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THE SECOND COMING AND ROCK AND ROLL – Page Five

Okay, so now I know that Rock and Roll originated from Black African Music and that the slave songs contained codes and secret messages. But you still have not told me what Rock and Roll has to do with the Second Coming.

 

Rock and Roll songs also contain coded words and hidden messages in the lyrics. The term ‘Rock and Roll’ itself is code for ‘black music’. Code words are used to hide the underlying secret meanings. (1 Peter 5:13; Revelation 14:8;16:19; 17:5; 18:2). Musicians may substitute words or phrases for the real word or phrase to hide the meaning of the lyrics. This is done intentionally. But sometimes musicians have to add ridiculous or random words and phrases to fit the music. Then it becomes a hit or miss as to the meaning of the lyrics and we are left trying to decipher lyrics that may be meaningless. Sometimes musicians just stick words together and see if they have any meaning. Sometimes they do; but sometimes they don’t, and they end up with nonsense placeholder lyrics, but a song with a fantastic beat. Unknowingly to the musicians, those nonsense lyrics actually do have significant meanings to their listeners. Lyrics that were just thrown together by the musicians to fit the music, but which have no significant meaning to them, actually bear meaning to different people. Folks can always find personal meaning to lyrics in songs, lyrics that were just thrown together by the musician to fit the music. An example of this is how the beginning lyrics to "Joy To The World" by Three Dog Night was composed. According to Hoyt Axton who wrote the lyrics, he quoted: “Jeremiah was an expedient of the time. I had the chorus for three months. I took a drink of wine, leaned on the speaker, and said 'Jeremiah was a bullfrog.' It was meaningless. It was a temporary lyric. Before I could rewrite it, they cut it and it was a hit." A common interpretation is that Axton's bullfrog is the prophet Jeremiah from The Bible, and we've seen at least one sermon that makes that case that the song represents God's desire to unite all people in happiness (the bullfrog, with his distinctive call that stands out in nature, is God's voice in this interpretation). There's also a case for John Jeremiah, the keyboardist for the '70s Rock group Aliotta, Haynes and Jeremiah, who are best known for their song "Lake Shore Drive".


Contrary to slave songs, where the lyrics were coded and contained hidden messages with firm meanings, many Rock Songs are ambiguous in nature, with more than one meaning. You and I could listen to the same Rock Song and come away with two different interpretations of the song. The lyrics in Rock Songs have different meanings for different people. Some of the lyrics in Rock Songs mean exactly what they say, and some lyrics have hidden meanings. One could walk away with a different meaning each time the same Rock Song is heard and even hear something different each time the song is played.


Often musicians themselves do not know what their lyrics mean. They leave the meaning up to the listeners’ interpretation and imagination. Many musicians have stated that some of their song lyrics do not have set meanings, and it is instead up to the listener to determine the songs’ significance. The listeners can interpret the songs as to their feelings of what they believe the lyrics are referencing. Very rarely do musicians give their own interpretation of their song lyrics to the public, and if they do, they are very vague in explaining what the lyrics mean.


Rock and Roll is an outlet for storytelling. Musicians write lyrics from personal experiences and feelings. Themes in Rocks Songs may reflect love or hate, marriage or divorce, family or personal relationships, peace or violence, turmoil or tenderness, pain or pleasure, education or ignorance, suffering or comfort, justice, peace, politics, pollution, power, protest, social issues, civil rights, crimes, unrest, hope, survival, struggles, revenge, religion, atheism, physical abuse, evil, gambling, smoking, substance abuse, sex, music, occultism, and the list goes on and on. Many people just ignore the lyrics in songs and enjoy the song for the rhythm and beat. But many of us like to listen to and interpret the lyrics, where we find meaning, and are satisfied with our interpretations.


I love Rock and Roll. I always have. I grew up in the early 50’s and 60’s when Rock and Roll was in its infancy. I grew up listening to Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Buddy Holly, Bill Haley and the Comets, Big Bopper, The Coasters, The Drifters, Elvis, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Turtles, The Animals, The Monkees, The Beach Boys, Dave Clark Five, Paul Revere and The Raiders, Mommas and Pappas, The Byrds, Loving Spoonful, The Grassroots, The Boxtops, The Lettermen, The Kinks, and The Association, just to name a few. When I was a teenager, I attended dances where Rock music was played. I probably knew the lyrics to every Rock Song that penetrated my ears. I was raised on Rock and Roll.


Raised on Rock
Elvis 1973
Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu
Johnny Rivers 1972

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