Well, well, well! It looks like my boys are finally back! :D
5 Seconds Of Summer has returned from their hiatus since the conclusion of The 5 Seconds of Summer Show Tour and the release of their fifth album, appropriately named (in my opinion) 5SOS5. This hiatus granted them some time away from the spotlight to start families (Michael and Luke are now both married men with little girls!) and also work on some more solo projects. All of the members of 5SOS have solo albums out now, so that is pretty cool. :) Luke Hemmings and Ashton Irwin released their second solo endeavors and now Michael Clifford and Calum Hood have released their solo debuts as well. As a band, they also released a single with Galantis and David Guetta called "Lighter."
But now 5SOS is back on track with a brand new era and studio album called Everyone's A Star!, released today! A great belated birthday present to me! :D
The first single off of 5SOS5 "Complete Mess" was actually the last time I blogged about these guys on here, so it is about time that I do it again. Since then, I was even blessed with the opportunity to see 5 Seconds Of Summer in concert with my parents and friend Abby for their Take My Hand Tour at the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, New Jersey on July 10, 2022! :D
5SOS began this new era with their single "NOT OK" on September 24, 2025. And let me tell you, it is a FAR CRY from "Complete Mess." LOL Like, I had to think about what their introduction single off of 5SOS5 was in order to remember it. That's how much of a contrast "Complete Mess" is for me.
I was considering a track by track review of 5SOS5 like I did with CALM and Superbloom (2020), but I never got around to it or was very inspired to do it. I think maybe the 19 tracks were intimidating to me. LOL If you know me, you know that I am very analytical and write very in-depth essays on here. Analyzing 19 SONGS for one blog post felt like a daunting task that I guess I wasn't very keen to take on. lol It is a lovely album though and worth the listen.
Maybe it will be different with Everyone's A Star! We'll see what happens. :)
So. What do I think of "NOT OK"?
...
WELL...there's some minor controversy and I'm not really sure how I feel about it. 5SOS is in hot water with some fans, including myself, regarding this song and music video. Maybe. A little? Is it that serious?
Let's talk about it. :)
I'll start by giving my impression of the whole album so far. But to do that, let's have a look back at their previous albums for comparison sake and see how these albums ran parallel to their lives.
5 Seconds of Summer (2014) and Sounds Good Feels Good (2016), as wells as their original EPs, tell the stories of teenage boys/young adult men coming of age. They are just breaking into the industry and finding themselves and dealing with the trials and tribulations the come with that. Youngblood (2018) and CALM (2020) are about heartbreak and coming to terms with their mistakes in life as men in their mid-20s as they maintain their position in the industry and really have their breakout hit with "Youngblood." 5SOS5 (2022), their namesake milestone album, is more sentimental. They are men in their late-20s looking back at their lives and feeling all of the emotions of aftermath and nostalgia.
All of these eras produced plenty of memories and gorgeous material, as well as accomplishments and accolades. They are an award-winning band. They created five albums. They celebrated 10 years as a band. They performed at Madison Square Garden and The Royal Albert Hall. They achieved so much in their 10+ year career by making a name for themselves.
Fast forward to now. Everyone's A Star! (2025) is about men now in their 30s or pushing 30 who do not give a F*** anymore. They don't have anything else to prove. The pressure is off. So now, they're finally just having fun with it for what feels like the first time. This era is bringing a whole new sound too. Or rather, a reinvention of their original sound.
"NOT OK" is a perfect portrayal of this. "NOT OK" is about being reckless and embracing their darker side. In previous albums and eras, there was a twinge of guilt and uncertainty in their lyrics. Here, they are no longer young adults but fully grown men who have endured it all and are now flipping off their haters and making fun of the rumors that circle around about them. It is very tongue in cheek.
Normally I like this kind of confidence and humor, but this is also kinda where some issues arise.
So after "NOT OK" was released, people on Twitter were sharing critical comments others have made about the song suggesting that it is mocking God and Christianity, worshipping the Devil, and that they couldn't support the band anymore because of this. This came out of nowhere to me because I had no idea where they got this from. I saw no indication of this. I then read some responses that explained why this was.
