Skillet Copies Three Days Grace?

I am a pretty hardcore fan of Three Days Grace. I heard of them through a friend and fell in love with their music; Never Too Late helped me through one of the hardest times in my life. I plan on getting “it’s not too late, it’s never too late” tattooed on my ribcage, but besides that, I love them and their music. It would be amazing to see them live.

One X is my favorite album, a lot of the stuff on that album Adam wrote while he was in rehab for his drug addiction. I used to have an addiction. Slicing my skin open with a blade for an emotional release. My favorite songs off that album are “Pain,” “Riot,” “One X,” “Time of Dying,” “Never Too Late” and “Animal I Have Become.”

Not too long ago, I discovered the band Skillet while listening to the Black Veil Brides Pandora radio station. I really like them and their sound, so when I was at Target looking through the CD’s and saw their album Awake; I just had to buy it. The song Monster is the second track. Upon hearing it, I couldn't help think of Animal I Have Become. The lyrics were very similar.

Animal I Have Become starts out as “I can’t escape this hell/ so many times I tried/but it’s still caged inside/somebody get me through this nightmare/I can’t control myself”

Monster starts out with “the secret side of me/I’d never let you see/I keep it caged I but can’t control it/so stay away from me/the beast is ugly/I feel the rage/and I can’t control it/it’s written on the walls/in the closet/in the halls/it comes awake and I can’t control it/hiding under the bed/in my body/in my head/why won’t somebody come and save me from this/make it end”

It may not be too similar but I still can see connections. Adam talks about going through Hell and he can’t escape while Skillet singer, John Cooper talks about not being able to control himself and it’s his dark side. There are similar lines. “I keep it caged by I can’t control it,” “it comes awake and I can’t control it” and “I can’t control myself,” then “why won’t somebody come and save me from this” and “somebody get me through this nightmare”

Now, going into the chorus, Animal I Have Become goes “so what if you can see/the darker side of me/no one will ever change this animal I have become/help me believe/it’s not the real me/somebody help me tame this animal/this animal/this animal,”

Monster goes “I feel it deep within/it’s just beneath the skin/I must confess that I feel like a monster/I hate what I become/the nightmares just begun/I must confess that I feel like a monster/I, I, I feel like a monster/I, I, I feel like a monster

This isn’t as similar as the first verse, but I still see connections. “This animal, this animal” and “I, I, I feel like a monster/I, I, I feel like a monster” “I hate what I become” and “no one will ever change this animal I have become”

Next verse

“I can’t escape myself/so many times I tried/but there’s still rage inside/somebody get me through this nightmare/I can’t control myself”

And “my secret side of me/I keep it under lock and key/I keep it caged/but I can’t control it/cause if I let it out/it’ll tear me up/break me down/why won’t somebody save me from it/make it end”

More similar lines, they both start out nearly like the first verse, Adam is trying to hide being an animal while John does mention it being “secret side of me” and that “it’ll tear me up/break me down” but both want “somebody to get me through this nightmare” or “somebody save me from it”.

Now, going into the third verse, Three Days Grace doesn’t really have one, “somebody help me though this nightmare/I can’t control myself/somebody wake me from  this nightmare/this animal/this animal, this animal/ this animal”

And Monster goes “its hiding in the dark/its teeth are razor sharp/there is no escape from me/it wants my soul/it wants my heart/ no one can hear me scream/maybe it’s just a dream/or maybe its inside of me/ stop this monster”

Not that similar, but Monster talks about it being a dream while Animal I Have Become talks about it being a nightmare but both are asking for help.

Now when it comes to the music, there are also similarities.

Animal I Have Become starts out with one instrument, then adds a guitar and then another. Monster starts out with one guitar, and then adds the drums and when John starts to sing, another guitar is added. I don’t know much about music. I can only play Mockingbird by Eminem on the piano and Remembering Sunday by All Time Low of the guitar and got a C+ in Music Lab at my school but I think the music parts are pretty similar. I think the progression of the sound is similar though.

The last thing I am going to look at is the music videos. Animal I Have Become starts out with the band playing and flashes to Adam in his room lying in his bed before getting up and looking in the mirror and getting dressed and going onto the streets of Toronto. His reflection in the windows is a monster with piercing red eyes. He continues to walk and bumps into people but keeps going. And doesn’t look back. His next reflection looks like a demon version of him. Next he is in a bar and bumps into more people before reaching a table and putting his head down and attractive women comes over and puts her hand on his back to see if he is ok, he looks up at her and she then has a demonic face. Adam then flips out and wakes up in his room which is trashed. When not following Adam’s story, you see the band performing in a room with red walls.

Monster starts with John strapped to a gurney with a bandage wrapped around his head but one eye is not covered. Doctors are around him watching and trying to sedate him and keep him down, but John is able to break free and rip the bandages off his face. Then you see John’s wife and bands rhythm guitarist, Korey being pronounced dead and a sheet being put over her face. Her eyes then open and she shoves the sheet off of her and jumps up. The doctor calls for assistance and you next see her and John running through the halls of the hospital being chased by SWAT.

Although the videos don’t match, a lot of the lyrics do. So is it safe to ask, did Skillet copy Three Days Grace, or is it a coincidence that the songs are very alike?

