Should Christians listen to rock and roll music? Should rock and roll style music be in church? Music is a language and communicates a powerful message. Contemporary praise sends a mixed message as it tries to combine a sensual rock and roll sound with the praise of a Holy God. The sordid world produced by rock and roll should be a loud warning to the believer that this kind of music has no place in the Christian’s life or in the church of God.

The history and character of secular rock and roll has a very important bearing on the music debate. Music is NOT neutral and there is no coincidence that a certain beat and sound accompanies the perverted lyrics of Rock and Roll and the life of debauchery and degradation of those who perform it. Rock and Roll has always been a filthy, polluted kind of music that has been one of the biggest driving forces in the breakdown of morals in the West.

In our last three lessons we considered:

In this lesson we will continue consider the evil character of rock and roll. The examples and quotations in these lessons represent a small sampling of the floodtides of filth and wickedness connected with rock and roll.

Rock and roll is…

The Soundtrack of Violence & Suicide

Violence

Violence on Stage

  1. Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward: “We were rebelling and we were rebelling against just about everything. … I know that sometimes in our music it was loud and there was violence, too, onstage violence. Often, I would become violent onstage. It’s not an unusual phenomenon where I would literally pick up my drums and throw them at the audience” (Black Sabbath An Oral History, pp. 9, 16).1
  2. Jimi Hendrix promoted violence through his music at times setting his guitar on fire as the crowd went into a frenzy.
  3. Iggy Pop was very violent on the stage. He jumped into broken glass, forced himself to vomit, and invited the audience to beat him up. “Over the years, his notoriety grew with deeds such as threatening and vilifying audiences, cutting himself with broken bottles, pouring hot wax over his body, intentionally smashing out his teeth, and throwing up, even urinating on audiences…” (The Rock Who’s Who, 1982, p. 576, cited by Why Knock Rock? p. 187).
  4. Marilyn Manson has many scars on his body from acts of self- mutilation, often in concerts.

Violence of Rock Concerts

  1. Rock & Roll was violent from the beginning. The first modern rock concert was in 1952 (called the Moon Dog Coronation Ball) and was organized by disk jockey Alan Freed. The concert resulted in a riot that sent mobs of young people on a rampage in Cleveland, Ohio. More than 25,000 kids tried to jam into an arena which had an official capacity of less than half that. When officials tried to stop the show, mobs of kids smashed open the doors, overwhelmed the police, and went on the first rock and roll rampage.”2
  2. Bill Haley’s early rock concerts were characterized by violence: A Bill Haley concert in East Germany on October 26th, 1958 lead to a riot. “Kids smashed their seats and each other with clubs. They trashed the arena, wrecked music equipment, and threw chairs at the police, who had to bring in fire hoses to disburse them. Driven outside, they rampaged through the city. The damage was more than 30,000 Deutschmarks; there were 17 injuries and 18 arrests. A policeman was blinded in one eye.”3
  3. Pittsburgh Police Inspector Fred Good said that “wherever there’s been teenage trouble lately, rock and roll has almost always been in the background.”4
  4. Rioting was a common phenomenon of the early Beatles concerts. E.g., San Francisco 1965 – “A mob of howling teen- age boys and girls, at least 1,000 strong, rampaged through Mission district last night, inflicting heavy damage to automobiles and shops…the trouble theorized Police Sergeant William Mikulik, can be attributed to the strange powers of rock and roll. (San Francisco Chronicle, March 8, 1965, p. 18)5
  5. A 2002 study by Crowd Management Strategies (CMS) analyzed 31 rock concerts. There were a total of 4, 567 violence-related injuries and 20 violence-related deaths. Based upon these figures, CMS “estimated that between 20,000 and 40,000 concertgoers sought violence-related medical attention in 2002.”6
  6. From 2010 to 2013, there were 57 deaths at rock concerts in the U.S. and Canada, 14 from drug overdoses and 46 from violence and other causes (“Dying at a Concert Is Easier than You Think,” Clickiticket.com, May 20, 2014).7

