I come across this fantastic article. Well done Kerrang!
https://www.kerrang.com/features/we-nee ... as-priest/
Of course this is just a scratch and a proper study of the homoeroticism in Halford's lyrics is long overdue. Where are the queer scholars sleeping?

"I'm aiming for ya... I'm gonna blow ya!"
-from "Living After Midnight."

Kinda says it all right there.

I mean, Raw Deal is literally about going to a gay bar so Halford was definitely in it for the long haul. I honestly would like to see more of that perspective in heavy metal.

"Never straight and narrow
I won't keep in time
Tend to burn the arrow
Out of the line
Been inclined to wander
Off the beaten track
That's where there's thunder
And the wind shouts back
Grinder
Looking for meat
Grinder
Wants you to eat"


From the song that shares its name with a homosexual 'dating' app.

As a woman, I relate to Halford in the unrelenting expression of receptive sexuality. I doubt we'd see more of it in heavy metal which is a fiercely conservative environment, but if Halford could brave and pioneer such an expression, why not. He has originated while simultaneously subverting the culture, which is, let's face it, largely misogynistic and homophobic.

He posted a clip of "Little crazy", to which I am commenting and I'll share it here:

"What an erotic song and clip.
(Are we sensory-deprived by the very desperation of desire?)

Under my skin and into my bones
I feel insanity begin to make its home
Into my vision and through my mouth
Somebody's working me to get me all strung out
There goes my reason
Where's all my hope
I'm just a puppet pulled by stings to make me cope
I'm seeing nothing
What's all this noise
Could someone give me something
Just to get me through this boy

***

The Kerrang! article gives the sentiment of repression in your lyrics to social conditioning, pointing to the ostensible juxtaposition of sexual explicitness and poignant sentimentality. I think that's a simplistic explanation and the motivation is psychosocial but manily psychophysiological. However repressed, desire finds its way out in a natural and authentic form, and I doubt it exceeds the person's genetic makeup.
I better acquaint myself with queer theory, but it's my perception that libido is more pronounced in homosexuals, which those I have talked to haven't denied ("There isn't "that time of the month" for us.") There's also a greater awareness of sexuality, which entails its incorporation in the emotional body. Strong desire will naturally be followed by strong sentiment, and the emotional storms that ensue wouldn't be essentially different from anything the Romantics have described.

A speculation may arise, to what extent is the intensity of libido a function of sexual awareness?
Anyway, I do hope your book is written from an authentic, queer standpoint. I'm more enticed to read about that than anything.

Btw I'd gladly do the lyric research, but due to my unawareness of queer culture and slang, I'd miss whatever's not hidden in plain sight.

Show them once and for all that Judas Priest would not have existed if you weren't gay - it's your flesh and blood.

You took my heart
And left it blown to smithereens
I gave my body as a slave
You cut my flesh
And drank my blood that poured in streams
I'm left here broken and ashamed

Without you, I would have not dared to express feelings of insecurity, of inadequacy that accompany sexual reception and surrender. I find the expression of willful vulnerability most valuable in your lyrics.
This might sound like an oxymoron, but isn't. I wonder whether you do believe in the idea of the merging of the souls, of sex as a meltdown - an idea not so much sentimental but spiritual.

No one can find this place;
The secret will be ours.
With no more pain to face;
We'll live amongst the stars.
In solitude, and we can wonder free.
Alone, at last just you and me."

Most fans try to ignore it.

Be honest, it is one of many reasons most people prefer Iron Maiden. Not me though.

I can't seem to find a reason why they'd be bothered by it unless they're latent homosexuals in denial.

"Rock'n'roll" is an euphemism for sex, and sexuality is fascinating in all of its forms. I'm a 1000% heterosexual woman, but I find my inspiration in the uninhibited expression of others.

Extreme music deals, much like psychoanalysis, with the depths of the psyche.

Something a friend wrote while listening to Metallica, which I concur with:

"To live is to die" - a fact with nothing to fear. Each minute a million cells in our bodies die, each moment dreams die, life is comprised of countless miniature "dyings".
Having that in mind, instead of focusing on creation and the joy of life, most of us live imprisoned in a cage of our own making, its bars our hidden fears and illusions, crushed dreams and frustrations.
In this cage the only thing functioning are the mechanisms of self-delusion and defence against the different, the other. What a waste."

