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Music and
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Music, Society,
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Music and Social Issues (Post 9/11/01)
By Adam J. Salomon

When tragic events arise, people never know what to expect, whether from the media or from each other. The outreach and support following September 11th has been outstanding. Musicians have showed their support in many ways, from attending fund-raisers to donating their own personal items to performing for the victims. However, it is my opinion that live music performances do not measure up to people's expectations as a way of addressing social issues in today's America. Or, if they do, they are for the wrong causes.

In the 1960's, musicians wrote songs that addressed social problems and issues. Woodstock was not just a concert, but it was rather an entire social movement by the youth to break free from a government they didn't agree with. It was repressive in that African Americans were not treated equally, and the government supported a war in which American soldiers were dying in the name of peace. Many felt the government was contradicting itself, and therefore, the hippie movement gained steam. Musicians who had political overtones in their music organized peace rallies and concerts, and they were a successful way of addressing social issues in America during the 1960's.

Fast-forward to August/September, 2001. There are barely any bands that include political overtones to their music, and the few that do only include political angst because society has been in a complacent state during the past couple of years. There has been nothing to rebel about, so the government has become the scapegoat.

In late September/October, after everyone had a chance to comprehend what happened, the meaning of live music events began to change. Benefit concerts began popping up all over the place. "It is a way of putting smiles back onto people's faces," states Chris Caffery of the band Savatage. True, going to concerts may help people smile for the first time since September 11th, that doesn't necessarily mean that anybody is addressing social issues. For example, Bon Jovi may hold a concert at Giants Stadium and give all of the ticket sales to charity. But, there will be a lot of people at the concert who are just there to see the band and don't even think about why the band is holding the concert. Some of today's musicians don't even encourage their fans to get involved like John Lennon did in the late sixties. So, I don't think that holding live music performances necessarily measures up to people's expectations as a way of addressing social issues, since most musicians today simply do not address the issues in their music. Some don't even make any references at all.

It is extremely beneficial to learn about and participate in global issues and activism. For one thing, if a person doesn't get involved in or understand a particular event that is going on in the world, he or she may become prejudice or biased. There are many people who do not take the time to learn about the situation between the United States and Afghanistan. They may listen to the news every once in a while and say, "I know what I need to know," but do they really?
This person who claims to know all he or she needs to does not in reality. People like this person may claim that they are doing their part by waving the American flag high and proud. But, they are also the same people who say that the United States should "kick Afghanistan's ass." That is a very closed-minded thing to say. Moreover, those who do not know that much about Afghanistan wouldn't be knowledgeable with the Muslim religion, and ethnocentrism can be a negative result. It is my guess that many people of the Islamic faith have been targets here in the United States just because they happen to be of descent from that region of the world.
It was interesting to be taking part in learning about global issues and social activism. The Women of the Diaspora was a great experience for those in attendance, because one would not think that Jews and African Americans would get together and find out that they have so much in common. About a year ago, a friend of mine remembers going back to his old neighborhood of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and hearing about a huge confrontation between the two groups. He happens to be Jewish and remembers saying that it was sad, but what they needed in the neighborhood were a couple of Skinheads to bring the peace or at least some sense of balance.

As contradictory as it sounds, it would force the two sides to get together and fight for a common cause, rather than fight against each other. However, hearing of this, I just wish that there were more opportunities for everyone in every neighborhood or college to learn about other faiths and issues that surround our global neighborhood. The earth is a very small neighborhood, and people of all faiths, creeds, and religions should all be able to get along with each other.

There are many deficiencies in today's culture concerning political awareness. For the most part, people only see what they want to see while living in the safety of their own worlds. For some reason or another, they are afraid to see beyond the scope of what is near them and see our planet from a more worldly view. Many people don't know that there have been wars in Kashmir, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India for the past couple of centuries. The events that are transpiring in that region of the world are not new at all. However, it is easy to mistakenly live in a cocoon, since overall, the United States has been politically tranquil over the past twenty years. And, since these have been tranquil times, people have been told by groups like Rage Against the Machine and Limp Bizkit to lash out at the government and society rather than take part in global activism. Anger and hostility will not change things. Even in the 1960's, when people wanted rapid change, they went about it through peaceful means. And, it worked. People's actions today show that they don't want peace. People would rather lash out against society or the government than peacefully work with them to bring about a difference. And that is why everybody is looking for one hundred percent of the pie, rather than wanting to compromise. If people learned about political awareness and took part in global activism, there would not be nearly as much hatred in the world as there is today. America is about helping others, yet people want to be closed-minded.

Why else are people being told to take their flags down in certain neighborhoods? They are afraid to show the world who they are, and it shows that they just simply do not want to take part in global issues and activism. True patriotism is on the decline because it's getting old already to some, and others think it is overused and being taken advantage of. People should be encouraged to wave their flags high and proud and be encouraged to help in any way possible. Before the events of September 11th, people couldn't care less about the World Hunger Organization, which helps people in poor countries get food. As the great country that we are, we can do more. And we can bring about positive change through a variety of media, including music.

Music with political content is at a disadvantage in reaching a wide audience. In order for it to connect with people, it unfortunately has to be extreme in its lyrics. Most of Rage Against the Machine's lyrics happen to be extreme. In the song "Township Rebellion", vocalist Zach De La Rocha yells, "Rebel, rebel, rebel because our people are still in hell." Being an American, he has no basis to be saying this, and being that most of RATM's fans are American, they have no right to be feeling this way. We have been living in a pretty tranquil time in history, and people are rebelling against a government that has given them every freedom imaginable. And still, they take it for granted. That is the reason why music with extreme political overtones has been shining in the spotlight, whereas music with positive political overtones is frowned upon. However, most of Savatage's fans miss the political overtones of "Follow Me." They don't connect the song's true meaning of politics with the lyrics, "People only see what they want to see, living in a world that's safe from reality" (since they're not extreme enough to be in the spotlight). In addition, Corrosion of Conformity, who are just as popular in the States as they are in Europe, released a song called "Condition A/Condition B," which stated, "Politics is the control of wealth and power. We are in condition to condemn politics. You can be part of the problem or part of the solution. Which side are you on?" This kept fans from wanting to become involved, because they feared that if they did, they would just become "political robots" or "puppets" like those currently involved. Again, this leads me to wonder what exactly they were rebelling about anyway. The status quo was not one of political unrest at all.

In contrast, who has ever heard of Lee Greenwood? Probably nobody has. Do they know his song "God Bless America"? They probably don't. However, people overseas probably sing it in hopes of one day coming to America. Do people know that the heavy metal guitarist Zakk Wylde has performed the "Star-Spangled Banner" on a number of occasions? People don't care that he's performed it before Mets games and on television. And, the sad thing is that if they did, they would have seen him as a "wuss" before the tragic events of September 11th. It makes me wonder why the band Boston was respected by their fans when they released their version of it and Wylde would be frowned upon. After September 11th, everybody from Bon Jovi to Fred Durst to Mariah Carey (who only sings love songs that have no political meaning) jumped on the bandwagon of singing politically charged songs. There shouldn't be a bandwagon at all! Bands should care about current events in the world, and fans should as well. It' sad that Savatage was one of the only rock bands to release a political concept album about the war in Sarajevo to make people think about it. It's even worse that people think it's one of their worst CDs. As both fans and musicians, we can do better.

CTRockBands@aol.com