A guide to the lyrics of "Bad Religion" by Godsmack

Godsmack is an American heavy metal band whose lyrics have caused some controversy in their homeland. 'Bad Religion' was released in 2000 and was actually on a list of songs banned from airplay by in the wake of the eleventh September attacks in 2001 by radio conglomerate Clear Channel Communications. This article takes a look at the lyrics to Godsmack's 'Bad Religion'.

Overview

Godsmack is composed of front-man and songwriter Sully Erna, Tony Rombola, who plays guitar, bassist Robbie Merrill and Shannon Larkin on drums. Formed in 1995, they hail from Lawrence, Massachusetts in the United States. They have released five studio albums. 'Bad Religion' was the third single from the band's self-titled début album which enjoyed worldwide success.
The album attracted some controversy because of its lyrical content with some American stores pulling it from the shelves. However, it was soon back on the shelves of American stores with a parental advisory sticker in place.

Language and music

The 'Bad Religion' lyrics focus on the pervasive influence of evangelical Christianity in the United States. The singer of the song seems to be branding Christianity at least in its American televised. A highly commercialised form is 'Bad Religion', people suffer more from the empty exhortations of money-minded preachers than they do from secular sources. The music is powerful with riff driven alternative metal. This is heavily reminiscent of Metallica and is given a dirty kind of mid-1990s production with the raw edge of Butch Vig's work on Nirvana's 'Nevermind' a clear influence on the sound of the record. Sully Urna's vocal delivery is appropriately hoarse and gravelly with a melodic and slightly dramatic component which reminds the audience that this is a heavy metal record.

Themes

The song seems to be a massive critique of the way in which American religion works, the segments of 'preacher-speak' that prefix and suffix the main body of the song there to highlight the actual vapid emptiness of much of this kind of commercial Christianity. The 'bad religion' of albums is worth of musical criticism from many genre, but especially metal. The lines, "It's a bad religion/ From a broken nation/ It's a contradiction" would seem to contain the root of the song's message. The singer believes that America has broken down, its shows of piety are just a shell for deep corruption. This message is reinforced with the lines, "And I can't take the pressure/ I'm goin' insane." There seems to be an inference that the singer could be God himself or some awakening of the divine inside someone. Only rather than a joyful revelation, this seems to be a dark, disturbing and reluctant experience of insanity rather than insight.