Korn on Obama: ‘You Built This House of Shame’
by Kregg JankeJonathan Davis, lead singer of the band Korn, is not known for speaking his political mind. In fact, one of the tracks on the band’s 2005 album “See You on the Other Side” was titled “Politics,” in which Davis wrote about not liking to share his views on the subject.
Something between then and now has changed.
In an interview with Billboard.com for the group’s just-released album “Path of Totality,” Davis does not shy away from explaining his thinking behind the new track “Illuminati,” which includes the lyrics, “You rape our hope/Too proud to cope/You built this house of shame.” Explains Davis:
“At the time I’d been really getting into the Illuminati and the whole conspiracy theory, New World Order. It’s entertaining to me. If it’s true, it’s true. If it’s not, it’s not. I don’t care, but it’s been like a little pet project of mine. It was a song that I wrote pretty much about, like, I feel like Obama’s an Illuminati puppet and how it’s basically dragging this country down into the worst it’s ever been, and, um, I mean, I think one of ‘em is like ‘you’ve built this house of shame.’
The White House used to be like, everybody looked up at the White House and America and everything, and now I think it’s like a house of shame. It’s like, just hang your head down, just like, I miss the old days when people were proud to be American. For me, you know, studying the Illuminati and what they’re trying to do, if there is an Illuminati, it’s pretty much breaking the people down, breaking the people down, breaking the people down until we just give up and create the North American Union, just like they did in Europe with the European Union. And the Russians and the Asians will have the Asian Union. It’s all coming down to a One World Government. I can see and I read about it and the stuff’s actually starting to happen, and it kind of freaks me out. So I wrote the song about that.”
Undoubtedly, Davis knows the cultural repercussions faced by those who speak ill of the Anointed One, so why did he do it? A better question may be why are others in the music world so afraid to do the same? Musicians had no problem voicing their displeasure with President George W. Bush. At least Bush was proud to be an American and didn’t go on a World Apology Tour after taking office.
What is so different with Obama occupying the White House? We still have freedom of speech in this country, last I checked. Surely musicians can see the political tone throughout the country. Obama’s approval ratings have dropped below that of President Jimmy Carter’s.
So why are so many artists afraid to speak their minds if it isn’t in lock step with the perceived majority of those in the music industry? Most adults in this country are not liberal, and many resent the liberal stranglehold on the entertainment industry.
I’ll never understand why more entertainers are so afraid to speak their minds and choose to side with the minority just because they claim to be in control.
Despite this explanation from Davis, I still don’t know if he’s conservative or liberal, and I’m fine with that. But I am glad he has the courage to speak his mind against Obama even though he probably knows it will not be well received in the music world.
It actually may have won him some new fans.
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77 Comments
Ummmm, ok.
Why don't celebrities speak out?
Because they will lose their favored status with the anointed one….
At least until he needs a campaign contribution.
I get the feeling Davis just brought up the Illuminati because he'd rather be dismissed as a loony conspiracy theorist than ostracized as being even slightly to the right of the rest of the entertainment industry.
Korn is Kool in my book! They aint exactly Kid Rock, or Big and Rich, but you know what, thats alot more than any of these other idiot "rockers" have said or done! Thats the SECOND best thing theyve ever done-next to their unforgettable South Park appearance!
Davis is stating the obvious. A person would have to be blind not to see the way our country and the world is heading. Nice to see an "artist" that doesn't have his head up his own @ss.
STFU and sing your songs. There are plenty of other outlets for your political musings. I tell this to both the liberals and conservatives. I wouldn't be intellectually honest if I didn't.
I've always liked their music. It's good to read that they're stating the obvious about Obama.
Jonathan Davis is an Illuminati nutjob who hates Obama for not being a Stalinist. Stop giving him any play at the Bigs please.
Wow public figures actually in touch with what average Americans are feeling! Korn hasn't sold out and that little gesture gives me amazing hope and relief from that creeped out feeling of living in some sureal Orwellian Nation. Thank you Korn.
My thoughts, exactly.
Dear Korn: It's called 'getting older.' Usually you start to say stuff like what you said here when your frontal lobe finally develops around age 23. In your case it took an extra decade, but its good to see you're on the way to becoming a man.
