ROCK MUSIC AS RELIGION

*By: David Cloud [FBIS]*
*

It is not surprising that rock & roll has been adapted for contemporary
worship because it has the power that contemporary worshippers are
looking for, the power to create strong emotional experiences, the power
literally to take control of you and to carry you into new realms. Rock
& rollers have long described their music in glowing spiritual and
religious terms, but the religious fervor that is described in the
following quotes is not that pertaining to the Spirit of God; it is that
pertaining to the "god of this world" who masquerades as an angel of
light (2 Cor. 4:4; 11:14).

Rock & roll (in its broadest sense, which encompasses all forms of
secular pop music that features the heavy back beat) is one of the chief
gods and idols of the modern world. To think that God would be pleased
with the Christianizing of rock & roll is to think that He would be
pleased with the Christianizing of Hindu idols. "Little children, keep
yourselves from idols" (1 John 5:21).

"Rock music is more than music, IT'S LIKE CHURCH" (Jimi Hendrix, The
Dick Cavett Show, July 21, 1969).

"We're making the music into ELECTRIC CHURCH MUSIC, A NEW KIND OF BIBLE
you can carry in your hearts" (Jimi Hendrix, quoted in Crosstown Traffic
by Charles Murray, p. 161).

"... THE MUSIC IS A SPIRITUAL THING of its own" (Jimi Hendrix, interview
with Robin Richman "An Infinity of Jimis," Life magazine, Oct. 3, 1969).

Jimi Hendrix said: "I used to go to Sunday School BUT THE ONLY THING I
BELIEVE IN NOW IS MUSIC" (Curtis Knight, Jimi).

Paul Stanley, guitarist for KISS, said he turns into "a holy roller
preacher" during concerts. "I'm testifying and getting everybody riled
up for the power of almighty rock 'n' roll" (Guitar Player, November 1974).

"Rock concerts are the churches of today. Music puts them on a spiritual
plane. All music is God" (Craig Chaquico, guitarist for Jefferson
Airplane, Why Knock Rock?, p. 96).

Bruce Springsteen has opened his concerts with the words, "WELCOME TO
THE FIRST CHURCH OF THE ROCK, BROTHERS AND SISTERS," and has stated that
he was dead until rock and roll changed his life. In response to a
screaming crowd he hollers, "Do you believe that if you die during the
course of this show, due to excitement, that you're going to heaven?"
(The Rock Report, p. 82). USA Today observed: "Displaying an awesome
musical chemistry, Springsteen and his E Streeters at times turned the
Meadowlands' Continental Airlines Arena [in East Rutherford, New Jersey]
into a raucous revival tent, playing off themes of redemption, salvation
and resurrection via rock 'n' roll throughout the nearly three-hour
show. … Typical of the pacing was the roof-raising Light of Day, which
saw the Rev. Springsteen roaringly promise his flock 'the power, the
majesty and the ministry of rock 'n' roll…" (USA Today, July 19, 1999,
p. 9D).

On the 25th anniversary of Elvis Presley's death Springsteen said:
"ELVIS IS MY RELIGION. But for him, I'd be selling encyclopedias right now."

"For many participants, ELVIS WEEK HAS OBVIOUSLY BECOME A
QUASI-RELIGIOUS OCCASION. The Meditation Garden is an American Lourdes,
a place where miracles sometimes happen. Every year on August 15, the
sick and the lame hobble up the hill, full of hope. As every one of the
faithful well knows, on the first anniversary of Presley's death, a fan
aimed his camera skyward and photographed a cumulus cloud forming a
familiar profile, right down to the famous pompadour. Elvis is watching
over them. Addressing co-religionists in a letter printed in an Elvis
fan club publication, an enthusiast from Belgium put it this way: "Dear
friends, our LOVE and RESPECT for Elvis are unlimited … Let's continue
to work hard for him, because his LIGHT on our world today is the
guarantee to give HOPE and PEACE for the next generations. … We believe
in Elvis just like we believe in God … and I'm sure that we are on the
right way" (James Miller, Flowers in the Dustbin, p. 345).

Robbie Kreiger, guitarist for the Doors, said the band members were
"revivalists and WANTED OUR AUDIENCE TO UNDERGO A RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE"
(Break on Through--the Life and Death of Jim Morrison, p. 190).

Remembering Bob Marley's rock concerts, Judy Mowatt, one of his backup
singers said: "It was a crusade, it was a mission. We were like
sentinels, like lights. ON TOUR THE SHOWS WERE LIKE CHURCH; Bob
delivering the sermon. There were mixed emotions in the audience: you
see people literally crying, people in a frenzy, on a spiritual high ...
These concerts were powerful and highly spiritual. There was a power
that pulled you there. It was a clean feeling ... For months and maybe
years it stays with you" (Sean Dolan, Bob Marley, p. 95).

Grateful Dead concerts have been described as "A PLACE TO WORSHIP." "The
band was the high priest, the audience the congregation, the songs the
liturgy, and the dancing the prayer" (Gary Greenberg, Not Fade Away: the
Online World Remembers Jerry Garcia, p. 42). "The Grateful Dead embody
not only the cultic potentials historically inherent in rock 'n' roll,
but the entire submerged linkage between rock and religion. … the Dead's
legendary live concerts bear uncanny resemblance to religious
festivals…" (Stairway to Heaven, p. 196). In interviews with David Gans
(Playing in the Band), Grateful Dead band members admitted that THEY
LOOKED UPON THEIR MUSIC AS SOMETHING LIKE RELIGION. Lesh said, "WE USED
TO SAY THAT EVERY PLACE WE PLAYED WAS CHURCH." Garcia added, "… on a
certain level it's a religion to me, too."

