Ryan Clark has an absolutely beautiful voice, whether he is screaming or singing soft melodies. He and his brother, Don Clark, co – founded my favorite Christian band, and possibly my ultimately favorite band, Demon Hunter. They are of the heavy metal genre, formed in the year 2000. They released their most recent album in 2010 which was titled The World is a Thorn. The band plans to come out with a new album in 2012.

I chose to discuss their song “Not Ready to Die,” off of their 2004 album, Summer of Darkness.

“I’m burning bridges for the last time

I’m breaking habits for the first time

I saw my future today, it said I’m going away

But I still haven’t sung the last line

On my way down..

I’m not ready to lay, not ready to fade

I’m not ready to die.”

In summary, this song is telling the audience that he is going to keep going and pursuing his life. He won’t let anything tear him down and take him away.

He is burning the bridges that he crossed in the past, so he will not go back over them and repeat the same mistakes. He is breaking habits, tearing away from things that hold him down. That’s what growing up and becoming mature is — realizing what is holding you back, and removing yourself from the situation. Although things might look really bad on the physical aspect, your mental aspect of it can make a big difference. A simple quote I learned a long time ago illustrates this point: “And this too shall pass.”

The song is also telling you that, even though he “saw” the future, he will ignore it; he will push past it and make the best of what he has. Even with the solid evidence of how things will turn out, the song tells you to move forward and focus on what you have. Work with the materials you are given, not things that you are lacking. It is so much easier, and representative of weakness, to focus on what you don’t have. It is hard, but proof of strength, when you can focus on what you do have.

He is not ready for his memory to fade away, for he still carries his lyrics with an obvious strength. I think that this is a really great message to those who let themselves be overwhelmed constantly. Try and push past that weight and everything telling you to give up. Put the past behind you. It will all be much more beneficial.