Former Rainbow and Deep Purple frontman Joe Lynn Turner recently sat down with Finland’s “Tumma Nuotti” to discuss the heavy themes behind his 2022 solo album, Belly Of The Beast. In a candid conversation, the singer explained that the record’s dark lyrical content was a direct warning to the world about the systems of control he believes are enslaving humanity.
“I think that the messaging, as far as lyrically, was a place that I was in at the time. I mean, I’m not out of the this messaging, but I thought it was very important for the world to know what was actually happening. And that’s why I called it Belly Of The Beast because the ‘beast’ system is the system that we live in, whether it’s government, education, religion, all institutions, for example. We, as a humanity, are being enslaved. Little by little, our freedoms are being taken away, and it’s very important to realize that this is a very, very dangerous adjustment that they’re trying to make slowly,” he said (as transcribed by Blabbermouth).
Turner illustrated his point by comparing the current state of society to the metaphor of a frog in boiling water.
“I liken it to the theory of boiling the frog,” Joe explained. “You take a frog, you put him in warm water, you put it on the stove, and little by little you turn the heat up and the frog doesn’t realize it. And pretty soon you’ve got the heat and the fire all the way up and the frog is boiled to death. And that’s the theory of the frog. And I think we are the frogs. Slowly but surely, our freedoms are being taken away. Control is being imposed, and they’re making it sound like it’s for our comfort and betterment, but that’s not true. So Belly Of The Beast was a big message trying to reach the people.”
Turner also said that the chaotic timing of the pandemic may have obscured the message for many listeners.
“I don’t think, coming off the pandemic, or the ‘plandemic’, as we say, [the message of Belly Of The Beast] really reached enough people. I think now it’s starting to gather much more of a understanding, simply because they’re looking back now and saying, ‘Hey, wait a minute. There was something about this in there.'”
He continued: “And it was — not disappointing to me at all, because I only hoped that at least a certain few would get it, would understand it. And there were some absolutely amazing reviewers who did understand it, which got the message out to the public more and more. But there’s still time for people to wake up and understand what’s really happening more and more.”
He remains hopeful that the album will eventually be recognized for its foresight.
And I think at one point in the future, this album is gonna come back and resurface as, ‘He told us. He was trying to tell us something in this album. It was not just great music, great melodies, but also an amazing message.'”
Turner went on to describe the current state of the world as a battle between good and evil, urging listeners to recognize the “spiritual war” taking place.
“I think, and as the [Belly Of The Beast] record explains, we are in a spiritual war here. Not only physically. War is not only physical, with bombs and bullets, but it’s spiritual. And I’m not talking religion, I’m talking our inner spirits. People have lost the right and wrong of things, of values of where we should be going.”
He pointed to specific tracks on the album, such as “Rise Up“, as calls to action against apathy.
“‘Rise Up‘, for example, is an anthem. It’s trying to tell the people, ‘Look, we’re being put in chains.’ You can live on your knees, you can die on your knees, if you want, but you have to stand up for these things. And I think the people are too comfortable now, in a way, where they don’t realize that someday they’re going to be wishing they did rise up and it will be too late.”
Touching on songs like “Dark Night Of The Soul“, Turner emphasized the importance of self-reflection and finding one’s purpose, warning against a life of consumption and greed.
“If you just take, take, take, take, honestly, you will meet with a very, very horrible fate, because that taking — you may seem like you’re winning now, but you’re actually losing. Because the laws of the universe say — and maybe people will scoff at me, but this is true — there is such a thing called divine law. I’m not talking religion, people, I’m not talking this or that. I’m talking a divine law from the universe. And they say, if you take, take, take and never give, sooner or later it’s over for you. Because to give is the real thing.”
