FEATURE:
Footnotes
IN THIS PHOTO: Thom Yorke issued a lengthy statement on 30th May following criticism around a perceived silence on genocide in Gaza, and for previously performing in Israel
Believing Women, A Rare Pro-Trans Musical Moment and a Disappointing Thom Yorke Statement
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THIS feature…
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Nash
allows me opportunity to do a round-up of music news and talking points from recent weeks. Rather than try and make individual features out of bits of news and happenings, instead, I get the chance to do a sort of news round-up. To start with, and what happens when men in music are accused of sexual assault and abuse, there are people who instantly think that the women who accuse men are lying. That they are standing to profit or exploiting them. There are the same arguments brought up. For one, the women are just in it for the money. The vast majority of women who accuse men of sexual assault are not doing it for the money! They are doing it because they need to find justice and because they have been the victim of something horrible. I am sure there are women who have fabricated stories and are in it for the money but, for the vast majority, they are neither lying or trying to get a pay-out. That is another point. That women are lying. What is the motive for women lying about a sexual assault? People’s assumption to side with men or disbelieve women. People should always believe women. The vast majority of these accusations are based or fact. Why do so many women come together so long after the events and do so together? The insinuation being that they have conspired and made something up. Ganging up on an artist to get money from them! Women often come forward to police so long after they have been assaulted or abused because, at the time, they fear not being believed or being fired. If they work with a musician then there is the worry they will lose their income. Women not being believed is something that means they often do not come forward at all. They will be attacked or doubted if they do speak out. Also, the trauma at the time is not something they want to relive straight away. We need to get over this mindset that women are lying and that they are trying to ruin the reputation of an artist! The idea that they took so long to say anything. Look at the case of Russell Brand and Diddy. Women have come forward a long time after they were abused/raped and they are not lying. They bravely do come forward after so long because they feared repercussions before. That police would not do anything. They want to make sure other women do not experience the same thing. It is not about getting a massive pay-out and doing it for money. It is about justice and not letting men get away with it! The reason I bring this up is because I have seen some backlash against the women who accused Smokey Robinson of sexual assault and rape.
IN THIS PHOTO: Smokey Robinson
In an ironic twist, Smokey Robinson is suing the women who he claims have tried to extort him. Why sue them for a huge amount and extort them if you think they are trying to extort you?! It smacks of someone being found out and revealed and trying to punish women for accusing them. So many people doubting the women and their motives. Smokey Robinson is very old and not the first person you would think of extorting and having millions of dollars spare. What would their motives be? If they wanted to financial ruin him, then why wait so long to do that? Why go to such lengths?! For them, it is not about seeing how much they can get. They want what every woman wants: to be believed and to make sure that the men who abused them are brought to justice. It happens a lot in music where women are often scrutinised more than the men who committed the crimes. Rather than cast aspersions of women and, in a misogynistic way, doubt them and call them liars, we need to believe them. Yes, as I have said, a small minority will be lying and want to get money from someone. Considering how hard it is for them to get police to believe them, for cases to get to court and for abusers to be punished, they would not go through such hardships if it were not true. Also, considering how many recent cases of women accusing men in music of sexual assault and abuse, why do people assume that women are lying?! This is an epidemic that has been going on for many years. Rather than channelling energy questioning the women and doubting their version of events, we need to shine a spotlight on the men who do this and why it happens so often. Whether the industry does enough. Many men (such as Marilyn Manson) still able to work and earn money. If it were a woman who was accused of a sexual assault, then she would be dropped by the label, banned from touring and attacked ands abused constantly. There are these double standards!