Throughout the song, in the chorus, there is a lyric that goes "Bite the apple, baby!" Initially I didn't know what this meant. I thought maybe this was an Australian expression I had never heard of before or another way to say "Bite the bullet." The song gives this impression that it is about letting loose and just going crazy doing things, so "bite the bullet" makes sense in context. Australians also have a saying "She will be apples." 5SOS themselves explained this in a video. So I thought apples were just a common theme in Australian vernacular.
But evidently, in the context of "NOT OK," "Bite the apple" refers to Adam and Eve eating the apple, which is often used as a stand in for the Forbidden Fruit, in The Garden of Eden, leading to the fall of humanity in The Creation Story in Genesis of the Holy Bible.
OOOOH! So THAT'S what that means! Okay...
But then I found out something else that I didn't notice at first. The song actually does mention the Devil by name...
Alright, are you my little genie or a parasite?
Girl, you keep the dream alive
Why you got me staying crazy hours after closing time?
Lucifer in every line, every night
You and I together, we should take a bite
Let's ride
Huh.
Now, at the surface, this is concerning for people. Right away, people draw the conclusion, Oh, they sold their souls, this is evil, they shouldn't be playing with anything demonic, etc.
But then again, this is also freedom of artistic expression and has been done before. But that doesn't make it okay...does it?
You know me. I like to pick things apart to determine any interpretation imaginable, and that's what I aim to do with this here. I refuse to believe that four relatively normal dorks from Australia who always address mental health and treat their fans like family are now Devil worshippers or lost souls just from one song.
Let's examine that Lucifer lyric more closely now. "Lucifer in every line, every night." My understanding is that "line" refers to a line of cocaine. This isn't the first reference to cocaine that they have made in one of their songs.
Because cocaine is snorted, they essentially are saying that they are ingesting the Devil. They REALLY want to emphasize that they are being BAD that they felt the need to actually refer to the Devil by name.
God/Jesus has a lot of names and titles. So does the Devil. Why did they go with the name Lucifer? Why not Satan? Well, perhaps they preferred a name with three syllables to go with the rhythm of the song and it was the first common one they thought of so they went with that and not Beelzebub, for example.
But what is the significance of "Lucifer"? Each Devil name represents one of the Seven Deadly Sins and Lucifer is the Demon of Pride. Pride could be something all of the 5SOS members are guilty of the most and is stated to be the deadliest of the seven because the whole reason why Adam and Eve ate the apple was because the Serpent convinced them that it would make them powerful like God. In fact, "NOT OK" comes across very smug and full of itself. Prideful, if you will. After ingesting pride, they "feel invincible." Another lyric.
(Added December 2, 2025) Another theory that I have just thought of now more recently is that the Forbidden Fruit isn't a fruit at all. Well, actually, growing up I did hear of the theory that the Forbidden Fruit is symbolism of Adam and Eve having sexual relations that they weren't supposed to engage in, but now I'm thinking that the "fruit" could represent drug use, perhaps more in addition to the cocaine already referenced. Weed and psychedelics are said to help one enter a higher state of consciousness. I believe Ashton has talked about this before. Reaching God levels of knowledge and understanding could maybe also be considered a "higher state of consciousness" as well. Therefore, the "bite the apple" reckless behavior in the song could very well be this drug use, equating itself even more to the Genesis Creation Story in this way. Adam and Eve may not have bitten an "apple" at all but a 'shroom or something like that instead. That actually makes sense in the context and setting of The Garden of Eden. (End addition.)
But then they also say things like this:
You and I together, double homicide
It's like a hammer to the brain, all my insane
And when my heart slows down, will you pick me up?
There is a lot of allusion to death, danger, and violence in this song. The pre-chorus is straight up metaphorically suicidal about how they "killed off" their former "good" selves:
I wanna dip my toe into the fire
Where did the good boy go? Killed by desire
On the edge
You make me wanna jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump, jump
Here's another thing. In the song, they address a "you" and "girl" in the lyrics, particularly in the line "Girl, you keep the dream alive." Who are they addressing in this way? I was initially assuming just girls in general that they may have hooked up with or dated throughout their careers and that's probably it. However, "girl" could also refer to how 5SOS's fans are primarily female and "you" could be the female fan listening to the song. They even point to the POV camera a few times during the music video at us.
But I would also like to remind you that Satan is sometimes portrayed as female as well. One core example of this representation is Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ from 2004.
And wait a minute. Who was the first person to "bite the apple"? A woman, who was tempted by Satan, and in turn tempted a man.