Violent message of Rock

  1. Violent Sound
    1. Mick Jagger: “The best rock & roll music encapsulates a certain high energy – AN ANGRINESS – whether on record or onstage. That is, rock and roll is only rock and roll if it’s not safe. … Violence and energy – and that’s really what rock and roll’s all about.” (Mick Jagger, as told by Mikal Gilmore, Night Beat, p. 87)8 Jagger also confessed to feeling violent on stage – “I get a strange feeling on stage…I feel quite violent sometimes. I quite often want to smash up the microphone or something.” (Sanchez, up and Down with the Rolling Stones, p. 152).9
    2. Sting (lead singer for Police) said: “I think rock ‘n’ roll in its highest form is a death cult. The gods of rock ‘n’ roll are all dead…Sid Vicious, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison. The best thing you can do in rock ‘n’ roll is die.”10
  2. Violent Words
    1. Even the names of many punk and heavy metal groups express a love for violence. For example: Abuse, Aggression, At War, Axewitch, Black Death, Blasters, Blessed Death, Bloodlust, Blood Death, Blood Feast, Castration Squad, Child Molesters, Condemned to Death, Corpse Grinders, Crucifix, Cryptic Slaughter, Dead Boys, Dead Kennedys, Dead Milkmen, Death, Deathcorp, Death Squad, Doom, Discharge, Executioner, Flesh Eaters, Gravestone, Grave Digger, Hellion, Homicide, Indestroy, Intense Mutilation, Iron Maiden (named after a torture device used in the Dark Ages), Lizzy Borden (named after the woman who murdered her mother and father with an axe), Manson Youth, Megadeth, Metal Massacre, Millions of Dead Cops, Monster, Necrophagia, Necros, Onslaught, Overkill, Pain, Poison, Savage Steel, Septic Death, Sick Pleasure, Skulls, Slaughterhouse, Slayer, Slow Death, Stranglers, Suicidal Tendencies, Sword, Violent Children.11
    2. The National Coalition on Television Violence reported that 46% of over 900 videos studied contain or suggested violence, and 13% contain violence related to sadism, showing attackers obviously deriving pleasure while committing violent acts. (Talk Back Report, Nov. 1985).
    3. Rod Stewart of the band “Faces” sings of contemplating murdering his wife – “I’m gonna kill my wife/ I’m really gonna take her life/ … maybe blow out her brains with a bullet…”
  3. Violent music inspired murders
    1. Serial killer Richard Ramirez, California’s “Night Stalker” claimed he received inspiration for murder from the AC/DC song “Night Prowler” on their Highway to Hell album. Some of the chilling lyrics from that song are as follows:
      “I’m your Night Prowler I sleep in the day
      I’m your Night Prowler Get out of my way…
      Too scared to turn your light out
      Cause there’s something on your mind
      Was that a noise outside the window?
      What’s that shadow on the blind?
      As you lie there naked, Like a body in a tomb
      Suspended animation, as I slip into your room…”
    2. The Columbine school murderers were lovers of Marilyn Manson’s music and other Death Metal Groups. “In April 1999, Death Metal lovers Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold walked onto the campus of their high school in Littleton, Colorado, and brutally murdered 12 fellow students and a teacher and wounded 20 others before taking their own lives. Some of those murdered were picked out because they were Christians. Before they shot 17-year-old Cassie Bernall to death they asked, “Do you believe in God?” She replied, “Yes” and they shot her. Harris and Klebold loved the most wretched forms of rock music, particularly Marilyn Manson and German “techno” and Death Metal rock groups.
    3. God’s mind on violence
      1. Violence a dominant feature of the pre-flood world and will be a feature of the world just prior to Christ’s return.
      2. God hates violence!

