Pastor Butcher

From War Thread

Current revision as of 05:40, 11 September 2006

S&D's only socially conscious album, and the first album to have a song pertaining to the creation of Nova Europa.

Background

The album was recorded throughout 2239 and 2240, though the concept extended far beyond the recording sessions back to Lefty Harris's days in a Catholic school in London. He was punished frequently for failing to attend his religion class and failing to pay attention in said class, and eventually he dropped out of the school, leaving home and founding Blue Mirage, the predecessor to Sunk and Drowning. Though many of the ideas in Blue Mirage's songs are similar to the Christian-bashing songs on this release, they lacked the vocal clarity.

In 2239, Harris proposed that they do an album in this vein. The other band members agreed on certain conditions: First, that the release be similar to their other releases; Second, that the album not be entirely Christain-bashing; and Third, that all the band members be allowed to collaborate on songs. Harris, known to be similar to Roger Waters on concept albums, unusually relented, though he wrote or co-wrote most of the songs. Each member had a hand in writing at least two of the songs.

Significance

Pastor Butcher was the first album to have none of its tracks banned in Russia, despite the heavy anti-imperial messages of the album. This album is also, somewhat ironically, a favorite of Emperor Joseph Rictor's, suggesting that the songs are not as intact in their meaning. Indeed, the Emperor enjoyed the album enough that he allowed the band to open their promotional tour in Paris, in the heart of his country.

The songs were often played in editted version on the radio, as many of them contained references that most countries' censors found unsuitable for young ears.

Track listing

Track listing:

1. King of the Broken Cross (F. Jackson)

2. Brotherhood of Bleeding Eyes (L. Harris)

3. Pastor Butcher (A. Jackson)

4. March of the Imperial (L. Harris)

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1. Empire of Shattered Glass (J. Hargood/M. Rex/L. Harris/F. Jackson)

2. Crescent of Death (L. Harris/A. Jackson/F. Jackson)

3. Unhealing (A. Jackson/J. Hargood)

4. Bloodwine (L. Harris/"Peter, Paul, Luke, and Matt")

5. Caveat Emptor (A. Jackson/M. Rex/L. Harris)

Meaning

"King of the Broken Cross" is entirely about the rise of Nazi-ism from the mid-20th century through the early 21st century. The broken cross referred to in the title is a swastika, and the lyrics "Roll back your arms/We come to harm" is thought to be about gun control efforts.

"Brotherhood of Bleeding Eyes" is a not-so-subtle stab at Christianity and various religious orders within, especially the Knights Templar. It talks about the schisms in the church and how they "Eventually lead to the downfall of Mankind", according to a 2242 interview with Lefty Harris.

"Pastor Butcher" is the only song by either Jackson brother to chart in the top 20, reaching #1 on British, Nova Europan, and Russian charts in the week after the album's release. It deals with crimes committed by religions and their followers; the final verse takes each Judeo-Christian religion and lists a major wrong ("A single Jew/An army slew/A Christian man/Was devastation's hand/And Islam's ghost/Warred coast-to-coast/Is this your world, Pastor Butcher?")

"March of the Imperial" is a song chronicling the rise of Nova Europa. It begins with a few fairly ambiguous statements, then quickly establishes that the main character is only attacking to bring peace (an ironic goal, considering his tools.) The song is noted for being played several times on Spanish radio, despite the banning of the rest of the album.

"Empire of Shattered Glass" is the only S&D song to use the word "F***" in a chorus. It chronicles the story of the Night of Broken Glass, also known as Krystallnacht. Halfway through, however, parallels are drawn between the Nazis and other prominent empires, most notably Romania-Hungary and Greece.

"Crescent of Death" is one of the few songs to touch on past conflicts that no longer exist, or exist in lesser form. In an interview, Flash Jackson said that the whole motivation behind the song was in the mantra "Those who are ignorant of history are doomed to repeat it. And despite the fact that we and our fans are usually depicted as a bunch of broke metal-heads, we'd rather they knew a little bit of history before they went off and out into the world."

"Unhealing" is perhaps most famous for its chorus, written by Johnny Hargood: And these wounds they are unhealing/Our sunburns aren't peeling/Tell me Father/Is this your loving God?" It's about the sense of rejection he got from his church when he began touring with the band; bandmate Apocalypse Jackson co-wrote after he saw a few notes in Hargood's journal. Says Hargood, "Pock was all confrontational an' sh** about it, saying that this needed to get told. So we agreed that if we both wrote it, it could be less of a rant and more of a ballad."

"Bloodwine" is perhaps the only song on the album that has a pro-religion focus. In it, Lefty Harris details the temptation of Christ by the devil as he interprets it. His interpretation is a dialogue between Jesus and Satan, and its final lines are considered to be the most powerful in modern Rock and Roll: Devil: I offer you wine/I offer you dough/I offer you sun and earth below/ Jesus: You feed me your lies/You draw me your hate/You don't understand that you've come too late/I'll free them from you/Every last one/And with my dying breath will come the setting sun/ Devil: I'll make that happen/I promise you/You'll wish you'd taken my offer before we're through Harris credits the four gospel-writers in the writing credits.

"Caveat Emptor" was voted S&D's most cynical song after this album was released. It's a song about religion in general, and how everything must be taken with a grain of salt.

Impact

See Also