WASP Regret "Animal" Song
Blackie Lawless wishes he hadn\'t written 1984 track
W.A.S.P.’s Blackie Lawless has revealed his regret at his band’s most notorious song.
In a new interview Lawless, who is a born again Christian, reveals that he regrets the 1984 song (which was removed from their album at the time to prevent it from being banned).
"Words are the most powerful things we possess," revealed Lawless as he talked to Bryan Reesman of Bryanreesman.com. "They shape our very lives and determine who and what we are. Some may find it remarkable, but I was born again when I was 11 years old. I was very active in my church until I was 18, and when I left the church, I went about as far away as a person could go when I then studied the occult for three years. I wrote that song a couple of years after I stopped that study. I went for 20 more years before I returned to my Christian faith, which is where I am now.
"That song was put into my life for a reason. I was talking to Alice Cooper, who is also born again, earlier this year, and we both feel the same about our early work. Although a lot of the music we did early on was as diametrically opposed to the way we had been brought up, a lot of the early songs we did were laced with those Christian valves. He and I were talking and said, all we need now is Marilyn Manson and we could start a band. The world would never believe it! I said all that to say this: I renounce, denounce and pronounce that I will never play that song 'Animal' live again. Actually, I've not played it live for several years.”