Suicide

  1. Some alarming statistics.
    1. “The rise of rock music to a place of prominent influence in a global westernized pop culture has been accompanied by a dramatic rise in youth suicide. A study made by Metropolitan Life Insurance Company found that the suicide rate among teens rose 50% from 1952 to 1962. It rose another 200% between 1962 and 1982, with as many as 500,000 teens attempting suicide each year (“The Frightening Facts about Teen Suicide,” Teen magazine, October 1983, p. 10). Between 1980 and 1995 the suicide rate doubled again for youth ages 10 to 14. Suicide has become the second leading cause of death among youth ages 15 to 18.”12
    2. According to Healthdirect, an Australian government service, “Suicide is the leading cause of death among young Australians. More than 350 young people aged 18 to 24 take their own lives every year — more than die on the roads. For every youth suicide, there are 100 to 200 more attempts.”13 Self-harm is skyrocketing among youth in Western nations.
    3. So much for the “live as you please” message of the pop culture being the key to lasting happiness! Never before in the history of our country have young people been more indulged in pleasure and the sins of the flesh than today and yet young people are more miserable and hopeless than ever. It reveals that the philosophies of the pop culture, atheism and humanism are lies of Satan.
  2. Examples of rock songs that glorify suicide.
    1. “Suicide is painless” (Marilyn Manson): “The game of life is hard to play/ I’m gonna lose it anyway/ The losing card I’ll someday lay/ So this is all I have to say/ Suicide is painless/ It brings on many changes/ And I can take or leave it if I please…and you can do the same thing if you please.” When asked about suicide Manson said, “If someone wants to kill himself – fine, you know? (chuckling) Suicide is that person’s option.” (Alternative Press, February 1997, Marilyn Manson: Artist of the Year, p. 44).
    2. The very name of the rock group Suicidal Tendencies glorifies suicide. Their song “Suicidal Failure” says: “I don’t want to live/ I don’t know why/ I don’t have no reasons/ I just want to die…” The song “Suicide’s an Alternative” says: “Sick of life . . ./ Sick and tired—no one cares/ Sick of myself—don’t wanna live/ Sick of living—gonna die/ Suicide’s an alternative!”
    3. The Black Sabbath song “Paranoid,” which was sung by Osbourne, says: “Think I’ll lose my mind, if I don’t find something to gratify, can you help me? Oh, won’t you blow my brains?” Two other songs by Black Sabbath, “Killing Yourself to Live” and “Die Young,” promote dark suicidal thoughts.
    4. Behind these songs that glorify suicide stands the prince of darkness, Satan, who was a “murderer from the beginning.” Little do these young people know that they are listening to the whispers of the evil one who wants them to be damned for eternity. These young people are deceived into thinking suicide holds the answer to their problems. They think death will be a doorway to something better but in reality, they leave this life and wake up in the torments of hell.
  3. Examples of suicides connected to Rock.14
    1. In reality, only God knows just how many lives have been snuffed out through the influence of rock and roll but to illustrate, here are two examples.
    2. Between 1985 and 1990, Ozzy Osbourne was sued by three different sets of parents from Georgia and California, all claiming that his song “Suicide Solution” had induced their sons to commit suicide (Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock, p.734).
    3. In 1987, two young men in Sparks, Nevada, killed themselves with a shotgun while sitting in a car in a church parking lot. After listening to the Judas Priest Stained Glass album for hours, they had made a suicide pact. Eighteen-year-old Raymond Belknap died instantly, while 19-year-old James Vance was permanently disfigured with part of his face blown away. The parents sued Judas Priest, claiming that the lyrics of the album combined with the grinding, vicious, depressing heavy metal music mesmerized the youth, convincing them that “the answer to life was death” (Gannett News Service, Aug. 4, 1987). The parents’ lawyer, Kenneth McKenna, stated: “The suggestive lyrics combined with the continuous beat and rhythmic non-changing intonation of the music combined to induce, encourage, aid, abet and otherwise mesmerize the plaintiff into believing the answer to life is death.” That is a reasonable assumption, but the case was lost on the grounds that the vile music is protected under the First Amendment.
    4. A teenager in Wisconsin committed suicide by hanging himself in 1986 in his dormitory room at St. John’s Military Academy. “His death was clearly marked as a ritualistic suicide. Next to the body were a human skull and a burning candle. Tape-recorded rock music played continuously. What was the taped music? It was a morbid album by Pink Floyd entitled ‘The Wall.’ The very lyrics produced great depression and promoted suicide. The medical examiner stated, ‘My personal feeling is that this type of music is going to add to the depression. If they’re depressed, this music is going to send them deeper. And if he wanted to change his mind sometime during this, the music wouldn’t help.’ What were the titles of the songs on the albums? A few were ‘Is There Anybody Out There?’ and ‘Goodbye, Cruel World,’ and ‘Waiting for the Worms’” (H.T. Spence, Confronting Contemporary Christian Music, p. 99).
  4. Examples of suicides of rock musicians. The list is almost endless but to name a few to illustrate: 15
    1. Christopher Acland of Lush committed suicide in 1996 at age 30 by hanging himself in his parents’ barn.
    2. Three members of the British rock group Badfinger have committed suicide. Pete Ham, leader and chief songwriter of the group, hanged himself in 1975 just four days before his 28th birthday. Graham Bond, one of the pioneers of jazz-rock in Britain, was addicted to drugs and alcohol and was heavily involved in the occult. He was often “abusive, cruel, and self- destructive” (Unknown Legends of Rock ‘n’ Roll, p. 28). In May 1974, he committed suicide by throwing himself under the wheels of a London underground train at the Finsbury Park Station. He was 37 years old. Badfinger guitarist Tony Evans hanged himself at age 36.
    3. Two members of the Bay City Rollers, Eric Faulkner and Alan Longmuir, attempted suicide.
    4. Peter Bellamy, founding member of Young Tradition, committed suicide in 1991 at age 47.
    5. Bobby Bloom, who sang the 1970 hit “Montego Bay,” died in 1974 at age 28 of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
    6. Tommy Boyce, one of the top rock songwriters of the ‘60s who co-wrote the Monkees’ theme song as well as their hit “Last Train to Clarksville,” shot himself to death in 1997 at age 52.
    7. Bruce Cloud of Billy Ward and the Dominoes committed suicide in 1968 at age 36.
    8. Kurt Cobain, leader of Nirvana, blasted himself in the head with a shotgun in a room above his garage in April 1994, at age 27. His body was not found until three days later.

