Slipknot's Social Consciousness for educational purposes? Sign me up for that lecture!

One of my most memorable reading experiences actually came from an analysis

session of one of my favorite songs “Psychosocial” written by Slipknot. Throughout the piece, they heavily criticize and express their feelings of dissatisfaction with our superficial society. The system that was once a desirable construct of what a person should strive to be, has now quite literally killed the concept of individuality, further blurring the lines between what a person should be and what a person feels they need to be.

They also manage to tie this idea back into the main message of the song; the corruption of moral values caused by people falling victim to human greed and lust for power, therefore, leading our human race to be the cause of our own demise. The main reference and ongoing event inspiring the creation of the song was the ongoing war for oil in the Middle East. Large corporations and even governments willing to let their empires crumble because they let their human greed get the best of them, really goes to show the type of people we’re letting run our societies. These actions of corruption are deemed “pseudo-sacrosanct perversion”, pseudo being artificial and “sacrosanct” being holy rite, therefore perverting religion and or these “family values”.

“Go drill your deserts, go dig your graves, go fill your mouth will all the money you will save” the lyricism simply puts into words the way that these large corporations and governments are operating as “anti-fascist lies” deeming that they are against these totalitarian/authoritarian ways yet the same can’t be said for their behind the scenes operations. Criticizing governments for their need to continue taking until their society crumbles, is a role that most people are too scared to fulfill.  This group of  musicians yet again never fails to amaze me.

A brief history on the alternative, punk, and metal, subcultures that also ties into this topic, is that the whole reason for being created was to go against their oppressors and create a voice for themselves in their respective societies. They fight to be seen, whether that means criticizing the way their government operates, and acts, or simply reforming and fighting for what they think is right. This is why slipknot as a whole is completely and utterly one of the coolest bands ever, it truly doesn’t get more metal than them (agree to disagree I’m trying to prove a point).

After sitting down and really analyzing the lyrics, I fell down a rabbit hole of current social topics, that after getting more knowledge on, left me with a desire to keep myself more involved with issues going on in our world right now. All in all, a good and memorable reading session leaves you with a feeling of fulfillment and this one certainly did.

Note: This was a discussion for another college class where we had to describe what our most memorable reading experience was and I couldn't think about any other time but this one. I was definitely left a little awestruck with the stuff that they were talking about and they just looked so cool doing it, it was hard not to become a fan when they just carried themselves with such confidence.