Gojira
- Kimberly Winters
- Jul 6
- 3 min read
If you're following JP during this Ultimate Blog Challenge, you'll know that he's writing about heavy metal this month. I'm not sure he'll get to Gojira over the 31 days but even if he does, what he has to say about them will be different (probably) than what I have to say. I'm including a few videos of their songs so you can easily check them out.
I decided to write about Gojira as they are fresh on my mind after watching their performance at the Black Sabbath - Back to the Beginning concert this weekend. Funny enough, this is not the first time I've written about Gojira. Check out my blog from November 2021 titled "Great Tunes with a Great Message"
Gojira Is one of my favorite bands. They are a band with a message, and I f'n love that. They write about the environment, humanity (and Its flaws), philosophy, spirituality, life and death. Joe Duplantier, the lead singer of the band has been vegan since 2014.
In this article from 2021 about Gojira's song Flying Whales, they point out that the lyrics are "...fixated on the belief that we must reject violence to evolve." Which is no surprise, coming from a vegan. The animal agriculture system is built and thrives on violence.
Later on in the article, as Joe continues to express his confusion about why people love the song so much when he believes they have many songs that are better (especially live), he highlights a disconnect that I think also mirrors the disconnect for those who "love" animals but eat them.
“I actually dislike fans bringing inflatable whales to shows,” he says. “I’m trying to express something spiritual and otherworldly, and it ends up being a bunch of plastic objects thrown at people. When I look at this paradox, I’m cringing a little bit. But that’s personal. This band is not my band; it’s everybody’s band. They want to come to the show, have fun and do their own thing.”
Flying Whales should get us thinking about how special and incredible whales are, but people bring plastic whales to shows and bounce them around during the song. Sea life suffers and we have dead zones in our oceans because of plastic. This is likely something many people won't even think about unless someone else points it out to them. Which is okay, we don't know something until we know it, it's what we do with that we've learned that is the most important.
I'll pull out the Maya Angelou wisdom I am forever quoting:
Do the best you can until you know better. Then, when you know better, do better
Since I mentioned plastic killing our ocean, here is their song Toxic Garbage Island:
One of the simplest, yet incredibly inspiring lyrics comes from their song Silvera.
When you change yourself you change the world
There's so much power in that lyric.
Going back to what initially sparked by desire to write this blog today, I'm sharing a song from Gojira's performance at Back to the Beginning. I couldn't find a the performance with good sound from the Black Sabbath show but Marina Viotti, the opera singer who is on this song is such a badass, I wanted you to see her head banging too!
Here's the official video should you want to hear the song better :-)
Whether they align with your values, speak to a moment in your life, or help you process, lyrics have the power to change your life.
Does it matter to you if a band writes lyrics that mean something to you? Tell me in the comments below! I'd love if you also included a song that really speaks to you from any genre, for any reason!
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I'm in the car right now, but will definitely check these videos out another time. I am not familiar with Gojira's music, but love what you just shared about them!!!! They sound very impactful! There are a lot meaningful songs for me. It's hard to choose just one lol One song that pops in my head is The Cave by Mumford And Sons. It came out when I was in the process of breaking free from my own cave. I was going through such an intense period in my life and would play this song loud and dance for the freedom I was creating.
Kimberly, what a mix today. I don't feel the need to use musical violence to fight animal violence. Remember when PETA went around damaging people they thought were wearing fur? The Youngbloods had a song called "Get Together". It said, "Come on people now, smile on your brother. Everybody get together. Try to love one another right now." Read the lyrics all the way through, and your eyes will leak. Btw, I'm glad you enjoyed your concert.