Mitt Romney Against Human Rights?

                Everyone knows who Mitt Romney is, the Republican candidate for President of the United States. Romney is one of those people either you hate (like me) or love (like that douche who lives down the street from me). Recently Romney is known for not understanding why you can’t open the windows on an airplane. (At a young age, even though I didn’t know why, I still understood that you can’t open the windows or bad things would happen). Romney is also known for his comment about 47% of Americans who think they are entitled to healthcare and food and shelter.

                Well, Mr. Romney, you are obviously want to be president so you are familiar with the United States Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, where it says that “all men are created equal, that they are endowed with certain unalienable rights, and among these rights are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” (I will get to that later), but is Romney aware of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights? Obviously not because he seems to be ignoring three of the thirty rights we are given just by being born and a member of the human race.

                Since he knows nothing about this document and it is very rare that a lot of people do, why don’t I give a little history lesson.

                In the year of 1948, the United Nations adopted the document after the experience of the Second World War when it came to Nazi Germany. After that awful war, the UN vowed to never let anything that awful happen again. The first draft of the document was made in 1947 and the work was later taken over by a formal drafting committee consisting of members of the commission from 8 states, selected by geographical location. The Commission of Human Rights was made up of 18 Members all from various political, cultural and religious backgrounds

                Later, the beautiful document was born and the human race was given thirty rights that we were born with. The rights we all are entitled to are

1.       Everyone is free and should be treated in the same way.

2.       Everyone is equal despite differences in skin color, sex, religion, and language for example.

3.       Everyone has the right to life and to live in freedom and safety

4.       No one has the right to treat you as a slave nor should you make anyone a slave

5.       No one has the right to hurt you or torture you

6.       Everyone has the right to be treated equally by the law

7.       The law is the same for everyone, it should be applied in the same way to all

8.       Everyone has the right to ask for legal help when their rights are not respected

9.       No one has the right to imprison you unjustly or expel you from your own country

10.   Everyone has the right to a fair and public trial

11.   Everyone should be considered innocent until proven guilty

12.   Everyone has the right to ask for help if someone tries to harm you, but no one can enter your home, open your letters, or bother you or your family without good reason

13.   Everyone has the right to travel as they wish

14.   Everyone has the right to go to another country and ask for protection if they are being persecuted or are endangered of being persecuted.

15.   Everyone has the right to belong to a country. No one has the right to prevent you from belonging to another country if you wish to.

16.   Everyone has the right to marry and have family

17.   Everyone has the right to property or possession

18.   Everyone has the right to practice and observe all aspects of their own religion and change their religion if they want to

19.   Everyone has the right to say what they think and to give and receive information

20.   Everyone has the right to take part in meetings and to join associations in a peaceful way

21.   Everyone has the right to help take part in the government of their country

22.   Everyone has the right to social security and opportunities to develop their skills

23.   Everyone has the right to work for fair wage in a safe environment and to join a trade union

24.   Everyone has the right to rest and leisure

25.   Everyone has the right to adequate standard of living and medical help if they are ill.

26.   Everyone has the right to go to school

27.   Everyone has the right to share in their community’s cultural life

28.   Everyone must respect the social order that is necessary for all of these rights

29.   Everyone must respect the rights of others, the community and public property

30.   No one has the right to take away any of the rights on this declaration.

 

                During a speech at a private dinner, Romney said that 47% of us “think” we are entitled to food, shelter and adequate healthcare. That is true. Because we are entitled to them

                According to right number twenty five, we ARE entitled to the adequate standard of living which does include food and shelter and adequate healthcare which we ARE entitled to when we are sick. Romney doesn’t think we are, he even thinks “adequate” healthcare is calling 9-1-1 when someone’s heart decided to give out and try to kill them.

                Romney, why is it that you don’t believe in human rights, you want to deny people of their right to food, shelter and health.

                Not only is Romney against those rights, he is against same sex marriage and wants to add an amendment to the United States constitution banning it. Not only is that just plain wrong, it is also against human rights. Right number sixteen is that we are all given the right to marry and have a family.

                If Romney is against these simple human rights, what else is there? We already know he is going against right number 2. Everyone is equal despite differences in skin color, SEX, gender, religion, language. ECT. Romney and his douchebag vice president nominee are trying to take away women’s right to choose along with her healthcare.

                What other rights does Romney want to take away from us American citizens? Make him and his rich buddies above the law? Our freedom of religion which is already being taken away by not separating church and state? Even as a Christian, I believe in the separation of church and state. Religion should stay in church or in private schools where everyone is there to learn that along with the academics required by the state. What about number thirty on the list? No one can take away these rights. This whole thing literally sickens to me! Not only that, but how ignorant he and a lot of conservatives are. They keep putting the law of the religion before the law of the land. As a Christian, I know the bible is a book of contradictions because it is written by several people. It says homosexuals prostitutes are to be put to death, yet it says Thou Shall Not Kill. So if you base all your beliefs on religion alone and only that and nothing else, nothing is going to make sense. You have to add facts and know that not everything in the bible needs to be taken so literal.

                Either way, Mitt Romney cannot become president. Don’t let him take our rights away from us. Don’t elect him into office. Vote for Barack Obama.