Serj Tankian is a songwriter, author, composer, multi-instrumental musician, political activist, and singer. His role as lead singer for band System of a Down is what brought him initial wide spread fame.  Serj has more recently been producing solo albums. His first solo album, Elect the Dead, featured Serj himself playing all the instruments for the album. Imperfect Harmonies, released September 21, 2010, is his latest record. Musically it incorporates jazz, rock, electronic, and orchestral themes, giving it a unique feel. As for a content theme, Serj said in an interview that “Elect the Dead was talking about civilization being over, when we’re living our last days” and his most recent “is talking about how we should start looking at what’s out there”. Along with this overarching big picture idea, there is political focus, songs about romance, and philosophical thoughts, we will focus mainly on what portrays his world-story.

 The first song on Imperfect Harmonies is “Disowned Inc.”, and it shows blatant opposition of Theism.  It claims that each culture has their own name for the illusion of God.

God speaks different in every language,God speaks different in every language

Imposed illusion, composed disillusion, God’s name’s different in every language

Imposed illusion, composed disillusion, God’s name’s different in every language

                Even with this in mind, he does not completely reject the idea of God. When asked about religion on his website, he replied “Organized religion I'm not a fan of and much prefer the Native American term Spirit that moves through all things and Creator over the name God. Ultimately it's the feeling of interconnectivity with all things.” Here we see the rejection of one separate divine God, and instead the idea of a force or power. Clearly, Theism is ruled out and Spiritualism is seen.

                Atheism is also knocked out as an option because it leaves no room for a spiritual world. In addition, songs like Reconstructive Demonstration, Peace Be Revenged, and Left of Center cross off Naturalism as an option not only because of Serj’s spiritualism, but because of his lack of hope for humanity. The lyrics from “Reconstructive Demonstration” match a melancholy tune and offer no hope.

We’re falling, we’re falling, We’re falling, we’re falling

We’re falling into, into disease, Disease, disease, disease

Disease, disease, disease, Disease, disease, disease

Disease, disease

We’ve fallen, we’ve fallen, We’ve fallen, we’ve fallen

 We’ve fallen, we’ve fallen, We’ve fallen, we’ve fallen

No one seems to understand that we are falling to our knees

Blindness serves not god nor man so we are falling into disease, disease

                It is also very clear that Serj Tankian is not a Nihilist, this can be seen in his belief that human beings should live with purpose. In an interview on his website he says, “It is important to live every minute like you are going to die the next.” Also, he cofounded a social justice group called “Axis of Justice”. He clearly believes in purpose. It is fair to conclude that he is not an atheist in any form.

                 Serj Tankian believes in a universal connection that runs through all that exists. He clearly displays this when he says in an interview hosted by himself, “I feel like art and music come from the universe, they come from the individual. They come from collective consciousness…” Following this theme, his song “Borders Are” from Imperfect Harmonies portrays the wrong and constraint of borders.

 Borders are the gallows
Of our collective national egos
Subjective, lines in sand
In the water, separating everything

He explains in an interview that these borders relate not only to political ties, but also to anything constrained, including music. This matches the sound of the album as it mixes various musical genres, breaking the normal arrangement of songs. Again, in an interview he says that music co-inspires and connects us along with saying that “It’s a very, very unique and beautiful gift from the universe.” All of this is completely tied to the world-story of Western Spiritualism, which holds that every individual is god and god is the universe.

                Continuing, Serj’s Western Spiritualist views come through in the albums first official single “Left of Center”. More specifically they come through in the music video. The claymation video shows a small insect being devoured by a snake, followed by a black panther that eats the snake, then moving to a shark that consumes the panther, followed by a civilized man that shoots the shark, and finally ending with a caveman clubbing and killing the man. This whole scene goes along with repetitive lyrics playing.

We go forward, we go backward, living,dying

We're dying, we're living, we're living, we're dying

We're crying, we're seeing, we're living, we're breathing, dying, seeing

Western Spiritualism’s idea of the circle of life. Life continues in a circular pattern. In this closing quote it can be finalized that Serj’s world-story is that of Western Spiritualism, because it confirms thoughts of a unifying force and the idea that all nature is one. Serj states, “My religion is the same as the trees out there. It's the same inspiration. Whatever moves them, moves me. I believe that we're animals. I know we are because we die and we eat and we ****.”