Before coming back to another somewhat heavy story and topic, there is a moment of positivity. I have said in previous features how I want to write an album, American Grammar, that tackles big themes and important issues in a Steely Dan style. Because, when it comes to women’s body autonomy, abortion rights, trans rights, the L.G.B.T.Q.I.A.+ community, sexual abuse and assault, gender equality and the genocide we are seeing in Palestine, how many artists are writing about this? (On another point, it annoys me how many people write about L.G.B.TG.Q.I.A.+ issues and miss out the ‘I’ and ‘A’. Why do people finds it so hard to get that right?!). It is quite deafening and disappointing to see how few are using their music to talk about this. As I will discuss in the final part of this feature, many artists either not having a say or issuing statements that are obfuscating, vanilla and ‘balanced’. Rather than get angry and call out abuse, genocide and evil, they water down their words and often come out on the wrong side. In a rare case of an artist using their platform to speak up – unsurprisingly it is a female artist! -, Kate Nash’s GERM. It is a feminist and pro-trans song that also takes shots at high-profile TERFs like JK Rowling. Someone (Rowling) who uses their platform to fuel their transphobia and misogyny, as someone considered a strong feminist, she is a disgrace to that word. Kate Nash knows this and calls it out. How many other artists are doing this?! What holds back what should be a massive movement of conscientious songwriting? Marginalised and attacked people given support and voice?
IN THIS PHOTO: Bruce Springsteen
I know artists like Bruce Springsteen speaking out against President Trump can divide fans, but that is the risk they have to take. The artist is in the right, so it doesn’t matter if some do not agree! The same with women’s reproductive rights. It needs to be addressed heavily and powerfully through music. There are artists like Nadine Shah posting about genocide in Palestine. Others who use their social media platforms to speak out. However, when it comes to recent musical output, this is something relatively unexplored. Even women’s rights and equality is not being talked about that much. By women, maybe, but few men add their voice. At a time when there are so many enormously important and divisive subjects being discussed, so much modern musical output is still around the personal and predictable. GERM is a very rare case of an artist somewhat going against the grain and empowering a community often attacked, abused and mocked. I do hope that the music industry does more. I know being ‘right’ is subjective. However, when it comes to things like trans rights and women’s body autonomy, it is not that difficult or complex. There is a definite correct stance and anyone who disagrees is wrong! Why are artists so worried about repercussions or financial loss?! It does seem that they are being held back by something. Whilst in private they voice their disgust, their music does not really reflect that. It is such a shame that we do not have that many people using the stage and studio to bring about change. Irish group Kneecap created anger and condemnation when they called for people to kill their local M.P.s. Whilst it is wrong to say that, they seem to have been the victim of scapegoating. The attacks they have received is not about the danger and insensitivity of asking people to kill M.P.s. They have spoken out against the genocide in Palestine and Gaza and that seems to be the biggest issue. Those who say artists have no right getting involved in politics and that they are not qualified to speak about it (both wrong). I was listening to the podcast, The Rest Is Entertainment, and a recent episode argued this: how Kneecap were wrong and should not get involved in politics. If we discourage artists from being political and exorcising freedom of expression then that is censorship. There should be some censorship in music, though the argument around genocide and their disgust is not a political matter. It is a moral one. People who try and shut down Kneecap are those, sadly, who do not want to offend Israel and feel that what the country’s leaders are doing is acceptable.
This takes me to my final point. Musicians are coming out and having their say on the genocide in Gaza. Many across various cultures genres and mediums. In a lot of cases, either that person seems to come almost to the defence of Israel or they words their statement in such a way that it does not take a position. Something like genocide does not need a carefully-worded statement, poetry or something watered down and ‘balanced’. Artists need to call it what it is and call out Israel. Radiohead’s Thom Yorke has issued a statement that has rightly gained backlash because it is so disappointing. It also seems to show more sympathy and understanding to Israel. Fellow Radiohead bandmate Johnny Greenwood being accused of sympathy and support towards Israel means the band are going to lose a lot of fans. The Guardian reported on what Thom Yorke wrote:
“In October 2024, he was heckled during a solo concert in Melbourne by a man who asked Yorke: “How could you be silent?” regarding the death toll in the war. A flustered Yorke rebutted him and briefly left the stage.
