I teased this next post in the previous post, about a church BBQ cooking contest called Holy Smoke — like the metal song Smoke Of Her Burning on the Jerusalem sieges? — and I brought into play Holy Communion, the Body and Bread and Blood, as it could be said like brats on a bun, or a juicy rare and red steak.
And since this post starts with German theology, I might bring in the classic of blood sausage. Maybe overt spirituality is not your thing, but that is what makes up much of metal. So here goes …
OK, the line that starts off this (charade?) is from the Black Sabbath song God Is Dead? (By the way the guys eventually conclude that they refuse to believe such a thing, although doubt does creep in. More on that in a later post).
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The Ozzy song line, at a prayerful moment: “I’ll take the wine, you keep the bread.” It is then restated in a second way, as repetition shows important meaning.
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Ozzy Osbourne’s singing in that bread-wine line brought a view from a pastor who is a YouTube music reactor: It invokes thoughts of the stance of Martin Luther, marking the marked difference in approach between most Catholics and Protestants, between (most) importance of body vs. blood, or both. To expand on this, it was said that the rich, as in the archbishops could afford to have wine, while the masses in their masses (Wars Pigs reference) could only, on a good day if a Sunday, buy bread, which no doubt was often quite stale, to boot.
(I obviously have to apologize for this terrible joke, but one must wonder about Luther’s posted on the door in his own right, 95 Theses, if come No. 88 or 89, it got a little … stale. Were a couple of these end Theses a bit crappy in content, thus so to say, feces? Boo on me.)
There obviously is a connection to Ozzy’s well-documented struggles with alcohol, and also the idea that one form is a bit tastier then the other. Although a Communion “host” could only be bread.
This is not the first time that wine has come up in an Ozzy song, or that booze can be very dangerous is misused, an opinion I second, although I add that there exists a very possible therapeutic benefit to a chemical in it called Soma — but that is another story.
To wit, the cautionary song Suicide Solution that is about alcohol’s other decidedly non-Godly side, its destructive mode, calling it a deathly liquid not an answer: “Wine is fine but whiskey’s quicker, suicide is slow with liquor … Thought that you’d escape the reaper, you can’t escape the Master Keeper … Now you live inside a bottle, the reaper’s traveling at full throttle, its killing you but you don’t see, the reaper is you and the reaper is me.” (Noteworthy that via a Google search, their term for God as Master Keeper is not found anywhere else in literature).
Then I refer to a song by Billy Idol, interesting name, where he sings, “Hanging out by the state line, turning Holy Water into wine.” Note not whiskey. What pops out instantly at me is the idea that if you indeed need to hang out by the state line, it connotes that there is something indeed major afoot.
I also reference a song by Brother Cane, note the spelling that’s like sugar for nuance sake, “Got no shame, and I got no one to blame. All the same, I’ll drink that wine cuz its right there in front of me.”
This makes me think Catholic, about the concept that one should not go to Holy Communion, and partake in its wine, unless first absolved of their sins — unless they decide in conscience, and that is read to be with knowledge, that there is a strong need for strong redemption, via strong source. I also am told, to back up this thesis, that in the Bible, Abel is said to have deceived his brother, Cain. As the singer might be deceiving himself about the severity of his need?
As always, to make sure we’re on the right track here in bringing the religious in my interpretation, look at the band’s overall body of work — the music industry term is termed discography. Brother Cane’s lyrics speak a lot about such doubt and its layers of meaning, with songs like I Lie In The Bed I Make. And you have to take into account the Biblically based name the band chose.
(In what I will offer soon on this website, my DIY handbook on how to compose such lyrics about the Body and Blood and other such things yourself, in a hard rock style, I will share more on the Brother Cane song method — and also the parallels in metal symbolism to the Eucharistic Prayers voiced by the priest at Catholic Mass. Also, to lighten it up, a comparison of the Badger vs. Gopher state, and the colors of its two fave grapes).
But with this said, here is a snippet of what I will offer there, where I give a part of a verse and invite you to write on your own, taking it from there.
“But it was by His own command,
with both Species well at hand.”
As Christ via Catholicism said that, “it is at His Command that we celebrate this Eucharist.”
To go further …
“As divine, not diverse, so don’t disperse,
By his decree as thee, two Species three.”
(Note the Holy Trinity reference).
So spin more off of this, for yourself, as I give you such license.
Lastly, a more full verse:
“The greater good of food
Is the greater food of God.
The bread does not mold with time
Wholly wine waits at heaven’s gate
Which of the two is made the best.
A holier Ozzy put it to the test
But did not lay it full to rest.
The crust does not lime with time
Grape and apple’s fruit will suit.”
Look sooner rather than later for that handbook!