The Message in the Music

The Message in the Music

Music means many different things to many different people. To a listener, a song is sometimes for four simple minutes of entertainment, but sometimes it is much more. Sometimes, a song is a message from the artist. This is much the same way from the opposite end of the spectrum. An artists message can get so complex that it is completely lost on the listener.

This essay is about song analysis. I will be analyzing two songs performed by the same artist but performed with two different bands. Although performed by different groups, the music is similar and so is the message. The two bands being examined are Tool and A Perfect Circle. These are both considered rock bands and work within the same industrial vein. The bands major theme is that of religion. Unlike the popular religious music praising the Lords name on high, this music takes a drastic U-turn in the road to divinity by speaking of Jesus Christ the Savior in a sarcastic and uncaring tone. Lead singer Maynard James Keenan is an atheist. Although I feel these are excellent songs, I do not support the views taken, or supposedly taken, by the band.

In the song Eulogy, the artist criticizes the Lord throughout the entire song as well as taking a sarcastic attitude when shedding a good light on Him. In the beginning of the song, the band sings, He had a lot to say. He had a lot of nothing to say. Well miss him. Were gonna miss him. The group is claiming that He might have had a lot to say, but it really amounted to nothing, maybe because they felt he didnt really mean anything he said. When saying that they are going to miss him, it seems like they have set themselves in a time when Jesus was about to be crucified and is saying they will miss...

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... show how he no longer declares this savior his own. The song ends with the chorus which pretty much says the same thing, except when making reference to the spear, he uses the word spiteful, not hateful. Spiteful works much better in place of hateful. It make the listener realize that after all the things Jesus put them through that they are finally getting back at him, or spiting him.

Both of these are excellent songs, simply for the fact that they have good melodies, strong choruses and insightful lyrics that make the listener think. For these facts, I will continue to listen to and enjoy these songs. Despite that, through analyzing the lyrics, Ive found messages that contradict my own personal beliefs. It goes to show that music can have a deeper and much different impact on peoples lives if they just take an extra minute to think about what they are hearing.