Ryan

Expos 3

Biography Essay

Scars That Run Deep

"You laugh because I’m different, and I laugh because you’re all the same." This was a slap in the face to all of the people that made fun of him throughout his life for being different. This was quoted from Jonathan Davis, the lead singer of the band KoRn. A skinny man with thin dreadlocks down past his shoulders, numerous tattoos, and a few body piercings is the emotional fuel for KoRn’s hardcore sound. His eyes are filled with pain and agony. His emotion and energy he uses to perform has changed the hardcore rock world forever. But Davis’ road to success did not come. His disturbing childhood filled with neglect and abuse helped create the lyrics that kids around the world could relate to.

Jonathan Houseman Davis was born on Janurary 18, 1971 to his mother and his father, Rick Davis in Bakersfield, CA. Rick worked in the music industry and at one time owned a music store. By the age of 5, little Jonathan was already taking drum lessons. By age 12 however, his life took a very unpleasant turn. His parents divorced and his father remarried a woman that Davis absolutely despised. "She’s the most evil, f****ed up person I’ve met in my whole life. She hated my guts," said Davis. When he was sick, she would feed him tea with Tabasco and say, "You’ve got to burn that cold out, boy." She would constantly make fun of the way he dressed. Davis resented his father for working all the time and not being there for him. They hardly talked, and if they did, it was about girls. Davis was also abused by someone else, and told his parents about it. They thought that he was lying and didn’t do anything about it. Unfortunately, the abuse and neglect didn’t only come from Davis’ home. In high school, Davis’ was not the most popular kid. He was a boy with a mop top and braces, who played the bagpipes and wore eyeliner to school to imitate his idols Duran Duran. Despite the gay slurs and constant ridicule in school, Davis refused to change anything about himself to fit in. When he was 16, he participated in a job placement program, and after his desired occupation was taken, he applied for the coroner’s office position. "I wanted to go and see a dead body," said Davis, "I didn’t’ expect to fall in love with it." Davis’s extreme interest impressed his professors and the coroner’s office and offered him a job. After graduating high school, he attended Mortuary College. Little did he know that the next few years were going to be the most traumatic in his life. Davis learned to perform autopsies and even became a deputy coroner, showing up at the crime scenes to analyze the victim. While he had an intense interest in his job, he witnessed many things that to this day haunt him in his dreams. He would perform autopsies on people he had talked to the day before and learned that life isn’t as planned as it seems. Davis suffered severe Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder from his work at the coroner’s office. Many of his songs were written about his experiences in the autopsy room. Davis’ childhood was responsible for creating some of the most emotional songs in hard rock.

In 1992, Jon was singing for a band called SexArt. During one of their performances, Head and Munky, (the guitarists for KoRn), heard Davis sing and were awestruck by his talent. They called the next day to ask Davis to try out for their band, which was, at the time, named Creep. After joining, the band changed its name to KoRn, and began making history. Jonathan’s lyrics were extremely personal and were about his parents, school, and his occupation as a coroner. The songs "Daddy" and "Kill You" were written about the negligence of his parents while he was abused and his hatred for his stepmother. Both songs end with minutes of Jonathan’s uncontrollable sobbing. To this day, KoRn has only performed Daddy once live because of Davis’ fear of breaking down during the performance like he did the first time. His band members have also broken down in tears while watching Jonathan sing in the studio. His display of raw emotion touches everyone who will hear him. His live performances are one of a kind. His hair flies as he moves about the stage and screams his heart and soul into the microphone. The stadiums are packed with fans who are sing every word to each song along with Davis.Many of his songs are about the importance of being you and not changing to fit in. He expresses his deepest feelings, telling his listeners his darkest secrets and that is why so many kids relate to KoRn’s music. So much, so that KoRn was one of the rock bands that were blamed in the Columbine school shooting.

Jonathan Davis has had a bigger influence on my personality more than any other musician. In seventh grade, my friend Dan let me borrow the first two KoRn albums. At the time, I was the same as everyone else. I did anything I could to fit in, and I wasn’t doing that bad. But I didn’t have any real friends and I felt that everyone acted very fake toward me. There was maybe one person I could really trust. I sat home with the two CDs and listened to them over and over again I was amazed into the emotion and power that was put into these songs. I had never heard a singer so emotionally honest who would scream until he started to cry. After I heard Davis’ influential voice, I realized that I had to be my own person and I shouldn’t care about what anybody else thinks about me. I became the person that I am today. Davis’ opened my mind up to a totally different style of music and attitude that I could relate to and be proud of.