That quote is unintelligible. If you're gonna, like, speak out against, ilke, the President, learn how to, um, like, form a coherent thought.
All things considered, I'd rather he listen to Alex Jones than Ed Schultz or Olbermann.
KORN was one of the best live acts I ever saw, right up there with Rage Against The Machine.
After September 11, 2001, I tossed out my RATM CDs, because I could no longer rationalize ignoring their anarcho-Marxist rantings. I had no such moment with KORN.
Hearing Davis disparage Obama, no matter how Dale Gribble-ish he sounded in doing so, just made me nostalgic for the 1990s; I think I'll go crank "A.D.I.D.A.S" and "Falling Away From Me" now…
He's a little off the rails in his reasoning, but at least he seems to be reaching for something that makes sense. And yes, it does take guts to publicly speak out against Obama; so points in his favor for that.
Don't forget about the life-sized Antonio Banderas blowup doll with realistic genetalia.
If you haven't seen the episode, you won't get the joke.
Dale Gribble-ish…nyuk nyuk nyuk
that's a good one.
Obama not a Stalinist? What'cha smoking?
Why did he have to bring up the illuminati? He was doing so well.
Also, like, I miss when people didn't, like, use the word 'like', like, all the time. Ya know.
He didn't like to talk about politics before, who says he was a leftist?
I can appreciate you sentiments, I really can. But it's nice to see someone in the media who actually isn't brainwashed and publicly admits to it. It's not like he's shoving it up in anyone's face – in fact, it sounds like he'd actually rather just sing about it, but since someone asked…
And I didn't -1 you – don't think you deserved that…
A good bumper sticker slogan.
Sorry, I'm not buying it. I thinking he's just playing us so he can dupe us into talking about him on the Bigs and then . . .
BAM!
Sucker punch city!
Remember Mila Kunis not so long ago.
The left labels anyone slightly right of center as a loony. So what's the difference?
Jonathan Davis at least knows 'they're out to get us', even if he's a little to 'focused' on the Illuminati.
If some want to think Obama is a puppet of the Illuminati, that's fine with me. I've thought worse.
Conspiracy theorists are harmless because not enough people agree with their hair-brained ideas to affect elections (at least not in the U.S. — Islamic countries are another matter entirely).
Conservatives actually constitute a voting bloc that can get in the way of their precious utopia.
He's a democratic socialist, perhaps a Marxist, but far from a Stalinist. This site would be shut down and Breitbart shipped off to the gulags if Obama was a Stalinist.
Corn powers, activate!
Seeing as how I like most of what Korn puts out, this makes me like the band even more. Glad to know they can spot the obvious, well, the part about Obama screwing everything up.
I am old enough to not know Korn, sorry.
But underneath the Illuminati stuff, this is an important point.
Obama made promises to a new generation. He made them hope, about an alternate reality, obviously, but he made them hope.
Obama not only disappointed them, he made it distasteful to work within the system. Even Obama's system is corrupt, incompetent, impotent.
One of the hallmarks of youth is optimism. Obama turned them pessimistic or worse, apathetic. He betrayed their trust. Obama used their trust; he used THEM. A great disservice to our country and to our youth in particular.
.
The babyboomers went for his alternate reality because his rhetoric reminded them of the feelings they had for JFK. When JFK died his memory was frozen in the American mind – optimistic, youthful, pure. There is nothing pure about President Obama and his Administration.
So sad.
this KoRn fan is glad to see the Freak Off The Leash.
Never a Korn fan, but I admire his bravery for speaking out against the chosen one. Hope he went into that expecting an onslaught from the fascist left.
Far too much disdain in some of the aforementioned comments. C'mon peeps. What are you expecting? The coming of William F. Buckley with an Ax and dreads?
I applaud Davis and Korn. I've always liked Korn so it's comforting to know it is not regrettable.
One small step for the American music community. Let's hope & pray one giant collective recognition for Stupid American Youth.
Lets see what you think next year.
Most artist types don't know squat, they just go left to score "cool" points. They are also insecure and cowardly, so very few have the stones to say what they really think if it goes against the elitist crowd.