Before he died, Muddy Waters admitted that the BLUES WAS HIS RELIGION
(James Rooney, Bossmen: Bill Monroe and Muddy Waters, p. 137).

"I LOOK AT ROCK LIKE A RELIGION" (Blackie Lawless of W.A.S.P., Faces,
Feb. 1985, p. 53).

A music reviewer described a Backstreet Boys concert as "worship"
(Express Writer, August 16, 1998).

Jim Morrison of the Doors said, "I FEEL SPIRITUAL UP THERE PERFORMING"
(Newsweek, Nov. 6, 1967, p. 101). Even as late as the early 1990s,
Morrison's gravesite was the third most popular visitor destination in
Paris, France. In July 1991, on the 20th anniversary of Morrison's
death, nearly 1,000 fans gathered outside the gates of the cemetery.

"As a self appointed messiah, I view music as far more than just
entertainment" (John Denver, cited in The Rock Report, p. 10).

"Now Billy Squier is taking the gospel to America and Europe, PREACHING
HIS OWN ROCK SERMONS in sold-out concerts" (Circus magazine, cited in
The Rock Report, p. 10).

Judas Priest had an album called "Defenders of the Faith," and when
asked about its meaning they replied, "We're defending the faith of
heavy metal music" (The Rock Report, p. 10). They said: "Heavy metal
isn't just music to us. It's a philosophy and a way of life" (Judas
Priest, Hit Parader, July 1984).

In his song "You Can't Kill Rock & Roll," Ozzy Osbourne sang, "... ROCK
'N' ROLL IS MY RELIGION AND MY LAW/ Won't ever change."

"MUSIC IS MY RELIGION" (Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones, cited by
Stanley Booth, Dance with the Devil, p. 109).

"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).

"Through the music you reach the spiritual. MUSIC IS VERY INVOLVED WITH
THE SPIRITUAL, as we know from the Hare Krishna mantra" (George
Harrison, cited by Turner, p. 71).

Brian Eno says that WHEN HE DISCOVERED ROCK AND ROLL, IT WAS "A
SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE" to him and IT OCCUPIED THE RELIGIOUS PART OF HIS
LIFE (Turner, Hungry for Heaven, p. 150).

Dr. Paul King, medical director of the adolescent unit at Charter
Lakeside Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, was told by drug addicted teens
that he had to understand their music if he wanted to understand their
world. "He conducted a study of 470 adolescent patients and found that
60 percent of them designated heavy metal music as their musical choice.
They said the music was a very important influence in their lives. In
fact, IT WAS THEIR NEW RELIGION" (Terry Watkins, The Truth about Rock,
p. 35).

Sting of the group Police said, "The pure essence of music is very
spiritual" (Musician, Feb. 1987, p. 41). He says: "MY RELIGION WOULD BE
MUSIC, AND I HAD JUST RECEIVED MY FIRST SACRAMENT [WHEN HE FIRST HEARD
THE BEATLES AT AGE 11]" (USA Today, Jan. 27, 1984, p. 2D).

"In spiritual terms MUSIC IS A MAGICAL OPERATION, A VEHICLE FOR MAN TO
COMMUNICATE WITH THE GODS. Depending on whom the celebrants invoke, this
can mean soaring to heaven on the voices of angels or raising beasts
from the pits of hell" (Michael Moynihan, Lords of Chaos: The Bloody
Rise of the Satanic Metal Underground, p. 1).

"Hip hop shows were LIKE CHURCH FOR ME WAY MORE THAN ACTUAL CHURCH WAS.
A lot of lessons I learned were from my personal interpretations of the
songs I would listen to. I felt like God was speaking to me through
these people's thoughts and words" (Darlina, HipHop fan, commenting on
"The Metaphysics of HipHop," Sept. 1, 2006,
http://rapyoudohiphopyoulive.tribe.net/thread/88ad663f-b18d-46ea-aed2...
).

"Dancing at raves may be construed as the method by which ravers worship
the god of altered consciousness" (Russell Newcombe, The Guardian, Jul.
22, 1995).

"Andrew WK truly helped me let go. HIS SHOWS WERE LIKE CHURCH SERVICES,
I felt rejuvinized, and for weeks following them I was happier and made
people around me happier (which in turn made me feel even better)"
(Andrew WK Paradigm Shift, http://www.dontstopthenoise.com/josh.html).

"Their [Far's] live shows were like church (without all that religion).
They inspired a lot of kids my age" (
http://www.amazon.com/Water-Solutions-Far/dp/customer-reviews/B0000062H7 ).

"Rock My Religion" is a black and white documentary by Dan Graham that
describes the nature of rock & roll as religion to multitudes of people.

Many rock fans exhibit devotion that has a religious intensity. Consider
the following testimony which speaks for many others that could be
given: "I'm obsessed. I'd do anything for her. . . I LIVE FOR BRITNEY
SPEARS, you don't understand. I live for Britney Spears. I live for her.
. . Like my life wouldn't be complete without her" (unidentified fan
interviewed on ET, July 10, 1999).

A fan of the Backstreet Boys said, "I love Nick! For Nick, I'll die. If
God says, 'Die and let Nick live,' I'll do that" ("Boy Wonders," People
Magazine, Sept. 14, 1998).

The memorial to John Lennon in Central Park, across the street from the
Dakota building where he was murdered, has religious overtones. A steady
stream of fans place flowers and other offerings on the monument, which
is inscribed with the title of his song "Imagine." The 20th anniversary
of Lennon's death in December 8, 2000 was observed in many parts of the
world in ways that had religious overtones. Events included candlelight
vigils by Lennon fans, the lighting of large "peace flames," and the
24-hour playing of Beatle records by radio stations.