Nicolle+M’s+OpEd+Article

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=Why Post Hardcore/Metal/Rock Bands Shouldn't Be Looked Down On.=

Wow, a band with a lead singer that has an alternative way of music and just so happens to throw in a few screams instead of the usual vocals. Let's go running away screaming,"SATAN" while whining about how we "can't understand what they're saying." Excuse me? No. Just because musically you don't agree with it, lyrically those songs can connect with ANYONE. If you've ever been sad, lonely, depressed, you can connect with those songs. I'm sorry it's not all about sex, drugs, and money.

Take one of my favorite songs Can You Feel My Heart by Bring Me The Horizon. The lyrics in the bridge go:

"I'm scared to get close and I hate being alone I long for that feeling to not feel at all The higher I get, the lower I'll sink I can't drown my demons, they know how to swim"

How is that not relatable? People strive for connections and relationships, yet we're afraid of them because of the thought of getting hurt. Happiness happens, but there's always the crash of when you're sad, hence the "roller coast of life" metaphor. The last line: there's always fears we have that we can't overcome or even insecurities that eat at us and won't go away.



The video I posted is of me playing piano by a band known as Linkin Park. Though that particular song is generally mild and without screaming, the band itself has songs with screams and rock based influences. Somewhere I Belong by them has some of their most powerful and relatable lyricism. Now, because it is a bit heavier,does that make it satanic and unfathomable? Absolutely not. It's a song saying you're done being someone else to please everyone else, and you're going to be your own person, who you really are. It's about overcoming sadness and hard times. It's about looking past those times, finding who you really are, and embracing that.

My main problem with all of this is that people hear the screams and run away screaming Satan, when there are Christian Post Hardcore/Metal bands. Yes, CHRISTIAN post hardcore bands. They even go on the "infamous" Vans Warped Tour. Yes, the same tour that every year I've seen SOMEONE doing some sort of religious protest against a band that they don't know anything about. Just to name a few of the Christian bands: For Today, Abandon All Ships(Sort of), The Devil Wears Prada, Anberlin, blessthefall, Underoath, and A Thousand Foot Krutch. But all of these bands (Christian and Not-Christian) have one thing in common, they write their own music. It is NOT producer written, because their raw material is phenomenal. Most of these bands started out as a garage-style band just playing for fun, maybe landing some gigs. They ALL have a back story and they ALL have original songs.



Even one of my favorite, A Day To Remember, stuck to their own lyricism, DITCHED their old label, and self produced their newest album Common Courtesy. I cannot fathom how some of these big names make it in the music industry successfully without writing a lot of their own material and/or music. For just a few examples: So, why in the world are some of my favorite bands looked down on for their own lyricism and music, while these praised artists are just autotuned and talentless?
 * One Direction copying The Who's Baba O'Riley
 * "Get The Party Started" By P!nk was written by Linda Perry
 * "Don't 'Cha" by the Pussycat Dolls was actually written by Cee-Lo Green, Busta Rhymes, and Sir-Mix-a-Lot