I must admit this was a rough week. It started out rough, it was rough all week, but Saturday was pretty good.
I can’t say it was rough for any particular reason. It just felt more like a week of wading through the swamp than spiritual growth. I didn’t fast all week. I felt as though my weaknesses had the upper hand on me. I didn’t do anything particularly special for anyone. I didn’t study anything mind-blowing or accomplish any major achievement. It just felt like the daily grind of life.
It was my son’s birthday last weekend. We gave him an MP3 player for his birthday. He would rather have had a phone, but we haven’t gone that far yet. When his sister hit that age, we did buy a flip phone, then a Gabb phone. But she had a constant need and was super responsible. My son doesn’t do much that would require it. When we do, it will likely be as dumb as a brick.
Anyhow, back to the MP3 player. We actually bought him an MP3 player and a Lego (along with some other things). He already had the Lego we purchased him, so we took it back to the store. Somewhere in the process trying to decide what he wanted instead of the Legos, he came up with more songs on his MP3 player.
I knew where this was going. My son loves heavy metal music. At the same time, I’m trying to be a caring and loving father. So, I tell my son. Make a list of the songs you want, and I will review them. If they are appropriate (or semi-appropriate) I will buy them with your Lego money and put them on your MP3 player. Deal. Here is the list:
| Songs | Artist | Yes or No |
| Counting Stars | One Republic | Yes |
| Cut the Chord | Shine Down | Mixed |
| Invincible | Skillet | Yes |
| TNT | ACDC | Yes |
| Thunder Struck | ACDC | Mixed |
| Hero | Skillet | Yes |
| Blessings | Kid Laroi | Yes |
| Addicted to Chaos | Megadeath | Mixed |
| Stricken | Disturbed | Mixed |
| Trapped Under Ice | Metallica | No |
| Frantic | Metallica | No |
| Some Kind of Monster | Metallica | Mixed |
| Moth in Flame | Metallica | No |
| Creeping Death | Metallica | No |
| WIX Immune | Metallica | |
| Symphany of Destruction | Megadeath | |
| Indestructible | Disturbed | Yes |
| Monsters | Shine Down | No |
| I stand Alone | No | |
| Youth of the Nation | POD | No |
| Here Comes the Boom | POD | Yes |
It’s heavy metal. I think most songs focus on some form of death and destruction. So, my line killers were profanity, sex, killing, suicide, Satan worshipping. If they seemed to cross those lines. It wasn’t happening.
When I read song lyrics like this, I can’t help but see the parallels to religion. They are the antithesis of religion. So many songs use religion and morality as the foundations of their rebellion. They are the definition of “the carnal man is an enemy to God.” I ended up taking notes on each song as to why a NO was given. He was understanding and was happy to have new songs in the end.
Take Metallica’s Creeping Death for example. They position themselves as the actual plague that killed all the first born:
So let it be written
So let it be done
To kill the first-born Pharaoh son
I’m creeping death
Die by my hand (die)
I creep across the land (die)
Killing first-born man (die)
I know he loves Metallica. I ended up reviewing the lyrics to almost every Metallica song to see if there were a few I could give him. It was a stretch. I really don’t think Metallica is appropriate. I know they were my favorite band when I was 16 to 20 so I get it. I caved and gave him these:
| Blitzkrieg (Instrumental) | Metallica | Yes |
| Enter Sandman | Metallica | Yes |
| Four Horsemen | Metallica | Yes |
| Hit the Lights | Metallica | Yes |
| Nothing Else Matters | Metallica | Yes |
| Orion (Instrumental) | Metallica | Yes |
| Pulling Teeth | Metallica | Yes |
| Sad But True | Metallica | Yes |
| Seek and Destory | Metallica | Yes |
| The Call Of Ktulu (Instrumental) | Metallica | Yes |
| The Unforgiven II | Metallica | Yes |
| Unforgiven | Metallica | Yes |
| Wherever I May Rome | Metallica | Yes |
Icing on the cake. I added a few songs like Glorious as well. As he looked at the song list, he says; Oh, I like that song.