The Soundtrack of Blasphemy

The Antichrist Attitude of Rock and Rollers

  1. Many rock and rollers are openly haters of Jesus Christ and the Bible.
  2. Refer D. Cloud slides.

The Antichrist Themes of Rock and Roll

  1. John Lennon
    1. In his hugely popular song “Imagine” (1971), Lennon mused: “Imagine there’s no heaven … No hell below us, above us only sky. … no religion too/ You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one/ I hope someday you’ll join us, and the world will live as one.” That is a blasphemous denial of Almighty God and a repudiation of His Holy Word.
    2. In his song “I Found Out,” Lennon exclaimed: “There ain’t no Jesus gonna come from the sky.”
    3. In the 1970 song “God” from his Plastic Ono Band album, Lennon stated that he did not believe in God, the Bible, or Jesus Christ. “I just believe in me/ Yoko and me/ And that’s reality.”
  2. George Harrison financed Monty Python’s vile and blasphemous Life of Brian.
  3. Marilyn Manson said, He says: “Hopefully, I’ll be remembered as the one who brought an end to Christianity. … Each age must have at least one brave individual that tries to bring an end to Christianity.
    … No one has managed to succeed yet; maybe through music we can finally do it” (Spin, August 1996, p. 34). Warner has ripped up Bibles, burned Bibles, and spit on pictures of Jesus. It is said that he has worn a bracelet with the letters WWJD, saying that it stands for “We Want Jesus Dead.”
  4. Black Sabbath has spewed forth a constant stream of abuse and hatred toward Bible-believing Christians. Their 1989 album and 1990 tour was called the Headless Cross, which is blasphemy against Jesus Christ. Of that album, Black Sabbath lead singer at the time, Tony Martin, said, “With Headless Cross I went as far to the dark side as I could possibly get away with…” (Mike Stark, Black Sabbath, p. 84). They placed inverted crosses on the platform during concerts. (Witchcraft uses inverted crosses to symbolize blasphemy against Christ and a rejection of His atonement.)
  5. Madonna blames religion for making her feel guilty about nakedness and fornication and has dedicated her work to the eradication of shame. Her hit song “Like a Prayer” combined prayer and praise of God with fornication. In the video, Madonna appeared half-naked with a crucifix around her neck, a burning cross in the background, accompanied by immoral dancers, while singing about prayer and God. Advertisements for the Like a Prayer album featured the mocking words “Lead us into Temptation.” Yet the song has sold five million copies, and the video ranks at No. 2 on VH1’s “100 Greatest Videos.” It has been widely acclaimed by rock critics, and the Pepsi company used the song for a commercial.

