Kings of Leon, Asher Roth, and “Ideanihilism”

 

kings of leon

Kings of Leon: the Followill brothers (and cousin)–debaucherous, self-destructive, headed-for-a-train-wreck PKs of an alcoholic Pentecostal preacher–are the perfect poster-children for our post-Christian world. So says Rolling Stone, in so many words, in their cover story “God, the Devil, and Kings of Leon.”

 

Some revealing quotes from the story:

“I guess the pressure was getting to my dad, being the leader of the flock,” says Caleb. “Things were really up and down, depending on how his nerves were.” Ivan started drinking. “He was trying to be perfect, but in the process he was imperfect.”

When Ivan [their father] left the pulpit, Caleb became disillusioned. “I was going to be a preacher—it was everything I knew,” he says. “My heart got broken, seeing that it was impossible to be perfect. So I said to myself, ‘I have to go the opposite way.’ I couldn’t be a sober man. When I started getting ****** up, I got ****** up. I thought I was going to hell. I had nightmares about money and girls. The sky would open up and the Lord would take my soul.”

I was saddened by the story told by these guys. Though they seem to be enjoying their fame and hit songs, the article makes clear they are still dealing with a lot of anger (it recounts some of their bloodiest sibling battles), and coping with crazy amounts of alcohol and drugs. (When Rolling Stone says “I calculate there’s enough booze in the house to keep a raging alcoholic ****faced for at least five years without restocking,” you might have a problem).

The quotes about perfection say it all. Though they were surrounded by religion their whole lives, they evidently never understood (heard?) the Gospel. Their understanding of Christianity was that you had to try your hardest to be perfect, or fail. And faced with that kind of brutal legalism, they took a hard-left turn into license.

Given their experience, not surprising. But like so many others, they seem to have rejected Christianity without knowing what it really was. If only they had heard that the message Jesus preached was for weak, broken, imperfect people—the sinners.

Instead, these lyrics, from “Cold Desert”:

I never ever cried when I was feeling down

I’ve always been scared of the sound

Jesus don’t love me, no one ever carried my load

I’m too young to feel this old

On a sidenote, I can’t believe the level of spiritual/religious discussion in Rolling Stone on a regular basis. A month ago, their piece on U2 was uber-positive. I’m finding that RS is invaluable for getting a feel for what post-Christians really think of us. It’s the findings that they write about in UnChristian and Lost and Found, but raw and visceral. Especially the articles by Matt Taibbi. One of the mags I make sure to read when I get it (still every two weeks).

 

asher roth

Asher Roth: white boy is from West Chester! His ‘College’ song, which has been on playlists for a month or so, is a tongue-in-cheek depiction of stereotypical college life that we’re all familiar with from the movies, from Animal House to Old School. But it simultaneously glorifies those behaviors. (What is this, post-ironicism? Mock it and glorify it at the same time?)

 

I have no idea if this guy as any staying power. While it’s a demonstration that this week’s music fest at PSU has some pull to grab a guy with a hit song at the peak of his 15 minutes, the song does seem pretty redundant at a school like PSU. The culture here does not need a song like ‘College’ to get it’s party on. Really, the song seems geared for the high school crowd who want to fantasize about their college experience.

Both acts—though very different musically—are emblematic of the nihilistic strain in this generation. I’m sure lots of party playlists will include KOL’s “Sex on Fire” and Roth’s “College” this weekend. And in doing so, they’ll be partying like it’s 699 (BC), or perhaps 59 (AD): “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die” (Isaiah 22:13; 1 Corinthians 15:32).

“But wait,” you say. “I thought this generation was idealistic, civic-minded, wanting to organize communities, change the world, save the environment, and join Teach for America? I thought nihilism was SO Gen-X! I thought they were into idealism!”

Well, you’re half-right. From my vantage point, they want it both ways. Save the world during the day, and party like it’s the end of the world at night. Since I’m into neologisms today, we’ll call it “Ideanihilism.” Your thoughts?