Why have socially conscious songs become a thing of the past? Cian Ciaran, keyboard player for the Welsh band Super Furry Animals writes here, in the UK's Guardian paper about the need for musicians to'rally the public and become the voice of political opposition once more'. At present, he claims, 'either they aren’t a threat, or their voices aren’t being heard.'
Ciaran continues: 'Take Paloma Faith, one of the stars of the recent Brit awards. She is from Hackney, which in the same week was named as the local authority with the highest level of deprivation in England. Faith is now taking writer Owen Jones on the road with her in an effort to convince potential Ukip voters to change their mind. We need to start hear more of these voices of political opposition in popular music itself. Young people especially need some good to believe in.
In times gone by, there were few things cooler than rallying against the establishment, from Marvin Gaye during the civil rights movement to John Lennon with his anti-war message. Some of the most prominent names in punk and new wave took part in the Rock Against Racism concerts of the late 70s and early 80s, as Elvis Costello and The Clash waged war on the National Front. The Red Wedge Tours of the mid-80s gathered pace with help from acts such as Style Council and The Smiths. I’ve still to ask Noel Gallagher how he ended up endorsing Labour’s campaign, but even he now speaks of being disenfranchised.
Subversion is a creative gift so not all political action needs to be overt. The most engaging of issue-based songs, such as Billie Holiday’s Strange Fruit or Sam Cooke’s A Change is Gonna Come, are a far cry from the traditional image of the ranting protest singer hammering away on their acoustic guitar. Sometimes anger alone can be an unhelpful emotion in music.
I’m in awe of young wordsmiths such as Hollie McNish and Stephen Morrison-Burke, who come out and say what needs to be said without a guitar or keyboard in front of them as a crutch or distraction. You need real conviction to be able to say as much as they do, as loud as they do, without any band members around them to share the responsibility. I’m proud to be working with them and others, including Steve Mason – a rare political, musical beast – on a protest album that tries to react to the populist media bombarding us with anti-Islam, anti-immigration, anti-poor people sentiments, seeming to blame anyone but those who hold real power. All the while the public are made to subsidise expensive, long-term energy contracts, transferring public money to the French state, and £100bn is easily found for the folly of a nuclear military “deterrent” while the NHS is sold off in pieces.
I wish Britain’s biggest selling artists, such as Ed Sheeran, George Ezra and Sam Smith would join us. As long as British musicians lack political motivation, surely we will get the governments we deserve.' Read Ciaran's article in full here: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/09/pop-political-british-musicians-paloma-faith
The 1960s and 70s especially saw the rise of protest singers such as Bob Dylan but also Joan Baez; Don McLean; Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie. Before them issues such as war, the Great Depression and Civil Rights spurred writers to use music as a medium for change.
Is Ciaran right - do today's pop artists need to do more than just entertain? Should more modern music focus on social and political change or at least acknowledge the inequities and injustices in our world? Or is it doing this adequately already?
What do you think?
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It is proposed that today's pop musicians should focus more of their music on social and political change