This guy might not be articulate, but he's got courage.
Certain sub-groups are defined by being rebels, anti-authority, etc. To a large extent, that's rock, right? Or it's supposed to be.
I'm sure I'm not the only person who has frequent cognitive whip-lash moments when yet another "rebellious youth" advocates greater power for the State.
In any case, I think that Korn can get away with this more than a pop princess can. Not that it's a sure thing. I recall some brouhaha where Godsmack (?) was getting the "treatment" for letting the Navy use one of their songs recruiting. And didn't someone just have to say "Yes I let Romney use my music" or something?
I've noticed this before… the left is very much into social ostracizing and punishment for anyone who steps out of bounds and it's quite obscene, actually. You've got the infamous sci-fi "race fail" thing of a couple of years ago where people who'd expressed extremely mild opinions were made to publicly grovel… you see it over and over, just the other day up top here, "gay person made to apologize for gay slur" etc., It's probably still possible to find Penn (from Penn and Teller) talking about the pressure to not even talk to (I think it was) Glenn Beck, because talking to Beck and *disagreeing* with Beck was something akin to roasting and eating fetuses.
I think that conservatives and libertarians got so sick and tired of the constant accusations and attacks that they/we started ignoring them. But someone *inside* the community can't ignore those who find finer and finer levels of outrage without being expelled from the community. For humans being expelled from a community is not a trivial matter. It's profound on primal levels.
Even so, it really wasn't something that could continue indefinitely. It had to collapse I'm not at all surprised to see it collapsing the the places that we see it collapsing.
Dallas replant here sayin HELL to the YEAH
I'm glad there are people in entertainment who are unafraid to break the liberal line. I just don't need to hear about it through song. I stand by what I said above. When Bruce Springsteen or the Dixie Chicks or the rest put out their garbage against George Bush, we told them to shut up and just play their songs. I don't see why this should be any different just because it's a sentiment we agree with. To applaud this but deride the others is not being intellectually honest.
learn how to read a gut filled honest opinion without ragging on someones speaking methods as$ wipe
ahhh common…he's a bit shy and deals with ptsd over being bullied as a kid. give the guy some props for saying what he sees.
Nope. Making yourself clearly understood is key, especially if your field requires communication. That's a garbled, unclear quote. And c'mon–it's the internet. I'm pretty sure it runs on ragging.
Ugh, I'm glad the dues of Korn see the light as far as the poisonous effects of the Obama administration are concerned – but they're guilty of building houses of shame as well…. Like their music. Good grief they're awful! From Coltrane to this? Oh man….
AMEN to that…
JD is not an agressive hater. He isn't looking for praise with these coments…that id put my life on. He CARES about young people, old people…most of all REAL people. He is my divine inspiration in life…you go JD!
just the fact that you would call anyones art awful shows you dont have a clue about truly grasping the beauty of it. ANY of it.
Good of Davis to actually say what he thinks without the fear of repercussions.
I saw it, and got it! Unfortunately, his brain is a blowup doll, too!
KORN!
Like we need Korn to verify our point of view. I don't really care what celebrities think on either side of the fence. Their opinion is of no more signifigant than yours or mine. Its people that give credence to celebrities opinions that elevate them to a point where they think they posess some sort of political genius. I have consistantly read brilliant commentors on this blog who's insight and political knowledge superceeds any celebrity I have heard blabbering on.
His reasoning makes me believe entertainers are not the brains in their operations. Not only can I not understand his Iluminati stuff but I cringe that he doesn't even care if what he thinks is true.
He makes no sense yet still understands the basic fact that we are and should be allowed to be proud to be American. He understands the need to project that which I really applaud.
If he'd get off drugs for a few months straight some parts of his head may be able to make a recovery.
Thanks sweetie
Call it a wild hunch.
I saw them live a couple of years ago and they put on a great show. I was skeptical about their new album because of the dubstep influences, but I purchased it anyway cuz I like it when bands I enjoy poke Big O in the eye
Is that an old pic or has Brian re-joined KORN?
Not too surprised by Jonathan's comments…
Finally a group who realizes it is about Us vs the Status Quo. The Liberla are the current staus quo and try to act like they are not. They are not counter- culture. We are the new counter- culture!
