I haven’t been posting much lately because of some personal stuff, including various on-going discussions with several thoughtful people regarding the surprise election victory earlier this month of Donald J. Trump as President of the United States. I’ll no doubt have a lot to say about that before long, but for now, I’m going to avoid the amateur punditry and leave it to the professionals. Albeit, I think that every concerned American citizen ultimately has to become their own pundit and take a position on the major issues of the day. <\/p>\n
But right now, I’m going to ponder a new rock song that I’ve been hearing lately on the local hard rock radio station (WDHA-FM). It’s called “Prayers for the Damned” by Sixx AM<\/a>, from their recently released album “Prayers for the Damned”. Sixx AM did a bit of a double-play with regard to naming there, although not quite a triple play like Bad Company’s Bad Company, from the album Bad Company. Political footnote — “Prayers for the Damned” might not be a bad theme right now for those who dread the idea of a Trump Presidency!<\/p>\n Nonetheless, for those of you who still follow hard rock, Sixx AM is a side-project band formed in 2007 by Nikki Sixx, the former base guitarist and songwriter for Motley Crue. Ah yes, “the Crue”. Now there was a rough-edged band, all about all the excesses and depravity of the rock-n-roll scene back when rock was still the king of the music scene. They were kind-of a Neanderthal version of Kiss. Sixx provided or contributed to some of the Crue’s more memorable tunes, including “Girls Girls Girls”,”Doctor Feelgood”, “Wild Side”, and “Slice of Your Pie”. <\/p>\n Like a fair number of rock stars, Nikki Sixx got hooked on heroin but somehow kept going via raw ego, youthful energy, and luck. But now Motley Crue is gone and Sixx is 58 years old, and rock life from the “big-hair” 1980’s just doesn’t work anymore. A lot of old rockers clean up, slow down, fade away from the public eye, do some occasional music projects mostly for fun, maybe write a book or buy a winery, and make an occasional appearance before a small audience of aging people who remember a band from its glory years. Well, give Sixx credit — his current work is still pretty relevant on the rock scene. I’ve heard a few songs on the radio from the new Sixx AM album, and they are pretty good — very intense lyrics crossed with a “prog rock” feel, almost reminiscent of Yes or Dream Theater. It’s a bit different and a lot more serious than the old “party wild and hard” sound of Motley Crue. <\/p>\n But what really surprised me was that the album theme song was not using the word “Prayer” lightly. It sounds like Nikki and his boys were really thinking about prayer in the context of the Abrahamic Religion<\/a> tradition. In other words, this song is about God, believe it or not. Well, it’s about a broken person, someone who feels damned, trying to find God. That’s sure what it sounds like to me. Here are some lines from the lyrics:<\/p>\n Everything is crumbling in my head Or how about this thought, near the song’s end:<\/p>\n We are not alone Hmmm. I mean, Motley Crue was all about Vince Neal, Mick Mars, Tommy Lee and Nikki Sixx. The Crue certainly had no time or regard for God. They were certainly the anti-thesis of “Christian Rock” or even a mainstream band like Creed<\/a>, who use occasional religious themes. But now, one of the Crue’s big four seems to be looking heavenward for strength, after a life of fame and endless sex<\/a> and heroin. At first I thought this song was a joke or another cynical comment on religious faith, a fairly common lyrical theme on the rock airwaves. But I can’t find anything on a web site to back that up. And the song itself seems dead serious. Have a listen<\/a> if you’re interested. <\/p>\n Well, actually this isn’t the first Sixx AM song with religious overtones. In 2012, they released an album called “This is Gonna Hurt”, and another blogger feels<\/a> that the song “Live Forever<\/a>” is something of a tribute to Jesus. And another reason why Sixx might actually be taking faith seriously these days . . . is that you don’t see anything on any web site about him becoming a preacher or a revivalist. He doesn’t say anything about God publicly except in his songs. He doesn’t seem to be milking his “conversion” (if that’s what actually happened) for fame and attention. He obviously needed something to help him come back from his frequent heroin OD’s, and maybe that’s where and when he “found God” (Sixx claims to have had<\/a> a “bright light” experience during an overdose in 1987 while paramedics in an ambulance struggled to re-start his heart). I respect Nikki Sixx’s humility about it though, if I’m getting that right. Humility is the last thing you’d expect from a 1980’s rock star, especially one from Motley Crue; but it might be what someone with a newly-found faith might do.<\/p>\n
\nSometimes I wish I was…
\nBut maybe I’m not alone
\nMaybe if you take my hand
\nAnd I reach up to God
\nMaybe this time he’ll say a prayer for the damned
\nWhat have I got to lose<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\nIt’s darkest before the hope
\nYou and I, we’re not alone<\/p><\/blockquote>\n