Ozzy’s gift

Posted on by dugtheship

Ozzy was my first favorite artist. I was already into Deep Purple and Judas Priest. But they’d long before been claimed by others. One fateful early-Fall Sunday afternoon at my dad’s house in 1980, however, listening to WLAV’s Sunday Sixpack through his headphones, the first album introduced was ‘the solo debut from Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osborne.’ The opening guitar and gong of ‘I Don’t Know’ followed and a lifelong fan was born. He remained an easy answer to the question ‘who’s your all-time favorite?’ for most of the rest of his life.

Aside from all the great music, he was one of those rare frontmen that was both lightyears ahead of the pack and made it seem like anyone could do it. Even me.

Given all of this, I had anticipated being pretty broken up whenever Ozzy eventually passed. The long spiral of his decline probably helped cushion the blow, especially when paired with his ability to seemingly always bounce back. And bounce back he did. One last time.

I couldn’t have been happier at the time that I’d rented ‘Back to the Beginning’ and devoted hours to watching as much of it as I could. It was a great event. One that, even through a TV screen, felt momentous. This was the gathering of the tribe. It was both fun-filled and important, kickass and celebratory.

And Ozzy…he was in a chair, yes. But he was also in full command of the stage. His eyes and voice were clear. His smile infectious. His joy evident. I shed a few silent tears during ‘Mama, I’m Coming Home’ and know I’m not alone in having done so.

The whole show, even its warts, was amazing. It was alive. Ozzy was alive. He wanted to be on that stage one more time and he made it.

Along the way, however, he gave all the rest of us a gift beyond compare. He let us say goodbye while he was still here. Doing what he loved. What we loved.

So now, to reflect. What follows are some of my personal Ozzy highlights.

• Cruising the beach in Scott’s cherry red Chevelle blasting ‘Diary of a Madman’ on the 8-track.

• First live experience: Mar. 20, 1983, L.C. Walker Arena, Muskegon, Mich. Vandenberg opened. Was the ‘Shout at the Devil’ tour with Jake E. Lee on guitar. Though I’d spent most of my life thinking it was Brad Gillis, I’ve since resigned myself to the possibility that at some point over the years I conflated the live album with my concert experience. Either way, it was a great show, with the spooky castle set and the drawbridge and the dwarfish druids wandering around. Also, the versions of the Sabbath songs recorded that night a few months earlier at the Ritz in NYC are the best live versions of each of them ever professionally captured. Nice one, Brad.

• American Rock Festival, May 27, 1984, Timber Ridge Ski Resort, Kalamazoo, Mich. My first festival ever. Ozzy should have headlined this event. As it was Triumph closed things out, joined by Motley Crue, Quiet Riot (with Rudy Sarzo back in the fold), Night Ranger, Accept, and Ratt. 10 am kickoff with ‘Wanted Man’. 60,000 people in attendance. Jake E. Lee still on guitar, joined by Bob Daisley (bass), Tommy Aldridge (drums), and Don Airey (keyboards). A fully kickass lineup. The five-song run at the core of the set: ‘Bark At The Moon’, ‘Revelation (Mother Earth)’, ‘Steal Away (The Night)’, ‘Suicide Solution’, ‘Flying High Again.’ I love Triumph, but ‘Lay It On The Line’ never stood a chance.

• First Ozzy show with Cindy. Constitution Hall (cap. 3,700), Washington DC, Jan. 27, 1992. ‘Theater of Madness’ tour. Smallest venue I’ve seen him in. Zakk Wylde on guitar, Mike Inez bass, Randy Castillo drums. Prong opened.

• Rockline/KLOL, Jan. 6, 1996. Ozzy was playing the Summit in Houston the next night on the ‘Retirement Sucks’ tour, so the KLOL studios served as the remote location for him to be interviewed by Bob Coburn back at KLOS in L.A. for the nationally syndicated ‘Rockline’ interview/call-in show. Initial problems with the satellite link prompted his handlers to find some promo flats for Ozzy to sign as a distraction. A trip to the bathroom required an escort, lest Ozzy wander off. When the show started, however, it went off without a hitch and Ozzy’s performance on stage the next night was top-notch. Joe Holmes on guitar, Geezer Butler bass, and Randy Castillo drums. Korn and Life of Agony opened.