The Soundtrack of the Occult

Demon possession and influence of rock stars

Black Sabbath

  1. BILL WARD, original drummer for Black Sabbath, admits their music was connected to another power. “I’ve always considered that there was some way where we were able to channel energy, and that energy was able to be, from another source, if you like, like a higher power or something, that was actually doing the work. I’ve often thought of us just being actually just the earthly beings that played the music because it was uncanny. Some of this music came out extremely uncanny” (Bill Ward of Black Sabbath, cited in Black Sabbath An Oral History by Mike Stark, p. 7).
  2. OZZY OSBOURNE, lead singer for Black Sabbath, told the media in 1978 “I really wish I knew why I’ve done some of the things I’ve done over the years. I don’t know if I’m a medium for some outside source. Whatever it is, frankly, I hope it’s not what I think it is — Satan” (Hit Parader, February 1978, p. 24). At a 1981 CBS executive meeting, Osbourne bit the head off a live dove and spat it on the table. On his 1982 Diary of a Madman tour, he bit the head off a live bat and had to undergo a series of rabies vaccinations. His solo career has produced such unwholesome albums as Speak of the Devil, The Ultimate Sin, Bark at the Moon, and Diary of a Madman, all of which at least appear to promote occultism. On the cover of Speak of the Devil, Osbourne appears to be eating human flesh. In 1989, he was charged with the attempted murder of his wife during a liquor-induced rage. He grabbed her by the throat and was chocking her as voices came out of him saying, “We’ve decided that you’ve got to go” (Margaret Moser and Bill Crawford, Rock Starts Do the Dumbest Things, p. 151).

Guitarist RITCHIE BLACKMORE (who went on to play in Rainbow) was involved in the occult. He has held séances (Circus, April 30, 1981, p. 46) and has claimed to practice astral projection (out of body experiences) during his concerts. He records in a 17th-century castle that is allegedly possessed by a demon that is servant to the Babylonian god, Baal (The Rock Report, p. 73).

JIMI HENDRIX believed he was possessed by the devil. His girlfriend Fayne Pridgon said: “HE USED TO ALWAYS TALK ABOUT SOME DEVIL OR SOMETHING WAS IN HIM, you know. He didn’t know what made him act the way he acted and what made him say the things he said, and the songs and different things like that … just came out of him. It seems to me he was so tormented and just torn apart and like he really was obsessed, you know, with something really evil. … He said, ‘You’re from Georgia … you should know how people drive demons out’—He used to talk about us going … and having some root lady or somebody see if she could DRIVE THIS DEMON OUT OF HIM” (sound track from film Jimi Hendrix, interview with Fayne Pridgon, cited by Heartbeat of the Dragon, p. 50).

THE ROLLING STONES: Newsweek magazine (Jan. 4, 1971) called Jagger “the Lucifer of rock” and “the unholy roller.” Keith Richards says that their songs “came spontaneously like an inspiration at a séance” and “arrived ‘en masse’ as if the Stones as songwriters were only a willing and open medium” (Rolling Stone, May 5, 1977, p. 55). The cover to the album Goat Head Soup pictures a severed goat’s head floating in a boiling cauldron. This is symbolic for Satan worship. The cover to Their Satanic Majesty’s Request shows the group posed as warlocks. The 1968 song “Sympathy for the Devil” from the Beggars Banquet album is the unofficial song for Satanic groups in America. The song contains pounding African drums and screams that sound like the field recording of an African voodoo ceremony. The Rolling Stones also use the recording of a voodoo ceremony in the song “Continental Drift” from the Steel Wheels album (Heartbeat of the Dragon, p. 98).