Most metal isn't about sex at all, in any form.

Iron Maiden, Megadeth, Metallica, Black Sabbath, all the most popular metal bands .... they pretty much have NO sex in their music, and certainly not in their most popular songs.'

Metal is primarily about death and power.

"I had a very disturbing dream last night. In this dream I found myself making love to a strange man. Only I'm having trouble, you see because he's old and dying and he smells bad and I find him repulsive. But then, he tells me that everything is erotic, that everything is sexual. You know what I mean? He tells me that even old flesh is erotic flesh. That dying is an act of eroticism. That talking is sexual. That breathing is sexual. That even to physically exist is sexual. And I believe him and we make love beautifully."
- David Cronenbers, Shivers

"Logically the opposite of love is hate, but psychologically it is the will to power. Where love reigns, there is no will to power; and where the will to power is paramount, love is lacking."
- Carl Jung

"Mechanix" by Megadeth is most definitely a sex song.

"Jump in the Fire" by Metallica was originally a sex song lyrically, but the version on Kill 'Em All had changed the lyrics.

As for Iron Maiden, you do have the four songs about a prostitute ("Charlotte the Harlot", "22 Acacia Avenue", "Hooks in You", and "From Here to Eternity").

Yeah there are sex songs but its not like glam or pop rock where 90% of the lyrics are sex and love.

As for Priest, for the most part I don't pay a ton of attention to a lot of their lyrics. I never thought that was their strength though they did have some good ones no doubt.

Why is it called "homoeroticism" and not just sex?
Are Lemmy's lyrics "heteroerotic"?

Edit: Why is Dave Holland not in those pictures?

Homoeroticism is based more on subtext than outright statements, as exemplified by Halford's tendency to use ambiguous language along with first and second person pronouns in his lyrics rather than identifying the subjects by gender. If he was flat out describing the men he was dating the way that Lemmy does for girls, then it'd be a more equal comparison.

As for the Dave Holland omission, I imagine that has quite a bit to do with the whole alleged predator thing.

This sounds like bullshit. Most of these examples are cliché lyrics about exercising free-will and fighting oppression, every 80's metal band have at least one of them. How this "Seek him here, seek him on the highway / Never knowing when he'll appear" can be about cruising? You can take almost any cryptic verses and say it's a metaphor for homosexuality

I was taken right out of the article immediately by it saying that the song title "Breaking the Law" is "obviously" a reference to homosexuality. Yeah, when we hear someone broke the law, our minds go right to... sodomy laws that nobody gives a shit about, or something?

I always wondered if the middle of Victim of Changes and Dreamer Deceiver on the whole had anything to do with someone "realizing" they're gay. Very disappointed I didn't get to find out. A couple of my very favorite Priest songs from my very favorite Priest album, all the same.

Especially when the song HBfL was written by Glenn Tipton. But a reputable magazine like Kerrang!!11111!!111 would know that and wouldn't just publish pure BS, amirite?

To a degree, not caring about Rob's sexual orientation is very respectful and mature. But with so many metalheads stating that since "it doesn't matter, we don't need to talk about it", one can't help but wonder if some of them are just in denial.

Citation needed


...What's your point exactly?

That more people prefer Iron Maiden?

Or

why that is?

Of the latter, we can all only speculate. I suggested one reason out of dozens. What "citation" to this end would satisfy you?



That metal audiences mostly don't want erotic "anything" in their lyrics and the fact that JP did it helped make them less popular with metal audiences.

The latter of course.

You claimed that more people prefer Maiden over Priest because of Rob Halford's homosexuality.
That's a bold claim and quite inflammatory. You shouldn't make such claims unless you're prepared to back them up.


I am wondering why you felt the need to post this in this thread and why you think it's relevant.

So no, your point is not "obvious". So what if sex isn't a common lyrical topic in metal? It's still not an uncommon one either. So, yes, explain your "point" please.

Not caring is never respectful and mature, but it is plainly ignorant when the artist's expression is sexuality-based.

