The reason why Seven Inches of Satanic Panic features only two songs is because it is meant to be, as I said, like a single that would have been released in 1969 - which would have been a 7" vinyl (hence the title and hence why it is only available digitally and on vinyl) with one track on the A-side and one track on the B-side. The A-side features "Kiss the Go-Goat," which features a music video depicting Papa Nihil performing the song live at a venue with his lover, Sister Imperator, watching from a balcony until Nihil eventually betrays her and starts getting frisky with some of the women in the crowd. (Sister Imperator is another character in the Ghost lore, believed to be the Papas' mother.) The song has a psychedelic rock flavor to it, which makes a lot of sense given that it's supposed to be a song from 1969. (The lyrics even nod toward the Beatles' 1967 song and album Magical Mystery Tour: "You've been playing around the magic that is black, but all the powerful magical mysteries never gave a single thing back.") According to Genius, the song is intended to be somewhat satirical. Ever since Opus Enonymous was released in 2010, Ghost has come under scrutiny from time to time because of its Satanic imagery and lyrics (which I will discuss a bit more later on), and this song seems to be poking fun at that. It's no secret to most that goats - especially black ones - are often used in Satanic imagery. (Just watch the 2015 horror film The VVitch for a prime example.) They are often intended to be used as depictions of Satan. (In The VVitch, for example, the family's goat - Black Phillip - is essentially revealed to be Satan disguised as a goat.) When Nihil tells the listener to kiss the goat, he is therefore essentially telling the listener to kiss Satan because, unlike previous attempts at finding love, Satan won't let you down: "...but he's the guy you wanna do, and you know that it takes two; luckily, he wants to do you, too." This song definitely grew on me. I initially didn't really like it much - especially not compared to "Mary on a Cross" - but I now love it for its '60s sound and poppy chorus that acts as a real earworm. I am sure that it came as a surprise to many longtime Ghost fans, especially following the theatrical rock opera style of 2018's Prequelle. It maintains Ghost's sound while also flirting with something new.
The b-side of the single features "Mary on a Cross," a song that will always have a special place in my heart because, as I said, of it being my first exposure to Ghost. This song, in mid to late April, was featured in my weekly Discover Mix on YouTube Music (thanks, YouTube Music!), and I immediately loved it upon first listen. Like "Kiss the Go-Goat," "Mary on a Cross" has a 1960s psychedelic rock vibe to it, although it might be even poppier and catchier than "Kiss the Go-Goat" which is saying a lot. (Yes, this is another earworm for sure.) Ghost has always been exceptionally skilled at combining different genres of music - such as punk rock, power pop, arena rock, psychedelic rock, and heavy metal - together. In fact, upon my first exposure to them, one of the reasons why I loved them was that they sounded to me like a blend of R.E.M., HIM, and '60s and '70s psychedelic rock bands such as The Doors. "Mary on a Cross" (and this single overall, for that matter) is a great example of the band's tendency to bend and blend genres. The track, as I said, features vintage psychedelic tendencies as well as a bit of a modern indie rock sound and some catchy retro pop sensibilities. I had the song's chorus stuck in my head after my very first listen and thought, This is really interesting. I need to check out the rest of this band's stuff, and I am not disappointed that I did because, as I said, my life has not been the same since. I have seen "Mary on a Cross" labeled as blasphemous, but I honestly can't understand that. I mean, I am not necessarily against blasphemy when it comes to Christianity because I am what many would consider blasphemous myself. I believe in a higher power but do not believe it to be the Christian god and believe the Christian Bible to be nothing more than a book of stories. Regardless of my feelings toward Christianity, however, I don't see how the song is blasphemous, especially not when you aren't digging into the song's lyrics deeply enough which is a mistake that people frequently make. Some readers may remember, for example, the controversy that conservative Christians launched back in 2011 when Lady Gaga released her single "Judas." The song was regarded as Jesus-bashing and further evidence of Gaga's involvement with the Illuminati, even though the reality of it was merely that Gaga was using Judas as a metaphor for an actual man whom she loved but knew wasn't good for her because of his tendency to betray her.
As previously mentioned, Ghost is no stranger to controversy. They once had a show scheduled in Midland, Texas where they faced backlash from a pastor protesting their presence there. He said that the band's Satanic messages were not a good influence on the community. I could be wrong, but I fortunately do not believe that the pastor's outcry had any effect, but it is an example of a religious zealot not being too happy about Ghost. Frontman Tobias Forge has repeatedly said in interviews that much of the Satanic imagery and lyrical content is meant to be allegorical and not taken literally. He has also said that some of the most hateful people that he has ever met were Christians and that when it comes to Satanism, there are Satanists who literally worship the Biblical figure and then Satanists who simply admire what the figure represents, which is freedom and rebellion. My point is that "Mary on a Cross" being referred to as blasphemous is child's play for them. When, in the chorus of the song, Papa Nihil sings that "you go down just like holy Mary," it is possible that he is referring to the Virgin Mary (the mother of Jesus Christ), but it is also possible that it is a tongue-in-cheek reference to Mary Magdalene, purported by some to have been a prostitute, and most people know that "go down" is a euphemism for oral sex. (Nihil also says near the end of the chorus that "if you choose to run away with me, I will tickle you internally," which is very likely also intended to be sexual innuendo.) Genius also makes the point that the song is not only meant to be sexual but is also about marijuana. Nihil, for example, sings, in isolation, the words "Mary on a" which could very well be meant to sound like "marijuana." "Go down" could therefore be a reference to the smoke going down into the user's lungs, which could also be what "tickle you internally" is in reference to (reminding me of when Gaga sings in her song "Mary Jane Holland" that "the grass heats up my insides"). Either way, it's not really about religion, is it? It's a metaphor, fool. This is one of many reasons why I love this song - its clever subtext and multiple meanings. I am so very glad that I discovered this band and will definitely be reviewing the remainder of its discography soon.
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