"Girl" could very well be Eve or any other female influence to whom they are attributing their actions.
However, we can look at these lyrics in a more positive spin as well that doesn't put the blame on anybody. They are metaphorically "killing" any inhibitions holding them back. Ashton said this about the song in a Rolling Stone article and it really resonated with me: "We can kill our depression together, and we can experience these elevated feelings together. You want people feeling free."
But I can't really do a full analysis about this somewhat controversy until I talk about the music video as well. This is where things really get wild.
Most of this video just shows the guys performing with other scenes weaved in of them getting into some mischief. There is this one scene of Calum acting as a street corner drug dealer type and the drug in question is from what I gather a silver apple. Clever.
But the rest of the mischief is them just kind of running around the streets and wreaking havoc. Everything that happens is actually pretty minor.
It also shows Luke embarking on his music career. He first takes the stage as a timid man booed off the stage but then he reemerges back on stage after having transformed into his spiky-haired persona with the other three now joining him.
There are some interpretations I have seen that this song and music video, as well as the rest of the album, actually reflect their beginnings as a band. Luke started it, the other guys joined him, and then as young rockstars they gradually built their confidence but also perhaps engaged in different activities that maybe they should not have as well. The lyrics in their other single "Boyband" also detail the highs and lows, but mainly the darker side (There's clearly a theme here), of being in a boyband and how the industry takes advantage of them. They released it on the one year anniversary of Liam Payne's passing, after all.
But then there are some decisions in the "NOT OK" video that I question.
When Calum starts singing his first "OMG I feel invincible" verse, we see this:
I...Okay.
And then a little while later, when Ashton recites his thing in the middle, this happens:
That's right! Jesus Christ made His 5SOS music video cameo debut for a song that mentions the Devil and is all about giving into sin and earthly desires! Yay.
But actually, doesn't that make sense?
So. Yeah. There's the controversy. lol I still see comments here and there saying that they are mocking Jesus here, so let's look at this through an academic lens and try to figure out why these choices were made. If I knew why, then I could form my opinions better. But right now, we're just going to look at the material as is and form our own conclusions.
I see a lot of fans laughing about those who have condemned all of this, saying that it is not a big deal, but then again there are people who agree that it is. I'm kinda on the fence. People just don't understand the gravity of this, so I decided to write this blog post in an attempt to explain why people may find this a little upsetting but also explain why this is pretty tame. It's actually not that bad, and it DEFINITELY could be worse, but there is something off about it. I can't fully condone it and I want to get my thoughts out.
I'm not a theology expert, but I have been a Christian, particularly a Catholic, my entire life. I know what I'm talking about. For the most part. lol
Let's start with Luke dressing like a nun. Within the last few years, I have come to the realization that I do not agree with a nun's habit or a priest/monk's vestment being used as a costume, even for Halloween. It's not necessarily a bad thing to do, but it's just something that I have been thinking about that it isn't right. However, those "Sexy Nun" costumes - ABSOLUTELY NOT. That is totally disgusting. Would you consider a "Sexy Hijab" costume acceptable? No? Exactly.
I liken it to the whole idea of "My culture is not a costume" and how if you see someone who isn't in the military wear a military uniform, that is considered stolen valor.
What bothers me about Luke dressing like a nun is that I feel like it is treated like a joke because nuns seem to be considered easy targets. But discerning and choosing to join the convent or clergy is a sacred vocation and not something to really treat lightly.
In the "NOT OK" scene, there are three nuns eating hot dogs on the street, with a shoutout to 5Sauce (ketchup and mustard). Then Luke, dressed like them but a little bit more superfluously because he is seen wearing multiple Crosses and Rosaries as well, just stands with them. The whole thing lasts for a few seconds.
Because this doesn't last very long and not much happens with it, it makes me wonder why this was even included. The only way I condone a habit being used as a costume is if an actress wears it playing a nun character, which is what the women in the video are doing. Luke, on the other hand, seems to be wearing it for shock value. There is no indication that he is playing a nun because he is playing himself and, duh, he's a man. It's as if they thought, "Hey, you know what would be funny?"
