Is Lisa Marie Presley Telling Off Scientology in a Song?
By Tony Ortega Tue., Apr. 10 2012 at 8:00 AM Comments (315)
Categories: Scientology
For a couple of days now, our excellent tipsters have been alerting us to this new song from Lisa Marie Presley.
It's not that they're big Lisa Marie fans -- although this song really isn't bad, I must say. No, the reason Scientology Watchers are fascinated by Lisa Marie's new single, "You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet," released ahead of her new album Storm and Grace, is that the lyrics of this song sure read like a big middle finger to the Church of Scientology.
Give it a listen, and then let's go over the lyrics together.
In recent weeks, we'd heard rumblings that Presley, a longtime member, had grown disaffected with Scientology and had quietly walked away from it. (Similar rumors have been heard for years, so that's nothing new.)
If she has left, it won't be the first time a big-name celebrity ditched the church. As we reported earlier, even Tom Cruise spent a full decade all but out of Scientology while he was with Nicole Kidman, but both Cruise and the church managed to keep it quiet at the time.
Other celebrities, like actor Jason Beghe, have made their exits in a more noisy way.
So has Lisa Marie "blown," as they say in Scientology? Well, let's look at the lyrics...
You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet
Lay down the law, don't make a sound
Just critical, just going down
I don't belong, I've lost the plot
Not gullible, can't be what I'm not
You can think that I'm evil and I'm off the rails
You ain't seen nothin' yet
If I don't get with your system then I'm sure to fail
Well you ain't seen nothin' yet
Lay down the truth, don't make a sound
Just a piece of fruit who's hit the ground
I don't respond, I've lost the plot
Unethical, not what I thought
You can think that I'm evil and I'm off the rails
You ain't seen nothin' yet
I'm a bit transgressive and suppressive as well
Well you ain't seen nothin' yet
Am I a disruption to your corruption?
You ain't seen nothin' yet
You can think that I'm evil and I'm off the rails
You ain't seen nothin' yet
If I don't get with your system then I'm sure to fail
You ain't seen nothin' yet
No longer elated, now you're frustrated
You ain't seen nothin' yet
You can think that I'm evil and I'm off the rails
You ain't seen nothin' yet
If I don't get with your system then I'm sure to fail
Well you ain't seen nothin' yet
You can think that I'm evil and I'm off the rails
You ain't seen nothin' yet
I'm a bit transgressive and suppressive as well
You ain't seen nothin' yet
For some thoughts about the song, I turned to Jefferson Hawkins, a man who at one time was in charge of marketing Dianetics to the world, and someone with a lot of expertise about both Scientology and messages in media. I asked Jeff, is Lisa Marie telling the church not so subtly to keep away from her?
Wow, it sure looks like it. I think the key is the use of the terms "unethical" and "suppressive," which are definitely Scientology-speak. It sounds to me like they are putting pressure on her and calling her out-ethics and suppressive, and this is her response -- you ain't seen nothing yet. Love it.
When Scientology excommunicates someone, it declares them a "suppressive person" or "SP," and instructs other Scientologists to "disconnect" from the SP -- even the members of the SP's own family. Church members live in fear of being "declared," and will do almost anything to stay in the good graces of the church so they can remain in contact with other family members.
No Scientologist of good standing would describe themselves (even jokingly) "a bit suppressive," as Lisa Marie labels herself here.
I also showed the lyrics to Chuck Beatty, a longtime former Scientologist with deep expertise in the church's arcane "technology" and lingo. Here's what he had to say...
Clearly it's way beyond what would be acceptable for a Scientologist in the fold to be implying, so it sounds to me like it's her declaration of "fuck you" to Scientology. Her use of the words suppressive, transgressive, critical, truth, and system all clearly would be taken as bad indicators at Scientology celebrity headquarters. The attitude sure sounds reminiscent of Elvis's "fuck you" comments to Scientology. Good for her!
I've put in an interview request to Lisa Marie's publicist, and let's hope that she wants to share with us her thoughts on the song.
I'm struck not only with the word "suppressive," which seems a dead giveaway, but also with the general thrust of the song. I mean, your typical pop song isn't likely to have this kind of sentiment in it...
"If I don't get with your system then I'm sure to fail"
Former Scientologists -- and I've talked to quite a few -- all tell me that one of the scariest things that faced them when they dropped out of the Scientology "system" was that they had been warned by church officials that they were ill-equipped to survive the "wog" (non-Scientology) world outside the organization, and that they would surely fail if they left the Sea Org, for example.
Also, for someone coming to the realization that they no longer belong in Scientology (and will suffer from "ethics" officers on the way out), there is hardly a more fitting characterization than...
"I don't respond, I've lost the plot
Unethical, not what I thought"
And with the church mired in controversy, with allegations of shocking abuse appearing in court testimony and in new press revelations, her words of warning to church leadership seem especially ominous...
"Am I a disruption to your corruption?
You ain't seen nothin' yet"
Well, we're obviously reading a lot of things into these lyrics that Lisa Marie may not have intended, but at the minimum this is an extremely unusual statement for a longtime Scientologist to make, and we hope she speaks publicly about it soon. (And hopefully, to us!)
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