Sound of Madness

Just a thought... From a lyrical standpoint, when reviewing the thematic elements in Brent Smith's "Sound of Madness" and comparing them to those in Iron Maiden's "Virus" they turn out, at least from what I've come to believe, to be identical. However, the viewpoints displayed by each artist in their dealing with an identical subject prove to contrast greatly. This realization has piqued my curiosity, and as a result I am going to deduce and explain exactly what makes the messages promoted in both of these songs so radically different.

-F.Y.I. This subject heading may appear to be quite random at first glance, but it has been an issue that has led me to deep thought many times lately, and I think it definitely deserves an in-depth exploration. Once you read further on, should you choose to do so, I believe my interests in this topic that some of you may currently assume fruitless will indeed prove valid. This seems to be a good forum for the type of fiery discussion that I like to encourage, and I sincerely hope that the arguments I offer further down in this post will help generate intense thought and debate among readers. Honestly, if only a handful of thoughtful readers take the time just to read my post I will be quite content. I definitely value the input of intelligent people, whether we are in agreement or not, so if you do happen to have a differing opinion than mine feel free to mount a rebuttal. Also, If the ever so rare instance of total consensus occurs I know that I would receive a great amount of benefit from hearing whatever you might have to add. After all, two truths are better than one.

Moving on... I seriously doubt Brent chose to intentionally dis Iron Maiden with his chosen lyrics, but the fact remains that both "Sound of Madness" and "Virus" explore the same subject matter while at the same time displaying almost completely opposite viewpoints regarding these topics. I am now almost positive the fact that certain identical terms appear in both songs is purely coincidental. One of the aforementioned terms is the "social disease" reference made in each song which you will notice as I list some lyrical content here very shortly. Regardless, this is a negligible and moot point of interest for me. My main interests lie in the contrasting messages of these songs, which I will explore much more conclusively later.

To start things off I will present some lyrics that I believe to be integral in order for me to set up a proper case.

One of Brent's lyrics taken from his song "Sound of Madness":

"...You think that by crying for me Looking so sorry that I'm gonna believe You've been affected by a social disease Well then take your medicine..."

Some sample lyrics taken from the song "Virus" (circa 1996) by Iron Maiden:

"There's an evil virus that's threatening mankind Not state of the art, a serious state of the mind The muggers, the back stabbers, the two face elite A menace to society, a social disease

Rape of the mind is a social disorder The cynics, the apathy one-upmanship order

Watching beginnings of social decay Gloating or searing at life's disarray Eating away at your own self esteem Pouncing on every word that you might be saying...

...Without a conscience they destroy And that's a thing that they enjoy They're a sickness that's in all our minds

They want to sink the ship and leave The way they laugh at you and me You know it happens all the time

All in your mind All in your head Try to relate it

All in your mind All in your head Try to escape it..."

First, allow me to explain the reasons I chose to bring up the song "Virus" at all. "Virus" was written by four members of the British heavy metal band Iron Maiden and it was released in 1996. I have known this song well for years now, and it is one of my favorites. When I heard the lyrics of "Sound of Madness" this song immediately came to mind. "Virus" is a song about depression, paranoia, and "social disease[s]" in general. There are other subtexts in play in this song, but these are the main ones. "Sound of Madness" is also a song about depression, paranoia, and "social disease[s]" in general. The difference being that Shinedown's (Brent's) view of these concepts is skewed to the point that it makes me laugh heartily. "Sound of Madness" is a song that may seem fairly simple and straightforward at first, but I can almost guarantee that once you find out just how outrageous the contradictions and hypocrisies that exist in this "simple", "straightforward" song you will be laughing too... and probably throwing up some as well. Now I love Iron Maiden, but let me make it clear that my goal is not to persuade anyone to love (or even like) Iron Maiden. I am also not attempting to somehow prove to you that Iron Maiden is a better band than Shinedown. I could argue that point until I'm blue in the face, and as with any art form in my opinion it will always come down to a matter of personal taste. Therefore, any debate over that issue is futile. I just want to show you some of the pathetic truths in Brent Smith's character that have surfaced recently through his lyrics. If you think Brent is not a hypocrite after I've said what I need to say (or if you just like hypocrites) then that's fine with me. To each his own, but if you're a logical thinker I really don't think that you'll be able to ignore in good conscience the blatant contradictions that I will show you via Brent's lyrics in "Sound of Madness" and one other short statement he has made that I will type verbatim. "Virus" will serve as an example of a song done in good taste about the aforementioned subjects.