Men in drag has always been treated as a comedic effect for decades, so this isn't something that hasn't been done before. In fact, Luke himself even did this a few years ago for the 5Sauce sketch (speaking of) for The 5 Seconds of Summer Show - A 10 Year Celebration. But not only is Luke dressed like a woman here, he is dressed as a woman in a religious order.
Let's look at what nuns and sisters represent. They are considered the most pure sect of women in the Christian faith because they take a vow of celibacy and abstinence and dedicate themselves solely to a life for Christ and doing the Lord's work, so the inclusion of them could be just to juxtapose the message of the song and represent Luke's transition from good boy to reckless rockstar. 5SOS is singing about Lucifer and liking their darker sides and here we have a trio of nuns right in the middle of it all. Look at that, there's even three of them: The Holy Trinity.
But that still doesn't explain if there is a deeper meaning to Luke being dressed as one. Something that crossed my mind was, Why didn't he dress as a priest? He didn't have to dress in women's attire for this, did he?
Well, a nun habit is way more noticeable and recognizable for one. Another thing is that priests unfortunately have a bad reputation to begin with regarding a lot scandals. This could make the music video even more controversial, give it a whole new meaning, and also not allude to the point that they want to make.
The most negativity I've heard and dealt with about nuns is overly strictness while teaching in schools and back in the olden days the occasional cruelty of whacking kids with rulers. As a result, nuns could also represent perfection and order. Luke is the main character in the music video, so him being a nun for a few seconds could signify his desire to be good, but it doesn't last very long.
Luke dressed as a nun may not be a mockery at all but rather be a way of showing respect and revering women of God. Their inclusion could also provide a buffer to the negative female influences I mentioned before.
Speaking of God!
Jesus's scene doesn't last much long either. During one of the concert rave scenes, Jesus makes His way through the crowd and approaches the guys to show them a flyer about a boyband audition. It's a literal sign from God. And that's it.
Christians believe that because Jesus/God is THE most powerful divine Being, we are unworthy of Him. You might have noticed that as I keep referring to Jesus through His pronouns, I capitalize them. This is how I was raised and taught. There are even those who go as far as to not spell His name out when writing it, such as writing it as "G-d" instead. I tend to say "OMG" as opposed to "Oh My God" on social media because I feel like it is more respectful to not use the Lord's name for trivial reasons. I've even seen some comments say that Jesus shouldn't even be used for their marketing and that they should have gone another route. Because of all this, the mere idea of Jesus Christ even making an appearance in a music video at all, especially in a satirical manner like this one, might be sacrilegious to some. He is not necessarily just another "character" to play like the nuns are. He is practically untouchable because He's God. 5SOS could just simply be unaware of these rules that are considered second nature to the faithful.
However, the use of Christian and Jesus Christ imagery in art or in humor is not a new concept either. I myself may want to include Jesus in my own creative work. It just needs be executed and presented carefully. We've seen this done plenty of times. One example that I keep thinking about is how Jesus Christ is sometimes a recurring character in the series "Family Guy." Now, I don't agree entirely with how He is depicted in that show, but I also believe that it isn't that disrespectful. Plus, that show makes fun of everything anyway so everything is equally mocked. From what I know about him, the show's creator Seth Macfarlane is an atheist now but he grew up in an Irish American Catholic household, so he is at least aware of what he is talking about because he has that influence and background from his childhood.
Luke, Michael, and Calum are most likely aware as well given their own backgrounds. They all attended the same Christian school in Australia when they were kids. That's how they met. This is the mission statement from the school's website: "Norwest Christian College is a Christ centred learning community that inspires and equips students to build purposeful lives in three different ways - to love God, to pursue purpose and to build capacity."
Ashton every so often mentions God too. Now, I don't know what God means to him, but he has a sense of spirituality. There was also a photo of him a few years back I think of him walking in a Catholic Church, so he seems to have some sort of interest in at least embracing it or just learning about other cultures and religions.
I attended Catholic School in New Jersey from kindergarten through senior year of high school. If you know anything about religious education, you know that religion is ingrained into the curriculum. Religion is a class just like English, Math, Science, and Social Studies. You start and end your days with prayer. We even would say the Rosary after lunch. There were days when we attended Mass.
I am describing Catholic School specifically, of course, but these are still my experiences in a school system that centers Christ and I'm guessing that Norwest Christian College might be similar.
