I was not criticizing Davis, Mr.max. I was simply pointing out the fact he is not a believer (by his own choice). I for one give creedance to the words of believers over non-beleivers. As to man’s religious freedom, we ALL have something more powerful than that Mr.max, it’s called God given free will. Our pasts do not define us unless we choose to let it.
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im very glad you survived it, and im glad you have music that reminds you of surviving it. ill get to explaining my stance on music. but want to say first and foremost, praise God you survived it, and your feelings about the song are valid, whether its satanic or not. we gotta start somewhere. sometimes what served us well in the past, turns out to not be such a healer later on, if we start to see it differently.
i hope you wont let that discourage you.
i dont feel 100% the same as most people in this thread. most gospel music, i have issues with! i dont listen to the radio at all, but when i used to, i found that i couldnt stand christian radio because its got the same commercial-oriented, mainstream nonsense that the other stations have. sure, some lyrics were good, but … ugh its just so much to get into. i dont trust any big labels. the intentions are never to save or enrich souls, its all money. im to the point where i dont want to know any new bands/artists. so many have been false messengers, that its not worth the risk anymore. i thought i loved lauren daigle’s beautiful music but then she turned out to be such a sham. her songs STILL pop into my head randomly even though i havent listened to her for years. i didnt know any better at the time, but i still pay the price today.
the one band that i might have some trust in- besides, as someone else mentioned, The Rocket Summer- who mysteriously seems to have dropped any real mention of God or Jesus in his songs anymore- is Blindside. the ONE christian band that i cant find any scandal or questionable lyrics etc. but i could be fooled by them too, who knows? and i really only know their one big album, Silence.
as for System, it sounds like youve really analyzed the lyrics and have gotten something good out of them. i respect that. personally i dont trust them. based on what @Bestill said, i likely wouldnt appreciate their content after seeing a video like that. but, as youll see, im biased when it comes to things that i liked BEFORE i became a christian. System, i never liked the guy’s voice lol, so i never got into it. if i research now, im likely to just not like it because of the same reason Bestill said. but if id liked it in the past, it would be a matter of, is this band still okay with me, or not worth the soul cost anymore? ive had to drop sooooo much music id liked, because it doesnt sit well with me anymore for varying reasons.
i have exceptions, because there are some songs that are so hard to let go. i have way more respect, also, for openly secular bands, than those who say they are christian but then deep down arent really. so, the one example of an exception ill mention, is “Poetic Tragedy” by The Used.
The Used was my favorite band when i was 15 actually lol. for years their first album meant so much to me. i was not christian back then. but they never claimed to be, so i respect their honesty. i cant listen to most of their songs anymore, despite how much i LOVEEEE their musical skills and some great lyrics too. (one big issue i have nowadays is that there are curse words in it. makes it hard to just play even as background music.)
“Poetic Tragedy” is about a boy who kills himself. i played it on repeat in my bedroom when i tried to take my own life. i was 15. the song described just how i felt. “A singer, a writer… he’s not dreaming now of going anywhere… his heart in his hands, he’s alone…and on that last day he breaks, he stood tall and he yelled, WHY??? in violent frustration, he cries out to God, or just no one. is there a point to this madness? he takes his life, but why?? all that he was, is just a tragedy.”
still makes me cry, because its how i felt, i can never forget. i survived, but the pain didnt just go away easily, and this song made me feel less alone. it validated me.
The Used isnt a band i utilize to define myself anymore, and their secularism makes it hard to justify marinating in their music. but that one song sticks in my heart more than the others, because like you, it reminds me what i survived, helps me to feel compassion for my younger self, and nowadays i have the added satisfaction of being able to wipe the tears away and continue on instead of letting that song be the looping soundtrack of my inner demise anymore. i finally truly feel like a survivor reflecting on the past, instead of being just STUCK in the past with all the pain stacked on top of itself. God be with you as He has been with me. and thank you for sharing about System.
my message was too long for one reply. heres the rest of my message:
one other example i want to share… why ive become so distrusting… you know Anti-Flag? sounds a lot like what you say at the end:
Anti-Flag even has a song called “F*** Police Brutality” lol. despite their curse words, i LOVED them too, into adulthood… but around 2021, that house of cards id relied on, fell with a huge THUD. following the covid nonsense, their true colors suddenly showed. their website horrified me. i wanted to thank them for their contributions to music and to my life. but when i went to their site, i saw all this nonsense about Black Lives Matter and wearing masks, following all official covid protocol, etc…and this was WELL into the age where most of us had woken up to the truth about the mainstream covid narrative. so i was like.. WHAT? this is all the stuff y’all were supposedly AGAINST! YOURE GIVING IN TO THE SYSTEM YOUVE SAID YOU HATED! I wrote them an email promptly to share my displeasure and disillusionment. i felt so let down. months later, their site hadnt changed, so i wrote them again, doubling down on how this is NOT the “Anti-Flag” i thought id known, and i copied some of their lyrics in the letter, outlining in detail how they are being hypocrites etc… not an email i think id write nowadays, but i felt so hurt, it was truly the beginning, beyond waking up to covid nonsense, of realizing SOOO many things i thought id known, were not what id thought all along. they never wrote back, and one day, i went to their site, and saw ALL that weird covid text was GONE! maybe i made them realize how bad it made the band look, i dont know. then one day, their site was blank. it seemed strange. and then it came out that one of the band members was accused of doing things with underage girls or something bad. they disbanded over it. they said something like, “we believe its best to ALWAYS believe the victims.” lol. maybe it was true, maybe it wasnt. but as someone who once falsely accused someone of rape (i was just mad he wouldnt actually date me), i know its NOT good policy to just always believe someone’s rape claims, it should always be investigated. now sometimes sexual abuse is an obvious thing. but to say nonsense about how they will always believe someone who cries rape, it didnt feel empowering to women in my eyes, they just continued to be an appendage of the mainstream snake.
were they destroyed by a higher financial power for some reason? were they forced in the first place to support crazy controlling narratives, or were they ALWAYS controlled opposition, even when they seemed legit 20 years ago? so many questions i might never know the answer to. but just saying, i no longer just believe artists when they seem to speak against a system, because im so jaded from anti-flag, as just one example.
who can we trust? hardly anyone. even if someone isnt lying, they could be wrong. its been scary to wake up to. but also reveals how much i havent depended on God for my peace and well-being in this world. guess ive needed to be shaken. the foundations have had to break. is System part of the same? i dont know offhand, ill leave that to you, as the one who has them pressed into your heart like so many bands have done the same for me.
Thank you for your open honesty with your posts. You had a lot to say on the subject. (That’s a good thing.
) Thank you for sharing that with us also.
I feel about the same for M.Manson as you do about Anti-Flag. Used to like him and the music, can’t much stomach anything but an istrumental by him now. I do have Wally*World version of his greatest hits though and all of the cussing is removed. I view music along these lines… “Don’t hate the [music], hate the sin.” Music is not sinful, yet oftentimes the lyrics are.