(MintPress) — It’s a move that dates back to the 1970s: when music was used as a means to spread political messages to the masses, creating a lyrical revolution that shaped a generation. And while the intensity has arguably died out, musicians are taking their messages to the airwaves in large numbers, once again.
Amnesty International, the world’s largest human rights organization, recently released what it’s dubbing the “Chimes of Freedom” album, featuring Bob Dylan and other politically motivated musicians. While a celebration of the organizations 50 years of existence, it’s also a celebration of artists who are working harmoniously alongside Amnesty International, through an instrumental platform.
Aside from pairing up with human rights organizations, musicians have joined the American political debate. Infused in such a heavily divided nation, musicians have followed the trend of most Americans — take a side, and stick with it. And when politicians use their music while pushing the campaign, artists aren’t timid about their frustration.
Oh no, you don’t
Vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan claimed Rage Against The Machine, a politically active band that leans heavily to the left, was one of his favorites. His claim was met with a little rage, with guitarist Tom Morello writing a long opinion piece calling out the obscurity of Ryan’s interest in his music.
“Paul Ryan’s love of Rage Against the Machine is amusing, because he is the embodiment of the machine that our music has been raging against for two decades,” Morello wrote in the Rolling Stones piece.
He went on to claim that while Ryan may like the hard flow of the music, he clearly must not have taken the time to listen to the lyrics.
“Don’t mistake me, I clearly see that Ryan has a whole lotta ‘rage’ in him: A rage against women, a rage against immigrants, a rage against workers, a rage against gays, a rage against the poor, a rage against the environment,” he writes. “Basically the only thing he’s not raging against is the privileged elite he’s groveling in front of for campaign contributions.”
Rage Against the Machine isn’t the only band to stand up to politicians. Recently, Twisted Sister’s Dee Snider took a stand after Ryan chose the song, “We’re Not Gonna Take It” at a campaign rally.
“I emphatically denounce Paul Ryan’s use of my band Twisted Sister’s song, ‘We’re Not Gonna Take It,’ in any capacity,” Snider said in a statement to Talking Points Memo. “There is almost nothing he stands for that I agree with except the use of the P90X.”
The Silversun Pickups is another band to request that the Romney campaign stop using their song. The band stood up after they learned Romney was using the tune, “Panic Switch” during political rallies.
“We don’t like people going behind our backs, using our music without asking, and we don’t like the Romney campaign,” the band’s frontman Brian Aubert told E! News.
On the flip side, President Barack Obama was criticized by the singer of, “Hold On, I’m Coming,” Sam Moore, for using the tune to promote a campaign event.
While it’s no secret that Morello and his band have a political message behind their tunes, other artists, who tend to have been viewed by the mainstream, are coming out each year, injecting a political message in their lyrics.
Musicians with a message
Dave Matthews recently joined the political climate with his summer release, “Mercy.” The familiar voice of Matthews, which typically illustrates the story of love gone wrong, this time lends itself to a message, seemingly, for the world: “Don’t give up/ I know you can see/ All the world and the mess that we’re making/ Can’t give up/ And hope God will intercede/ Come on back.”
The lyrics suggest a broken world, arguably deteriorating as people rely on the act of prayer, without the accompaniment of action.
John Mayer was another widely accepted musician who stepped into the fray with this song, “Waiting for the world to change,” in which he explains that people of his generation feel like the world political problems are too large to change.
“Now if we had the power to bring our neighbors home from war/ They would have never missed a Christmas/ No more ribbons on their door,” he sings. “And when you trust your television/ What you get is what you got/ But when they own the information/ they can bend it all they want.”
Hip-hop star Pink was another mainstream artist to get bold, when she released her song, “Dear Mr. President,” a piece she refers to as the most important tracks she’s ever released. The song hit the airwaves in the midst of the Iraq war, when news of soldier deaths was almost common among American communities.
“How do you sleep while the rest of us cry/ How do you dream when a mother has no chance to say goodbye?/How do you walk with your head held high? Can you even look me in the eye and tell me why?”
Since the war began, 6,551 service members have lost their lives, in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Of those killed, 2,952 were between 20 and 24 years old, 400 had not even celebrated their 20th birthday.
It was also during that time that country music divas, the Dixie Chicks, turned against the majority of fans in the country music scene when they publicly spoke out against the war while performing in London, U.K. As a result, fellow musicians within their genre pulled the band from playlists and publicly stated their opposition, claiming they were unpatriotic and did not support the troops.
Despite the move, the Dixie Chicks remained in the spotlight, adopted heavily among those not typically considered country music fans.
With society so tied between political lines, it’s no surprise that musicians have become part of the battle, wanting to align themselves with those who represent the causes and political ideologies they embrace. And, for some, it goes beyond lending support through the use of a song, with political meanings being woven into their lyrics, creating music that has the power to do more than just relax or serve as background noise at the club.
The question now is what society does with the inspiration they find through moving lyrics and song, and whether musicians’ passions are enough to spur political activity among those who wouldn’t otherwise engage.