Holdin' on to Black Metal

I don't think the song is necessarily about any genre of music at all, but holding on to something that you may have indeed needed and loved when younger, but as you grow older you have to let it go or you can't grow up. That's my interpretation anyway...

First listen.... interesting. Second listen.... ok, I'm buying it. Third listen and more.... Great Tune! It really grows on you and seeps deep into your pores, and you never want to wash it off.

As for the meaning, well, I haven't delved into the lyrics too much yet. On the surface, it seems to be a rebuke of those who look at Black Metal as pure satanic music. It could also be condemning the Black Metal bands that take a style of music and use it as a tool for satanic music. I'm sure it's not this simple of an explanation, but it's the initial impression I have without digging further into the lyrics.

Once I take the time to get past the wonderful orchestration and pay more attention to the music, then I'll repost with more thoughts.

My obsession with Led Zeppelin began when I first stole a glimpse into their world via a crack in the door of my grade school friend’s older sister’s bedroom and saw that black poster depicting four legends in their prime bathed in bright stage lights posing perfectly with their respective instruments atop strange symbols, each to their own corner like the four writers of a new rock ‘n roll gospel. “It's a darkness you can't deny…” —Agreed, indeed, proceed to… “But it don't belong in a grown up mind…” --If I haven’t already given away my age. “Distortion finds its place in a youngsters eyes. Coming into life you need its grind…” --Now this is EXACTLY what Jack Black finds so indispensible about it in the movie “School of Rock.” And who can deny he’s right? JB sums it up at one point indirectly as “Stick-it-to-the-man-disease.” It’s a fun way for kids to break the chains of childhood and assert themselves in preparation for the jungleland of adulthood — quite a necessary step. “But at a certain point you got to let it go. OR IT WILL CROSS THE PERMANENT THRESHOLD…” --MMJ’s only warning so far. But these are solution oriented lyricists yes yes: “You know you gotta find it out in something else good…” “Oh black metal so misunderstood!” --Here is the ambivalence you detect. Usually when someone asserts that something is misunderstood, it is in defense of that which is misunderstood. In MMJ’s case it is the opposite, but on many levels, so, again, they were right on with this lyric. (And it never hurts in rock ‘n roll to be vague — which, really is the crux of the whole matter.) So MMJ calls it ‘black metal’ — it used to be referred to as heavy metal, I believe the first person to coin that phrase was William S. Burroughs (you want to talk about exploring the dark side…read The Wild Boys: A Book of the Dead) Anyway, regarding MMJ’s warning; it’s a warning that’s been around since time immemorial, and one need look no further than the watered-down propaganda called world history to note its necessity. But let’s start with Nietzsche’s warning not to look too long into the abyss lest it stare back. What he means to say, I think, is firstly recognition of the fascination of the Dark. Manly P. Hall at a very young age put together a massive book detailing it for starters. But after the Matrix (1999) we renamed this abyss “The Rabbit Hole” from Morpheus’ referencing Lewis Carroll's “Alice's Adventures in Wonderland” and “Through the Looking-Glass.” But the hybrid idea is supposed to be a journey not unlike Joseph Campbell’s delineation of the Hero’s Journey, where everyone from Ulysses to Christ literally goes to hell and back, but returns with a means for salvation. Yet, I know there are distinctions made in genres and subgenres of rock. Black metal could be in reference to some European movement in the 1990’s, the fans of which would defend as much different than the stuff that came out of the late ‘60s and evolved into HM. Still, to me, it’s all the same wonderful angst. I would underscore wonderful for what wonder is. The Wonder Years, etc. What would we do, who would we be without rock n’ roll. The freaks of the mid-60’s were the hicks that made a bonfire of the Beatles records after Lennon’s infamous indirect comparison to Christ, not the Satanic Beatles. That’s what we FEEL. But is it true? Because one could, if one was so…ahem…paranoid and schizophrenic, to suggest that “It was 20 years ago today (’67, Summer of Love), Sgt. Pepper (Aleister Crowley, who died in ‘47) taught the band to play…” Hmm, not that far off really considering Timothy Leary “Turn on, tune in, drop (acid)” was a student of Crowley’s, to say the very least. The blocks and hurdles to the Whole Truth are numerous, including the stabbing laughter of giggling skeptics, who dismiss everything out of hand but offer very little in return. Kind of like an overused Occam’s Razor point of view. Anyway, the dark of the dark side is everything from Jungian to Absolute. So good luck. I choose all the above as parallels. Sounds contradictory, but it really isn’t. There is a Whole truth, I believe and it casts Kantian shadows here and there that I take as pieces to the puzzle, not as laughable incongruities. But that’s me. As to the material extent of what could cross the threshold MMJ writes about...? I've heard many stories; I think I've seen evidence, etc. But that comes down to a matter of Faith or Not, I guess.

the black metal is a gun..

Hand on a gun, holdin on to black metal... living on the edge.

ifc.com/news/2011/05/interview-my-morning-jacket-on.php

I think it's about how many people perceive heavy metal as satanic and say that that's incorrect, but at the same time saying that those who like metal just to be rebellious and because they think it's satanic are going to have to let go of it eventually- you can't hold onto something you only like to be 'cool' forever.

Some really interesting ideas here. I have to agree with timere242 to a point that it is the music that drew me to this song, but then again, that idea of Black Metal, whatever that means was a big hook. From the comments here I think we can agree that MMJ created a good spawning ground for ideas. I did not think of Black Metal as a music genre or gun, but then again, I wasn't aware of those ideas. I was more in line with hot1knives as it being a metaphor for young angst. Spirit11, you are there to, and many, many other places.

This is clearly about gay sex between a white teenager and a black man. The message is that you have to give this up - the black metal/cock - to grow up. It is not necessarily the case that once you go black you never come back.

"....and pay more attention to the lyrics...."

sorry, mistyped :)