I don't know where their faith lies now, but I don't think 5SOS are guys who are lifelong atheists, agnostics, satanists, etc. who have always thought that Christianity is stupid because they never had the education and training so they decided to mock it. At least 3/4 of them have a background in Christianity and Christian education, so they are not ignorant to Christianity. Also, it's very possible that their families are Christians too because it's common for Christians to send their kids to schools that will maintain the faith in their education.
This is also a band that has a song called "Babylon," which is one of their best songs in my opinion. "Babylon" takes a Biblical story and uses it as a metaphor for failed relationships.
The way I see 5SOS is that they have a background in Christianity but maybe grew out of it, somewhat similar to what Macfarlane did, and this is the result. This sometimes happens when kids are raised in a certain religion, especially Christianity and Catholicism. They do what they are told regarding their faith because they don't know any better or just feel like it is something that they have to do. As they grow older and begin to question things, they then may no longer practice or drift further away but then may eventually return to the religion when they reach a new maturity.
The point is, the men of 5SOS likely have enough knowledge about Jesus Christ in order to reflect on this and make a reference to Him in their art. I'd rather have people who at least have some kind of a connection to Christ do this because He has had some kind of influence on them as opposed to someone who has no understanding of Jesus at all and they use Him for, again, shock value.
There are plenty of artists that use Devil imagery in their work. 5SOS didn't include an image of the Devil at all, but they did so for Jesus, God instead. That is actually pretty wholesome if you think about it and rare for Hollywood mainstream celebrities. They could very well have done this out of respect and reverence. They could very well still be devout to an extent and just felt that this was OK to do.
One example that I keep comparing this to is the visuals from Lil Nas X's music videos for "Montero (Call Me By Your Name)" and "J Christ." 5SOS did not go as far as he did at all.
In some respect, it would have been considered even more offensive, even more so than Luke dressed as an outlandish nun, if one of the 5SOS guys were cast as Jesus like Lil Nas X was. It would kind of be like equating themselves to God, which again is something nobody is worthy of, again is what Adam and Eve faced in The Garden of Eden, and again is the sin of Pride and sacrilegious. Like a nun or priest, Jesus Christ is also another costume that I don't really condone unless He is a character in something, perhaps even more so.
Remember how back for the 2023 GRAMMYs Sam Smith and Kim Petras were going to perform "Unholy" and there was this whole thing about how the performance promised controversy and to offend Christians? I rolled my eyes at this, but was also curious about what this meant, so I watched it. It was "unholy," yes, but it was more so just Sam Smith wearing a devil hat and Kim Petras locked in a cage with dominatrices and bursting fire. It was more so corny and laughable and not nearly as offensive as I had expected it to be given how they built it up so much.
I just think it's funny that here I was wondering if and partially dreading that they were going to include Jesus Christ's likeness in their performance in some offensive way (which they didn't, thankfully) but here my own band ended up doing it instead! lol
But it's not really offensive though, at least to me. I don't think there is any cause for alarm and I don't have much of a problem with it. Jesus simply walks through the crowd and shows them the boyband audition flyer, after which we see them kinda pray over it, maybe giving thanks or mocking prayer, depending on how you look at it, and then it goes into Michael's amazing guitar solo. We don't see Jesus again after that.
The lighting is red during Jesus's scene. Now, what could that mean? Right away we can say that it represents Hell and that this is actually Jesus's way of bringing them OUT of the darkness, encouraging them to form 5SOS, or, embrace this next era of themselves as a boyband. Like I said, they pray right after it, so it's them showing gratefulness towards Jesus for showing them the way. Another way of looking at the red is that red is often used to represent Jesus Christ because it is the color of royalty because Jesus is a King and the color of blood to represent His sacrifice.
OR, you know, they just wanted the color red. :P
There is one thing about the Jesus portrayal in this that I DON'T like and it's the fact that they have Him wear the Crown of Thorns.
The Crown of Thorns is a significant torture device that the Roman centurions placed on Jesus's head on Good Friday before He carried His Cross to Calvary because they believed that the claim that He is a King was fraudulent and blasphemous. It was their way of mocking Him, kind of like how people are accusing 5SOS of mocking Jesus in this song and music video. Interesting parallel there.
