Bring Me The Horizon’s Oli Sykes recently opened up about revisiting controversial lyrics from the band’s early work. He discussed whether they should censor problematic content from their past releases. The frontman shared his thoughts during an interview featured on Nik Nocturnal.
Sykes addressed the challenge of dealing with lyrics that could be interpreted as misogynistic. He particularly focused on their album “Count Your Blessings” when the band members were much younger.
When asked if there were any lyrics from “Count Your Blessings” that he found too difficult to perform now, Sykes responded candidly about the dilemma.
“Yeah. I mean, that was the main thing I was like, ‘Do we censor some of this? Do we like change the lyrics?'” Sykes said. “Obviously some stuff that could be like, you know, interpreted as misogynistic, which obviously at the time when we were like 16 writing it wasn’t you know I was listening to bands like glass jaw and stuff that were saying this stuff I just thought that’s cool I never like thought about it.”
The vocalist specifically highlighted one particularly confusing lyric that stood out to him.
“I think the most confusing one is it’s ‘mouth tastes like corpse of every pregnant teen.’ I’m just like, what does it mean? Like, what could that possibly mean? It’s just west as f*ck. Yeah, there’s a couple there,” he continued.
However, Sykes explained the complexity of deciding where to draw the line when it comes to censoring their past work.
“But then like as soon as I started like okay I could sense this could take out cuz this cuz this is not cool. Do you know what I mean? But then I like but then we’ve got a song it’s about me like helping assisting like the suicide of like my partner’s father who I knew abused her and stuff like that. So it’s like the song’s about eradicating the human race. There’s all this like just it’s kind of like how long is a piece of string kind of situation where like, where do you stop?” Sykes explained.
Sykes’ reflections on his band’s controversial past highlight a broader conversation about artistic growth and accountability in the music industry.
The album in question, “Count Your Blessings,” represents a significant piece of Bring Me The Horizon’s history. The debut album was released in 2006 during the band’s early deathcore era. It was recorded when the members were still teenagers, which explains why Sykes now finds some of the lyrics difficult to revisit. This context makes his current discomfort with the material more understandable, as the band has evolved significantly since their teenage years.
Sykes has been increasingly vocal about his discomfort with his earlier work. He has repeatedly described his older writing as immature by today’s standards. He has questioned whether controversial lyrics should be altered in live performances. This ongoing internal struggle reflects his personal growth and changing perspective on the impact of his words.
The frontman’s dilemma is not unique in the music industry. Many artists have faced similar challenges when confronting their past work that contains offensive or problematic content. Some musicians have chosen to revise lyrics during live performances. Others have retired certain songs from their setlists entirely to avoid repeating harmful content.
The discussion highlights the ongoing challenge many artists face when reconciling their past work with their current values and social awareness. As artists mature and society’s understanding of harmful language evolves, musicians must navigate the complex balance between artistic integrity and social responsibility.
