RockOm

Scott Valentine song of the week:

Week 12 - "21st Century Animal Family Plan"

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“Four legs good, two legs bad.” – George Orwell

I spent the past ten years living on the lower eastside of Vancouver. For any of you who are unfamiliar with this part of the world, imagine a visual landscape of derelict housing, apartment blocks in disrepair and blocks and blocks of abandoned and/or severely neglected storefronts. The streets are littered with various drug paraphernalia and the rather disgusting remnants of the “safe sex” trade. Human zombies wander to and fro across the streets, unaware of the presence of the cars and buses that must swerve dangerously to avoid them. They itch and they dance on street corners and in alleys, desperate to find the necessary distraction that will free them from the unattended cries of their dying spirits.

From my window beside the railway tracks I could see such men and women exchanging the brittle remains of their souls twenty-four hours a day; a constant reminder to me of the terribly uninspired and degrading means by which the stress of our way of life takes it violent toll. Of course it’s not just in neighbourhoods like this that these harsh indicators are found, but it certainly is a concentrated display of such on streets like Powell, Cordova and Hastings.

I believe it was in my grade nine honours English class that I was first introduced to the book Animal Farm by George Orwell. Published in 1945, it was a scalding political allegory that took aim at the failures of Soviet Communism: a fabled prophecy that depicted the tale of the downtrodden beasts of the Manor Farm who have united their efforts in order to overthrow their human master. Things go smoothly for a while but unavoidably the pigs, who have styled themselves leaders by virtue of their intelligence, succumb to the temptations of privilege and power. This imagined view of mankind through the eyes and ears of animals has fascinated me ever since.

I had been thinking a lot the past fifteen years about how the majority of mankind views the community of life. Whereas the credo of Orwell’s animal revolution was “four legs good, two legs bad” ours could perhaps be safely identified as the exact opposite. Like the pigs, we have become so wrapped up in our own intellectual capabilities that we have mistakenly assumed this to indicate a divinely appointed superiority over all other living things. We’ve presumed the gods to have favored us in this great cosmic drama and therefore determined ourselves to be in sole possession of the knowledge of what shall be permitted to live and what shall be sentenced to die amongst the humble subjects of this planet who must surely exist solely to serve the needs and desires of our vast human kingdom. Subsequently, I wrote this weeks song, “21st Century Animal Family Plan”, with an air of anthropomorphic jest in order to illustrate some of the absurd actions and stressful repercussions of our current collective arrogance.

Imagine how ridiculous it would look to find a horse shooting up heroin in a dark corner of the barn after a tough day’s work in the field? How ridiculous it must be for them then to have to watch us do the same hurtful things to ourselves in order to cope with the overwhelming challenges of our way of life.

I believe that there is a better way to survive and thrive on this earth – a plan that equally respects and appreciates all living things and this song is yet another attempt to help bring a small piece of that plan into closer view.

See you next week.

From Here To There,

Scott Valentine

This song and post are part of Scott Valentine's song a week presentation entitled Seasons. Click here for more information.

By Trevor Harden, trevor@rockom.net

In 2005, Brian “Head” Welch – guitarist for KORN, one of the single-most popular (and controversial) rock acts in the world at the time – shocked the music world by announcing his resignation from the Grammy-award winning band, due in large part to his newfound faith in Jesus Christ. Through with years of battling drug addiction and the seedy, “anything goes” backstage playground of rock stardom, Head turned to God for help – and God responded.

Then in 2007, wishing to share his life story, difficult struggles and spiritual testimony, Head released his autobiography, Save Me From Myself: How I Found God, Quit Korn, Kicked Drugs and Live to Tell My Story. The book went on to be a New York Times bestseller and inspire many who were looking for answers or a way out of addiction.

On the heels of the book's success, Head dropped his first solo album, also titled Save Me From Myself, in September of '08. The album (which features such renowned musicians as Tony Levin and Josh Freese) plays much like the book reads – as both a retelling of his tumultuous history and the lessons learned as well as a sharing of the inspiration and hope that he has gleaned from his time in following Jesus.

RockOm: Your book Save Me from Myself has been out for well over a year now and has gained quite a bit of attention. What's the experience been like for you over the past year as you listen to friends' and fans' responses to reading your life story? Has their feedback been encouraging?

Head: I think any time you do something drastic like that you're going to get some people thinking you're crazy. People in my faith know I'm not crazy but some other people may be on the fence still. It's just different and every time someone [has a conversion experience] people think, “Oh, nutcase!” (laughs) Since they've read the book it seems like a lot of people understand that I was just a drug addict that needed out, and I got it. All of the fans are just saying “I'm glad you're alive.”

RockOm: We won't spend much time on your story itself as people can go pick up your book and read the whole thing for themselves, but I wanted to ask you about two things quickly. First, you're very open and honest in this book – which I find quite refreshing. Most of what passes as Christian non-fiction books can seem so sterile, but your writing tells your true, raw story in a no-holds-barred fashion. Has that been received well by the Christian community and Christian retailers selling your book?

Head: Mostly, yes, because it's real but there are some conservatives that are afraid of it. And that's OK, they've got their choice and opinion. They're thinking maybe I'm glorifying my past life or they're trying to protect their kids, you know, so that's cool. To each their own. There are all kinds of different types of people out there.