Corn Flakes?
They did it because if they speak out they lose the kids and college who want to "Rock the Vote" and as was pointed out score points with the soft headed kids who think they know more than folks who came before them.
I wouldve never thought being right wing is the new rebel. all those rockers out there are pose to be against the man, but somehow when a lefty is in power its all good.
'Illuminati' – isn't that another word for Bilderbergers? Or does it imply other things?
Either way, I'm glad he had the guts to come out and say it. I think I want to check out that song, "Illuminati". Maybe I'll buy the whole album.
What did Kunis do exactly?
In any population, there will be individuals outside the "norm." This is one individual, a single data point in a sea of data points. Korn is a welcome addition to the Dark Side, but it isn't indicative of a trend. I'd like to see more rockers of the Ted Nugent variety, but sadly most are still lefty pantywaists.
Hey I once was in the Kornkage, wearing blazer tie and khakis. Took my kids, was a hero. so is Obama an illuminati Freak on a Leash?
"Undoubtedly, Davis knows the cultural repercussions faced by those who speak ill of the Anointed One, so why did he do it?"
I would like to think he is willing to face the repercussions because his other bandmates (past and current) are following Christ and they are helping to influence his life. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZAWWDhRyBI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fs7i_ckEHVA
Oh yes, there a lot of beauty in flailing dred locks, screaming into a mic and banging on power chords….
The really bad news is that Davis is dead right.
Obama is the real life Manchurian president.
He is not the boss, the bilderbergs are, and they want to slowly exterminate 80% of the worlds population.
Vaccines, GM food, tap water, chemtrails, war.
Good luck!
You gotta start somewhere… Any of this sound familiar?
•“Our program necessarily includes the propaganda of atheism.” — Vladimir Lenin
•“The best way to destroy the capitalist system is to debauch the currency.” — Vladimir Lenin
•“The way to crush the bourgeoisie is to grind them between the millstones of taxation and inflation.” — Vladimir Lenin
•“One of the basic conditions for the victory of socialism is the arming of the workers (Communist) and the disarming of the bourgeoisie (the middle class).” — Vladimir Lenin
•“A system of licensing and registration is the perfect device to deny gun ownership to the bourgeoisie.” — Vladimir Lenin
He had me until the Illuminati reference. Then, all I could think about was Obama employing an albino assassin to help cover up Da Vinci's secret codes. Not that I would put it past him …
They probably voted for him. So stop whining!
Remember, we were all proud of her for accepting that Marine's invite to that military ball, but then a couple days later she was all gushy over Obama. Sort of to make up for her mistake of veering slightly less left. Although she DID follow through on the date, so props to her for that at least.
I agree, and +1'd you. Do we need to polarize our entertainment, along with everything else?
I used to be a fan of the band when their first album came out. I'm basing my opinion on his words and thoughts. Is there another way to tell, like having big ears or something?
I liked their first 3 or 4 CDs but haven't listened to much of their new stuff. Jonathan Davis is one of the last singers I'd expect to get political, but good on him for having the courage to speak his mind. As long as he doesn't get preachy.
When will everyone begin to realize that one person (a president) and his cabinet, cannot change the way things are without the consolidated effort of the over 500 elected officials (way to many I might add) in congress. (goes back to the old addage: "Too many cooks can only spoil the broth!"). They constantly keep wasting time figuring out ways of working against each other instead of working out the problems that exist. Too bad that most of them do not really know how to do their job. "SO SAD!"
"I am old enough to not know Korn, sorry."
Consider yourself lucky. Those of us who grew up in the musical abyss known as the 1990's weren't so fortunate.
I'll give them props for having the stones to go against the grain but it doesn't change the fact that their music blows.
I can tell by your handle you have far better taste in music than tripe like Korn.
Might want to reread your metal history there (for the record "nu" metal is neither new nor metal). Al Gore's wife was the one speaheadng the Twisted Sister witchhunt
Might want to reread your metal history there (for the record "nu" metal is neither new nor metal). Al Gore's wife was the one speaheading the Twisted Sister witchhunt
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