Rock and Roll

THE ROCK’N ROLL FRENZY

Randall Walton



It is most doubtful that in 1953 when Elvis Presley launched his new pop music which became known as Rock and Roll, he had the slightest idea of the cultural revolution he had sparked, or that it would devastate an entire generation of young people, or that it would be so long-lasting. Elvis was a pentecostal lad, a member of the Church of God; it must have stunned his soul when he saw the negative effect his music had upon youth, for following in the wake of this dynamic explosion were the twin demons of blatant drug abuse and unbridled sex.
This is not to say that Presley advocated either of these vices or that he ever intended his music to have such deleterious results. However, it is no coincidence that he became involved in both. And we need not wonder why, for the very nature of Rock is compatible with both drug use and illicit sex: they three are complements of each other!

Neither can we condemn Elvis alone for the promulgation and proliferation of the Rock beat, because it caught on like wild fire, jumping over barriers, climbing over walls, and captivating hundreds of thousands of youth in a manner that the good news of the Kingdom of God had never equaled. And it is still rocking and rolling along after nearly 50 years!
What Is Rock & Roll?

The outstanding feature of Rock & Roll is its hyper-syncopated beat. It is a beat which was present in jazz and boogie-woogie, but Rock & Roll went further than either of these two forms in that it introduced physical movement, with pelvic gyrations and thrusts (hence the term, “Elvis the pelvis”), and with very suggestive lyrics. The first exposure to the music and words has left many a person in a state of shock, for not until the introduction of Rock & Roll had people been hit in the face with such open and explicit description of erotic love. Once it made its debut via radio, records, and TV it was as if a juggernaut of terror had been unleashed upon society, and it was so uncontrollable, it could not be halted nor slowed down. The reason for this is obvious:

The term “Rock & Roll” was promoted by a disc jockey named Allan Freed who had heard the term in a black ghetto in Cleveland, Ohio; it was used as a name for illicit sexual intercourse, and Freed felt the term and the music were meant for each other, and the name stuck. Only a totally biased person would ever state that R & R is not sexually stimulating, suggestive, and subversive.

Many of the performers have themselves declared what their music is all about. Sara Davidson said, “The language, the argot of rock is grounded in sexuality” (Harper’s 7-’69). The Rolling Stones’ manager asserted; “Rock music is sex, and you have to hit them in the head with it” (TIME, 4-28-’67). Jerry Rubin stated, “Rock’n Roll marked the beginning of the revolution. We’ve combined youth, music, sex, drugs, and rebellion with treason” (Do It). Frank Zappa of the “Mothers of Invention” proclaimed, “It would appear that society’s major hangups can be cured by sexual freedom, drug freedom, and a hippie, economic freedom-from-work” (LIFE, 6-28-’68). (Old stuff, but still true.)

Rock’n Roll, then is a way of life which promotes free sex, anarchy, rebellion, drug and alcohol abuse, and suicide. Not only that, but many of the Rock stars are deeply involved in the occult and satanism.
The Purpose Of Rock & Roll

It is plain to a serious observer that R & R has become a weapon of the devil to destroy and dominate as many victims as he possibly can. One of the main assaults that is made on a person is the breakdown of restraints and natural inhibitions. The sexual drive of the music is so powerful that girls and boys attending rock concerts have experienced orgasms which were energized by the music itself. Control is the purpose behind the bombardment of this stratagem of terror: it amounts to the raping of the soul, the demolition of the mind, the desensitizing of reason and rationality. Besides the pounding of the crushing beat, there is the deafening thunder of the volume which literally causes people to “blow their minds.”

Nothing sensible or rational can remain in such a supercharged atmosphere. Most of the followers of the R & R racket pay little or no attention to the lyrics. That is not to say they are not influenced by the words; the brain absorbs the audio message even though the words are swallowed up by the surging sounds of cacophony, and the effects of the message may only come after the din has dissipated. This explains why rock and rollers say their “music” is meant to be felt rather than heard.

Under the spell of the repetitious ranting, listeners can be moved to do anything; there are no limits to the depths of depravity to which they will willingly surrender themselves. Young people become enslaved to the demands of the R & R subculture because the nature of the music is tyrannical and obsessive.
Teenage Rebellion & Family Dissolution

The past forty years have been the worst in our nation’s history for rebellion in the home and disrespect of parents. Many parents have suffered separation from their children over the question of whether R & R was fit for the children’s ears. Kids retorted that the old fogeys didn’t like their music because they don’t understand it. But the opposite of this is the truth. Parents recognized from the beginning the truth of the inspiration of the hellish blast, and those who were brave enough to speak up about it found themselves facing children who had become total strangers. It was as if their kids were instantly transformed into robots of weirdness.

Lines of communication between parents and children ceased functioning; the kids became street wise before they were teens. Four letter words full of degrading abuse were hurled at Mom and Dad. Parents represented a way of life which was quaint and ugly. The new look made boys look like girls and the girls appeared to be a cross between a male and a zombie. Ugly became beautiful and beautiful was ugly.

