FEATURE:
Smoke and Mirrors
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Why Are There Fewer Political and Protest Songs At Such a Divisive and Dark Time?
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THIS is such an intense time…
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where there are conflicts around the world that are horrifying to hear about and see. Regarding Palestine and Israel, there are so many opinions being expressed online. Which side people support, and who is to blame for latest casualties and attacks. It is a very divisive and scary time. It can be complicated getting into the debate and sharing a take. Of course, the right one is to show support for the Palestinians who are being killed and displaced. It does seem that there are so many different voices attacking or coming under attack. There is the war between Ukraine and Russia. Ongoing fears around climate change and what damage that is doing – and what impact it will have in all of our lifetimes. A tonne of anti-trans sentiment and hatred still swirling. That is having a really harmful effect on the community. A time when a lot of awful stuff is happening, there is not really that common voice or wave of change and hope. Maybe it is impossible to easily affect a ceasefire and end to hostilities. Regarding bigotry and misinformation, how easy is it to affect some quick, real and long-lasting change?! In any case, there are subjects and stories that are being discussed and argued online on a daily basis. It is coming into music a little, though there is not really a political or social wave of awareness and debate. Maybe it is hard for artists to say something quite big on political issues. Even when it comes to something as universal as climate change, one does not hear as many songs about that as you should.
The same goes with trans rights and the L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.+ community as a whole. Again, perhaps there is a worry that there would be backlash or some fans would not agree. That is always a risk an artist has to take. I do think that, with so many big issues at the fore, there needs to be more mobilisation and activation from the music community. I am aware I have beat this particular drum a few times now. An artist does not need to take a firm stance regarding which side to sympathise with when it comes to Israel and Palestine. It is about expressing a dismay and disgust that is out there. Perhaps a feeling is the music will be quite heavy and grim. Once more, it is a sacrifice that an artist has to make. It would also put the message out there memorably and clearly. The composition and tone, whilst serious, does not have to be matched with an incredibly serious or morbid composition. There is flexibility and scope to ensure that the message is one of support/outrage – depending on what is being talked about –, whilst the music can be lighter and more flexible. I feel, the more we see on social media and the news regarding conflict, climate change, sexual abuse, anti-L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.+ attacks and violence, the more there needs to be something in the way of musical response and documentation.
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I guess music is mostly personal. In the sense the majority of artists will write about their lives. What they know. Plenty write about global causes and concerns, yet that continued risk of criticism and ‘getting on the wrong side of the argument’ can create repercussions and damage. The more I see vitriol thrown at L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.+ people and the more we see the news and all the horror going down, the more it compels me to seek out artists who are discussing it. There are not a huge amount doing it. Not at the moment anyway. Protest and shining a light on some dark truths has always been a part of music. Whether Hip-Hop artists discussing violence and brutality against the Black community, or Folk artists writing about war, artists compelled to react to something that needs be addressed. The power and influence music has can make people aware of what is happening in the world and what we need to do. It also allows insight into a community. Issue affecting particular people. Whether social media, in a way, has taken on some of music’s role in terms of protest and highlighting ills and big issues. I am hearing a few songs on the radio and playlists where artists look at climate change and trans rights etc., though they are few and far between. Not quite enough focused anger and essential songs that remain in the mind and help provoke change. In a social media age, there is that instant and widespread reaction to music.
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Are artists wary of the feedback they might get?! If they talk about war and gender issues, is that going to create a storm and harsh reaction from some?! We are living through one of the darkest periods of modern history right now. I think music can heal and guide in addition to teach and act as a political voice. It needs to react to what is happening in the world. Give a voice that those whose voices are being ignored and vilified. I think that the music community should be a bit more vociferous and visible standing up to injustice and alongside those in need of allyship. If there was a lot of protest songs in 2020, some asked whether protest and political songs are affective anymore. I am not suggesting that music alone and the power of a song will change the word and inspiring immediate change. The role that these songs have always played is to educate and touch listener. Change starts with the listeners. Music, as a great and universal communicator, has that relevance and role today. I don’t think people are less willing to listen to these songs or take anything away from them. Maybe the songs are too oblique or indirect. Perhaps artists are holding back slightly. Whatever the reason, this is a moment when more artists need to address big themes and darker subjects.