MICHAEL JACKSON has been called the king of pop. He was a strange and sick individual. Until he had to move out for non- payment of his debts, he lived on a 2700-acre ranch in California, “complete with Ferris wheel, an exotic menagerie, a movie theatre, and a security staff of 40 (Eric Barger, From Rock to Rock: The Music of Darkness Exposed, p. 16). For a while Jackson kept six mannequins in his room; each had a name, and he conversed with them. Through the years, he has changed his facial appearance by surgery to create a sexually ambiguous appearance. He has “had at least six nose jobs, several face lifts, fat suctioned from his cheeks, bone grafted onto his cheekbones, a ‘forehead lift’ to raise his eyebrows, and several eye jobs” (Moser, Rock Stars Do the Dumbest Things, p. 94). In 1993, Jackson was charged with child molestation, and the case was eventually settled out of court with the payment of a large amount of money. Jackson protested his innocence, but his sister reported that he used to spend the night with young boys in his room (Rolling Stone Encyclopedia, p. 486). Jackson admits supernatural powers dominated him, his music and his performances.

  1. Concerning the lyrics of his songs he said “I wake up from dreams and go ‘Wow, put this down on paper,’ the whole thing is strange. You hear the words; everything is right there in front of your face. I feel that somewhere, someplace it’s been done and I’m just a courier bringing it into the world” (MICHAEL JACKSON, Rolling Stone, Feb. 17, 1983).
  2. Concerning his stage performances he said, “On many an occasion WHEN I AM DANCING, I HAVE FELT TOUCHED BY SOMETHING SACRED. In those moments, I felt my spirit soar, and become one with everything that exists” (Michael Jackson, cited by Steve Turner, Hungry for Heaven, p. 12). “When I hit the stage it’s all of a sudden a ‘magic’ from somewhere that comes and the spirit just hits you, and you just lose control of yourself ” (MICHAEL JACKSON, Teen Beat: A Tribute to Michael Jackson, Summer 1984, p. 27).

ANGUS YOUNG, lead guitarist for AC-DC, is called the “guitar demon”; and he admitted that something takes control of the band during their concerts: “… it’s like I’m on automatic pilot. By the time we’re halfway through the first number someone else is steering me. I’m just along for the ride. I become possessed when I get on stage” (Hit Parader, July 1985, p. 60).

LITTLE RICHARD said, “I was directed and commanded by another power. The power of darkness … that a lot of people don’t believe exists. The power of the Devil. Satan” (cited from Charles White, The Life and Times of Little Richard, p. 206).

MARC STORACE of the band Krokus said, “You can’t describe it [playing rock music] except to say it’s like a mysterious energy that comes from the metaphysical plane and into my body. It’s almost like being a medium ” (MARC STORACE, vocalist with heavy-metal band KROKUS, Circus, January 31, 1984, p. 70).

Of the Beatles’ album Rain, which featured one of the earliest instances of backward taping, RINGO STARR said, “I feel as though that was someone else playing. I was possessed!” (“Rain,” Rolling Stone, Dec. 9, 2004).

“[Of his music JOHN LENNON said] “It’s like being possessed: like a psychic or a medium” (The Playboy Interviews, p. 203). He also said, “I felt like a hollow temple filled with many spirits, each one passing through me, each inhabiting me for a little time and then leaving to be replaced by another” (JOHN LENNON, People, Aug. 22, 1988, p. 70).

GLEN TIPTON of JUDAS PRIEST says, “I just go crazy when I go onstage … it’s like someone else takes over my body” (Hit Parader, Fall 1984, p. 6).

JOE COCKER, who contorts grotesquely during his performances, claims that something “seizes” him when he songs rock & roll (Time magazine, cited by Bob Larson, Rock and the Church, p. 66).

