Who said metal is for the uneducated?

Well, my parents for two. Anyway, there are numerous reasons to say that this is rubbish – other than the fact that I like it an I iz ded smart, like.

I could point you in the direction of Iron Maiden‘s back catalogue. They’ve got a 13-minute opus based on Samuel Taylor Coleridge‘s Rime of the Ancient Mariner. Alfred Lord Tennyson‘s Charge of the Light Brigade inspired “The Trooper”. Sci-fi is embraced with “To Tame A Land“ (Frank Herbert‘s Dune).

Let’s not forget that singer Bruce Dickinson is (as well as a qualified commercial airline pilot and near-Olympic standard fencer) a history student. As a result, a large number of their songs are about historical events and characters. “Alexander the Great”, “Run To The Hills” (the genocide of the American Indians), “Where Eagles Dare” though based on a film and novel is set during WWII – as is “Aces High”.

Anthrax went for the more simply-titled Indians in their work about the destruction of the native American population. Their song “Among The Living” is based on Stephen King’s novel The Stand. “I Am The Law” is based on literature, though that’s the comic book character Judge Dredd! “Black Lodge” was inspired by David Lynch’s Twin Peaks and which the series’ score conductor Angelo Badalamenti helped write.

Metallica got in on the act with songs such as “For Whom The Bell Tolls” based on the work of the same name by Ernest Hemingway. Slayer are well known for documenting serial killers and war-related atrocities in their songs. Megadeth have tackled freedom of speech.

These are just well-known examples.

Now, however, I give you something new. To me, anyway. Thanks to Andy for sending me the link to this new way for children to be taught Shakespeare – using the power of MMEETTTAAALLLLL!

The article Who said metal is for the uneducated? by Mosher'sUnimaginativelyEntitledBlog, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License.