I want to end with a 2019 feature from the Washington Post. In a year where American artists especially might be motivated to rally against corrupt politics and a President (Donald Trump) corrupting the country, they argued how protest music of the year was stuck in the past:
“These are wild and anxious times for our wild and anxious planet. So why do the most visible protest songs of the Trump era feel so inert? From the numb thud of “This Is America” to the woke winks on the new Taylor Swift album, contemporary protest pop feels increasingly prominent, deeply unimaginative and embarrassingly insufficient.
As it stands, the two most widely applauded protest anthems of Trump’s presidency are “Love It If We Made It,” by the British band the 1975, and “This Is America,” by Childish Gambino, the nom-du-rap of Hollywood polymath Donald Glover. The former was named the best song of 2018 by Pitchfork in December. The latter won record and song of the year at the Grammys in February. “Love It If We Made It” recites the ugliest global headlines of the past few years while flashing a hopeless smile. “This Is America” holds a mirror up to our violent, racist, violently racist system, then gives a blank shrug.
What are these songs trying to achieve? Both offer hyper-topical verses, flanked by titular refrains that radiate heroic despair — and by setting those feelings of total powerlessness to such patently urgent music, the effect becomes strangely self-canceling. You feel seen, but you also feel small.
During the civil rights movement — our country’s most sterling model of social change — marchers sang “We Shall Overcome,” a larger-than-life gospel song that promised victory just over the horizon. The watchword of Trump-era protest aspires only to a stalemate: “Resist.” It’s a defensive posture, a declaration of inertia, and it feels apt for these times. In a society so profoundly stuck in its own cultural nostalgia, it’s become impossible to envision what tomorrow should look like.
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This paralysis of imagination is the crisis of our century. It poisons everything from our politics to our pop culture. You can see it in every Hollywood franchise reboot, every MAGA hat, every episode of “Friends” on Netflix, every hour we spend online celebrating the 20th anniversary of everything we refuse to let go. Even Beyoncé, with all of her vision and political power, chose to spend her summer shoring up the immortality of a 25-year-old Disney franchise.
“American glory faded before me,” Swift sings. “Now I’m feeling hopeless.” Her message — that our democracy is not living up to its promise — is painfully basic, and yet the song has been greeted with reflexive star-worship. Variety recently ran a headline: “Taylor Swift’s ‘Miss Americana’ May Be the Great Protest Song of Our Time.” What a joke. A great protest song can’t just surf the waves of dissent. It has to help create waves of change.
The other great protest song of the century doesn’t have an expiration date. It’s Kendrick Lamar’s “Alright,” an anthem from 2015 that asserts that (black) people must first survive this world in order to change it. At the height of the Black Lives Matter movement, activists sang its astonishing refrain in the streets — “We gon’ be alright!” — proof that a protest song could still synchronize a crowd and consecrate a movement.
That’s how every protest song should be measured — by its empathy, its imagination and its utility. It has to be compassionate enough to get inside your head, visionary enough to help you dream up what’s possible, powerful enough to shake the public airspace. It can’t just turn the tides inside your mind. It has to get your body out onto the street.
Songs don’t change the world. Listeners do”.
We look at the news and social media and it is very scary and confusing! There are so many artists out there who are either keeping their music personal and too narrow, or they are writing about subjects like climate change and war, yet the messages and lyrics are either buried slightly or there is some camouflage and holding back. Even through the world of Hip-Hop and Rap, there is not the same rage and range of incredibly potent songs that awaken a generation and bring politicians and world leaders to task. I do feel there is a time now where music can play a role. So many things that need to be tackled and spoken about. With so much misinformation, division and hatred, there is a common sense, potency, passion, guidance and revelation…
ONLY music can provide.