Written by Hiromi Shimada
Elvis, Bob Dylan, The Beatles...what did faith bring to those famous songs?
Format: Shinsho
Number of pages: 256 pages
Ever since the genre was established, the word "rock" has had a strong image of being "music for young people, anti-establishment, and anti-authority." Among such authorities is Christianity, which has wielded power in Western society. For this reason, Japanese people who are not familiar with Christian culture may think that Christian spirit and rock are incompatible.
However, many American rock musicians, including Elvis Presley and Bob Dylan, praised or prayed to "God," "Jesus Christ," and "Mary" in their songs. In fact, when we look at the relationship between Christianity and rock in Western society, we can even say that without Christianity, rock would not have been born.
How did their music change as a result of their faith, or their denial of faith, and how did that affect the rock genre as a whole? A scholar of religion explores the relationship.
Shimada Hiromi: Born in Tokyo in 1953. Religious studies scholar and writer. Graduated from the Department of Religious Studies, Faculty of Letters, University of Tokyo in 1976. Completed his doctoral course at the Graduate School of Humanities, the same university, in 1984. Majored in religious studies. Served as assistant professor at the Broadcasting Education Development Center, professor at Japan Women's University, and specially appointed researcher at the University of Tokyo's Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology. Currently a part-time lecturer at Tokyo Woman's Christian University. Major works include "Soka Gakkai" (Shincho Shinsho), "Japan's Top 10 New Religions," "We Don't Need Funerals," "All We Have to Do is Abandon Our Parents" (Gentosha Shinsho), "Religious History in Postwar Japan" (Chikuma Sensho), "The Disappearance of Religion" (SB Shinsho), "Anti-intellectualism and New Religions" (East Press), and many others.