—Josh M

©2007 Atlantic/Wea

The Canadian rock band Rush champions 42 years of band-hood. In 1974 they acquired their current drummer and lyricist Neil Peart, and produced their self-proclaimed debut album. They have continued producing and their latest album, Snakes and Arrows, hit the scene May 1st, 2007. Snakes and Arrows is filled with spiritual themes, but the band’s (following Neil Peart’s personal) belief, in relation to the spiritual, can be hard to discern. A prevalent theme found in Rush is Postmodernism. But before I address Rush’s postmodern elements, here are some observations concerning their stand on the spiritual.

The views Neil Peart holds on spiritualism and faith can be seen in a multitude of ways. This review will look at album artwork, articles, and the bands’ own song lyrics. On the cover of Rush’s album Snakes and Arrows is a picture of an ancient board game called Leela. In Leela “the players’ progress is dictated by the fall of a die corresponding to the forces of karma”(Johari). The game originated in India, where it is commonly known as the divine game of cosmic consciousness. Being that the game is rooted in Buddhist belief brings something spiritual into Rush’s album display. Another album that carries artwork with spiritual content is Rush’s 2002 album Vapor Trails, which displays tarot cards. Each page of the album booklet has the lyrics to a song along with a tarot card. The artwork for these two more recent albums indicate visually an acknowledgment of the spiritual world by Rush.

Peart’s articles and lyrics also shed knowledge on their worldview. In Neil Peart’s article "The Game of Snakes and Arrows," he uses the word “spiritual” frequently. In reference to songs from their most recent album he says “At the time of hearing the first few songs, the only word I could think of for their essence was ‘spiritual.’” Later on he states that “Thoughts of spirituality and faith were woven into several songs…” These are a few of the many examples where ideas of spirituality and faith come into Neil’s writing. It is clear that Snakes and Arrows holds some element of the spiritual, but the lyrics provide another angle at which to view Rush.

In the song “Faithless,” Rush presents his view that spiritual belief comes from the individual. “I’ve got my own moral compass to steer by/A guiding star beats a spirit in the sky… I've got my own spirit level for balance/To tell if my choice is leaning up or down.” The song paradoxically continues with “I don’t have faith in faith/I don’t believe in belief.” Another song says, “You can choose a ready guide in some celestial voice./If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice./You can choose from phantom fears and kindness that can kill;/I will choose a path that’s clear/I will choose freewill.” All of these lyrics put the focus on the free and autonomous individual in relation to belief. Furthermore, lyrics like “Nature seems to spin/A supernatural way/Mystic rhythms…We feel the powers and wonder what they are” point to a questioning of what they have experienced. Disbelief or disconnect with a personal higher power is showcased in the lyrics “Call out for direction/And there's no one there to steer/Shout out for salvation/But there’s no one there to hear/Cry out supplication/…But no one cares to hear.”

It is hard to pinpoint all that Rush believes in reference to the spiritual domain, but it is obvious that they do believe in the existence of the spiritual realities. Their album artwork, articles, and lyrics do not give complete clarity as to Rush’s spiritual belief, however they do clearly point to something beyond just the physical world (ruling out atheisms). Their spiritual world rejects prayer to personal deity who cares or listens (ruling out theisms), and truth, or at least belief, is found only within the individual (ruling out eastern religions). What we are left with is therefore some kind of western spiritualism, blended with aspects of postmodern thinking, seen in several ways. First, they reject absolute truth: “Truth is after all a moving target/Hairs to split, and pieces that don’t fit/How can anybody be enlightened?/Truth is after all so poorly lit.” Second, they believe that truth is subjective and derives from the individual: “I’ve got my own moral compass to steer by.” The focus is placed on the isolated individual again and again as the sole authority for determining right and wrong: “What you own is your own kingdom/What you do is your own glory/What you love is your own power/What you live is your own story.” These are but a few examples of postmodern expression in Rush’s music.

In conclusion, their perspective could best be described as a postmodernized version of western spiritualism.

—Joshua M

So much for happy endings.—Ya know, those fairytale feel good endings we believed in as kids? According to music artist Sara Bareilles such stories don’t match up with real life. Disappointing and hurtful relationships, especially of the romantic type, are no new issue in our postmodern world. In 2007, Bareilles released her first major label album, Little Voice, which contained the song “Fairytale.”

