Rock and Roll and Pop Music

Ever since the ’60’s, Rock Music has been incredibly popular. Today it continues to be incredibly popular in its various
forms. You can hear it on the radio, on TV, in shopping centers. People love the feeling this music stirs up in them. Its a
multi-billion dollar industry. Its influence is everywhere. Well known rock singers are known and admired the world over.
Their publicity material adorns the bedrooms of many an adolescent admirer!

Great things are ascribed to Rock and Roll. One hit song tells us "We built this city on rock and roll". E.L.O. let us know that
"Rock and Roll is King". The Beatles informed us, "Its gotta be Rock and Roll music, if you want to dance with me".
Another song informs us, "Sex and drugs and rock and roll is all my brain and body needs".  We see that Rock and Roll has
taken on many of the attributes and functions of deity!  It is King, it provides all we need, and it is the foundation for our
achievements! I’d like to suggest that for many, rock and roll  really is a god. Its a lying god to be sure, but its a god
none-the-less. I know that people get upset when you blaspheme their gods. On the other hand, there is always the risk of
offending the true God if we fear the wrath of pagan gods. That is a risk I don’t want to take at the present time.

Psychological Effects of Rock Music

It is a fact that we are influenced by what we hear. Psychologists know very well that the messages we hear do go into our
brain and do go on to affect our attitudes to some extent. This is true even when we reject the message with our conscious
mind. If we like the music enough we will allow its message to repeat inside our heads even if we disagree with it initially.
Rock music, and more recently, rap, hip-hop and other forms of audio entertainment is generally repetetive, insistent and
seductive in nature. Its a perfect tool for brainwashing people. It can totally transform and mould the personalities of those
who are devoted to it. This is what has been happening in the western world for the last forty years and now we are
beginning to reaping the fruit.

A lot of people say they are not influenced by what they hear, but this is hogwash. For the most part, we are a product of
what we have heard and believed. Obviously, what we like to pay attention to will be very influential in our lives. Everybody
is following somebody, but the one you are following, do they know where they are going?

If you don’t believe you have been influenced by the values and philosophies of rock and roll, I invite you to read the next
section and consider whether your beliefs vary significantly with what can be shown to be the recurring themes of rock and
roll and other forms of popular modern music.

What is the Message of Rock Music?

Every song is different, but there are certain messages that come through again and again in rock/pop and rap music.

Message Number One – Rebellion and Lawlessness

"Do what you want."

"No one can tell you how to live your life."
"I don’t care what you say anymore, this is my life".

These lyrics encourage young people to despise the authority of parents, teachers, church leaders, government authorities –
anyone who would dare to try to instruct them and teach them in the way they should go. They appeal directly to pride,
independence and lust. If everyone followed these principles without compromise the world would be an unbearable place to
live in. There would be no happy families, just a bunch of selfish hedonists hell-bent on having a mad time. In practice, the
constraints of society put limits on these kind of thing, but there are many rock and roll stars who are out to convince us that
such a society should be destroyed anyway so that we can get on with the serious business of fulfilling our own lusts without
limits.

Message Number Two – Lust is the Way to Go

A lot of songs talk about love, but often this doesn’t mean much more than lust. Love want to give, but lust just wants to
take. Lust views people as a means to sexual gratification – not a really high view of humanity, in my view. The body
language of today’s pop musicians is loaded with sexual innuendo. Even if the words aren’t always about sex, the body
language on channels like MTV usually is. It is well known in the music industry that sex sells. Modern music has had an
enormous influence on the attitude of people towards sexual morality. Whereas before the 1960’s most people believed in
keeping yourself sexually pure until your wedding night, today, the majority of adolescents are sexually active in their early
teenage years. The consequence of this is usually hardness of heart, misery and dissatisfaction later on in life. In countries
where rock music prevails, not many couples manage to build an enduring, life long relationship. The break-ups multiply the
cycle of hurt in both parents and children. Hurt people are vulnerable to temptation to rebellion and to feed on the same
things that guarantee failure in future relationships.

Message Number Three – Evil is Good and Good is Evil

It is amazing how popular satanic heavy metal music is in many places. These bands glorify things that are evil and perverse,
and despise what is clean and noble. Their attitudes are transmitted to their listeners. Just a casual look at the album covers
show a fascination with demonic and occultic imagery. Its not uncommon for these bands to openly mock God, Jesus Christ
and the Cross. Its seems as if these musicians have become controlled by demons who seek to express their hatred towards
God and the Christian message. I’ve never yet seen Rock and Roll bands mock Buddhism, Hinduism or Islam. Interesting…

If you find yourself in sympathy with these messages of rock and roll it could well be that this music has captured your soul!

Messages from Satan in Rock and Roll

How do these words strike you, from AC/DC’s song, "Hell’s Bells"

"Won’t take no prisoners, won’t spare no lives. Nobody’s putting up a fight. I’ve got my bells I’m going to take you to hell. …
Satan get you. Hell’s bells."

In previous generations, church bells would ring calling people to come and worship God. Now people are listening to Hell’s
bells and they are on their way to a place called hell. Not so many years ago a fire broke out in a disco in France and many
young people burned to death. Those who escaped testified that as the fire spread the band continued to play on as if in a
kind of demonic trance, until they too burned to death. Satan is so confident of his influence over the current generation that
he can’t help but brag about it a little.

Michael Hutchence, who tragically killed himself at the end of 1997 was a successful rock and roll artist who clearly had
some leaning towards religious themes. The songs of INXS, such as "Original Sin", "Dancing on the Jetty" and others reflect
this. I was amazed though when I heard the words of the hit song, "Devil inside".

"Devil inside, devil inside, every single one of us, the devil inside". I could not make out some of the lyrics of that song at first. It says, "It’s hard to believe we need a place called hell, a place called hell". When I heard it I could only make out, “We need a place called hell, a place called hell”. Its tragic, but we have no reason to believe Hutchence is not in hell now, experiencing the horror and agony of what it means to be cut off from all comfort in a place of eternal punishment. When people meet the Lord Jesus they don’t go off and commit suicide. You want to live for the glory of God. One of the doctrines of
satanism is to get as many people as possible to hell, as well as going there yourself. The problem is, hell is not some kind of
eternal wild party. Satan’s advertising for hell is one big lie. It shouldn’t be surprising to know that Satan is a liar. He’s always
promoted the practice of lying and he is the father of lies himself.

Its a statistical fact that many rock and roll stars have died young. Some, like Michael Hutchence, and Kurt Cobain, have
killed themselves after experiencing all that the world can offer (though some may dispute this). Something doesn’t work in
the philosophy of self-indulgence. It doesn’t lead to lasting happiness. Life is short. We were made by God and for God, and
we’ll never be fulfilled unless we come to Him and experience Him. Rock and roll is like a drug that promises to satisfy but
actually binds the souls of men to the power of evil.

Christian Rock and CCM

For the sake of Christians wondering about Christian Rock and Christian Contemporary Music, I’ve added a new page
where I address this subject.

I hope to write more on this subject in the future and provide more relevant information. Until then, I hope to hear back from
readers.
 

Michael Fackerell