A discussion on an email list ( “a very democratic organ” ) about a song written at the time of author Salman Rushdie’s being forced into hiding in fear of his life after writing a book, has caused the artist to respond on his own record label’s website.
I hope you will spare some time to read the entire rant, complete with alternative history lessons but I’ll also pick out a few quotable lines from amongst the legion.
..Re-the black cloud of islam.. a song of mine written in 1989……
..Religion, my first and only enemy, was about to storm the world.
..Fundamental disbelief in due scientific process threatens all our lives now. Freethinking humanity is seriously threatened
..the black cloud of christianity probably fell 600 years earlier
..Creationism is muck, and where there’s muck there’s brass, as they say in Yorkshire
..as the internet continues to develop into the universal earth educational supplement
Lyrics:
the black cloud of islam
I’m sick to the teeth of the news on the screen
of hisbullah scum and jihad the obscene
whose men plant the bombs and then live feeling free
to watch women and children be killed on T.V.
which satan delivers a child a death curse
in the name of a worn out collection of verse
I’ve not read the book so I cannot recite
but I’d bet Salman Rushdie is just about right
underneath the black cloud of islam
What kind of publicity needs so much blood
that’s not for some sad diabolical god
selling himself as a two-bit Macbeth
as the expert in sentencing cousins to death
and what kind of god can this be anyway
that you have to prostrate to him five times a day
with hate in your heart and a gun in your hand
is force the only thing to understand
underneath the black cloud of islam?
and the butchers who’ve got all this blood on their hands
are the ones who need god to be stood where he stands
blessing this kidnapping, murder and war
with books written hundreds of ages before
and woman in veils walking paces behind
doesn’t sit easy in my mind
it speaks of oppression and no other choice
that rigid compliance with the loudest voice
underneath the black cloud of islam
You can put a lead bullet clean through this guitar
‘cos I’m not overjoyed with the story so far
sharing a world with the nutters of god
is as good as being six feet under the sod
words that are written are all here to say
and these are the latest there are anyway
and I am the prophet so don’t believe me
I’m the same as the old ones expect that I’m free
to give you a piece of my mind which is this
you’re the worst of jehovas blind witlessnesses
with your feet in the door of the deepest abyss
which is underneath the black cloud of islamby Roy Harper
Andy Roberts is a writer who initiated DARnet. Contact me on aroberts@gmail.com or @aroberts on twitter
it seems for such a incredible artist with a strong sense of justice and respect that this song was written with anger rather than thought. It is a shame that roy harbours any hatred for religion tolerance, respect and peace are the pathways of all truely religous people. One shouldn’t be so quick to judge everyone by the actions of other if you get me. I hope he will find peace with himself, relions and himself insha’ allah.
when i see thousands of muslims screaming for the death of a single man, just because he changed his religion, it seems to me that roy has hit the nail directly on the head. mr. manouchehri, it doesn’t matter what flowery words you use to disguise your hate-filled religion, the actions of your “true believers” speak volumes. by the way, the fact that muhammed had sex with a 9yr. old girl tells me your prophet is a pervert.
I think Roy Harper is absolutely correct. Muslim fundamentalists have turned the religion of tolerance and respect into one of hatred and violence, and a serious reality check for muslims living both in the Arabic world and outside it is urgently needed.
Wow! Those were some pretty hostile comments, I get the impression that Timo and his friend Skaflok have some deep seated issues with Islam. I feel like you were being quite aggressive in your out look of Islam. I hope that you realize that even if you were to cut me into a thousand pieces each piece would still love you, as the prophet said the three most destructive qualities are greed, pride and anger, if you get trapped into doing that you loose, don’t be one of the losers. Lets all be friends we’re all the same anyway we all do weird stuff! We all think that the guys in other countries or religions are different and weird, but its good we’re different. Lets just all chill out stop all the fussing and the fighting, lets not confuse bad people with all people. Lets unite to try and make the crazy people from all around the world (what ever religion or race they so happen to be) see what they’re doing wrong. Timo, Skaflok be my mates I’ll make you some Arabic mint tea and we can smoke a Shisha, eat some falafel and play backgammon. You might find that I won’t kill you or bomb you or rape a 3 year old child or whatever else Muslims are supposed to do.
Peace be upon you all my brothers and sisters
The Prophet may have seen “greed, pride and anger” as the three most destructive qualities, but I would sooner live nextdoor to a proud greedy angry man than a paedophile who (according to the Koran) shags nine year old girls.
