Thoughts while listening to a shuffle

I decided to do some free-writing while listening to a playlist of songs Spotify has suggested for me over the past few days on shuffle and here are the results.

Dream Warriors-Crystal Viper: This is a cover of one of my favorite Dokken songs.  I love it because it was the theme song of Nightmare on Elm Street 3, which was I think the only entry in the series that explored using the dream world back against Freddy Krueger.

Mob Rules by Black Sabbath-I love this metal track, this version is from the cult classic adult animated movie Heavy Metal, an anthology movie about the evil Loc-Nar, a magic ball that reshapes things around it.  This was used in the last segment when some people have been turned into demons and begin pillaging their village.  Taarna, the most iconic character of the film, shows up to defeat them and destroy the Loc-Nar.  She has white hair and is clad in a black leather bikini.

This song is from Crobot.  I considering going to a concert where they were an opening act because Anthrax was another opening act, but Anthrax wasn’t playing any of their songs I liked in recent shows and the headliner was Volbeat.  I wasn’t much of a fan of Volbeat, so I skipped it.  These days, I’d probably skip all thrash metal concerts except BabyMetal because most thrashers don’t care if they have a reputation of being Satanists.

A fight’s breaking out outside, they’re using foul language.  Violence is probably going to happen.  I would call the police, but I have no hard evidence of anything other than people swearing at each other.  There’s a lot of people screaming swears outside these days, even before the pandemic, though it’s definitely made things worse.  I’m waiting for someone to come into my apartment and pummel my face in, saying “Stop playing that infernal rock and roll, it’s Satan’s music!” or “Quit tryin’ to help fags, they’ve chosen to go to hell, go to a REAL Church!”  Sometimes, I feel like hanging myself due to the fear.  I got a Trump fanatic who plays pre-Elvis sermons with the door open a door down across the hall, I can hear the contempt for everyone who’s not a rigid Christian and the conspiracy theories every night, sometimes in the morning and sometimes in the afternoon.  I don’t think the man sleeps, I’ve even heard them at 2:00 AM.  I’ve had to censor myself around him because I don’t want another stupid lecture about how modern society worships the devil or Miley Cyrus is the antichrist or how Trump is the second coming or that gay people deserve to be killed in mass extinction/genocide so America can remain “God’s country.”  That’s not the God I believe in, but that’s the popular belief of God in this country.  Jesus is more associated with homophobia than compassion and I dare America to prove me wrong.  Before the pandemic, I worried that some right-wing Trump fanatic with a Molotov cocktail would smash the stained-glass window out front and burn the Church down with us in it.

Sleater-Kinney got a song played.  Their lead singer went to college in my hometown, yet Death Cab For Cutie’s more popular.  I like the music of Sleater-Kinney better.  Even tried to film the sign in Olympia on I-5 where the band got its name from.

Heavy Metal (Take A Ride)-Don Felder: Another song from the Heavy Metal soundtrack.  I heard this live last year because Don Felder played my hometown’s theater.  I love the 80s hard rock sound of this song and the chorus line of “Won’t you take a ride (ride ride ride ride) on Heavy Metal.”  Don Felder’s pretty underrated, I guess because he comes from the Eagles.