It is clear, at least it is to me, that "Virus" presents an empathetic outlook toward people who feel a certain degree of inferiority and alienation from society, whereas Brent proclaims that those suffering basically 'just get over it'; This is a fact that most of you have hopefully already discerned, so I will elaborate further...

Let me just say that I am not depressed, "emo", or whatever nor have I ever been for any notable length of time. Like I said, I am not an "emo", but I do know quite a bit about certain mental disorders because A. I can read, and B. I've taken four college level psychology classes, so I'm thoroughly confident in my knowledge of that subject. I also know that I'm not going into the psychology field for work, so I have absolutely nothing to gain by lying to you (promoting my business, etc.), but if for some reason you don't believe some of the more "technical" stuff I might say then you obviously have the internet so feel free to just look any of this stuff up.

Anyway, Iron Maiden takes the initiative in their calling of attention to certain happenings in our society that cause people to become anti-social, paranoid, etc. They offer up insightful and constructive commentary on these certain "evils" that so often plague the minds of the disenchanted. "Virus" is not a song that encourages ruminating on personal problems like so many "emo" or (sadly) current mainstream rock songs seem to do. It also doesn't make off-the-cuff and totally unsupported claims that a "shotgun blast" or a "kick in the ass" is the best treatment for someone with a psychological disorder. The guys in Iron Maiden are intelligent enough to know that in the vast majority of cases people with mental illness, namely depression and bi-polar disorder in this case, do not simply get out of bed one day and are fully healed, nor do they recover if they try to go it alone. The fact is most people require clinical treatment (either medication therapy, behavioral modification therapy, or a combination of the two) in order to get better. It is a song about the mental pain, but it is not a song that promotes self-pity or self-loathing. In fact it aims to accomplish quite the contrary. - Again I quote:

"...All in your mind All in your head Try to relate it

All in your mind All in your head Try to escape it"

"Virus" successfully describes and pinpoints the causes of many fears that commonly afflict a person struggling in his or her fight against mental illness. It accomplishes this from a perspective of anger and disgust that is not directed at the sufferer (as is the obvious view presented in "Sound of Madness"). The song instead directs its wrath toward the people who might serve as catalysts for such irrational fears in struggling individuals:

"...The cynics, the apathy one-upmanship order...

...They want to sink the ship and leave The way they laugh at you and me..."

I now believe that Brent Smith has become one such offender described in the previous lines. It is painfully obvious that Brent want's to "sink the ship and leave", calling out people for being emo, yet in absolutely no way does he offer a rational solution to the very problem that he is bringing attention to. He suggests that a "shotgun blast" or a "kick in the ass" might do the trick, which is a thickheaded and bullying thing to suggest doing to someone weaker and more vulnerable than yourself, even though he is speaking figuratively. Since when has a proverbial "kick in the ass" helped anyone overcome a major depressive disorder or bi-polar disorder? This type of attitude more than likely will drive a person further down the spiral. People with depression suffer from low self-esteem, and the more a depressed person is insulted (i.e. told that they are annoying and depressing to be around) the more that person will suffer and as a result the chances that they will get better will go down. This is because most people who are depressed tell themselves that they are worthless, annoying, depressing, or any other negative thing you can think of. These thoughts do not need to be entertained much less confirmed. If a person is depressed it is almost as if they have another person with them wherever they go all the time who's only job is to point out both the real and nonexistent flaws in the depressed person. This person is almost impossible to kill without getting professional help, but I guess Dr. Brent knows best. It's also common knowledge that "depressed" people can be "depressing" to be around. This is especially true if they have a "woe is me" type attitude, and most do. Many internalize all of these feelings, but those that externalize their emotions can be very annoying to be around. Nobody likes a complainer, but one would think that someone like Brent, who has admittedly been through depression, could understand where these people are coming from. What Brent seems unable or unwilling to grasp is the concept of empathy. He even seems to have so much disdain for the mentally ill that he makes a veiled attempt to coerce "emos" into suicide.