• Ozzfest 2000, Aug. 20, Houston Raceway Park, Baytown, Tex. It was a giant festival with a great lineup at a dragstrip in the dead of Houston summer, aka good sweaty metal fun! Joe Holmes on guitar, Robert Trujillo bass, Brian Tichy drums (filling in for Mike Bordin who was filling in with Korn). This is a couple of players away from my second-favorite Ozzy lineup of all-time (after Randy/Rudy/Tommy): Trujillo/Bordin/Wylde

 • Hastings Records, Conroe, Tex., Oct. 18, 2011, book signing. Gonzo Bruce and I went up to Conroe to cover this for our glorious website, GonzoGeek.com (RIP). It was a scene. Probably the most metal fans ever congregated at one time in Conroe. Lots of parking lot drinking and attendant behavior.

I saw Ozzy a few more times over the years. Always a great time. Never did get a chance to actually sit down with him. But that’s fine.

See you on the other side, brother. Make sure Lemmy’s around.

‘Unreality’ turns 1

Posted on by dugtheship

Today marks the 1-year anniversary of ‘Unreality’s release. It hasn’t quite lit the popular consciousness on fire yet, but I’ve got the rest of my life to make that happen, and in the meantime have a piece of art I’m proud to have created and enjoy talking about with anybody interested in doing so.

If you’ve already bought a copy of the book, thank you. If not, here’s your chance! If you’ve already read the book, let me know what you thought. Or even better, write and post a review (Amazon, Goodreads, etc.) so others can know what you thought as well. It really helps.

I plan to celebrate over the next few weeks by buying work from other independent artists. It’s the least I can do. People who create do it for a variety of, mostly internal, reasons. But that doesn’t mean their work should just be free to everyone forever and ever.

You don’t have to have a building named after you or be a top-line donor to the Houston Symphony to be a patron of the arts. If you’ve ever thrown money into a busker’s case, think about a small purchase from the creative of your choice as the online equivalent, with the added bonus of getting to keep what you paid for. There’re plenty of little ways to support the artists you know or like, and doing so will make both you and them happy.

Oh yeah…and, as always, go see live local music!

20 Years After

Posted on by dugtheship

Twenty years ago yesterday my last commissioned article as a freelance music journalist was published. I’d been doing it for more than 10 years at that point, had a 5-year old son, a daughter on the way, and other outlets I wanted to pursue.

I didn’t know it was going to be my last piece while I was doing it, but the subject matter was suitably auspicious: the Business Machines. The band members were Houstonian friends relocated to L.A. chasing the eternal dream. They’d also just recorded what is still one of my favorite albums ever, ‘Almost Automatic.’

A rock n’ roll mini-revival was underway at the time, led by the likes of the Hives, the Vines, the Donnas, and the Datsuns, and the Business Machines were poised to stake their claim. The rest of the story is available in scattered pieces across the internet. But what’s offered here is a fleeting snapshot of when everything was still possible.

dUNETX – ‘Icon’

Posted on by dugtheship

The eternal dream. Pursuing it looks naff. But it lurks inside. It guides. It prods. It doesn’t let you go. But it’s ephemeral enough that it can’t lead. Some let it overwhelm them. Some of them end up dead. Some who could achieve it never manage to harness its energy, choosing a path less perilous.

Spend some time watching dUNETX mainman Chris Sacco on stage and you know it’s in there. But what he does with this song is staddle that line between embracing it and observing it from a safe distance. Musically, it gets on a mid-tempo rail and rides. But the lyrics flip back and forth between the simultaneously personal and universal (rolling up on that special someone) and the more rarified air of megalomania (closing your eyes and coming undone)

dUNETX has always worn its influences on its sleeve and this particular number draws from the Smashing Pumpkins end of the band’s pool. Both guitars and vocals drone while rubbing your eardrums. But they also build with enough wiggle to move things forward, keeping the listener waiting for the next bend. Surely something has to give.

Guitar Solo One yields. Guitar Solo Two builds. And then reality breaks. Icon, that’s the way it has to be. You got your rock star type clothes on. Where’d you get those threads? You used to be Jimi Hendrix? Or was that the Doors?

Unreality Check #22: Still 2020 all over again

Posted on by dugtheship

It’s how science works. You try something and then you keep refining it. I guarantee the first submarine didn’t work. Nor attempt to split the atom. Nor the first polio vaccine. The difference this time is it directly involves billions of human lives and lots of them are able to communicate whatever bs or good information they feel like passing along, leaving the rest of us to sort it out.

Just go get vaccinated.

—

Almost 100% of the Republican party’s attention is still focused on a combination of perpetrating the lie that the 2020 election was somehow stolen form Donald Trump and trying to obstruct investigation of the Jan. 6 insurrection. It’s almost like there’s nothing to be done; no problems to solve nor bridges to fix, no virus to quell nor crime wave to nix.

