I'm not just some redneck that has no other hobbies other than following politics and getting overly upset about them... I do other things as well. One thing that is something that I have tried, mostly in vain, to keep up with in my life is one of my favorite bands of recent years called Ghost and they are a Swedish dark metal band whose music frequently features songs about Satanism and other things that are quite macabre.
One thing that a true fan would know about "Ghost" and their founder and primary songwriter Tobias Forge is that much like most all other metal bands that feature Satanism in their songs is that they are not really Satanic, it is just a schtick that many metal bands use to be part of a counter culture and have I guess you could say some edgy lyrics that are meant to ruffle some feathers.
Interviews with Tobias and others who have revealed their identities over the years is that they are genuinely nice people, probably a lot kinder to those around them in the world than actual religious people are. During his shows he routinely tells the audience that the world has become a very evil place and that all of us need to work harder to be nicer, and especially to help one another when they need help. How many ultra-Christian or ultra-Islamic people can you think of that do that? I can't think of any: That lot seem so focused on devotion to their God that they are very willing to resort to violence and even killing for anyone that disagrees with them.
Recently, I found out that Ghost had a new album when I watched a recent film / very nicely produced concert of theirs called Rite Here Rite Now and rediscovered a very famous song of theirs called "Mary on a Cross" and stumbled across a reaction video by Daily Wire's Michael Knowles and while I do like a lot of what this guy normally has to say about politics, I have tuned out of politics so I was surprised that this would come up on a search for "Mary on a Cross," the song.
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The funny thing about this song is that it made it into the Billboard top 100 after getting a bunch of publicity, such as the publicity given to it by conservative or Christian sites 2 full years after it was released. It is the first Ghost song to do so as well.
In the video where Michael Knowles is morosely and very seriously analyzing the lyrics of the song he, like many people that are looking for fault in anything and everything they encounter that doesn't entirely espouse exactly how he feels about all things in life, he gets very offended by the lyrics assuming they are directly mocking the bible.
The title of the reaction video is ""Mary On A Cross" Is Extraordinarily Sacrilegious" and to listen to him dissect the lyrics is quite humorous to anyone out there that is a fan of the band who DOES get it. Also, he is getting ripped apart in the comments and the post has been ratioed by fans.
The comments section is raided by fans of Ghost and it is clear who is winning the conversation there.
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It is worth noting that the song itself has 95 million views on YT alone and that is just for the studio version of the song. The live version has an additional 50 million views. Michael Knowles' reaction video has 240,000 views.
He says at the very start of the video, "let's see how far I make it into the screen before I, uh, throw something at the screen." A bit later on after he turns it off in disgust he says "let me quickly scan the lyrics and see if there is anything worth actually talking about here."
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This is the condescending look of a man who has made up his mind what his opinion of something is going to be before he even bothers to listen to any of it and that was the look on Michael Knowles' face during the entire first portion of the song. After he turns it off after 30 seconds or so he goes on to lecture the audience about how this is what is wrong with society and how his way is better etc. He went on to say that music like this will encourage a "reengagement with religion" and for someone who really likes Ghost this guy is completely nuts if he think that this music is going to encourage something like that.
The point I am trying to make here isn't just that Mary on a Cross is an excellent song, which it is, but that there are always going to be some out of touch people out there that feel as though they have to be fighting a battle on all fronts towards anyone that isn't 100% on their side.
Here is the entire song done live in Tampa, Florida and it is truly wonderful. Ghost's songs tend to sound a lot better live than they do on albums and I had the great pleasure to see them live in Raleigh just a few short years ago.
I normally like what Daily Wire has to say but this is a topic matter they should probably steer clear of and they really wont be winning any fans over to their side by being so completely in the dark about what this and many other artists are actually trying to accomplish. Knowles comes across as a sanctimonious moron in his video and should probably stick to political propaganda in the future.
Despite his relatively large following on YT, the comments section about this song didn't really go the way I think he may have hoped but I have to give him props for not turning off the comments - I guess we can give him that.
I think that his reaction to this song and for a lot of other people this is what is wrong with society today: People are completely unwilling to even listen to what someone who has different world views than them so much as has to say before they dismiss them. This is particularly true with politics and unsurprisingly, political pundits like Knowles.
Have an open mind and realize that Ghost unlike many actually religious people, isn't trying to convert anyone to anything. They are artistically wonderful and have a fantastic amount of really good songs. Do they talk about Satan a lot? Sure, but it's all a gimmick and if Tobias Forge and the rest of Ghost were actually representative of actual Satanists, well then they seem a lot more fun and kind than a majority of religious people that I have ever met.