More broadly, Radiohead have been criticised for performing in Tel Aviv in 2017, with Yorke saying at the time: “Playing in a country isn’t the same as endorsing its government.” Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood has recently been criticised for performing with Israeli musician Dudu Tassa, with UK venues cancelling his concerts after protests.
Yorke has now made a statement about the Australian incident and the situation in Gaza, saying the October concert “didn’t really seem like the best moment to discuss the unfolding humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. Afterwards, I remained in shock that my supposed silence was somehow being taken as complicity, and I struggled to find an adequate way to respond to this and to carry on with the rest of the shows on the tour.
“That silence, my attempt to show respect for all those who are suffering and those who have died, and to not trivialise it in a few words, has allowed other opportunistic groups to use intimidation and defamation to fill in the blanks, and I regret giving them this chance. This has had a heavy toll on my mental health.”
IN THIS PHOTO: Palestinians evacuate following an Israeli airstrike on the Sousi Mosque in Gaza on 9th October, 2023/PHOTO CREDIT: Mahmud Hams/AFP via Getty Images
Yorke said he thought it would be “self-evident” from his music “that I could not possibly support any form of extremism or dehumanisation of others.” He added:
I think Netanyahu and his crew of extremists are totally out of control and need to be stopped, and that the international community should put all the pressure it can on them to cease. Their excuse of self-defence has long since worn thin and has been replaced by a transparent desire to take control of Gaza and the West Bank permanently.
I believe this ultra-nationalist administration has hidden itself behind a terrified & grieving people and used them to deflect any criticism, using that fear and grief to further their ultra-nationalist agenda with terrible consequences, as we see now with the horrific blockade of aid to Gaza …
At the same time the unquestioning Free Palestine refrain that surrounds us all does not answer the simple question of why the hostages have still not all been returned? For what possible reason?
Why did Hamas choose the truly horrific acts of October 7th? The answer seems obvious, and I believe Hamas chooses too to hide behind the suffering of its people, in an equally cynical fashion for their own purposes.
He then turned his focus to “social media witch-hunts” saying that pressure on “artists and whoever they feel like that week to make statements etc do very little except heighten tension, fear and oversimplification of what are complex problems”.
He concluded his lengthy statement by saying: “I have written this in the simple hope that i can join with the many millions of others praying for this suffering, isolation and death to stop, praying that we can collectively regain our humanity and dignity and our ability to reach understanding ... that one day soon this darkness will have passed”.
There is no denying the fact Hamas should be condemned and release the hostages. That they committed horrendous atrocities in 2023 where they killed hundreds at the Supernova Festival. If it is true that Hamas have been siphoning aid supplies meant for those affected by genocide then that is something that needs to be highlighted and condemned. However, when you think about the daily reality and numbers. Israel constantly pulverising and obliterating Palestine! Turning Gaza into a wasteland. The countless number of fatalities. It must be tens of thousands who have been killed. There is no doubt who the aggressors are and the fact that this is not a war or conflict: it is genocide. Because of that, if you are issuing a statement about Israel and Palestine, then the realities needs to be reflected. Thom York’s wording caused a lot of anger. He seems to be blaming Hamas as much as Israel. Weak platitudes when it comes to those affected by genocide. The same crap that politicians trot out when it comes to tragedies and warfare – thoughts and prayers (the ‘prayers’ part of especially idiotic because, if you believe in God and want to offer prayers that he will stop this, then you might ask why he f*cking started this and let thousands die!). I am going to leave it there. A few news items and events that I wanted to discuss but could not break up and make three individual features about. I might do this in a couple or few weeks. There has been a lot of exciting new music and announcements, so there is plenty to focus on. From women in sexual abuse and rape cases not being believed to artists being passive or silent when it comes to speaking out, through to those who do react but reveal some ugly and horrible things about themselves, it is troubling! Even though there have been cases of artists being in the right and using their platform right and for good, so many do nothing or show their true (and bleak) colours. In spite of some steps forward, there is still…
SUCH a long way to go.