Judas Priest singer Rob Halford said in an interview with Dr. Dot why Judas Priest never cursed on songs lyrics. The musician recently said he was recording a Blues solo album during the Covid-19 quarantine.
Rob Halford explains why Judas Priest never cursed on songs lyrics:
“I love to swear, but I use it in a fun way, I use it in an expressive way – getting your emotions out. But I don’t really think that it has much of a place in our world – in Priest. I mean, I see and hear it a lot in certain types of music, and, hey, that’s your thing- it’s your choice.”
“Music and all art should not be censored. Once you start censoring art, it multiplies and it becomes a very dangerous thing to do. Again, it’s all about choice. If you don’t like something, don’t listen to it. If it’s something on the TV that’s making you angry, change the channel. If something makes you angry on social media, go somewhere else.”
“But for me to use explicit language in a Priest song, I don’t think I’ve found the moment yet. I have a lot of friends in metal that utilize the power of those words. If that’s the word that really emphasizes a part of your message, then, by all means, you should use it.”
In a recent interview with Kyle Meredith Halford said that people will still heard “Painkiller” 500 years now:
“Music lives with us forever – it’s eternal, isn’t it? I usually start my day by listening to classical music, which might sound odd, but that’s what I do. And I’m listening to music that was written hundreds and hundreds of years ago. And I’m sure people will be banging their heads still to ‘Painkiller’ 500 years from now.”
“This is it, music is timeless, it certainly is the story of our lives. All of us have a little collection of songs in our heads, ‘I heard that song when I was on my first date, I heard that song when I learned to drive the car, I heard that song when I turned 18…’ We’ve got all of those, inside of us, they live with us forever… It’s the same with those adventures that I had with my solo activities.”
He continued, saying:
“They were important for me in my search for my wandering that I had in the metal desert, to see what I was able to do, and I think that was fulfilling. It allowed me to find things out about myself. But I don’t think I would have been able to have done it otherwise. When I put together the first Fight album, ‘War of Words,’ that was a task to test my mettle really.”
“It wasn’t self-indulgence, it was just to see what I was able to do. So because that went really well, that’s what gave me the drive to take on these other experiences. Yes, it’s all good, it’s all there, and if you’re in the mood for a little bit of 2wo, and then you want to go off to ‘Screaming for Vengeance,’ and then come back for some ‘Ressurection,’ then that’s it, the music is always ready and waiting in the wings.”