posted
Hmm. I read OSC's review of Bruse Springsteen's "Devils and Dust" album.
"The title track, for instance, could have been a bigoted attack on religious people -- Springsteen's politics are, after all, in line with clowns like Al Franken and Nancy Pelosi. But Springsteen does not forget his art when he has a point to make -- in fact, that's when he remembers it most. So instead of an attack, he offers a reminder of what faith is supposed to lead to, especially in a time of war."
The line that got to me was "he does not forget his art when he has a point to make."
I was not sure if he meant that a musician loses the art, or abandons it, when h/she expresses their political views in the lyrics? That is how it sounded to me.
So, I wonder what people think of musicians with political messages. Do you listen to musicians with messages which differ from your own views? I do not, but at the same time, most of the musicians I love the most are pretty much in line with me, politically, making me a "clown," I suppose.
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posted
I think he meant that some artists ignore their art and use their music, not as an art form, but as a political soapbox. Much like some authors use their fiction as a political soapbox and insert things that support their views whether they're relevant to the story or not. I think his point was that it's possible to have music that is both political and artistic, and he feels Springsteen succeeds in this, but that most musicians don't even try.
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posted
I doubt I would listen to music that continually bashed my beliefs, though I listen to musicians that have different politics than myself. I really enjoy DMB...even though Dave has very different politics from me. When he came to town and did a concert benefiting the Kerry campaign, I refused to go (since I didn't want to put money into that cause) but I've been to his non political concerts in the past, and I think his band puts on an amazing show.
Though, I got the impression that OSC was not bashing the mixing of music and politics. His concern seemed to be with musicians that put politics before their music.
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posted
All muscians are political, the Beatles wrote great political songs after all. Generly the only muscians who hold views I disagree with are Country muscians and I don't like Country music. Speaking of which, has anyone heard of a band called System of a Down? I haven't actualy heard the music but the lyrics are so outrageos that I just may buy one.
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posted
Pelegius, I like System of a Down, have 3 of their albums. Hard to make a recommendation not knowing what other music you like, and all my friends seem to either love them or hate them. The main thing that stands out is the vocals... "acrobatic" comes to mind as an adjective there. Serj has a very wide range. On a downside, if you're interested because of the lyrics, keep in mind that System is a fairly heavy band and a lot of the songs you may not understand a lot of the lyrics on a first listen.
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posted
How do you determine that an artist is putting politics before thir music, though? What is the rule of thumb that makes you decide that? To me, it is all lumped together. Musicians write music that comes from their heart. If their heart happens to be liberal, their music reflects that. Should they squelch who they are just to sell records?
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posted
You determine it the same why music critics determine anything else: You say it does (or doesn't) in a way that sounds smart (or tries to), and hope people forget that it's just your opinion.
I agree that you probably can't separate art from artist. However, I've heard some political songs that were pretty heavy-handed and just sounded like they were trying to hard. If the "message" ruins the music for you, then you can say they're putting politics before music. Or maybe you just don't like the song. If you don't agree with the message of a song but like the song anyway, then they're probably doing a good job.
posted
I know what he means. Most of the bands I really like, if they are politically active at all, believe the opposite of what I do in at least some important aspects. I've learned to get over it. One example is The Beastie Boys. I've got three of their albums: Paul's Boutique, Check Your Head and Ill Communication. I dig all three of them immensely. Occasionally they'd throw in a political message, although it would usually be something pretty un-controversial like respecting women or other races or getting along and being happy. But it'd be pretty subtle and they'd keep the music funky enough that even if the lyrics were something about eating babies I'd still probably dig the tracks.
A couple years, though, the US invaded Iraq and they decided that it was their responsibility to stop it. So they put out some single called "In A World Gone Mad" or something. The rhymes were so heavy-handed I thought they were made of lead, and the beats were completely rudimentary and uninteresting. Although I didn't agree with the message, if it had been worked into a song like "Something's Got to Give" (a somewhat political but utterly brilliant track) I'd probably have bought it anyway. But this time they were so intent on getting their speech released that they forgot that they were musicians. Message or not, Vanilla Ice has released funkier tracks than that. I was embarassed for them, and could never even bring myself to listen to the full song.
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posted
Well, I agree that if a song sucks because it is trying too hard to give a message, that is one thing. I guess that is what he (OSC) means. I am trying to think of musicians with different political views from me, and all I can come up with is Ted Nugent and Charlie Daniels.
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posted
As far as I know the only politics in the music I listen to is anti-war messages, which is A-OK with me. I'm mostly referring to System of a Down, which happens to be my favorite band.
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posted
I love Rage against the Machine, so no, even music that has political lecturing as its primary focus doesn't bother me. Provided, of course, that the music is good. It helps, too, that Rage's politics were not all that dissimilar from my own.
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