Sorry about that, I’ve just reread my last post and it seems a little nasty. However, I have many Muslim colleagues and I respect them as people, and enjoy their company, as long as we NEVER discuss their crazy beliefs we get on just fine. Believing something is true simply because your parents believe it may be human nature but it is hardly logical. Think for yourself and stop the tribalism that seems to be ripping the world apart. The fighting that goes on between followers of different faiths is no different to the fighting that occurs on the football terraces. The “my team’s better than your team” mentality is sickening to me. Religion is divisive and wrong, and I applaud the Turkish people on the secularist view they have regarding the separation of church and state. Proof that not all of the Islamic world is obsessed with the archaic doctrine of insularism.
People’s ignorance never ceases to amaze me. Did the IRA represent the thoughts, beliefs, morals and ethics of the entire Catholic church?
Oh and I love the “I’m not a racist, some of my best friends are black” argument.
At no point did I say anything resembling “I’m not a racist, some of my friends are black”. What on earth makes you assume that am white? I avoid discussing religion with all my collegues, muslim or not. As an atheist I find ALL religious beliefs crazy, fundamentalist or not, but Harper wasn’t writing about the IRA was he? The crazy beliefs to which I refer are such absurdities as “God made the world” and “Eating pork is a sin”, views held by all muslims.
Nice try Tim, but you’ve got a long way to go before you can call yourself a good debater.
lol… ‘Some of my *colleagues* are muslim, and I respect them as *people*’. Glad to hear it! I think communication would be a problem if you thought of them as fish. No assumption made about your colour, just a point about your attitude.
What’s with the ‘good debater’ line? Are you baiting me?
Danyal Haj Manouchehri’s wise words about the fundamentalists’ approach to Islam I’m certain speaks volumes about how the majority of Muslims see this relatively small faction of the Muslim community.
Let’s not get this out of proportion. What the country does not need is a knee-jerk reaction right now; this would inevitably lead to far more recruitment of fundamentalists. Our government needs to knuckle down around the debating table with the Muslim community to get to the heart of the problem. Even if we can’t understand the ideology of the troublemakers, there are those who do – the Muslim elders and leaders, people such as Danyal. I believe that the situation could potentially become self-policing with the help of people such as this.
Roy Harper also wrote “One Global Village With Faces As Bright As The Sun” Shouldn’t we all subscribe to that ideal?
Following from the last email ( H Bexley ) I beleive the heart of the problem is found in those parts of the Koran which preach that Islam should be imposed on all non-believers, that non-believers are inferior and any means of stealth, deception and force can be used to achieve these aims.
So, to all muslims. How about removing the inciteful passages and join in the ‘real world’ with the rest of us ?
Im wholly unreligious but wouldn’t say Im an Atheist.
To paraphrase religious texts and talk about negativity towards non-believers, I only have to go to a football match to see that resentment of outsiders or ‘non-believers’ is everywhere.
I find it insulting that ignorant people, who, I might be wrong, but I don’t believe have even read the qur’an, talk about inciteful passages from the point of view of a religion which, during the colonial era sent out missionaries who tortured, killed and exiled those ‘savages’ who did not comply. An intelligent point (one of few) on this string was raised earlier about the IRA and the ongoing war between Protestant and Catholic Christians starting with the persecution and ritual burining of Catholics in the Tudor era.
The fact of the matter is, all religions are somewhat hateful and resentful of others because people are. Religions give us an identity, a sense of togetherness with our fellow believers, and if you truly believe something, then why wouldn’t you be suspicious of people not believing something that you feel so strongly about.
I don’t know as much about the corruption of the Qu’ran as much as I do the Bible. I know about the history of the perversion of the Bible in the Catholic Church since the Dark Ages, but I do know that as with anything written or spoken word composed by someone else, is that ones own interpretation is an understanding limited by ones own ideals, intelligence and experience. The veil is an example of this.
“say to the believing women that they should lower their gaze and guard their modesty; that they should not display their beauty and ornaments except what (must ordinarily) appear thereof; that they should draw their veils over their bosoms and not display their beauty except to their husbands, their fathers..”
Who is to say what is beauty? For some it may be the face, for some the body, I could Google feet right now and be inundated with foot fetish porn, it is down to the individual what they take from that, it is the same with some of the more contraversial parts; it’s all about interpretation, harmless passages can be spun by whomever. There are Muslims out there full of hate who twist the Qu’ran, put their own slant on it and brainwash others, just as their are Christians and Jews.