Example:

"...I'm so sick of this tombstone mentality If there's an afterlife, then it'll set you free..."

Here Brent is just like "Screw it. I'm fed up with your depressing garbage. You're annoying the hell out of me and haven't amounted to anything so go ahead and kill yourself." At least this is what I make out of the lyric, but admittedly this is one of the few I'm on the fence about. He also has a great deal of nerve speaking out so shamelessly against people who are suicidally depressed, etc. considering the fact that he used to be one (more on that below). He also goes on to say the following:

" ...I created the sound of madness Wrote the book on pain Somehow I'm still here to explain..."

This is quite possibly one of the most arrogant statements I've ever heard in my entire life. The above lines are both arrogant and "emo" at the same time and they serve to definitively contradict the rest of the song's stance on "emo"-bashing. I get it. He's saying he's been through some rough stuff, but it's not quite as simple as that. He "created the sound of madness". This is as if Brent's saying that his irrational behavior and thinking was crazier than anyone else's irrational behavior and thinking in the history of the world. He invented madness. If you're thinking about complaining about being screwy then sorry pal, but Brent's got you beat. It doesn't matter who you are. He was the craziest person ever and he got over it, so you have no excuses. According to him he's the top dog when it comes to insane, so screw you Charlie Manson! He then says that he "wrote the book on pain". So this dude's mental anguish was so incredibly great that he might as well have invented the concept. That's totally not "emo". "Somehow I'm still here to explain"; Ok, so Brent's depression and insanity were on a level so intense that no other human can even comprehend it... Understood. So you think you know pain, huh? Well, Brent has established that he "wrote the book on pain", so he is claiming (or at least entertaining the concept) that he has suffered more than your depressed loser behind ever has or ever will, and get this... He made it through! So if the guy who has suffered more mental pain than anyone in human history can make it through life without blowing his brains out then so can you, wimp! Brent says you have no excuses so stop your whining. The fact that the three lines above are "emo" on an epic scale yet so brazenly self-indulgent and arrogant solidifies Brent's status as a hypocrite in one single song. Brent says I should be disgusted at "emos" but instead I'm left feeling only disgust for him. So, actually I guess there is one "emo" I'm disgusted with after all.

In "Virus" Iron Maiden offers words of encouragement and hope (in as metal a way as possible of course) not only to the sufferer of mental illness, but to any "average Joe" who feels jaded and looked down upon every once in a while. After all, these are feelings that most every human being experiences periodically in life. The only people who should not take away a positive message from "Virus" are those who preach disdain for those suffering mentally. And as with any disease when it comes to depression and related conditions you must always diagnose the "Virus" before you can cure it, right? As Iron Maiden points out it is often times people like Brent Smith that are the "Virus", and I don't think they make a vaccine for him.

Basically, from what I've gathered, people who bring up problems all the time and then offer no rational solutions for solving them (Brent) are nothing but complainers, and complainers are very annoying and probably just need a "shotgun blast" or a "kick in the ass" to get them to shut up and get over their issues, right?

On a final note, whoever said that Brent was hypocritical when he wrote ".45" and then "Sound of Madness" was absolutely correct in my book. We've already established that Brent Smith is a walking contradiction. But hey! This is just icing on the cake!

Here is what Brent has said in regard to ".45":

"... Because I’ve been in that situation where I didn’t know if I wanted to continue going on and I didn’t know how to necessarily make myself comfortable with who I was, trying to find a way of learning more about myself. And you come from a dark place sometimes, and that’s really the reality of the song. It’s about overcoming and about moving forward..."

After reading this it is certain to me that Brent did not get over his afflictions in one day. His process of "overcoming and... moving forward" clearly took time and a great deal of work on his part, so for him to suggest that people simply 'get over their issues' serves only to demoralize and degrade the very type of person that he admittedly used to be.

This whole Brent issue has been irking me for a while, so it's been good to get that off my chest if nothing else. In closing I'll leave you with a few telling lines from "Virus":

"They want to sink the ship and leave The way they laugh at you and me You know it happens all the time...

...The rats in the cellar you know who you are... Or do you?

Watching beginnings of social decay..."