So, I don’t think anything that is truly great needs to be defended… in artistic circles, anyway. I think the fans might need a good defence every once in a while, though…
I actually learned that from the company I work for… it’s something my boss once said: don’t be too concerned with defending the company from it’s own customers. There are a great number of reasons why that’s important, but I’m not going to get into the origins of it, so much as I am going to get derivative with it… so hang on a sec.
I am a fan of a particular musical and entertainment act that is more polarizing than I ever thought possible. To prevent speculation, and the inevitable easter egg hunt, I’ll just tell you – The band in question is Ghost.
If you don’t know who they are, it doesn’t really matter.
If you don’t like them, that doesn’t matter either.
Nothing matter’s when you get down to it, but that’s not the idea I want to flush out, here.
Ghost is a very famous, stadium-filling rock act that capitalizes on dark, Satanic, occult-based imagery and subject matter. It’s crazy to me that a band can be a very famous stadium-filling band and still have people completely unaware of who they are, but I live very close to a stadium and am regularly surprised at who is performing there. At any rate – many shock-rock bands utilizing similar themes have come & gone, and really; unless you’re really skilled, dedicated, and very prolific, it’s notoriously difficult to keep a band like that (or any band with a ‘shtick’ for that matter) going, typically because unless you’re very well-read on the subject matter that is your band’s shtick, you’re likely to run out of things to say.
These things are of no concern to Tobias Forge, Ghost‘s brain-child.
Ghost is Swedish, which even by default makes them very proficient in their musical craft, as the watermark in that part of the world is very high for musical skill and output, but this band is on another level entirely. Having worked with classical composers and pop music producers in tandem, Ghost has succeeded in bending heavy metal (for lack of a better genre-descriptor) well beyond its usual confines and trifecting it with extremely well researched, expert level lyricism that twists elements of biblical theology, philosophical musings, and cult practices.
Personally, there have been multiple times when I’ve read articles and heard audiobooks that describe specific, little-known and little-acknowledged documentation about the history of various religious beliefs – including when and where they may have been added to the bible – and realized that these things were referenced in Ghost songs.
They are larger than life.
ANYWAY… I went into fan-boy mode there for a sec. All I’d set out to do was give context for an example I wanted to use for an ACTUAL point I wanted to make…
All that to say… Ghost is not a band that needs to be defended.
And honestly, no great art needs to be defended.
No shitty art needs to be defended, either, really.
… but their fans are worthy of defense.
Yet time and time again I come across “discussion” threads on social media – a thing I should ignore more often – where people slag and criticize things openly that they dislike. It’s baffling to me, and there’s a catch-22 that runs in tandem with my bewilderment. It goes like this:
It seems to me that if we’re going to tolerate criticism of these things, that criticism would be most suitable coming from someone who was able to sing, play, compose, and perform on the same level as that which they are criticizing – in essence, ‘put up or shut-up‘ – a feat that most people are not capable of. I’m not talking about fame, because fame is a poor indicator of musical talent and a great indicator or marketability, as lots of fantastic musicians are not famous, and lots of famous musicians are not fantastic.
However – anyone who was actually capable of delivering on that level wouldn’t bother criticising their peers. Even at a base level, there would be an incredible amount of respect and admiration. *** I know this to be true because I am absolutely capable of writing and playing at that level… my artistic issues are budgetary in nature, so I write, compose, and perform for an ensemble that I can afford, and travel with, and I record my songs in a way that allows them to be performed live without inhibition. If my budget could include a 8 pc band and a choir and string section, most people would be speechless… and the ones who could speak would probably be swearing. I am not the only one like me in this town, I assure you, though a bunch of people think they are capable and are not.***
But even on a more basic level that any of THAT…
Why would someone see fit to broadcast their shitty opinion of something that brings someone else joy? Or perhaps more than joy… inspiration, perhaps?
I will forever try to make people see the error in their judgement of other people’s joy, whether it’s something I enjoy or not. There are a million bands I don’t enjoy, that I am not the target market for and could care less about – but you won’t see me slagging them on the internet… you might see me defending their fans though.
As an aside, Ghost does a great tune called “If You Have Ghosts” which, as it turns out, is a great Roky Erickson cover. That’s where the title of this article comes from, if you couldn’t tell or have no idea what I’m talking about, even now.
