Skillet (Band)

John Cooper: Ya know if I could sum up, say one thing, it would be Looking for Angels really. Which is the idea of course is that there is just so much darkness in the world and so much evil and depression. That song really kinda lists everything from wars to senseless violence, to racism, to drug abuse, to internet pornography, in the whole thing. There's so much going on, you can kinda look around and it's easy to ask yourself the question, "Is this ever going to OK? Is there anything in life worth living for?" I hope the people find, in our music, maybe a little bit of peace to those questions. And Looking for Angels, has a little bit of a twist which is not just yes there is hope but also like "What are you going to do to make this world a better place, to help someone who is needy . . . the poor or whatever that may be." To reach out to someone else and connect. I think that were not really connecting like we need to. Its one of the things that I find really. . . . It seems to me people are connecting less then when I was younger except there are more forms of communication now, in that its all impersonal. All this massive technology that we have accomplished but we are really reaching out to one another less and less. And I think the American Dream is a little bit to blame for that, that it's all about me and that it's all about my money and the kingdom of . . . me.

Korey Cooper: The Kingdom of Self.

John Cooper: Yeah, the Kingdom of Self . . . and so I think that's the message. Yes, the world is getting darker but there is hope and why don't you be a part of the solution to someone else and you just might find that when you begin to reach out to someone else that you don't feel so lonely.

John Cooper: "Better Than Drugs is one of those songs that some people really like the lyrics or some people really hate the lyric I've found. I've found people on both sides think they're offended. Some people are saying, "Are you saying drugs are really good?" And I'm like absolutely not.

Basically I've never done drugs in my whole life and I'm a pretty straight edge guy when it comes to these things. I think drugs are just bad for society all out. I started thinking why is it that people do drugs? You know, asking things like that. And one of the main reasons it seems to me the people find themselves involved in some kind of ... like serious alcohol or drug abuse, that kind of thing... has just been because life can stink so bad, that life can be so hard. All that crap that comes down, it's just another way to deal, you know? And everybody finds a way to deal with whatever pain they have. Like when my Mom died from cancer it was like, there was these times I felt like I needed someone to talk to in a really bad way at night.

Maybe it would be really late at night and I'd call a friend or something... that was my way of dealing with this. I needed somebody in the flesh to be there for me, you know? And I started thinking about this drug thing about when I get on the road with other bands and you see the way that some bands deal with how hard road life is by doing drugs or abusing alcohol, I just think what a bummer it is when all this high is over with that you have to come back down to your real sucky life... that it's a temporary escape, but you're not escaping at all you're just fooling yourself. And so Better Than Drugs was basically.. um, again, could be a song that's about God, could be a song about someone that makes you feel that escape because they're there for you and they meet those kind of needs. And that's what it's saying; basically because the reason you make me feel that... you're better than drugs, if you will, is that I don't ever have to come down from the high that you give me. That's what it's saying; don't have to feel lonely because you're always there for me and satisfy my soul... yeah!"