Candi Carpenter
Cult
Jump to...
Cult. Can you leave one? Can your family feel like a cult and drag you down? An unlikely combination of indie rock and indie pop with a quick infusion of super hard rock may be addressing just that.
Phonotonal has covered Candi Carpenter’s music previously
We’ve covered Candi Carpenter’s music in the past and none of the articles on the site were written lightly. Carpenter’s music can be challenging to digest for many reasons. They sing about rape, religious abuse, or family issues (a slight understatement) – topics you don’t hear about every day but ones we should be talking about all the time.
‘Cult’ closes Candi’s EP, Demonology Part I and if we’ve described ‘Novels About Vampires‘ as having horror themes, ‘Cult’ delivers all the horror of growing up in a conservative family. Fortunately, there’s a way out.
Indie pop and cult experience
After a couple of bars introduction the lyrics kick in and it’s obvious we’re in for the horror story the song title suggests.
I sat in church while my father preached
Candi Carpenter – ‘Cult’, verse 1
About sexual sin and pornography
Learning that I was inherently bad
That God was my lover, my brother, my dad
In terms of genre, ‘Cult’ is indie pop-rock with a particularly pleasant, very brief, switch to something a bit harder.
Generally, though, the guitar and drums gently dictate the storytelling tempo, slowly building up to the pop chorus, which, you’d not even think about when listening to other pop songs, is a massive celebration of freedom and freeing oneself from the chains of a heavily religious family.
Choosing (indie) pop for this particular set of lyrics is nothing short of genius – accompanying the dark lyrics with joyful pop music is a great call.
The entire (half-)album is amazing and ‘Cult’ is a great semicolon, hopefully not a full stop. With some luck, we’re getting Demonology Parts until Hell is empty, and people actually live happily ever after without anyone telling them this or that is a sin.
It’s great to have an artist like Candi who’s open about things most are not even willing to talk about and turn a blind eye.
Candi Carpenter’s ‘Cult’ Meaning
As is Carpenter’s standard, they don’t write complex lyrics that would require you to understand Derrida’s Deconstruction Theory. The lyrics are very open and easy to interpret.
It’s about growing up in a conservative and deeply religious family, and what such experience brings – from indoctrination, and learning nonsense, to escaping through music (at a younger age) and literally when it’s possible.
Some of the experience shared is well shown across the lyrics:
I said I was a Republican in the second grade
Candi Carpenter – ‘Cult’, verse 1
The second grade age is seven both in the US and UK.
The real treasure comes in the second verse though:
I sat in science class and I fantasizеd
Candi Carpenter – ‘Cult’, verse 2
About getting killed because I stood up for Christ
Science and religion don’t go well together, having both in the same verse is no coincidence.
I also appreciate the REM reference:
So who’s that in the corner listenin’ to REM
Candi Carpenter – ‘Cult’, chorus 1
It’s me, losin’ my religion again
vs
That’s me in the corner
REM – Losing My Religion, Verse 2
That’s me in the spotlight
Losing my religion
When REM’s Stipe sings about “losing my religion”, there’s nothing religion related – it means losing one’s temper or becoming enraged. I am convinced this is what Candie means as well.
Carpenter’s using the right bits at great times. Nothing better demonstrates the autopilot some have to be than the second chorus:
Who’s that in the corner listenin’ to REM
Candi Carpenter – ‘Cult’, chorus 2
It’s me, losin’ my religion again
I’m a little kid ridin’ inside a mechanical adult
Growin’ up is like leaving a cult
A mechanical adult who does everything not because they want to but because it’s expected, they’re programmed to. A robot. Not a living being.
The verse sums up the song really well – leaving this type of experience must feel like leaving a religious cult.
Candi Carpenter – ‘Cult’ Lyrics
[Verse 1]
I sat in church while my father preached
About sexual sin and pornography
Learning that I was inherently bad
That God was my lover, my brother, my dadAnd that made me feel kind of dirty inside
I was afraid I was the Antichrist
Because I felt nothing whenever I prayed
I said I was a Republican in the second grade[Chorus 1]
So who’s that in the corner listenin’ to REM
It’s me, losin’ my religion again
I didn’t ask to join, it wasn’t my fault
Growin’ up is like leaving a cultI’m leavin’ (Leavin’)
Leavin’ a cult (Leavin’ a cult, leavin’ a cult, leavin’ a cult)
I’m leavin’ (Leavin’)
Leavin’ a cult (Leavin’ a cult, lеavin’ a cult, leavin’ a cult)[Verse 2]
I sat in science class and I fantasizеd
About getting killed because I stood up for Christ
I’d get a new body, a crown and a mansion
I’d be the most popular angel in Heaven[Bridge]
These are the end times, that’s what my dad said
Don’t take the mark of the beast on your forehead
There are satanic themes in Dragon Ball Z
And secular music on MTV[Chorus 2]
So who’s that in the corner listenin’ to REM
It’s me, losin’ my religion again
I didn’t ask to join, it wasn’t my fault
Growin’ up is like leaving a cultWho’s that in the corner listenin’ to REM
It’s me, losin’ my religion again
I’m a little kid ridin’ inside a mechanical adult
Growin’ up is like leaving a cultI’m leavin’ (Leavin’)
Leavin’ a cult (Leavin’ a cult, leavin’ a cult, leavin’ a cult)
I’m leavin’ (Leavin’)
Leavin’ a cult (Leavin’ a cult, leavin’ a cult, leavin’ a cult)I’m leavin’ (Leavin’)
Leavin’ a cult (Leavin’ a cult, leavin’ a cult, leavin’ a cult)
I’m leavin’ (Leavin’)
Leavin’ a cult (Leavin’ a cult, leavin’ a cult, leavin’ a cult)
Candi Carpenter Articles
Written by Vinklarek on