Re: "metal isn't about sex, it's about death"

Death:
"So you preach about how I'm supposed to be
Yet you don't know your own sexuality"

It's not inflammatory, unless you think it is insulting to metal audiences and their preferences. Popular of course does not mean better. Some of my favorite bands have very little appeal with large audiences. So what?



And how, could anyone ever "back up" something like that? When bands aren't as successful they try to guess what audiences think and why they buy what they buy. KK has his own theories on why JP weren't bigger. Biff has his theories on why Saxon didn't do as well as IM. It doesn't mean that band isn't great, but this speculation shouldn't be FORBIDDEN and "inflammatory". As I said before, there are dozens of reasons I think IM sold more units and has larger shows than JP but Rob's sexuality I think is one of the many, many reasons.



Sure, I'm happy to tell you why. Because it is a topic about Rob's sexual lyrics. I think they hurt JP's popularity, especially when their hidden meanings became more widely known. So dedicating an article that celebrates something that arguably hurt JP's overall popularity is dubious at best.



Yes it is uncommon, actually. Not in hard rock like KISS and Aerosmith, but in METAL? It's not a pathway to massive popularity.

It's a question of why sexual lyrics had to be forced into a metal band in the first place.

Metal fans generally don't want it, and putting it in there hurt JP's popularity.

Take the biggest metal bands (in terms of sales and concert attendance) ever and take their top 20 songs. How many of those are about sex? And how many of those that are, like arguably "Breaking the Law" are OVERTLY so?

I'll wait.

Sexual lyrics hurt Priest's popularity? Are you living in the same world I am? Judas Priest are simultaneously one of the most commercially successful and most respected metal bands from "metal elitists" of all time. If Iron Maiden are more popular, that doesn't mean Priest were ever hurting for fans. And when Rob came out, the worst I ever heard was along the lines of, "It sucks he's a fag, but I still love Priest."

Strange that they were writing homo-erotic lyrics pretty much from the start of Halford's tenure but he still felt he needed to do a photo shoot with a penthouse pet.

What's even stranger is that Kerrang is doing a feature on a metal band in 2019.

I may be wrong, but before Halford revealed his homosexuality, weren't the innuendo/sex lyrics interpreted as heterosexual stuff? I don't think JP have a song that is blatantly, unquestionable homo-erotic

Raw Deal is the closest I think, but even there "fooling" could've been mistakenly interpreted at the time by listeners as fighting/rough-housing/etc.

If only he had known Kerrang!!!!1111 would celebrate his lyrical approach 40 years later he might've chosen to be more overt.

I don't know that it's worth splitting hairs over Priest's vs Maiden's popularity when they're both incredibly popular anyways, but I can sort of see the argument that Priest's sexual themes in general (not homosexuality specifically, especially since Halford didn't come out until the late 90s) turn some people off. Maiden's themes are generally fantastical and even songs like Charlotte the Harlot and 22 Acacia Avenue are more a story about the troubled life of a prostitute, not a celebration of sexuality. I have fundamentalist Christian family members that I didn't think listened to metal at all, and discovered that some of them like Iron Maiden and seemingly little else (some A7X and whatever among the younger ones as well). Iron Maiden is pretty much the Disney of heavy metal, a relatively-clean family-friendly brand (not merely a band) with a somewhat strict image and style, and I think that's what makes them so accessible around the world.

I do think that some people take Halford's sexuality (both his orientation and his enjoyment of writing sex-themed songs, which are two separate things) and let that color the band even where it doesn't need to be. Anecdotally, I've seen many people with minimal interest in metal think that You've Got Another Thing Comin' is literally about cumming, when Halford himself has said it's not a sexual song and simply about come-uppance. Stuff about Breaking the Law and etc being sexual, as mentioned in this thread, is mostly silly and more people projecting Halford's sexuality onto everything. Like, they already have explicitly gay songs even in a period where that wasn't common (the aforementioned Raw Deal), people don't need to find even more where it doesn't exist. Though Halford has/had a kind of breath-y erotic intonation even on the non-sexual songs, moaning and etc a regular part of his repertoire, so I guess it's understandable for a person that only knows Priest casually.

