Atomic Coming

"Atomic Coming"

The famous poem “ The Second Coming” really amazed me and has made me think a lot about it since I first read it . This is a poem that clearly shows how this modern era full of violence, crisis and death has influenced writers to make predictions about the future or to merely describe the hostile times they have lived in.

Not only has this sorted century influenced writers but also a varied and versatile group of artist.

There is a black metal band formed in 1986 called “Dark Throne” from Norway. This band, in 2006, released a song entitled “Atomic Coming”. I had never paid much attention to what this song meant until we read Yeats’ poem.

In this song, they don’t suggest another version of the second coming of Jesus; instead, they propose a more apocalyptic and even more realistic prediction of the future: An atomic coming. This coming seems to be under some few people’s control (Hiroshima and Nagasaki) or sometimes it seems that it couldn't be controlled (Chernobyl and Fukushima). It is indeed one of the most scary and possible ends of the world.

I know that this kind of music may not be of your taste and neither it sounds like a poem, but it is a clear sample of how the context in which artists live in is directly represented on whatever they create or communicate.

Finally, you can find a link below in which you can listen to the song. Also, I would like to mention that one of the two members of the band ( the one to the right in the video) is a current school teacher in Norway.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNrdv_xV9Bo