My issue with this is, as you see in the video and the screenshot I provided, they just have Him wear a circle of twigs on His head as if that was just something He wore on a daily basis and that's Him. The only way I can understand their reason for this is that it immediately indicates to the viewers who He is supposed to be. Otherwise, he is just some white hippie looking fellow that walks in. The portrayal of Jesus as a white man in art and media is a whole other discussion and controversy entirely, so this casting choice is just another commonality of how He is seen.
However, a simple Google Image Search shows you other costume design approaches that they could have taken. They already had Him dressed like how we usually see Jesus's clothing and could have just given Him a halo or have Him walk in looking brighter than everyone else. There is a lot of special effects in this music video so they could have easily done this. It's not difficult to portray Jesus without a Crown of Thorns on His head for people to pick up on who He is.
This rubs me wrong the same way Luke's excessive Rosaries and Crosses do. Yes, nuns carry Rosaries and Crosses with them, but not that many. And rarely do they really wear them. Now THIS is where the mockery lies for me. Making Jesus wear the Crown of Thorns and Luke dress up as a nun wearing a ridiculous amount of Christian symbolism is like they are saying this is just how people see Christianity and Catholicism so let's just throw this together and call it a day, without giving it much more thought than that. It is more satirical than actually wanting to get it right.
He's Jesus! He has to wear a Crown of Thorns! He wears that, right? And don't nuns wear Rosaries and Crosses? Let's make Luke wear multiple to really drive that point home!
It's not necessary. And plus, the Rosary is a prayer tool, not an outfit accessory or a necklace. This is another thing that I was taught is disrespectful.
Bottom line, Jesus's presence in the music video is OK, the presence of the Crown of Thorns is NOT OK.
See what I did there?
Unless, UNLESS we can say that Jesus wearing the Cross of Thorns is meant to represent that Jesus died for 5SOS's sins expressed in the song? Hmm...
Perhaps I'm reaching.
We could make the whole argument too that people feel too comfortable mocking Christianity but if the same thing was done to Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, etc., it would be considered a hate crime. I agree. This often makes me angry too. However, we also have to remember that no religion comes close to the prominence of Christianity. Jesus Christ is THE most important person to ever exist. It shouldn't be a surprise that He would be referred to in any type of way in society, including art and media. In fact, Christians should maybe feel a little bit honored and grateful that Jesus's presence is so widespread that an Australian "boyband" included Him in their music video. What matters is how respectfully He is portrayed and I don't think 5SOS did that much wrong here. It is actually almost heartwarming.
Also, I like to believe that God/Jesus has a sense of humor too. He created humor. But there is a fine line between mockery and just making harmless jokes about the most well known individual of all time.
Jesus Christ is so beyond the basic human mind and our understanding that treating Him like any other thing doesn't do Him the justice He deserves. But then again, why wouldn't the most prominent figure of all time be acknowledged in these ways if He is so ingrained in our culture and is the most important aspect of it? This is the debate that I have been wrestling with while writing this.
Okay, so what am I trying to say? What point am I trying to make? What am I getting at here?
Well, the song is catchy. But, as entertaining as it is, as Christians we are also warned against listening to anti-Christian secular music because that invites demonic energy into our souls, kinda like snorting "Lucifer in every line." This song encourages "biting the apple" and casually name drops the Devil, so does that mean that as Christians we are not supposed to listen to "NOT OK" now? Is "NOT OK" spiritually bad for us?
Well, I guess with the information given here, we need to think about what 5SOS is saying as a whole. I think this song and music video represents how they shed this need for perfection or to fit a certain mold and how being in the band affected that. First, given that they were quiet, shy, nerdy kids growing up, starting the band and achieving the level of fame that they have granted them a way to become badass and this was probably attractive to them (Although I do recall them once saying that being musicians in a band isn't considered cool in Australia. lol). Now that they have gained experience in the industry and developed an understanding of themselves, while also getting a new management and label, they have now obtained even more liberty within the band as well with the ability to do more of what they want. They refer to their "shadow side" as their "better side." Thus, Everyone's A Star! was born. It's a reflection of their rebellious nature side. Their "shadow side." Their "darker side." Their "better side."