From a recent Trump fundraising email:

  • They fabricated vote counts of 100–0 for Biden, many times!

“I warned you this would happen, Friend. What else will they find once the full Forensic Audit takes place?”

Who ‘they’ are is never defined, of course, It’s just important that they exist so there’s a bogeyman to fear. It’s also not clear how one “fabricates vote counts of 100-0 for Biden, many times,” but is sure looks bad. He’s our friend and he warned us this would happen, and the Forensic Audit hasn’t even happened yet! More terror surely lies ahead.

—

Meanwhile in Houston, regarding the defection of Democratic members of the Texas state house to DC, the proposal has been put forward to make ‘quorum denial’ a felony, thereby allowing people engaged in it to be arrested upon return.

“These steps wouldn’t be a rock solid way to ensure no future walk outs occur,” says one proponent. “However taking these steps, along with codifying [that] the Attorney General has prosecutorial authority in the venue of their choosing goes a long way to injecting fear and uncertainty to the process.”

The target might be somewhat different than the Trump email, but the overall effort is the same: scare people into believing that something terrible is happening to them so that they’ll vote for you. I guess you’ve got to do what you can if you’re not going to propose solutions to actual problems.

The presumably unintentional outing of the GOP MO is pretty cool too: Injecting Fear and Uncertainty to the Process.

Gov. Abbott called a second special session Aug. 5, doubling down on voter suppression efforts while once again ignoring the state’s failed power grid.

Then again, he and the rest of his cronies are getting paid handsomely for their looking the other way. Gov. Greg and Lt. Dan you already know. Perhaps less familiar are State Rep. Chris Paddie (R-Marshall, HD9) and State Sen. Charles Schwertner (R-Georgetown, SD5). Anyway, they’re among the legion of elected officials the energy business backed it cash trucks up for.

Source: Texas Tribune

Or as one University of Texas professor put it

Source: Texas Tribune

In any case, Rep. Mayes Middleton (R-Galveston, HD23) got right to work filing a bill to define legislative vacancy in order “to prevent legislators from quitting on Texas and their offices.” HB 309 defines a legislative vacancy as 14 consecutive days of unexcused absences from the chamber in which the member holds office.

Article XVI, Section 1 of the Texas Constitution prescribes the Oath of Office for elected officers that requires members of the Legislature to swear that he or she will “faithfully execute the duties of the office” to which the member is elected.

Speaking on his bill, Rep. Middleton said, “If you repeatedly don’t show up for work, you are fired from your job, our offices should be no different. Excessive, unexcused absences are certainly a violation of each member’s oath of office and a refusal to do the job the member is elected to do.” Mr. Middleton should be reminded that job the absent legislators and he were both elected to do was to represent their constituents, which they did.

—

Not to be outdone by his legislative colleagues, Texas Railroad Commissioner Jim Wright proposesd that the natural gas industry receive tax incentives similar to those provided for renewable energy projects. Wright advocated tax credits for gas pipelines, storage projects, and power plants. Such provisions would better protect the state’s infrastructure from weather disasters like the deadly February freeze while also reducing flaring, according to Wright.

Well sure, if your buddies in the state house would compel them to do so. Otherwise, they’ll just be used to pad the bottom line…and make campaign contributions.

Protest 100: Creedence Clearwater Revival – ‘Fortunate Son’

Posted on by dugtheship

Artist:          Creedence Clearwater Revival 

Song:           Fortunate Son

Album:        Willie and the Poor Boys

Producer:    John Fogerty

Label:          Fantasy

Year:           1969

Notes:
Pres. Trump has been blasting CCR’s ‘Fortunate Son’ as walk on music during his campaign. Its use works like a charm, highlighting the limited comprehension, scofflaw tendencies, and general trollishness that have been highlights of his time in office. Its use has continued despite John Fogerty’s requests that it stop.

Fogerty’s initial response came in a September video.”I wrote the song back in 1969 at the height of the Vietnam War,” Fogerty said in the video, as reported by Insider.com “By the time I wrote the song, I had already been drafted and had served in the military. And I’ve been a lifelong supporter of our guys and gals in the military, probably because of that experience, of course.”

Fogerty continued in his video, saying: “Back in those days, we still had a draft, and something I was very upset about was the fact that people of privilege, in other words, rich people, or people that had position, could use that to avoid the draft and not be taken into the military. I found that very upsetting that such a thing could occur, and that’s why I wrote ‘Fortunate Son.'”

