Socio-political sounds

This blog was inspired by a friend.

 

I’ll be dating myself by admitting this, but music was better in the 80s, so says the child of the 80s. And maybe I’m branding myself a snob, but music today blows. Where’s the passion? The raw ability to stir up the quivering masses? It’s absent in any form lately and what it’s been replaced with has become a force to be reckoned with. But there’s much music out there. And maybe I’m just missing something, but if there’s a musical revolution going on out there, I sure haven’t caught wind of it. Music is a way of getting to the heart, and getting to the heart is what moves people. And when people are moving, they’re taking action. Granted, it’s not always a desirable one, as we saw when Nu-Metal invaded the re-creation of Woodstock in ’99. Fred Durst, jackass that he is, incited the crowd to tear shit down and many people got hurt. So much for peace, love and harmony.

 

So here’s the gist of musical organizing. It must be intelligent and with substantial purpose. And there are many outlets. Music is one form of organizing that actually builds communities, and that, as some of you know, has always fascinated me. And it is why that grassroots is tied to the idea of being independent, free of the manipulation of any institutions and so it goes further to say, underground communities.

 

The music that is underground is there to inspire people on a level that commerce and capitalism cannot speak to, be it jam band music, folk and bluegrass, to punk rock and political hip-hop. Music can be a powerful means to organizing people fed up with one system or another. We saw it in the 50s with the rebellion against the birth of rock n’ roll, in the 60s with the Woodstock generation. Then came punk rock in some disputed time from its amoeba in the mid 60s to the late 70s. Though many bands are still around, the times have suffocated its flourishing existence. It’s clearly apparent to me that it’s time for another musical organizing, something of the likes we have not seen yet. And one clear sign I believe it is coming, is the reuniting of many old bands. Their time is almost up and they know it. And the door stands open wide, ready to welcome a new community, to once again provide the soundtrack to these same and other movements. There’s correlations, I think you could say to each of these movements you mentioned with some brand of music. Consider my ramblings a bit further if you will…

 

Civil Rights – Here you have rock n’ roll really getting charged up along the beginning of this movement and fueling it. And that’s still needed. Every era of music I just mentioned has lent its own contribution to the struggle for human equality and justice. Hip-hop, when done well, from Public Enemy to Tupac. Minor Threat and so on.

 

The Women’s Movement – The musical parallels here are scattered as well. Look at Billie Holiday and the way jazz liberated women to some extent, Janis Joplin, Lilith Fair several years ago. Ani DiFranco. It’s still going.

 

The Labor Movement – I think you can find these sympathizers/organizers all the way back to traditional folk artists like Woody Guthrie and Leadbelly. Lesser known people like Pete Seeger and Bob Dylan. People fighting against their bosses, for the unions and for the workers. Punk rock has taken it on to some extent as well also. Dropkick Murphys for example.

 

The list goes on. But the air is ripe for movement once again. And it’s time we take of hold of the mic and once again speak the universal language of the downtrodden.