RockOm: Secondly, in your book you mention an orphanage in India you helped found called Head Home. How is that going? Are you still involved and have there been any cool success stories from those working or living there?

Head: I'm not really involved anymore, no. I had a partner [in it] that I was hooked up with and things went sour; it's kind of in the past now. That organization, Good News India, was the one doing it; I was just partnering with them, just like a lot of other people do. You donate money and you can have an orphanage out there and name it what you want if you donate a certain amount. But after we went in there and talked to the cannibal tribes that I wrote about in my book, a school was put up by Good News India and crime dropped like 91% or something. It's a lot better out there. I'd like to get involved in some stuff maybe here in the United States doing something eventually.

RockOm: It's amazing what a little love and concern will do for people.

Head: Ya, gets your mind off yourself for a second.

RockOm: Well, let's chat about a couple of the tunes from your newly released album Save Me From Myself. The opening track “L.O.V.E.” is a sort of love song sung from God's perspective. I like that the lyrics say “You're angry, it's OK.” Have you found a freedom in God to just be all that you are - anger, warts and all?

Head: Yes, and that's a good thing because it's not like you've got to be perfect. Be who you are and He [God] will change you slowly how He wants to change you. It's a walk of courage; it's a walk of trust. It's cool just to know that when you screw up badly that you're not done. He will just keep taking you back as long as you try and if you want to be that person that He's created you to be then it's all good. That's freedom right there. But if you're blatantly going against Him and doing stuff constantly without even caring, then that's not good. In my life I was having problems that I couldn't change. I couldn't stop doing them, just certain personal things, not the drugs. There were certain things in my life that I couldn't stop so eventually [I turned it over to God]. It's Christ in us that changes us; it's not me – I can't do it. It's like, “Alright, I'm not perfect God, and I screwed it up again so I give you full permission to do whatever you've got to do to help me out.”

RockOm: Most of us have a love/hate relationship with the church in that it is the body of Christ but there's also a lot of nasty stuff that can go on – all of which you speak about in your song “Die Religion Die”. How do you currently see your relationship with the church and how do you feel it is either living out or could better live out the teachings of Jesus?

Head: I think there's good in all denominations – Catholic, Baptist, Pentecostal... and there's 'not good' in all of them. We're humans and we all screw up; we've got to give more grace to everybody and realize that we're not all perfect. I don't know, maybe it's set up that way to test our hearts and to see how we're going to react - like if we're going to judge each other. I keep growing a lot, there's a lot of stuff to learn and I definitely don't know it all. I don't understand mean religion; I don't understand the judgement and the “make you feel bad” type of stuff that's mentioned in “Die Religion Die,” where there's no love in it. God is love. But there's a lot of growth to happen in me, to answer your question.

RockOm: Lastly, there are rumors of new albums from you out in 2009 and 2010. What can we expect from the new records sonically (what you're doing in the studio) or in terms of some of the themes on the album?

Head: It'll definitely be more mature. This album I just did was written in 2005, about six months after I got saved. I had to change some words around [when I finally recorded it] because I was not knowing what I was saying. I think you'll notice a more Christlikeness in everything I'll be doing but still heavy, because I love the heavy music. We'll see – this year we're trying to get on the road and do some live shows but every time I get up to get going, something knocks me down. We'll just wait and see what happens. There's not going to be another album this year - maybe next, but not this year unless God has other plans. [laughs] You never know!

http://www.brianheadwelch.net/
http://www.myspace.com/brianheadwelch

Edited by Andrew Hoogheem

Photography by Alonso Murillo

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[By THOR CHRISTENSEN]

Gospel and psychedelic rock seem like awfully strange bedfellows. But Spiritualized merged the two so easily Thursday night you wonder why more bands haven't tried it.

Performing a rare Dallas show at the Lakewood Theater, the veteran British group started with a fuzz-drenched "Amazing Grace" before turning 1992's "Shine a Light" into a mind-melting Baptist singalong. Bandleader Jason Pierce has never been much of a vocalist, but he wisely brought along Wendi Rose and Claudia Smith to provide sweet soul singing.

And while Mr. Pierce mentioned Jesus in a half-dozen tunes, his redemption songs went far beyond the Bible. "Sometimes you kick the devil out, but angels smash your face," he sang in "Cheapster."

In the strange world of Spiritualized, drugs and God go hand in hand. "Gonna have good times, good dope and good fun," he sang in "Lay Back in the Sun."

Yet unlike most druggy psychedelic bands, Spiritualized didn't jam much: The mood and the melodies were important, not the solos. And rather than try to hypnotize the crowd with one drone after the next, the septet was at its best rocking fast like Iggy Pop in tunes such as "She Kissed Me (And It Felt Like a Hit)."

The 42-year-old Mr. Pierce – alias J. Spaceman – is touring for the first time since almost dying in 2005 from pneumonia, and the Dallas show was a warm-up for the group's gig at Austin City Limits Music Festival. As always, he cut an impenetrable figure, wearing sunglasses, saying nothing to the crowd and facing guitarist Tony "Doggen" Foster as he sang.

But the show was visually stunning despite him. With the stage shrouded in thick fog and shadows, the band looked like extras from Stanley Kubrick's The Shining – an effect that made Spiritualized seem all the more spiritual.

By THOR CHRISTENSEN / The Dallas Morning News (Originally posted here)
tchristensen@dallasnews.com