JIM MORRISON: At the urging of his girlfriend, Morrison saw a psychiatrist at least two times (Ibid., p. 195). Morrison admitted that he had to drink “to silence the constant voices of the demons” (James Riordin, Break on Through: The Life and Death of Jim Morrison, p. 23). The Door’s photographer, Frank Lisciandro, stated that, “Jim drank to quiet the ceaseless clamour of the demons, ghosts and spirits. He drank because there were demons and voices and spirits shouting inside of his head and he found that one of the ways to quell them was with alcohol” (Ibid., p. 28).

OZZY OSBORNE admitted, “I’ve got many, many demons that affect me on many, many levels” (Harry Shaw, Ozzy Talking, p. 126). Osborne further admitted, “I remember sitting through the Exorcist a dozen times, saying to myself, ‘Yeah, I can relate to that’” (Hit Parader, Nov. 1984, p. 49).

BRIAN WILSON of the Beach boys “hears voices. They talk to him. They frighten him, distract him, confuse him…the voices are calling. His eyes roll toward the ceiling; they’ve gone blank. His brow is furrowed with thick worry lines. He is silent. Gone. He looks up, jerks his head back and forth for a few seconds, as if physically shaking away the voices” (Rolling Stone, August, 1988, p. 51-52).

Demonic themes in popular music

Love of Satanist Alesteir Crowley. Famous early 20th-century Satanist Aleister Crowley (1847-1947) has had a large influence upon modern rock music. His philosophy was “Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law.” Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones and Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin scored soundtracks for films about Crowley. Images of Crowley’s Satanist religion were woven throughout Led Zeppelin’s albums. The Satanist’s photo appeared on the Beatles’ Sargent Pepper album cover. Ozzy Osbourne wrote a song entitled “Mr. Crowley.” David Bowie referred to Crowley in his song “Quicksand.” Graham Bond thought he was Crowley’s illegitimate son.

Promotion of Satanic messages. Backmasking is an example of this.

  1. Backmasking is “The inclusion of a message in a piece of recorded music which can be understood if the music is played backwards, and which is said by some to have a subliminal effect when the music is played normally.”16
  2. The Led Zeppelin song “Stairway to Heaven,” one of the most popular rock songs of all time, has an ode to Satan in back masking. Played forward the words say: “Yes, there are two paths you can go by, but in the long run there’s still time to change the road you’re on.” Played backwards, the words are: “Here’s my sweet Satan…Oh I will sing because I live with Satan.”
    1. While the era of records and tapes are over, the practice of subliminal messaging in popular music is not. Occultic themes are present in many popular songs in both overt and covert ways. Many pop music videos are riddled with occultic symbolism. E.g., Katy Perry’s Dark Horse song. Ariana Grande has also spoken publicly about her own experiences with demons.17

Little Richard said of rock music, “My true belief about Rock ‘n’ Roll – and there have been a lot of phrases attributed to me over the years – is this: I believe this kind of music is demonic. … A lot of the beats in music today are taken from voodoo, from the voodoo drums. If you study the music in rhythms, like I have, you’ll see that is I believe that kind of music is driving people from Christ. It is contagious” (Little Richard, The Life and Times of Little Richard, p. 197).

David Bowie said, “Rock has always been the devil’s music, you can’t convince me that it isn’t. I honestly believe everything I’ve said—I believe rock and roll is dangerous. It could well bring about a very evil feeling in the west. … That’s where I see it heading, bringing about a dark … I feel that we’re only heralding something even darker than ourselves” (Rolling Stone, Feb. 12, 1976, p. 83).

