The Seven Deadly Sins Mixtape
Or the rock opera of the damned.
The music industry is an incredibly sinful and indulgent business - at least compared to the job of an accountant or insurance claims representative. It's no surprise that many songs deal with at least one of the common seven deadly sins. The seven deadly sins were created to educate and forewarn Christians of vices, and to remind us of the tendency for fallen men (that's us mere mortals) to sin. Basically the church wasn't so crazy with the whole sex, drugs and rock n' roll thing. The seven deadly sins are a big list of morally horrible things to do, and what else do musicians love more than breaking the rules and corrupting others? This week is a list of some of the most sinful songs (and the sins they represent). I'll see you all in purgatory soon.
Lust
Garbage - #1 Crush - 90's adult alternative rockers really had a knack for walking the fine line between devoted and stalking. Saying you'd die to feel someone warm by your side and that you'd beg and steal for them? That would be the exact definition of lust (mixed in with a little crazy).
Liz Phair – Flower - Lust is a sin of the flesh, usually associated with sexual desire. Liz Phair, the deadpan indie rock songstress of the 90's, didn't beat around the bush when it came to what she would like to sexually do to nether regions. Phair may lack a bit of class, but conveys a whole lot of lust.
Gluttony
Queens of the Stone Age - Sick Sick Sick - To fully understand while hard rocking QOTSA take the cake in the gluttony category, please refer to the music video. Who are we kidding though? I'd probably eat Josh Homme as well if I had the chance.
Greed
Barrett Strong - Money (That's What I Want) - This 50's pop/soul tribute to all things green is the perfect example of needing cash to acquire status through superficial things.
Sloth
Weezer – Slob - The modern view of sloth is laziness or the failure to live up to one’s potential. Nerd rock king Rivers Cuomo has some serious guilt (just look at majority of his catalog’s lyrics), and this song takes the cake in reminding us about being a total slacker.
Wrath
NWA - Fuck Tha Police - Wrath is described as an "inordinate and uncontrolled feeling of hatred and anger." There is an excess of just that (and the word fuck) in “Fuck Tha Police.” But everyone can forgive and repent their sins - Ice-T did, since he plays a cop on Law & Order these days.
The Ponys - Let's Kill Ourselves - Suicide is considered the ultimate expression of wrath, because you are doing a final rejection of God's gift of life. I don't think Chicago garage rockers the Ponys will win any brownie points in the afterlife with this song.
Envy
The Pussycat Dolls - Don't Cha - The Pussycat Dolls embody some of the worst traits in modern pop music while attempting to win an award for looking like a super group of hookers. These classy ladies want you to desire them and be envious of their amazing bodies (clearly not their talent). In Dante's Purgatory, the punishment for the envious is to have their eyes sewn shut with wire. Now if we could just wire shut The Pussycat Dolls mouths.
Pride
Head Automatica - King Caesar - Pride is the desire to be more important than others, and with lines like "you martyr yourself to heighten the fame" and the tongue in cheek "hip hip hooray you're our saving grace, here's to you," power punk band Head Automatica proverbially punches the sin of Pride in the face.
Black Eyed Peas - My
Humps - Clearly the horrible
pop/funk group The Black Eyed Peas have some pride issues. Anyone who writes a
song about his or her lovely lady lumps (and actually refers to their anatomy
as lumps) deserves a little taste of humility. The worst part is that this song
won a Grammy. That is the real sin.
Posted by Lisa White on Oct 30, 2008 @ 7:00 am
