W.A.S.P. frontman Blackie Lawless discussed the Parents Music Resource Center, the freedom of speech and implied that democracy has failed in the United States.
During his appearance on The Metal Voice, the rocker expressed his frustration with not being able to have freedom of speech and touched on the increasing hate speech and losing their freedom after each Congress meeting.
When asked whether or not democracy has failed in the United States, he affirmed with the following words:
“Well, I go back to Benjamin Franklin when the Continental Congress in the United States was trying to form this government. There’s a very famous quote that he made: A woman came up to him after they met, and she says, ‘Well, sir, what kind of government did you give us?’ And he says, ‘A republic, ma’am if you can keep it.'”
He added:
“[…] When it gets to the point where it’s run by money and bureaucracy, then you see the quantum shifts start to happen where it is only a phantom image of what it once was. We are not far behind what you guys are experiencing right now here in United States.”
The rocker also ensured that this topic is one of the subjects that’s ‘knocking on the door’ of his upcoming album.
Lawless’ Earlier Words About the Democracy
Lawless seems to be dissatisfied with the country’s democratic system since he has openly talked about the system and the freedom of speech before as well. Earlier, he shared his thoughts about the United States and said that he would never limit other’s ability to speak up since it would cause them to ‘play umpire,’ even if it was about Nazism and killing Indians.
His Experience With PMRC
Just like the other rocker’s experiences, Lawless’ experience with PMRC hasn’t been so good either. PMRC, founded with the goal of increasing parental control on music that is drug and sex-related, shared a list under the title ‘Filthy Fifteen,’ which included the songs that were objectionable. The list included W.A.S.P.’s ‘Animal (Fuck Like A Beast) for sex, language and violence.
The band had a dispute with the company, and according to Lawless, they received death threats and bomb scares from them. The rocker stated that although it was a life-changing experience and that it made him more reclusive, the incident exposed the band to fame at an earlier age.
The company eventually ended up putting ‘Parental Guidance: Explicit Lyrics’ stickers on the albums that included, as the name suggests, explicit lyrics.
Below, you can see the interview.