Bottom line guys, if you call a Muslim suicide bomber a terrorist for killing 30 civilians, you are right to criticise, I do not believe people have the right to kill others, whether guilty themselves, or by association. But then what do we call a Jewish Prime Minster bombing the Gaza strip killing 10,000′s of Palestinians, whether guilty themselves or by association? What do we call an American President killing 1,000,000s in wars across the World, whether guilty themselves or by association?
Why is one Terroism and one Collateral Damage? I don’t know, but the sooner Muslims, Christians and Jews stop dragging religion into their wars to build a false sense of solidarity and a strong sense of apathy toward the other, the better.
The trouble in the Holy Land is not a religious war, Palestine is home to 1000s of indiginous Christians and Jews, it is about land, a sense of identity and persecution.
The wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, the Balkans, Sri Lanka, East Timor, Northern Ireland everywhere, are not about religion, it’s just that religion is used as a tool, as propaganda to improve the physical and mental strength of the those being used to fight wars by a more sinister hierarchy by drawing upon something which the protagonists hold so dearly.
If you want to slate Islam or any other religion, don’t try and mask or justify your hatred by selectively quoting or misquoting things that you understand from the religion itself. Just come out and say ‘I hate Muslims’, ‘Jews are queer’, ‘Christians can go suck an egg’, because at the end of the day, all you are is rascist, and there is no justification for that. There is no evidence for that which will get me on board.
So chill out. The World is full of enough hatred, don’t add to it.
Im not in any way religious, but I think if there’s one thing to take from all religions is that we are blessed by the fact that we are alive and here, and that as a fellow human being, no matter what the circumstances, I am no better or no worse than you because in essence we are the same thing. So look out for others, we’re all in it together, if others are doing f*cked up sh*t then stop them or at least don’t encourage them. Just do your thing, live and let live.
On a final, lighter note, there was one quote on this string which made me laugh:
“So, to all muslims. How about removing the inciteful passages and join in the ‘real world’ with the rest of us ?”
We are talking about a historical text here, like the Magna Carta, or the Book of the Dead, you altering them removes their virtues as historical texts. Not only can you not change a historical text, if us mortals were to change it, then it would no longer represent the world of God and therefore would serve no purpose. Obviously someone with such little understanding of how relgion works should not be writing comments.
Also where are your calls for Christians to edit the Bible and delete the 7 days in which God created Earth and cut and paste a bit of Darwinism in there?
Oh yeah, and, watch out for the Revolution ‘cos its coming!
I am impressed by your lengthy and detailed reply.
Where to start ?
I’m partially religious, beleive in God, a dedicated secularist and believe in the spirit of scientific enquiry.
Like the invention of the printing press, the internet allows both the
ignorant and the erudite the freedom of expression and in fact
democractic societies demand it as a right. So, ok I am ignorant, but I am going to write my views because I can and I am going to be selective.
In case you did not notice, this site DARnet was discussing Roy Harper’s lyrics to ‘The Dark Cloud of Islam’. As far as I could see
the Bible and Christianity are not mentioned but since you brought them up I will too. Your missive attempts to demolish my argument or lack of in three ways.
1/ As above; To paraphrase, You attack Islam, what about Christianity, football violence and other forms of incitement ?
Well what about them. This argument I remember was used at the time of our anti-apartheid demonstrations. Why pick on South Africa when there are atrocities being committed in ( you name the countries ) ?
2/ This is a good one. If you don’t agree with someones line of argument they must be a racist.
Racism – Belief in the superiority of a particular race ( any of the
great divisions of humankind with certain inherited physical characteristics in common ) and antagonism towards other races presumably based on these physical characteristics.
I have been called a number of things in my life but never a racist. A highly overused word.
3/ Have you actually read anything about the subject ?
Or what gives you the right to make any critisisms about something you know very little about ?
The problem here is interperetation. Taking your advice I googled islam qu,arn interperetation and sure enough the suras are open to different meanings and this is in the English language.
I prefer something more direct; by making a comprison between what somebody says and what they do, and reading between the lines.
Yes people commit violence and yes it pays not to contribute to that pool but at what point does this equal appeasement ?