Rebellion and revolution became the R & R of a whole generation as parents became resented and were denounced. Sex, drugs, and rock became a new trinity designed to enslave the masses. And enslave them, it did. In an effort to maintain a semblance of sanity in the home, one parent would sympathize with the kids while the other stood firm; the resulting melee brought divorce, alienation, adulterous and incestuous relationships and the dissolution of the traditional family unit. One episode fed the next. The age-old idea of family where Dad’s role was clearly defined as head-of-the-household, and Mom’s was as housekeeper/child-rearer is a relic of the not-too-distant past; virginal marriage is now considered anachronistic! (out of style)
The Nature Of Rock & Roll

To understand the destructive nature of R & R, you need to know a little about music. We said earlier that R & R was built around a syncopated beat, a beat which is considered by professionals as a bastard beat because it is the basis of music which a composer who wants to depict a certain air of degradation or depravity will use. For instance, if a composer wants to portray a prostitute busy at her trade, or a drunken man staggering through a dark alley, he will use the vehicle of syncopation to represent his idea. This is because of the intricate pattern of rhythmic pulsations which suggest that which he wants to exhibit. It is an unnatural beat and goes against the normal rhythmic pattern of nature. That is why it so graphically illustrates the subnormal behavior of fallen men and women.

Usually, the beat is carried by the percussion/rhythm section of an orchestra or band, although a skillful composer can weave it into the melody line or the supporting instruments via embellishments and improvisation. The percussion in normal music is to support the music rhythmically and help to keep the forward movement of the music at a steady pace. Drums and other percussion instruments, are also used for special effects to add certain sounds which make the music more enjoyable to the ear.

However, in Rock & Roll the rhythm and beat becomes the dominating force: it is not merely heard, it is FELT. It is changed from a supporting background to a surging undulating drive. Some people feel it in their feet and hands. Others are affected in their torso and are moved to swing and sway with the pulsating off-beat; others feel it in their groin and begin making pelvic movements as in a sexual encounter. This powerful sensation is further heightened when you add all the other ingredients of R & R: a singer who can’t stand still, while he simulates masturbation on a guitar, whose costume is scanty and suggestive, and whose language lauds the pleasures of illicit sex; and he will continue this mad-house demonstration for 7 to 10 minutes or more. There are no short R & R songs.

The whole show is carried on the shoulders of the syncopated off-beat, and the longer the song is, the more worked up the crowd becomes. They can’t be called an audience because they don’t listen: they are participants, jumping, flailing their arms, jerking and contorting their bodies, screaming, with their eyes half-popping out of their sockets, the sweat and odors of the dripping bodies permeating the air, filling the nostrils of the people-become-animals, and pushing them into a state of abandon, oblivion and sensual euphoria.

It is no wonder that kids who are hooked on R & R don’t feel at home at home anymore. The end of the concert isn’t the end of the beat. Some of the rock bands have boasted that they don’t need drugs to get high; their music will do the same thing – give the same kick, drive the kids insane. While the beat is the center of the show, it is also true that many, if not most, of the rock bands are into the occult

Bob Larson, a former rock entertainer, says that the racket is “a direct line of communication with the philosophy of individuals whose lives are sometimes controlled by satan. Hard rock is his tool of propagandizing their thinking, brainwashing them to accept his way of life.” Many of the things which can be truthfully said about R & R are unfit for a religious paper. But, mark it well; if your children or your friends’ children are hooked on R & R you had better be concerned!
What To Do

It does little good for parents to preach to their kids once they are hooked. The best medicine is prevention, and that is provided with the proper upbringing and instruction at an early age. So many families are so superficial in their professed Christianity. Kids grow up on a diet of television garbage where they are exposed to the degenerate personalities and lifestyles of the musical greats (not Beethoven and Bach), and they soon know these debased heroes better than they do the men and women of God in the Scriptures. Kids need to be exposed to good music: classics, symphonies, great orchestras and worshipful hymns which are not infected by the disease of syncopation. They need to be taught the difference between good music and bad. Regrettably, most of the country music has adopted the rock style and is unfit for young people. But they need to learn this early.

Once a young person is sold on R & R, it is almost impossible to cure him or her. If you are a sincere Christian, the best thing you can do is to fast and pray for your child or children, and ask the Lord to show them the error of their ways. Pray for their conversion, pray for their salvation. It may be you can salvage their souls through your desperation.
Rock In The Church

One of the tragedies of the hour is the adoption of the rock beat in so many of the present churches. Pastors have allowed this music to infiltrate their congregations for the young people’s benefit. They feel more comfortable with the super energized beat than with the old, staid and stodgy songs of yesteryear. Little do they realize that the rock in church acts just like the rock out of church; to a smaller degree, for sure, but still there.

We have been in meetings where the music drove people into a mental state just short of idiocy. People thought that they felt the Holy Spirit, but what they really felt was the same throbbing urge to become mobile that the rock fans experience at one of their musical orgies. What an outrage, what a shame that people would drag the name of the Saviour down to the level of the gutter. It would be far better to have no music at all in a religious service than to bring the sensuous clatter of the world into a house of worship. Surely, many a former rock & roller must shake his head in wonderment when he feels the same thrills in a church service that he used to get at a rock concert!!!

“Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with REVERENCE AND GODLY FEAR: For our God is a consuming fire” (Heb. 12:28,29)