Powerful Testimony of former Satanist18

My name is Elaine, and I am, at the author’s request, adding my personal testimony to this book. I was, for 17 years, a servant of Satan. I became involved in witchcraft at the age of 17 and joined a cult of Satan worshipers which is little known publicly, but exists nation-wide. I rapidly climbed the ladder to power and before I was 30 years old, I had reached the position of high priestess in my local area…During those years, I travelled the world as Satan’s representative to coordinate efforts with Satanists in other nations and also worked with many people in high governmental positions within the U.S. I had much power, as much money as I wanted, and was treated with great respect. But all the time the demons I had deliberately asked to come and live inside me to give me this power, were eating away at my very soul and planning for my destruction. Through a series of events, too long to detail here, I came against some people who had truly made Jesus Christ their Lord and Saviour and Master. One of them I tried to kill, but was unable to do so. For the first time in my life, I had come up against a power that was greater than anything Satan could give me. I was very shaken. The person I tried to kill, and a number of other true born-again believers in our Lord Jesus Christ, loved me in spite of who and what I was, and prayed for me intensively. They also showed me that they loved me with the love of Jesus just as I was. I became hungry to know more about this unusual love and power. Finally, 6 years ago, I rejected Satan and everything to do with him, and asked Jesus Christ to wash me clean from all that sin with His precious blood, and to become my Lord and Saviour, and Master. I have been serving the one true God, Jesus Christ, ever since. Believe me, the difference is wonderful!

Because of the high position I held for so many years, I was involved in the planning of many of the destructive influences Satan has brought into the U.S. and other countries. Satan is REAL! Demons are REAL! I can tell you from my own personal experience, but you don’t have to take my word for this, simply read God’s Word, the Bible. Like so many other things, the whole movement of Rock music was carefully planned and carried out by Satan and his servants from its very beginning…I have personally met a great number of Rock stars. They have ALL agreed to serve Satan in return for money and fame…These Rock stars KNOW exactly what they are doing. They are, step by step, teaching untold millions of young people to worship and serve Satan. I attended special ceremonies at various recording studies throughout the U.S. for the specific purpose of placing satanic blessings on the Rock music recorded. We did incantations which placed demons on EVERY record and tape of rock music that was sold. At times we also called up special demons who spoke on the recordings – the various back masked messages. Also, in many many of the recordings, we were ourselves recorded in the background (masked by the over-all noise of the music) doing chants and incantations to summon up more demons every time one of the records or tapes is played. As the music is played, these demons are summoned into the room to afflict the person playing the music, and anyone else who is listening. The purpose of all of this? MIND CONTROL!

…Many of the song lyrics are themselves actual incantations calling up demons when the song is sung…If you don’t think there is supernatural power behind Rock music, you just try to stop listening to it, or try to get someone else to stop listening to it. You will quickly experience the power behind the music! Parents, young people, you MUST understand that any time you come against Rock music you are coming directly against demonic powers. The ONLY power that is greater than Satan and these demonic powers is Jesus Christ…Young people, I don’t care what your Rock stars tell you, they and Satan hate your guts and are all planning for one thing – your destruction. Jesus loved you enough to die for you, would any of your Rock stars do so???

Testimony: Derek Chaney

Please refer to audio.

Conclusion

Rock music, “Christian” or non-Christian has no place in the believer’s life. It is music with Satanic, occultic rhythms and is not a fit vehicle for the worship of an Almighty, thrice Holy God. Will you surrender your music to the Lordship of Christ?

References

  1. D Cloud, Rock and Roll’s War Against God, p. 461.
  2. D Cloud, Rock and Roll’s War Against God, p. 443.
  3. D Cloud, Rock and Roll’s War Against God, p. 149.
  4. Ibid, p. 444.
  5. Ibid, p. 448.
  6. Ibid, p. 459.
  7. Ibid, p. 460.
  8. Ibid, p. 441.
  9. Ibid.
  10. Ibid.
  11. Ibid, p. 463.
  12. Ibid, p. 429.
  13. https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/youth-suicide Viewed 8/7/21
  14. Taken from David Cloud’s book “Rock and Roll’s War Against God”.
  15. Ibid.
  16. https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/backward_masking Viewed 9/7/21.
  17. https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/celebrity-life/singer-ariana-grande-describes-her-encounters- with-ghosts-and-demons/news-story/1a7acfd454b1be9bc1025da21e091960 Viewed 9/7/21
  18. J Godwin, The Devil’s Disciples, pp. 342-345