This time of the year tends to make everyone think about all things creepy and crawly, well...those who aren't infatuated with everything pumpkin that is...Houses and lawns are decorated with everything from Linus sitting alone in the pumpkin patch with his "Welcome Great Pumpkin!" sign, to headstones and hands poking up out of the ground. Turner Classic Movies has been airing the great Monster movies from the Universal classic vault as well as some films that received less critical acclaim for blatantly obvious reasons. Let's face it!
Noticeably absent from this list are the shock rock folks who have been making their variety of macabre since popular music has been around. Bands like GWAR, Slipknot, Rammstein, KISS, Black Sabbath, and Iron Maiden have all made a musical living by the morbid theatricality amplifying and haunting their music.
These prodigies of ghoulish funk were inspired by the aforementioned monster movies and their soundtracks. Take a moment during this season and explore Turner Classic Movies. They even have some silent horror films which feature exquisitely performed (for their time) soundtracks that enhance the viewing of the Nosferatu legends as well as other things that go bump in the night. While those silent films predominantly feature very gifted organ or piano players like Timothy Howard (1922s, organ - Nosferatu), a more modern-day interpretation of the genre sounds like this..."The Anguish of Nosferatu" by Ed Keifer, performed by the Hickman High School Wind Ensemble
But none of these bands or soundtracks can equal the showmanship and persona that is Alice Cooper, the godfather of shock rock.
Vincent Damon Furnier, Glen Buxton (died 1997), Michael Bruce, Dennis Dunaway, and Neal Smith formed the band Alice Cooper in 1964. Yup, that's 57 years that some incarnation of the band has been igniting fans with their trademark brand of twisted tunes and spine-chilling vaudevillian stage shows. In 2011 the original band members were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame where they performed together as they have off and on since.
Furnier (vocals), Bruce (rhythm guitar), Dunaway (Bass), and Smith (drums) terrified fans as Alice Cooper until 1975 when the band became inactive and Furnier took on the persona as well as legally changing his name to Alice Cooper. He has been touring as a solo act since that time, (usually about 9 months out of a year, Ummm, dude's 73). He kicked off his solo act with the band's eighth studio album whose title track is today's featured song.
"Welcome to My Nightmare" peaked at #45 on Billboard's Hot 100 and was listed on AOL Radio's list of Top Ten Halloween songs, coming in at #10 ("10 Best Halloween Songs" by Scott Shetler via aolradioblog.com). The Muppet Show even became a purveyor of panic with a "dream" sequence that featured the song. Alice Cooper and The Muppets - "Welcome To My Nightmare"
The song was also covered by rock legends, Ronnie James Dio, Steve Lukather, Bob Kulick, Phil Soussan, Randy Castillo, and Paul Taylor on the tribute album Humanary Stew: A Tribute to Alice Cooper.
"Welcome to My Nightmare" taps into an emotion of dread that everyone experiences at one time or another. Sometimes the nightmare exists during the hours of sleep, yet other times, the nightmare comes for individuals, as well as nations, while they are wide awake...which may be significantly more terrifying...
As you begin reading the anthology that is the book of Jeremiah you soon realize that this book detailing the demise, destruction, and coming captivity of The Southern Kingdom of Israel, Judah bodes its own collection of ghouls and goblins, many of which are created by the nation itself.
Jeremiah was a prophet to the nation of Judah. He was a contemporary of the prophets, Ezekiel, Daniel, Obadiah, and Joel. (Yes, their stories are coming very soon!) About 20 years into Jeremiah's ministry, God told him to write down all of his messages. Jeremiah secured the help of the scribe Baruch and began putting together a book that would include all of Jeremiah's messages, prophecies, poetry, and biographical history of his ministry life, including being kidnapped and taken to Egypt, welcome to Jeremiah's nightmare...
Jeremiah is often labeled "the weeping prophet" because his warnings to Judah are so dire. For perspective, we must realize that the people of Judah had succumbed to a dual loyalty. They would worship the One True God in the temple and also worship the pagan gods of the region, sometimes even practicing the sacrificing of their children in the fire as part of their hellish "worship". Jeremiah cried out against this duality and called them to surrender to God's providence and nature or be prepared to suffer the consequences of their actions. (seems like we've heard this before! One would think the Israelites of both kingdoms would get the message...yet do we?)
Pagan worship is where the bad dream would only begin. Because of their lack of faith and repentance Judah succumbed to the same fate as Israel. Conquest and exile by the Babylonians. You remember those guys...they built that tower a long time ago: Tuesday's Musical Notes - "Babel" (Mumford & Sons). It seems the descendants of the Babel folks continued to build a nation after the separation of nations occurred. These are the people who would be used by God to discipline Israel and Judah for turning away from Him.
Jeremiah takes 52 chapters to vividly (in a manner that probably makes even Alice Cooper squirm) describe how God's discipline came in the form of the nation, and Jerusalem specifically, being horrifically sieged, deposed, and taken from their homeland. The nightmare was only beginning. They would spend the next 70 years (about the time for a generation to pass) in the land of Babylon.
There is a ray of sunshine through the specter of phantasmic images with which Jeremiah concludes his book. The deposed king of Judah, Jehoiachin, is brought out of prison, cleaned up, and brought before the King of Babylon, Evilmerodach. Jehoiachin is then instructed that he may eat at a prime position at Evilmerodach's table for the remainder of his life. Yes, the Babylonian king was showing kindness to the captive ruler, however, there is a larger point here that Jeremiah was attempting to make to readers of his book. Even in the direst of circumstances, when darkness is so thick you can't see your hand in front of your face when in that darkness you begin to hear things that you can't explain and terror begins to grip at your very being...hope, mercy, and grace still exist as a dim glimmer of light that permeates the darkness, bringing you out of your hair-raising state and into the reality that all is not lost.
It seems that right in the middle of Vince Furnier's nightmare, he discovered and embraced that light before it was too late.
"But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be put to shame.”" - Romans 10:9 NASB
Just remember friend, you are never too far gone for God's mercy, grace, and love to reach out and pull you from the scary illusions in which you may find yourself. He waits for you to wake up so that He can bring you from your prison, clean you up, and place you in YOUR prime spot at the table forever.
"I hope I didn't scare you..."
If you'd like to read more Terrifying Tuesday's Musical Notes blogs, just go over to tuesdaysmusicalnotes.blogspot.
AND for a more complete overview of the book of Jeremiah: Jeremiah Book Overview - thebibleproject.com
'Til Tuesday,
Loving HIM by loving You,
randy
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