Dust to Gold

"Since the band started, when I was 22 years old, that's when I seriously started getting into the works of someone, like, say, Nitzsche or Spinoza, different philosophers, and tried, to a certain extent,to apply some of these things to my life; reading constantly, and while I'm reading, applying, which is the most important thing to do if you're going to read philosophy for self-benefit. There are those, though, especially in rock 'n' roll --- because you've got all the myths of say, Jim Morrison. He got into the French poets like Rimbaud and Beaudelaire and whatnot, but he took their lifestyle to heart and drank himself into the ground. But the thing is, especially in this day and age where vanity seems to be the be-all and end-all in rock 'n' roll, it's all about the image. I get very disappointed, and my disdain grows. When I see an interview with Marilyn Manson, and it almost seems like he got Publicist 101 book happening -- okay, if you're going to be a goth rocker, you've got to know this philosopher; you've got to know this poet, this name and this name. You drop them at the right points, and you'll come off as the real deal. Meanwhile, I'm listening to this guy and he's got a bunch of kids around the world, for better or for worse, digging what he does, but when you're dealing with this kind of philosophy --- the most extreme example is Hitler, who used Nitzsche's writings in a very twisted, most wrong way possible. Nitzsche was not anti-Semitic. He was not into purifying the German race. Somehow Hitler twisted his words -- so basically, what I'm saying, is with philosophers like that and books like that and literature like that, there's a certain amount of responsibility. Unless you know what you're talking about, I would highly suggest that you do not bring up those things and try and make yourself into something you're not, because you're being extremely irresponsible with this forum that you've been given. You've been given this pedestal, on which to stand upon, rock 'n' roll, the stage, the whole thing, and you get to talk to all these kids, and maybe you should, if you really want to in your conscience, you want to make a difference and you want to help better or give them questions to ask or whatnot, at least know where you're coming from and be grounded in what you're saying. This is a song against the ones who go on those pedestals and they speak these names and they speak this big talk without actually knowing what the hell they're talking about. That's irresponsibility. They're misleading young minds." - Jeff Martin