1. To me, this song is about how darkness within people and struggle can lead to very positive things. The lyrics “you don’t know my mind, you don’t know my kind, dark necessities are part of my design” represent Satan’s rebellious attitude and defiance of God. He is trying justify his way of thinking while suffering in hell, and this lyric is very apt in describing Satan’s struggle. Also, the lyric “tell the world that I’m falling from the sky” literally describes Satan’s fall from heaven. The driving and energetic piano and slap bass in this song further enforce the idea of rebellion and struggle.
2. If I had to pick only one song to represent Satan as a character, it would be this one. The song fits his heroic rise from hell perfectly, with lyrics such as “Burned by the glory of a sacred fire, the rising force starts to shine. A burning inferno, it soars ever higher leaving the demons behind.” This song captures the heart of the underdog that Satan has and rage. The dueling guitar and keyboard solos in the middle of the song are blazingly fast and have the same intensity and determination of the rousing speech Satan gives to the other fallen angels. As a guitarist myself, I was blown away by the speed and power of these solos. I could imagine this song blasting while Satan says “For this infernal pit shall never hold Celestial Spirits in bondage … peace is despaired, for who can think submission?” (1.657-58, 1.660-61) and the “millions of flaming swords” (1.664) come flying out.
3. This song is about Stormzy showing off his status in the rap community. I think this song represents Satan’s confidence and arrogance. The lyric “Lookin’ in the mirror sayin’, ‘Mikey, you’re the illest’ (Yeah) When I’m James Bond, tryna live my movie like I’m Idris” describes that intangible “cool factor” that Satan has like a movie star. Stormzy, being British, disses Boris Johnson at one point, saying “Fuck the government and fuck Boris. I’m a villain, killin’ when I’m barrin’.” This is similar to how Satan fights against authority while being cast as a villain.
4. “Floods” by Pantera from the album The Great Southern Trendkill (1996)
4. I don’t want to focus on the lyrics for this song, but instead the overall atmosphere of the piece. The mood for the first 3 minutes and 45 seconds of the song is one of overwhelming dread and despair. I’d compare this to hell and its “darkness visible” (1.63). I imagine Satan’s brooding side to have a similar mood. However, the last 45 seconds of the song are a beautiful and quiet guitar outro with the sound of rain in the background. The serenity of this section is what Satan would have felt when he first saw Eden.
5. My interpretation of this song is that of a man inhabited by the spirit of a serial killer. At the beginning of the song, in the “Good Mourning” portion, the singer sings “something’s not right, something’s coming over me. What the fuck is this?!” This represents Satan’s descent from an angelic figure to a bringer of destruction. He is inhabited by a will to do evil. The second part of the song is about the man’s homicidal rampage, and at the end of the song, “It’s Black Friday, paint the Devil on the wall” is repeated many times. I believe “Black Friday” represents a day to worship Satan, the opposite of the Good Friday observance. This represents how Satan has rejected God and worships only himself by the time he has fed Eve the apple.
6. To me, this song is about dealing with loss and trying to move forward by seeing the bright side of things. The song is mostly instrumental with only a few spoken lyrics, one of which is “The only thing that burns in hell is the part of you that won’t let go of your life. Your memories, your attachments, they burn them all away. But they’re not punishing you, he said, they’re freeing your soul.” I think this quote really nicely summarizes the feeling of loss that Satan had when he was cast out of heaven. Satan decided to move forward instead of being stuck grieving over losing heaven. The hopeful synthesizers throughout the song represent Satan’s hope for his plan’s success.
7. I partly included this song because it is my favorite song, but it also represents Satan’s emotional complexity as a character. The lyrics make perfect sense and no sense at all at the same time, which is similar to Milton’s writing. The lyric “I send a heart to all my dearies, when your life is so, so dreary, dream” stands out to me as not only something Satan would say to the other fallen angels but something someone would say to encourage Satan himself. I see Satan as a dreamer of impossible things. The loud and messy distorted sludge of guitar noises throughout the song is how I would visualize Satan’s mental state. His mind is racing between thoughts of revenge, grief, and hope throughout the poem.