Blasphemy in Music

Music is the oldest form of art and communication known to mankind, its use has varied drastically along the evolution of societies and cultures.

Music was used by the early tribe-men as a tool of communication with their various gods and powers of nature; we’ve witnessed this art form among the native Indians of North America in their infamous rain dance, this particular dance was a tribute to the Rain-god.

And with the progressive evolution of humanity, music has taken many functions; the drum beating of battles, the ceremonial music of triumphs and death. Music has now reached the state of expressing the needs of human kind in its most diverse characteristics.

The most dominant element of music nowadays is the entertainment feature which is divided into many genres and styles of self expression.

Musicians, with their self expression, convey to us 3 different messages:

a- Secular

b- Blasphemous

c- Religious

The first case of note occurred in 1978, when Small Wonder Records

released the EP The Feeding of the 5,000 by Crass. The opening track,

�Reality Asylum’, was replaced by a three-minute silence, due to objections

from employees of the pressing plant in Ireland which was making the

product. This track dealt with the band’s view that religion was being used

as a means of sexual oppression. The following year Crass re-released it as

a single on their own label, at which point they were interviewed by the

police and subsequently advised that a charge of criminal blasphemy was to

be referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions.68 The case was later

dropped, although at the time record shops were advised that they risked

prosecution if they stocked Crass product.69 In March 2001 Mute Records

released the compilation album, 25 Years of Rough Trade Shops, which

included the Crass track: no blasphemy enquiries appear to have been made

by the authorities this time.

There have been occasional further releases reported due to their

blasphemous nature. Advertisements for the 1988 Christian Death album

Sex, Drugs and Jesus Christ were censored in the English music press, the

band had their tour curtailed and the album release was extensively

banned.70 They were considered blasphemous, although the band saw

themselves as pro-Christian; their point was that the organised Christian

churches had betrayed the message of Christ.71 Newspapers refused to run

advertisements for the Depeche Mode single �Personal Jesus’ in 1989,