2016 will be seen as the year when the populations of the world, fresh from dealing or seeing terror hit their streets, decided to enforce change with their vote. Whatever side of the fence people sat, it was shown in major countries that the major cities and the governments are out of touch with the rest of their country. When people voted in 2016, it was a protest against the last 30 years of democracy and how the ruling classes became richer while the middle classes became poorer.
Megadeth kicked the year off with “The Threat Is Real” and it sure was. Megadeth released the better album this year, however Metallica’s “Hardwired To Self Destruct” would be more popular.
The messiah or mass murderer
No controlling who comes through the door
THE THREAT IS REAL – Megadeth
The shepherd led, we blindly followed
Into the world of no tomorrow
THE ENDLESS KNOT – Haken
Tyrants overtaking intoxicate with lies
There is no escaping, not this time
The simple man receiving, defending every crime
Somehow still believing they are right
THE LAST HERO – Alter Bridge
Omnipresent endless knot
The architect of every thought
Through the prison walls made by your design
A chameleon hides behind Orwellian eyes
THE ARCHITECT – Haken
We give up more of our liberties and privacy, but how secure are we?
For all the spying our governments do, they have no idea when an event will happen. Sure, they might identify persons of interest and then what. No one stopped the terror attacks in Paris and Brussels but somehow the mainstream media and the police read and believed the fake news sites on the internet.
We will grow strong from this
We will not be defeated
However hard they try
Over and over and over a thousand times
RISE OF THE MELANCHOLY EMPIRE – Sixx A.M.
With hands held high, we can rule the world
RULE THE WORLD – Dee Snider
It’s a call to arms for the “good” people of the world to band together and defeat the “bad” people of the world.
When terrorist bombs go off, the lines between good and bad are clear, we are the good ones and the terrorists are the bad ones. During the U.S election lead up, Trump was portrayed as the bad one and Hillary as the good one by the mainstream media. The fact that over half of the country voted for him, does it mean that all of those people are bad.
The bottom line is everyone is clueless and the future is exactly that, with endless possibilities and outcomes.
So together we’ll build a new world
A better world
OUR NEW WORLD – Dream Theater
But for all of Petrucci’s clichés, the world is much more complex. Robb Flynn asked “Is Anybody’s Out There” that feels just like him. One simple song, with two powerful verses addressing abandonment and racism.
Now I stand as a father, to men with no honor
Ashamed of the racists I used to call brothers
Cause no flag can mean bravery,
when bloodied by slavery,
The rebel, a devil, disguised as a savior
IS ANYBODY OUT THERE? – Machine Head
And he didn’t stop there. After Trump’s election win, he released (via YouTube) an acoustic song called “Bastards”. A simple D to A to Bm to G chord progression, underpins some personal viewpoints about the state of his world. And “Bastards” generated some heated discussions amongst the Machine Head fans, especially the ones who voted for Trump.
I am disconnected from a system I’ve rejected.
ALONE WE STAND – Killswitch Engage
A sign of things to come with Brexit, Trump and the Italian referendum serving as perfect examples of the disconnected people rejecting the current systems in place.
- And the system allows Volkswagen to cheat on their emissions tests.
- And the system allows the banks to get away with running the country into the dirt.
- And the system allows lobbyists to lobby/bribe elected officials into writing laws to benefit corporate profits.
- And the system allows the CEO’s to scream help to the government for a bail out, while the people, the workers, need to sell because they lost their jobs or they can’t make repayments.
I’ve seen rock bottom and I’ve smashed my fists against it
Just keep telling yourself it will be alright
STRENGTH OF THE MIND – Killswitch Engage
And there’s nowhere to turn
At the end of the road, I can’t hold on
MY ALLIED OCEAN – Evergrey
I’m just a creature of a broken past
We’re all looking for a second chance
PRAYERS FOR THE DAMNED – Sixx A.M.
Who hasn’t been there?
You know the moment, when you feel like you are not winning and everything you do just turns to crap. And you cant get out of the rut, because you’re spending your days doing things for others, through obligation or duty to the family. And your life is so far away from the world of possibilities you had when you where young.
Somehow through it all
We carry on (we carry on)
WE CARRY ON – Killswitch Engage
And that’s our lives in a nutshell. We overcome setbacks, deaths in the family, wins and losses. Through it all, we still carry on. We rise.
Speak out, don’t let the status quo define you
This is your world, just put the fear back in their eyes
RISE – Sixx A.M.
Did I decide
Or did the road choose me?
1985 – Haken
Free will is an illusion. We believe we have it, but it ceases to exist when we start to follow the rules set by institutions.
Falling from the sky
Cast out from heaven’s light
Drenching the soil with blood
Baptized in the fire hole
THE DEVIL’s BLEEDING CROWN – Volbeat
I always looked for acceptance
I understood what it’s like to be different
PASSING THROUGH – Evergrey
From the day we are born we are looking for acceptance especially those outliers cast out from heaven’s light who do not conform to what the institutions what from them. The key is to stay true to who you are and be accepted and not be the artist who created safe art, looked safe, walked away from their fans to be in partnership with the corporation and so forth.
What have I got to lose
When I’ve already lost it all
PRAYERS FOR THE DAMNED – Sixx A.M.
When you’re at the bottom, the only way is up. For a lyric to work for me, the person writing it, has to have experienced it.
It’s the worse when you lose when you know how hard you tried
BELIEVE – Dee Snider
So many times when I was misunderstood
I just wish we had spoken so much sooner
DISTANCE – Evergrey
Life is funny in hindsight and sometimes painful to replay. We all would love to live with no “what if’s” however it never happens that way.
Just like tragedy
Folks line up to see
We forget and the problem’s gone
It just ain’t right to move on
MY LAST MISTAKE – Tremonti
We show outrage initially and then we move on like it never happened. It’s a sick symptom of society where we fail to hold to account, the people responsible for the tragedy. The GFC perps went on college speaking tours and high-five jobs at the financial firms they organised laws to benefit. They escaped unscathed, while the middle class and lower class got their homes foreclosed.
Every time there is a shooting there is outrage, however nothing is done after on gun reform.
For all of the laws passed to spy on citizens in the name of terror, not one terrorist act have they stopped. And after each terrorist attack, our privacy and liberties erode a little bit more.
The people need to hold to account the people responsible. But we cannot devote the time because the people responsible have us hooked line and sinker. We can’t take time of work because the income means more to us than the cause.
Sold my soul and signed my name in blood
Stole it back, now praying in the dark
Fooled the devil, begging for a fight
Count the dollars, make your bet tonight
SEAL THE DEAL – Volbeat
Seduced by fame
A moth into the flame
MOTH INTO FLAME – Metallica
Infamy
All for publicity
Destruction going viral
MOTH INTO FLAME – Metallica
If you wanna lead or be a star
They’ll expose all that you are
Are you sure you want this now?
They will only tear you down
CROWS ON A WIRE – Alter Bridge
Facebook and social media has created a culture wherein everything is on show. Ask yourself the question. Is it fame you want or a career as a musician/artist?
Middle fingers in the air, singing we don’t f….. care, when we say “So What”
SO WHAT – Dee Snider
It’s become the soundtrack to “Standing Rock” in 2016, but it’s been my motto since I got into hard rock/heavy metal music.
destroyerofharmony 