Thinking of IM as Disney is useful I think.

IM = Disney
JP = Universal

Both are very successful. However IM is probably at least ten/twenty times more popular in terms of concert $$$, merch, and total album sales.

This is just standard Temple of Blood strategy here: make your implication incredibly obvious but never state it outright, and then backpedal and play dumb whenever it's interpreted the way it's clearly meant to be intended. Really standard tactics for the disingenuous.

"Judas Priest less popular to metal fans" compared to who exactly? Like three or four bands max? Yeah I'm sure their 4th place all-time position in terms of total album sales for a metal band (brief research tells me only Maiden, Metallica, and Sabbath have them beat) is a result of metal fans the world over just passing them by because they were put off by homosexual innuendo that wasn't even public knowledge until 1998 anyway.

Are you talking about Trump?

Sex is probably metal's 4th most popular theme, just like how Judas Priest are metal's fourth most popular band. Anyone who thinks otherwise needs to check their genitals.

Homoeroticism in Priest lyrics is a pointless thing to analyze or discuss, especially on this metal forum for analyzing and discussing anything related to metal. I don't care about it at all and neither should anyone else, because it's irrelevant and even if it was relevant it would be bad and shameful. I'm going to post several more times so you guys know how meaningless this conversation is and how much I'm not bothered!

This is standard BastardHead strategy: make personal attacks based on things that were not actually said and assume the worst about people you disagree with, even if you don't have any actual pesky evidence to back up what you say.

If you'd like to comment on things I've actually said, feel free. Sounds like you're hunting for a thought crime though. That must be easier than making valid points. A favorite tactic of the intellectually lazy.



Well, Iron Maiden for one, a band who has been their chief competitor for a long time. And unfortunately for a JP fan like myself, IM have completely blown them out of the water (in terms of popularity).



Maybe more than that. I'd like to see some numbers.

I think Megadeth, Pantera, and Slayer may rival JP's sales too. Maybe some newer bands? A thread for another day I guess.



Straw man alert!

Don't forget to include merch sales and concert grosses too. That makes your "point" even harder to demonstrate.

An agreement: The sexuality of Halford's lyrics was always obvious with songs like "Eat Me Alive." The homoeroticism specifically wasn't obvious, but then if it had been obvious it might not have been particularly erotic, no? At least, I always find playing with double meanings more interesting and evocative than straight Whitesnake-style lewdness.

A disagreement: Iron Maiden "family-friendly"?! This is the band that was accused with inspiring Satanist mayhem after _Number of the Beast_ came out. To be sure, the band came out against those interpretations, but it didn't stop them from playing with that imagery again.

No need to get personal. Check album/single sales.

This would be a great homework assignment.

Metallica became popular EXACTLY because they didn't sing about picking up chicks on Saturday night (among other reasons). And they are the #1 most popular metal band with no close competition at all.

To quoth a much wiser man than me: 'the answers to life's mysteries are simple and direct: sex and death'.

Metal definitely focuses on these two!

True. I think Halford being gay makes complete sense in hindsight but no one would have contemplated the slightest possibility in 1980. Once the secret is out you can then re-interpret the lyrics.

That may be why they are popular with the "girls are icky!" crowd but not the reason they are popular with the rest of the 99% of their fans (scientific stats from peer reviewed lucid dreams). You even put the caveat "among other reasons" in your post because you don't believe what you are saying. The other reasons are the qualities the band presents in their music, not what their music is lacking. Metallica didn't get popular because they don't have lyrics endorsing Islamic terrorism.

I'd like to hear Kerrang's thoughts on Al Atkins - Coming Thick and Fast.

Yeah, the lyrics and vocals of 'Cyberworld' proves that Halford can even make getting a computer virus sound sexy and vaguely S&M-y, so I guess he just has a knack for that kind of lyricism. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Definitely calling bullshit on Breaking the Law though; the very first verse of that song explicitly cites poverty and joblessness for the cause of crime. Not a metaphor in sight. Shame they're willing to deprive the lower class of their ultimate metal anthem and dilute their own theory in the process. Not too shabby an article, other than that.