He then noted the song’s opening verses: “Some folks are born, made to wave the flag / Ooh, their red, white, and blue / And when the band plays ‘Hail to the Chief’ / Ooh, they point the cannon at you.”

In his video, Fogerty compared the beginning lines of “Fortunate Son” to Trump using federal agents to remove protesters from a June demonstration at Lafayette Square in Washington, DC, so he could stand in front of St. John’s Church and hold up a Bible for a photo opportunity.

“It’s a song I could’ve written now, so I find it confusing, I would say, that the president has chosen to use my song for his political rallies, when in fact, it seems like he is probably the fortunate son,” Fogerty said, ending the video.

Trump received multiple deferments that helped allow him to avoid service in the Vietnam War.

The song hasn’t lost an ounce of its edge. I’ve included a couple of my favorite covers at the end of the post (though nothing matches the intensity of the original).

Excerpt from ‘Unreality’ —
People with more specialized platforms—law enforcement officials, garbage men, bus drivers, etc.—were compensated more for whatever role they felt comfortable playing.

Lyrics:
Some folks are born made to wave the flag
Ooh, they’re red, white and blue
And when the band plays “Hail To The Chief”
Ooh, they point the cannon at you, Lord

It ain’t me, it ain’t me, I ain’t no senator’s son, son
It ain’t me, it ain’t me; I ain’t no fortunate one, no
Some folks are born silver spoon in hand
Lord, don’t they help themselves, oh

But when the taxman comes to the door
Lord, the house looks like a rummage sale, yes
It ain’t me, it ain’t me, I ain’t no millionaire’s son, no, no
It ain’t me, it ain’t me; I ain’t no fortunate one, no
Yeah!

Some folks inherit star spangled eyes
Ooh, they send you down to war, Lord
And when you ask them, “How much should we give?”
Ooh, they only answer, “More! More! More!” Yo

It ain’t me, it ain’t me, I ain’t no military son, son
It ain’t me, it ain’t me; I ain’t no fortunate one, one
It ain’t me, it ain’t me, I ain’t no fortunate one, no no no
It ain’t me, it ain’t me, I ain’t no fortunate son, no no no

 —

‘Protest 100’s mission is two-fold: dispelling the myth that heavy metal is a brainless, socially unaware music genre, and raising awareness of the issues facing our country in the Nov. 3, 2020 election. The path won’t be exclusively metal—some punk and rap and other stuff will be in here too, including the classics—and is not a ranking. All songs are songs I’ve heard while putting this list together, ordered in a manner designed to entertain and educate.

Protest 100: Tree – ‘Freedom Rock’

Posted on by dugtheship

Artist:          Tree

Song:           Freedom Rock

Album:        Plant A Tree or Die

Producer:    Don Muscatelli

Label:          CherryDisc

Year:           1995

Notes:
Enviro-core! Boston-based Tree made saving the Earth its main mission. But the group also kept an eye on other aspects of life in America, in this instance conjuring the ol’ “love it or leave it” trope to wonder how it is our leaders can lie with impunity while the rich get richer off the people’s backs. Maybe there’s a connection.

Excerpt from ‘Unreality’  —
Freedom of assembly on the part of the nation’s youth was legislated against to the extent that any person wishing to host a group bigger than 100 people 16-years or older had to first register the event and then accept criminal liability for any misdeeds.

Lyrics:
Love it or leave it that’s what they say
Love it or leave it the American way

I love this country I love this land
But tolerance for liars I won’t stand
Not a ring of truth in the political lies
The rich get richer while the innocent die

Love it or leave it that’s what they say
Change it, believe it
It could happen today

If our founding fathers were alive today
They’d all be rounded up and be locked away
Stripped of all the rights that they created
And everything they own would be confiscated

Love it or leave it that’s what they say
Change it believe it
It could happen today

FOR THE PEOPLE BY THE PEOPLE
ALL OF US CREATED EQUAL
RISE!!

—

‘Protest 100’s mission is two-fold: dispelling the myth that heavy metal is a brainless, socially unaware music genre, and raising awareness of the issues facing our country in the Nov. 3, 2020 election. The path won’t be exclusively metal—some punk and rap and other stuff will be in here too, including the classics—and is not a ranking. All songs are songs I’ve heard while putting this list together, ordered in a manner designed to entertain and educate.