Sometimes and in your case it is coming soon, you will need to decide just what sort of society you want to live in. Is it Europe or Eurabia. On one side a citizen of a Liberal Democratic Nation State
on the other dhimitude in the new Caliphate. If it is any consolation we are going to face the same threat. I wonder which country will fall under sharia law first, I am picking Belgium.
Best of luck.
Coda – Looking through one of my diaries and saw this entry;
August 1986 The Cricketers Arms, Oval, South London.
Finally saw the legend himself. This man can sing but he looked tired; it must have been a long week.
I was hoping he would sing ‘me and my woman’ or ‘The same old rock’, but the standout one was ‘I hate the white man.’ The applause seemed a bit restrained.
How the worm does turn.
Cheus.
I agree with Roy’s lyrics whole heartedly.
I am not a racist – racism is a criminal offence – and crime is for black people.
The term “racism” has been diluted over the years to include religion. This is catagorically wrong.
Race is not a choice, religion is.
I could not care if you were green, blue, pink, yellow, purple or whatever shade you may call yourself be but I do have an aversion to religious zealots, especially the middle-eastern dogmas. If I’m not a muslim, I am a kuffar. The fact that a religion has a special word for someone who is different tells me all about tolerance and inclussion.
Islam is one of the most arrogent groups on this earth, they have a delusional superiority complex whilst feeling inferior. The education levels in their world is one of the lowest on the planet. Muslims are quick to blame others for their predicament. The fact that Muslims clamber to be in the west, tells me that their societies are rotten. There is no other reason (unless colonising) that they woule prefare to live in a land full of “kuffars” and feel frustrated daily.
Another annoyance is the term “un-Islamic” but since Muslims are a minority on this planet maybe it should be rephrased as Muslims being “Un-Worldly”?
How much tolerance does the muslim faith have towards Paganism ?
I just ask as there are certain muslim countrys where I would not dare to visit and say I follow Pagan ways or I am pretty sure I would be arrested and sentenced to death as a witch, even though I do not follow any belief that looks to satan or the devil in reverence btw. Just curiouse is all.
I am not going to make a comment about ve heard Islam but I will make a comment about Roy Harper as I have heard a lot of his music over the years.
Roy Harper also sang about thirteen year old schoolgirls in his song Forbidden Fruit – on youtube
Quote;
Steal away from mummyhood theres my little girl
On the pillow of my tummy
give my hair a curl
Run your fingers under and over
make us a little pool
and dont forget about tomorrow
in the same place after school
Baby let me calm your fears
Let me hold your thirteen years.. (end quote).
Yes how innocent.
Thirteen years? I can hear the Harper sycophants saying now – ‘oh yes…um… but that was back in the early seventies, things were different then…’
But then how many of the listeners actually use their inttelligence and ask themselves the question ‘how many of these generalisations he sings about are actually true?’ -or- are the actions of a few extremists typical of the majority of the wider religion?
is it possible to extrapolate merely from extremist positions a complete condemnation of a wider religon – welll to Roy it is – which is why his musings on his own blog sound so Stalinist at the same time highly selective.
Perhaps we should believe that the little pool would be the dribble issuing from the corner of the
drivvelers mouth and the underage marriage comment reminds one of the saying ‘pot calling the ketttle black’
Atheist neo liberals are every bit as fundamentalist as the religious fundamentalists they decry – only they arrogantly think that they are somehow more enlightened because they think they have no religion. But they do – its called secular neo liberalism. They zealously pursue anti religion because theres a smug white neo liberal middle class audience who are going to agree with them. There was an easy audience for this back in the days of late sixties middle class youth disaffection – that is before the hippies became yuppies.
Roy Harper is quite selective in whom he directs his anti authoritarianism against and which authority figures he leaves alone. Theres a lot of double standards there.
Hi Jimi, thanks for your comment.
I just want to raise a couple of points. You mention that Roy Harper has his own blog now, and this is at
http://www.royharper.co.uk/blog/
It might be more appropriate to take up some issues with him there rather than as a comment on this four year old blog post of mine that’s echoing on down through the years. Up to you though.
Secondly, I don’t think the term “neo liberal” is a useful or accurate one in this context is it? Neo liberal has been used by American political commentators to describe an extreme form of lassez faire pro-capitalist economic policy advocated by libertarian conservatives, what many of us in the UK would call “the looney right”. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neoliberalism
Calling atheism a type of religion is an old trick of word play that has been done to death really, there’s no mileage there. It’s like calling “sugar free” a type of sugar, or pedestrianism just another form of car ownership.