Like I said before, I've seen much worse. 5 Seconds of Summer never claimed to be a band with Christian values nor are they strangers to a little bit of edginess. But I really don't believe that they mean harm with any of this. I don't think they meant any of this to be anti-Christian or anti-God. I don't think their intention was to anger Christians or get people talking with any shock value or by making it a marketing strategy. Knowing their sense of humor, I just think that they found this funny. "We're singing about being bad! What if we made Jesus show up?" If anything, it is kind of pro-God because He showed up to show them the way. They refer to Him as "Showbiz Jesus" and say that on the 8th Day, He created a boyband audition. (Jesus isn't a part of The Creation Story for them to make this reference, but I'll let this one slide.)
The presence of Jesus Christ is the same as the presence of the nuns by juxtaposing the whole message and vibe of "NOT OK." If they are going to give Lucifer a shoutout, it is only appropriate to give what many consider his counterpart from the other side a role too, even though Jesus is on a MUCH higher level of hierarchy. If they are going to mention a "Girl" being a bad influence on them like Eve was for "biting the apple" and tempting Adam, then the nuns are there to offset it. If "biting the apple" lead to the fall of humanity and Jesus had to be born into the world in order to die for our sins and salvage us, bringing Jesus in towards the end of a music video celebrating "biting the apple" is actually pretty warranted. They didn't have to include Jesus really, but I'm actually glad that they did for this reason. They could have been like most music artists and just focus on the Devil side of things, but 5SOS actually managed to cover both sides in a milder way than I recall Lil Nas X doing.
Normally I brush off any "offensive" things that celebrities do because frankly, nothing surprises me anymore and I know that they just want the attention. The difference is, I actually LIKE these guys. lol 5 Seconds of Summer isn't exempt from criticism from me just because they are my favorite band. If anything, it means that I hold them to an even higher standard.
I'm not mad at 5SOS for any of this. I just don't think that they took this seriously enough or really grasped the seriousness of it and maybe they could have handled it slightly better. But if two paragraphs above is actually what they were going for and not just my English degree mind overthinking it, then WOW! Bravo! That's brilliant!
But are they really "celebrating" biting the apple though? They say "I like the darker side of me," but look at the preceding lyric: "Hey! I'm NOT OK!"
Neither am I, 5SOS! You ain't special! :P
But seriously, "NOT OK" could also be a cry for help masked as having fun when you are upset and the idea of knowing that you can crash and burn at any given moment. It's the vibe of going out tonight because you feel bad about something and you just want to let loose to forget your problems and then deal with it later. Ashton said something along these lines in that same Rolling Stone article.
These lyrics suggest that they know that they have changed for the worse, but it's up to interpretation about whether they are enjoying this hedonistic freedom or if they are realizing that they are spiraling out of control but just can't stop it so they just go along for the ride.
It's not like they are saying that they're fine with any of this. They keep saying that "feel despicable" and that they are NOT okay. It's the title of the song. Think about that.
Typical 5SOS. Upbeat rhythm, depressing lyrics.
Now as I was writing this I was fully aware that I might be making WAY more out of this than I should, especially considering how little time and space the Christian themes take up in the song and music video lol. But I just wanted to shed some light on these perspectives. And as we all know, I go deep with my analysis.
"NOT OK" was an interesting way to kickstart the Everyone's A Star! era. Maybe this is their way of saying that God did have an influence in some of their decision making and lives. But it is more so them bringing the chaos of their lives to the forefront.
One word that I am using to describe Everyone's A Star! so far is "chaotic." It's as if 5SOS is trying to make sense of something and this is an audio representation of their psyche.
Now you might think that I absolutely HATE "NOT OK" from reading this lol. But believe it or not, I don't. I still listen to it. It's a hype song. It's still fun. I just think that they have better songs in their discography. My favorite part is Michael's aggressive bridge towards the end when Ashton's drums really come into play. The song is clearly more thought provoking than given credit for too and perhaps this was their intention all along based on the observations I have made. It made me write a whole essay about it.
I highly doubt that they intended a fan like me to go THIS deep into it though. lol I probably thought about this more than they did.
Another positive I will say about Everyone's A Star! is that it appears to be a dance album to an extent. That genre is something that is never really produced anymore today unless it is the likes of Dua Lipa, Ava Max, or Lady Gaga, depending on what genre she is feeling these days. It kinda reminds me of the dance stuff I would listen to when I was younger. So far none of the songs are boring but I also have yet to really absorb the rest of the album in its entirety to really draw conclusions about how I feel and what tone it really has. There might yet be repercussions from the story told in "NOT OK" down the line.
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