Protest 100: Rage Against The Machine – ‘Vietnow’

Posted on by dugtheship

Artist:          Rage Against The Machine

Song:           Vietnow

Album:        Evil Empire

Producer:    Brendan O’Brien

Label:          Epic

Year:           1996

Notes:
Want to get scared? Put your radio on the AM and start surfing. Back when there were ownership limits, changing the frequency could change the sound. But now it’s all talk, all the time. And the talk is peddling fear. And the fear is sponsored by those selling the solution. Rights? Yeah, right. Not even over your own body. Throw you in a cage while burning a cross out front. Don’t forget Rodney King. Or Ollie North.

Excerpt from ‘Unreality’  —
“The average male would be able to get into his TV set, to live the dream rather than just watching it.”

Lyrics
Turn on tha radio, nah fuck it turn it off
Fear is your only god on the radio
Nah fuck it, turn it off
Turn it off, turn on tha radio, nah fuck it turn it off
Fear is your only god on the radio
Nah fuck it, your saviour’s my guillotine, crosses and kerosene

Merge on tha networks, slangin’ nerve gas
Up jump tha boogie then bang, let ’em hang
While tha paraniod try ta stuff tha void
Let’s capture this AM mayhem
Undressed, and blessed by tha Lord
Tha power pendulum swings by tha umbilical cord
Shock around tha clock, from noon ’til noon
Men grabbin’ they mics, and stuff ’em into tha womb
Terror’s tha product ya push
Well I’m a truth addict, oh shit I gotta headrush
Sheep tremble an here come tha votes
Thrown from tha throat, new cages an scapegoats
Undressed and blessed by tha Lord
Tha same devil that ran around Managua wit a sword
Check out tha new style that Ollie found
I tune in wit a bullet ta shut down tha devil sound
Shut down tha devil sound
Tha program of Vietnow
Shut down tha devil sound

Turn on the radio, nah fuck it turn it off
Fear is your only god on the radio
Nah fuck it, turn it off
Turn it off, turn on the radio, nah fuck it turn it off
Fear is your only god on the radio
Nah fuck it, your saviour’s my guillotine, crosses and kerosene

Flex tha cerebellum, fire, uh!
Somebody gotta shell ’em
These evil angels lists, hittin’ tha AM playlist
Paid ta say this
That one inhuman, illegal, single woman
Tha one wit out a room
The transmissions wippin’ our backs
Yeah, comin’ down like bats from Stacy Coon
Terror’s tha product ya push
Well I’m a truth addict, oh shit I gotta headrush
Tha sheep tremble an here come tha votes
Thrown from tha throat, new cages and scapegoats
One caution tha mics a detonator unwound
Ta shut down tha devil sound
Shut down tha devil sound
Check tha heads bow in vietnow
Shut down tha devil sound

Is all tha world jails and churches?
Is all tha world jails and churches?
Is all tha world jails and churches?
Is all tha world jails and churches?
Is all tha world jails and churches?

Radio, nah fuck it, turn it off
Fear is your only god on tha radio
Nah fuck it, turn it off
Turn it off, turn on tha radio, nah fuck it turn it off
Fear is your only god on tha radio
Nah fuck it, your saviour’s my guillotine, crosses and kerosene

Fear is your, fear is your, fear is your only god
Fear is your, fear is your, fear is your only god
Fear is your, fear is your, fear is your only god
Fear is your, fear is your, fear is your only god

—

‘Protest 100’s mission is two-fold: dispelling the myth that heavy metal is a brainless, socially unaware music genre, and raising awareness of the issues facing our country in the Nov. 3, 2020 election. The path won’t be exclusively metal—some punk and rap and other stuff will be in here too, including the classics—and is not a ranking. All songs are songs I’ve heard while putting this list together, ordered in a manner designed to entertain and educate.

Protest 100: Time Zone – ‘World Destruction’

Posted on by dugtheship

Artist:          Time Zone

Song:           World Destruction

Album:        n/a

Producer:    Bill Laswell

Label:          Celluloid

Year:           1984

Notes:
Another lasting impression from my mid-80s patronage of Numbers nightclub/concert venue in Houston (along with Love & Rockets’ version of ‘Ball of Confusion’), this absolute floor filler by Afrika Bambaataa and John Lydon knew what it was talking about. The KGB was going to get us by way of our own screens and military tactics would be employed to control the nation!

Excerpt from ‘Unreality’  —
“Phillip was just the latest hotshot with a two-bit theory, and they wanted to see it played out.”

