At the Hellfest in Clisson (Loire-Atlantique), 180 groups and artists are expected on stage until Sunday, June 30. This music and the sensations it provides sometimes relegate the artists’ lyrics to the background. However, the genre has some great writers, and the tumultuous history of hard rock and metal reminds us to what extent some of its representatives have had to defend their freedom of expression.
In the kingdom of hard rock and metal, the instrument is king. At the Hellfest in Clisson (Loire-Atlantique), whose new edition began yesterday and runs until Sunday, June 30, 2024, 180 bands and artists are expected on stage. But their lyrics, the meaning of their texts, are not a subject, or very rarely. Metal is first and foremost a matter of physical sensations. “It is made for engaged, open and unreserved listening, precisely for existential listening” , summarizes the German philosopher Hartmut Rosa, author of a recent sociology of heavy metal (1). “This music clearly conveys the non-reconciliation and contradictions of the world. ».
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This is indeed one of its characteristics:Metal music, with its rhythm and telluric power, has the main role. It is effectively supported by the often dark and violent aesthetic of images and words, which summon the imaginary or the real, the intimate or even the political.
Megadeth ou Springsteen
This observation that writing is sometimes relegated to second place does not prevent the genre from counting some very inspired authors in its ranks. Metallica, the most popular group of this edition, scheduled for Saturday, has written real gems on themes as varied as youth used as cannon fodder (Disposable Heroes), the regrets of an existence (The Unforgiven) and even… love experienced from a distance (Nothing Else Matters).
Its eternal competitor, Megadeth (present on Thursday), led by the very prolific Dave Mustaine, has also experienced peaks of inspiration. The lyrics of Foreclosure of a Dream (the bankruptcy of a dream), on the social damage of the American recession of the early 90s have nothing to envy of Bruce Springsteen at the top of his form.
As for Ice-T, rapper and leader of Bodycount (Friday), he never stopped telling the story of American society from the point of view of the black community, with sometimes crude and very harsh words, but without ambiguity, on police violence.
More mysterious, the American group Tool describes with precise and implacable words the fascination that we all have for news items, in Vicarious (2006). The French ? Mass Hysteria, expected on Saturday, is one of the rare ones to sing in French, in a register that is now darker and less festive than at its beginnings. Gojira, the best known, is very committed to the environment, in his actions as in his texts. : Silvera on intensive breeding, Amazonia on deforestation in Brazil.
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Censorship and trial
Finally, to understand this variable relationship to the lyrics, we must measure this paradox: those who do not listen to metal are much more interested in the content of the lyrics than those who do. The history of the genre is thus crossed by attempts at censorship, even trials, in response to lyrics deemed too provocative.
In 1984, in the United States, the creation of the PMRC (Parents Music Resource Center) by Tipper Gore, wife of Al Gore, resulted in many hard rock and metal artists being pilloried. Dee Snider, singer of Twisted Sister, summoned to explain before the Senate the allegedly hidden meaning of one of his songs, Under The Blade, had this pithy reply: “Song lyrics are meant for a person to project their own imagination, experiences and dreams onto them, Snider recalled. Miss Gore wanted to find sadomasochism and bondage, and she found it. Anyone looking for references to surgery would have found that too.”
More tragic, more surreal too, was the trial brought against Judas Priest in 1990: the English group had been accused of having provoked – via a subliminal message inserted into a song, which would turn out to be fake – the suicide of two young Americans, idle and under the influence of drugs. Relaxed, the group led by Rob Halford had been praised for its attitude and reinforced in its artistic approach. He never deviated from it. What do these fights have in common? Freedom, a major value shared by metal and all extreme music. Including that of being able to put words to one’s music.
(1) No Fear of The Dark, sociology you heavy metalpublished by La Découverte
