During a recent interview with U.K.’s Kerrang! magazine, Black Sabbath’s primary songwriter and bassist Geezer Butler discussed why Elvis was perceived as Satan when he first started his career as a musician.
In his recent interview, Geezer Butler talked about the meaning behind the lyrics of Black Sabbath’s hit song ‘Unspeakable Elvis.’ He discussed how ‘The King of Rock and Roll,’ Elvis Presley, was seen when he first came out.
Butler said that new music is often perceived as threatening by people and in order to exemplify his statement, he used an American cultural icon, Elvis Presley. He argued that when a new wave of music comes out, it is considered to be ‘the devil’s music.’
For instance, when Elvis Presley came out ‘everybody said that he was Satan‘ but a decade later, during the ’60s and ’70s, he became an idol and was regarded as a national treasure.
Some of the lyrics of ‘Unspeakable Elvis,’ written by Geezer himself, are ‘I feel a presence in the room / The evil grows / Elvis’ singing on the radio‘ which perfectly reflects how Elvis was perceived in the ’50s.
Following up on his argument, Geezer said that this is exactly what happened with metal too, because ‘The Christians were going mental when SABBATH came about.’ After people got acquainted with metal music, then they started enjoying it, which explains the fame that Black Sabbath enjoyed.
Here is what Geezer Butler said during his interview with Kerrang! magazine:
“That’s really about the fact that whatever new music comes out, it’s viewed as the devil’s music. I remember when Elvis Presley came out everybody said he was Satan. And then in the ’60s and ’70s, he became America’s national treasure.”
He continued by saying:
“It happens with every new wave of music. Like metal, obviously. The Christians were going mental when SABBATH came about. And then when a rap came about, people were up in arms about that and certain words that rappers were using”
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