A Rock Star With A Confession Most Christians Won’t Make

With songs that push past the traditional boundaries of Christian music, Skillet strikes a chord with everyone. The hard rock band’s song “Monster” in June became the first and only song by Christian artists to surpass 1 billion streams on Spotify. Thanks to ear-splitting hits like “Hero” and “Feel Invincible,” the band has been bringing metal and hard rock to Christians and secular audiences alike for 30 years.

Led by John Cooper, the band includes his wife, Korey; drummer Jen Ledger; and guitarist Seth Morrison. Twenty years after the release of its Grammy-nominated album “Comatose,” the band is about to embark on its “Still Screaming” tour and on Friday is releasing its first EP, which Cooper says “was written from a very raw place.”

Sporting his classic beard, a shredded tank top, and black ear piercings, John Cooper spoke with The Daily Wire about the band’s faith, honest lyrics, and resonance with all types of fans. 

“As a Christian, I believe that music should glorify God. That to me is its eternal purpose,” Cooper said. “And so because of that, I think that I should try and be as authentic and real as I can if I want to glorify God and if I want to point people in that positive direction towards looking for God, reaching out for God, considering whether God is even real in the first place.”

When so many around them took the “deconstruction” route, the musicians of Skillet have maintained their faith. 

“I have a very traditional understanding of the Bible, and I hold to that. And I’m not swayed by whatever new fad the world wants to believe. Some Christians will begin to feel like, ‘Oh no, people are going to think I’m really mean if I don’t change with this new fad because that’s the new thing.’ And they feel very pressured,” Cooper said. “I don’t feel pressured because I honestly don’t really care what people think about me. I care about what God thinks about me.”

 

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With lyrics like, “I wanna scream / I wanna break something beautiful because / I wanna scream,” some may wonder how Skillet’s new single “Scream” could be about God. Cooper answers frankly: It’s not. Instead, it’s about difficult seasons of life. But the Bible itself isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. Cooper noted how many of the Psalms find the authors lamenting, expressing honesty before God. 

“I think honesty is a really important thing. God already knows your thoughts anyway. So, it’s okay to be real with God,” he said. “And if you’re just fake with God because you think it earns you some kind of favor, you’re going to be disappointed.” 

The broader meaning of “Scream” dives into battling life’s demons.

“We’re all struggling with various levels of pain: mental health, loneliness, anxiety, addiction, etc. And how are you going to react? The scream can be literal, but usually the scream is sort of a silent scream,” Cooper said.

If “Scream” expresses raw honesty, then “Lift Me Up” is a song of sheer endurance that’ll make your next gym session the most intense you’ve ever experienced. Written by Cooper and his wife, Korey, “Lift Me Up” is about reaching out for help. A highlight, if not the highlight in Cooper’s career, is when his songs help people out of an addiction or dark place. 

“A lot of people who struggle with addiction or depression or mental health, etc. — there’s a certain kind of shame,” Cooper said. “As a man, I definitely know that feeling of, ‘I’m supposed to be tough. I’m supposed to be stronger than this. I don’t want to admit that I need any help because everybody’s struggling.’ But I think that’s what the devil wants you to think.” 

Cooper recalled a story of a woman whose son has autism. The mother told Cooper that she would have the hardest time with her 6’3″ son when he would get very angry and, unable to communicate, would hurt her. After she discovered Skillet on YouTube, she found it was the only thing that could calm her son down. For the last two years, her son hasn’t had any episodes; she told Cooper through tears as her son hugged him. 

The song “Grave Stomper” finds the band telling the devil that he might be a “heart-stomper” and “hate-monger,” but we are grave-stompers. Smiling, Cooper shared something special about this in-your-face, motivational builder: He said Daily Wire host Michael Knowles is about to be very happy when he learns that the idea for this song came after reading St. Athanasius’ “On the Incarnation.” 

“The whole book is about the fact that Jesus, the son of God, took on human nature, came to earth, defeated death, and defeated the grave,” Cooper said. “And I got the idea for ‘Grave Stomper’ because I was putting it into my own perspective and the many voices of death in my life that have been lying about me, manipulating me, trying to control me, and the system that I was in — they just constantly kept trying to keep me in a cycle of chaos and confusion.” 

Refusing to cave into the manipulation and suffering, Cooper told himself that Jesus “has overcome the grave, and he can help me overcome this.” 

The best line to describe where he is at today, Cooper said, is in the chorus of “After The Storm”: “Picking up the pieces after the storm / How am I still standing?”

This is the Christian life, Cooper added — not knowing if you are going to make it, but not giving in. It’s also having the right posture and leaning on Christ, hungry for his grace every day. Coming out of such a dark season, how did he have the strength to get out of bed every morning and face the day? Cooper was eager to answer.

“So I’ll just be dead honest with you: I am not a very good prayer warrior,” Cooper said. “I do a really bad job of praying. I do a really bad job of being faithful, and I try my very best. So, anybody, if you feel like a failure, I am with you … But I do try to get up and give honor to God for the day.”

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This article is part of Upstream, The Daily Wire’s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you.

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