The song “Fairytale” reveals the well-known fairytale princesses and makes a mockery of their stories by telling them with a postmodern twist. Cinderella has been drinking and her prince “doesn’t come home anymore.” Sleeping beauty would rather keep sleeping and dreaming then have a prince who is a jerk and doesn’t really care... “The story needs some mending and a better happy ending,” sings Bareilles. The princess should be free to do what she wants to do and be who she wants to be, since “She's only waiting, spent the whole life being graded on the sanctity of patience and a dumb appreciation”—She’s been waiting around for a prince, holding onto the idea that there is a beautiful ending.

Bareilles, well known for her top hit “Love Song” (also on Little Voice), tries to write down-to-earth, real life songs that also reflect her life. Her pop style has been said to be similar to Nora Jones and Fiona Apple. She has a classy, melancholy voice that matches well with her talent on the piano.

On her website, Bareilles wrote about her album Little Voice. “This record was really about me learning to trust my own instincts, and more importantly, recognize how desperately I needed to learn to listen to myself, however inexperienced and naïve I may be. It sounds cliché, but that little voice is sometimes the only voice that's speaking the truth.”

In “Fairytale,” Bareilles sings,” Once upon a time in a faraway kingdom, Man made up a story said that I should believe him.” Although it seems to do with fairytales, could this also reflect Bareilles’ religious beliefs? Maybe God is a made up reality and heaven is a happy-ending story we’ve been fed? Whatever the case, it’s not definite that she doesn’t believe in God. But her self-trust may suggest a spiritualistic worldview.

“Fairytale” addresses the unrealistic dream of modern fairytale ideals and the reality of a postmodern society where pain, distrust, and selfishness reign, instead of a prince and princess for

Sheryl Crow’s latest song on the charts “Love is Free” takes a stab or two at the world we live in, the Christian faith, and touts her own Buddhist horn.

“It ain’t no big thing if you lose your faith / They kinda like to keep you in your place” There’s no person or group of people attributed as “they” directly, but when discussing faith, it’s pretty obvious that Crow is referring to Christians. She’s saying that it doesn’t matter what you believe, so long as you stay where they, Christians, want you to be. Later on in the song she says that “you” go to church and ask for things like no more rain, or a new car, but in the end all you want is some bourbon to make the pain stop. Only pray to God for the luxuries of life because He’s not going to give you any other real help that you need. It’s useless, it’s wishing on stars, to expect anything real to come from God. She’ll also go on to note that material possessions themselves are pretty silly to think about.

Her Buddhist desires come shining through with the lines “They’ll jack your money while you sleep in your car / They got the karma – they ain’t getting too far.” The idea of karma has been fairly westernized but Crow, who has delved into Buddhism in recent years, meditates daily and claims to be very in tune with the Earth as a living organism. She doesn’t use the term “karma” lightly and clearly believes that those who do wrong are going to get what’s coming to them for their poor actions.

The chorus of the song tells everyone to not get tied down to their money—material possession—but to make love because love is free. She says the Devil can take your money—another slap in the face of Christian beliefs. The Christians can have their money and their beliefs, but she wants love and love is free. A nice sentiment for a breezy summer song that’s sure to be a hit, of course, but lying at the root of it is a deeply spiritualist notion that it’s not about the material things, it’s about karma, it’s about loving everyone in peace and harmony.

One, Two, One, two, three!
She got a shack, Floating down the Pontchartrain, With the water rolling in you gotta swim, before the levees start to crack
Another day, Another dollar down the drain, You go to town, No one's around,
Cause if you drown there ain't no hope for coming back
It ain't no big thing if you lose your faith, They kinda like to keep you in your place,
You never know what might be coming your way
Oh everybody, Devil take your money, Money's got no hold on me, Oh oh everybody's making love, cause love is free
You go to church, and pray to God for no more rain, A Cadillac, A paper sack,
well hey there Jack, you want some bourbon for the pain
Hey tambourine, Ain't no rhythm on the street, With the voodoo, What do you do, when the radio just plays on anyway?
Those crazy fingers in your jelly jar, They'll jack your money while you sleep in you car
They got the karma, they ain't getting too far
Oh everybody, Devil take your money, My money's got no hold on me, Oh oh everybody's making love, cause love is free
Everybody come together (4x)
Yeah everybody, Devil take your money, Money got no hold on me,
Oh oh everybody's making love, cause love is free (repeat)

[written by] Toni