Lyrics
Speak about destruction
Speak about destruction
Speak about destruction
This is a world destruction, your life ain’t nothing
The human race is becoming a disgrace
Countries are fighting in chemical warfare
Not giving a damn about the people who live
Nostradamus predicts the coming of the Antichrist
Hey, look out, the third world nations are on the rise
The democratic communist relationship
Won’t stand in the way of the Islamic force
The CIA is looking for other tactics
The KGB is smarter than you think
Brainwash mentalities to control the system
Using TV and movies – religions of course
Yes, the world is headed for destruction
Is it a nuclear war?
What are you asking for?

Eins, zwei, drei, vier
This is a world destruction
Your life ain’t nothing
The human race is becoming a disgrace
The rich get richer
The poor are getting poorer
Fascist, chauvinistic government fools
People, Muslims, Christians and Hindus
Are in a time zone just searching for the truth
Who are you to think you’re a superior race?
Facing forth your everlasting doom
We are Time Zone
We’ve come to drop a bomb on you
World destruction, kaboom, kaboom, kaboom

This is the world destruction, your life ain’t nothing
The human race is becoming a disgrace
Nationalities are fighting with each other
Why is this? Because the system tells you
Putting people in racist categories
Knowledge isn’t what it used to be
Military tactics to control a nation
Who wants to be a president or king? Me!
Mother Nature is gonna work against you
Nothing in your power that you can do
Yes, the world is headed for destruction
You and I know it, ’cause the bible tells you
If we don’t start to look for a better life
The world will be destroyed in a time zone
I’m in a time zone
I’m in a time zone
I’m in a time zone
Speak about destruction
I’m in a time zone
I’m in a time zone
I’m in a time zone
Speak about destruction

Time zone
I’m in a time zone
I’m in a time zone
I’m in a time zone
Destruction
Destruction
Time zone
I’m in a time zone
I’m in a time zone
I’m in a time zone
I’m in a time zone (destruction)
I’m in a time zone
No
I’m in a time zone
I’m in a time zone

—

‘Protest 100’s mission is two-fold: dispelling the myth that heavy metal is a brainless, socially unaware music genre, and raising awareness of the issues facing our country in the Nov. 3, 2020 election. The path won’t be exclusively metal—some punk and rap and other stuff will be in here too, including the classics—and is not a ranking. All songs are songs I’ve heard while putting this list together, ordered in a manner designed to entertain and educate.

Protest 100: Power Trip – ‘Armageddon Blues’

Posted on by dugtheship

Artist:          Power Trip

Song:           Armageddon Blues

Album:        Armageddon Blues

Producer:    (self)

Label:          Dark Operative (2018)

Year:           2009

Notes:
Power Trip has been laying down socially conscious crossover thrash out of Dallas, Tex., since 2008 and ‘Armageddon Blues’ gets almost back to the very beginning. Focused primarily on man’s failed stewardship of earth, the ultimate message is do what you can while you can but be getting your affairs in order in the meantime!

Excerpt from ‘Unreality’  —
“Neither karma nor irony were things Nathan spent much time mulling; except for when he once wondered to himself how he’d ended up getting into so much trouble despite being kind to women.”

Lyrics:
PROGRESSION has ceased!
We’ve doomed ourselves
Armageddon blues cause I can’t fool myself
And though we’d like to pretend that we have the choice
To shape the world without paying the price

Petty obsessions are the least of our transgressions
We’ve raped the land for power and possession
Two thousand years and all we’ll have
Is a planetary toxic deathbed

We’re not blind, we just lost the vision
As the sun remains unrisen
Sewn seeds can never come to fruition
And so the soul remains undriven

THE SOUL REMAINS UNDRIVEN!

You cannot stop the hands of time
You can’t break its wrists because we ignored the signs
In the final hour i’ll do what i can
Despite the futile attempts to stop a violent end
After all, in all that we’ve done
Do you really think we deserve forgiveness? NO!

Light for humanity is looking dim
If there’s a god, we’ve surely displaced him
Existence unfiltered
We took the gift of life only to burn it in return
Haunting reality, apocalyptic end is guaranteed!

Chemical dawn, come on and bring it on!
Find solace in the warmth of nuclear fog…
And let your armageddon blues turn to bliss!

—

‘Protest 100’s mission is two-fold: dispelling the myth that heavy metal is a brainless, socially unaware music genre, and raising awareness of the issues facing our country in the Nov. 3, 2020 election. The path won’t be exclusively metal—some punk and rap and other stuff will be in here too, including the classics—and is not a ranking. All songs are songs I’ve heard while putting this list together, ordered in a manner designed to entertain and educate.