5 Songs About Abstinence

Music, by its nature a passionate performance of rhythm and vocalization often finds sex, as its subject matter, whether overtly or obliquely. For a bit of fun, I decided to try to find some songs about abstinence. Of course, as noted above, there's something absurd about creating a song about abstinence because music is an art form. Art has always been inspired by beauty, and one of the most direct, universal forms of human beauty lies in sex. Most of music is about coupling. Most musicals are about coupling. And while in many cases, the direct subject of sex may not come up, that doesn't mean that the allusion is there. So, let's look at 5 songs about the opposite of sex.

5 Songs About Abstinence

1. "Abstinence" by Temple of Venus - Actually a quality track by the British pseudo-prog-pop act. This song captures the feeling of thirst that abstinence likely creates, as well as the potentially connected depression. Slow, sullen vocals take their time with every lyric because, well, if you're already waiting on one thing, why rush the music too?
   
2. "Feu d'Abstinence" by Suarez - There are a surprising number of songs about abstinence by French acts. This one, another break up style track, is a classic bit of joyous, jangly propositioning. In breathy lines, Suarez's protagonist seeks to break down the abstinence wall between him and his love. It's pretty sharp, a sweet, childlike and honest request to "go all the way." It just sounds better because it's in French.
3. "Addicted to Abstinence" by Sodom - The thrash/black metal German trio spends most of the song evoking the rending of viscera and the frailty of the body. In a harried two minutes plus, Sodom lists numerous other ways that one can be penetrated, violated, opened, split or spill fluids, sprinkling the title lyrics in as the chorus. For Sodom, it seems that an addiction to abstinence leads to homicidal, destructive tendencies. They could be right...
4. "Abstinence Redux" by Cindy Cornelsen - This comedic little bit takes direct charge at stories that kids at the Saddleback Church who began having anal sex to avoid losing their virginity to vaginal intercourse. The song never approaches a form of commentary, and it's not particularly funny, but the school-age sound and chipper Disney songbird-esque vocals add to the fun.
5. "Abstinence" by Talein - This is the Winner Winner Chicken Dinner find of my search. Evangelical Christian R&B artist Talein doesn't even bother to tell a story about what having sex could do to a child. Oh no, instead, she goes straight at it with a clinical gym-teacher-awkwardly-saying-chlamydia inflection. After explaining what bad comes from sex, Talein turns the song into a bland one-sided argument that if you have sex you will have abandoned God, and that demons will inhabit your soul. It's beautifully alarmist and absurd. And it was released in 2010.

 And here they are in embedded form! Enjoy!