I have written severally about how Rock Music shaped me, growing up, so I will not do any of such here, besides saying that, just as it was in the beginning (when I started listening to Rock), and now (hopefully in the future), the essence of Rock music has not been sacrificed in the main, on the altar of commercialised superficiality and shallowness. The depth that drew me to that genre of music, is what has continued to keep me engaged in, and with it, till date. One of those groups that totally bought me over in my early years of exposure was Metallica. Just like so many other Rock bands that have my attention, I could easily relate with most of their lyrics, many times those lyrics mirrored my existence, and it used to be a wonder for me then, how people so far away, could accurately sing about me, before I found out that our experiences can be similar, regardless of time, space and location.


Metallica's "THE UNFORGIVEN" was one of such songs that ministered to me in the '90s. I cannot particularly say it stoked the fire of nonconformism for me, but it surely did provide the soundtrack for it. I must've heard it around the time it was released in '91 on Radio Nigeria (II), which was later to become Metro FM, and then much later with Dennis "The Menace" Ogi on RayPower FM, just for the sound, especially James Hetfield's (Metallica's Lead Singer) way around the electric guitar initially. It was not until 1995 that I really got to appreciate the song, especially for the lyrics. I had a tape I made of the song, which I dubbed while it was on play on radio. I had that, along with other rock songs, until Lala did me an MP3 at the turn of the millennium while in med school. The Unforgiven was one of the songs that was always on the replay when I come to it. It spoke to me then, because I wanted to be everything the person spoken about in the song was, as I'd seen his end, and decided never to conform to society's expectation of me, especially if I found such not in my personal interest.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ckom3gf57Yw

It wasn't like I was at that instant a nonconformist, but I gained the strength to pursue my agenda from songs like that. Even when I wasn't outwardly rebellious, because of power play at the time, as I was lower in the pecking order, it allowed me to not be comfortable with my position, to bare my fangs, once in a little while, and for which I paid huge prizes, the effects of which I cannot totally say I've recovered from today, besides walking away with my head held high as an independent person in thought and deed (if only that could put money in the bank). Unforgiven became my anthem in my adolescent years because the lyrics was what I felt towards all that I was powerless and vulnerable to, and I remember how I'd bottle up my feelings, to smile through anger, disappointment and pain, just so people will never see through what I show, while striving above all things to be free, and be me.


I must confess that I didn't come onto "UNFORGIVEN TOO" immediately it was released, because I hadn't known about the album in which it featured. Rock music wasn't much of a thing in Nigeria at the time and most radio stations weren't devoting so much airtime to that genre of music. It was with YouTube that I came to hear about it, and though it wasn't as deep as the first offering, it's message was as much intriguing. I could easily relate with that too, especially as it had to do, from my reckoning, with relationships. It reminded me of many heartbreaks I had suffered in the past, to the point where it seemed I had become heartless and incapable of giving and/or receiving love. From unforgiving the society, to unforgiving that person, or several persons with whom he'd had relationships with over time, the sequel didn't disappoint, it simply is the story of life, the life of the rebel, whom when he seemed to encounter true love, was skeptical, wondering if she could love him, only because she'd also been abused by the society, and both of them thus been cut from the same cloth.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-Bn_kD6QN4


I know that in some quarters, Rock Music has been linked with Devil Worship, I got quite some slack growing up, from family and friends who didn't understand my love for the 'queer' music. They look at the personal lives of some of the great acts of the art, and they act not surprised, feeling that they could only have been battling inner demons to come up with the kind of music they churn out with frightening regularity. Unfortunately, the spate of deaths, especially of such talents at young ages, haven't helped the image of the music, worse still when they are linked with suicides, or drug overdose or unexplained and mysterious unfortunate happenings. All of that notwithstanding, none can take the fact away, that when you listen to the words in the songs, they are heavily laced with true life human angle stories and experiences, that just about anyone can relate to.


You can say this about the third installment of Unforgiven. Again it doesn't come as close to the magnificence of the first installment as the second, but what it lacked in finesse, and in staying true to the chords of heavy metal rock, it made up with in the lyrics. This time, the subject became the focus, the one that must be forgiven, or not, because in the end, whether we like it or not, we should be the master of our destiny, and take responsibility for how things have turned out for us. Not our parents or family, not friends or lovers, not society or government. Just us.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMJREChN8nY

In my view, what Metallica did with THE UNFORGIVEN was to highlight the stages of the battle that rages in the man, as he navigates the path of life. Many are fortunate not to think too deeply about things to notice as they scale from one level to the other. The ones who are unfortunate to feel these things can decide to close their minds to it, while those who react to it, can device a means to exploit the system to their benefit, or be frustrated and be lost under the system. The Unforgiven 3 talks about the soul searching that the subject engages in, for the first to be conquered must be the man himself, before conquering his environment, maybe not in the true nature of a conquest, but definitely in a manner not to fall victim to it.


Recently, when I had some time to play, I decided to watch covers for The Unforgiven on YouTube, a few I'd seen before, many others I was seeing for the first time. None of them intrigued me as that by Jamaica's Alborosie featuring Raging Fyah. Their rendering was such that they used only the hook from The Unforgiven, while employing artistic licence over the rest of song. This isn't the first time I'd hear a fusion of Reggae and Rock in one piece, but these ones went further to make the song soft to the ears of both hard core reggae and rock fans and listeners, reminiscent of the days when Rock and Roll paid homage to Reggae, without either side feeling disappointed that any damage was done to the masterpiece, which I think the duo of Alborosie & Raging Fyah did by approaching this with respect, without attempting to outdo Metallica in any way, rather creating an appreciative detour, for which purveyors of both genres will remain grateful.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5IBHF98mSI


Living in a country like Nigeria where going to see a shrink isn't much of a thing, music is therapy for me, it's where I hide, and take solace, to express joy, happiness, sadness, loneliness, gratitude and other emotions that comes to play with the mind. The Unforgiven remains one of those kind of music that I rallied to when it seems the ground under me has shifted, or when in search of purpose, and even though I cannot expressly say it provided the answer, I can categorically say it definitely opened my mind to what the answer was not.


'kovich



WHAT I FELT https://madukovich./2019/12/09/what-i-felt/