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kingudiamundo · 5 years

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Music Review 01 W.A.S.P. Sister Sadie, and the PMRC

Hey, my name is KinguDiamundo, you can call me whatever you want really, if there’s thing I enjoy it’s music. I’m passionate about it, and I want to share my passion with others, don’t get me wrong I am not the first person or the last or even the best, but ya know I just want to get better at writing and sharing my love for music. So today I have decided to post my fist song review/recommendation. Obviously there will be biases, this is my own interpretation of the song and that doesn’t mean it’s the correct interpretation, and I’m writing this on a whim so let’s just do this.

The fist song I would like to discuss is the 2004 W.A.S.P. classic Sister Sadie (And the Black Habbits.). Now most of you are probably wondering who the fuck is W.A.S.P. I understand and some of you are probably thinking wait you mean the guys behind Animal(f**k like a beast.) Yes that W.A.S.P.

A bit of a history lesson for those out of the loop in 1985 a group known as the PMRC was founded by four women concerned with the ever increasing depiction of explicit material in music. As the story goes Tipper Gore wife of Senator and later Vice President and presidential candidate Al Gore purchased the album Purple Rain and upon hearing the song Darling Nikki she became upset at the song’s sexual nature.(Ignoring the fact that it was an album to an R rated film and the lyrics were on the back.) She along with 3 other concerned mothers decided to form a group known as the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) they originally wanted a set warning labels to label specific content within music with different potentially offensive categories including S for Sexual, V for Violence, L for Language, D for Drugs and Alcohol use, and the strangest of all O for Occult. (This was mid Satanic Panic which will probably come up in other reviews.) They compiled a list of songs to specifically target as examples of the moral degradation of music the infamous Filthy Fifteen, safe to say the only time when a Cindy Lauper song is in the same list as a Venom song. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLN2mqx4KJHLyYTHhD0K885u5iNJQci6vE I was able to find a YouTube playlist for the Filthy 15 if you want to checkout an important part of music history. One of those songs is W.A.S.P.’s cheesy 1984 glam metal classic Animal(Fuck like a Beast). It’s fun, catchy has a great hook and generally a song I listen too when working out.

Unfortunately a lot of people only focus on W.A.S.P.’s early career with the self titled album, Animal(Fuck like a Beast), and The Last Command. Which is good but admittedly trashy like McDonald’s chicken nuggets if you will. Not exactly a healthy or well balanced or super deep meal. However with the release of the 1989 album the Headless Children things start to change and the band begins to become more mature, but the big album that means a lot to me and is probably my favorite album is the 1992 classic concept album The Crimson Idol. An album I promise to review when the time comes. (When I have more experience.) But the song I want to talk about is off the 2004 concept album The Neon God: part 1 -The Rise, a story of an orphan boy named Jesse who’s mother abandoned him at the age of eight, and is now cared for at The Sisters of Mercy Boys Home This information is covered in the first three songs all of which are good on their own but with the song Sister Sadie it sets up the dark tone for the rest of the album. Now warning to those faint of heart you should probably just go now, mostly because of the depictions of sexual abuse in the song.

The song starts off as a slow burn with the guitar and drums and for a 7 minute song the lyrics don’t start till about a minute in, starting to build a sense of dread within the listener knowing that the energy is going to get intense. However this subverted with a more consistent drum track and guitar work that extends to the first two verses. Almost as if Jesse is trying his hardest not to let show that it affects almost as if that if he doesn’t acknowledge what’s happening he can live with it.

[Sister Sadie to Jesse]

Strip off your things

And bow to your queen

And cleanse the sins of your life

Get on your knees

Gonna beg and bleed

No one hears you - you belong to me

Reaper of your sorrow's seed

Black habits tonight

Your only sin

Was coming into Sadie's life

[Jesse to Sister Sadie]

Sister of No Mercy please

I'm praying to die

Can I cleanse my orphan sins

And save my soul tonight - when

But ultimately the pain will make Jesse desperate and the emotions are released wth the chorus and the music.

[Chorus]

I don't believe

In a God of love

I won't deceive

I don't conceive at all

I don't believe

In a God above

I don't believe

I won't receive no more

Desperation and fear are what are characterized by almost all of Jesse’s verses wanting the pain and suffering to end, praying for death begging and pleading for Sadie to stop so his sins may be cleansed. Eventually becoming almost hopeless when it comes to the chorus realizing his prayers are not being answered. Almost making it seem as though god condones what Sadie is doing, while as Sadie’s verses are either commands, justification, or taunts. The mos the most sickening verse for me is Sadie using her own abuse as an excuse to abuse Jesse. Which is a common example in the cycle of abuse.

[Sister Sadie to Jessie]

What I do to thee

Is what was done to me

Sins of the fathers lives

And do you feel

There's a God for real

Ooh your only God is me

[Jesse to Sister Sadie]

Reaper of my sorrow's seed

And my screams in the night

My only sin was coming into Sadie's life

Sister of No Mercy please

I'm praying to die

Can I cleanse my orphan sins

And save my soul tonight - when

[Chorus]

I don't believe

In a God of love

I won't deceive

I don't conceive at all

I don't believe

In a God above

I don't believe

I won't receive no more

[Chorus II]

I'm fucked for life

Blind and tied nobody sees

I'm fucked for life

I'm the child no mother needs

I'm fucked for life

The cries of night for all Sadie's needs

I'm fucked for life

I'm the child nobody sees

Jesse now begins to have feelings of worthlessness abandonment. Like he is invisible and underserving of attention which breeds anger and resentment justifiably, but his torment is not over.

[Sister Sadie to Jesse]

Oh you, I'll make you think you're dying

This room cleansing time again

I'll take you to this House of Sorrows

I'll break your Neon Heart of sin

After this verse it’s a minute and seven seconds guitar solo that express a torrent of emotion followed by chanting to gain the attention of the listener leading to the final verse.

[Jesse to Sister Sadie]

Oh are you mad

I'm going fast

Habits in black

No coming back

No Mercy me

This Hell is real

Why me ya see

She's here killing me

This is for the fist time Jesse begins to accept his persona as the Neon God as a way to get others to notice him so that he can never be used by Sadie or anyone like Sadie ever again and the songs ends on a repeat of the first chorus and the intro riff of the song to symbolize the cycle of abuse.

I genuinely think W.A.S.P. does not get enough credit for the genius of their work lyrics as well as the guitarmenship and genral catchy ness. Like this song is genuinely amazing and I wish more people would listen to W.A.S.P.’s later material.

https://youtu.be/JU17IwZz6Io

youtube

#w.a.s.p.#heavy metal #music review #pmrc

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