 British writer John Tucker writes that NWOBHM bands were in general fuelled by their first experiences with adult life and " their lyrics rolled everything into one big youthful fantasy " . They usually avoided social and political themes in their lyrics , or treated them in a shallow " street @-@ level " way , preferring topics from mythology , the occult , fantasy , science fiction and horror films . Songs about romance and lust were rare , but the frequent lyrics about male bonding and the rock lifestyle contain many sexist allusions . Christian symbolism is often present in the lyrics and cover art , as is the figure of Satan , used more as a shocking and macabre subject than as the antireligious device of 1990s ' black metal subculture . 
