It’s no surprise that the outcome of the 2016 presidential election was a shock to many Americans. It has resulted in numerous social media tirades, street protests and online campaigns to combat the flawed electoral college system. Many musicians took their anger and dismay to social media outlets such as Twitter and Facebook, including Thom Yorke from Radiohead, Two Door Cinema Club and Young the Giant, just to name a few.
While I named a meager handful, plenty of musicians, both American and non-American, expressed their sadness and disappointment with the outcome. This led me to think: while plenty of musicians freely discuss politics and national/global issues on social media and in interviews, we seldom see (or rather, hear) music with a political context.
Aside from punk rock, politics and music are typically recognized as separate subjects, and rarely do we see them collide. Even if musicians outwardly convey their political opinions, they tend to keep such opinions out of their lyrical content.
Perhaps musicians do this out of fear of losing fans, but I think it’s high time artists merge the two subjects together again. While punk music has always been laden with political material, other genres have strayed away from it. If musicians overtly state their opinions in interviews and social media posts, why shouldn’t they also include it in their creative works?
With President-Elect Donald Trump taking office in January, America desperately needs art and music to counter his corruption, misogyny and untruthfulness. Music is undoubtedly a very powerful art form, and through music, people learn new things about themselves, life and the world that surrounds them.
When we are armed with impactful art, we have the necessary tools that enable critical thought, evaluation and general analysis. In particular, music that conveys these relevant opinions helps us as citizens to scrutinize our political state and construct informed opinions about current issues.
England was lucky enough to have The Smiths in the 1980s, which consisted of witty, intelligent individuals including Morrissey and Johnny Marr. The Smiths were renowned for politically-infused albums such as _Meat Is Murder_ and _The Queen Is Dead_, which both examined the unethical conditions of certain political issues and pushed for reform.
The Smiths, however, primarily focused on English matters rather than American ones (and understandably so). While both Morrissey and Marr have displayed their outward contempt for Trump, we need music that makes intelligent commentary on modern American politics.
In other words, America needs its very own The Smiths. Music has generally been lacking in political commentary, but we have seen improvements with musical campaigns such as _30 Days, 30 Songs_ (which has recently been renamed _30 Days, 50 Songs_).
This compilation of anti-Trump songs is an example of how music is beginning to recognize the dire need for a return to political music. This collection features works such as “Million Dollar Loan” by Death Cab For Cutie, “Locker Room Talk” by Cold War Kids and “Demagogue” by Franz Ferdinand, which are all aptly named tracks.
Furthermore, some artists have taken their views to the stage. For example, as a response to Trump’s election, indie rockers Band of Horses symbolically opened their set with “The Funeral” on Nov. 9.
Matt Healy, lead vocalist from The 1975, also gave his two cents on Trump’s election, but through a brief speech in between songs during a live performance. Healy empowered his fans with a positive outlook on diversity, saying that the country is a “black America,” a “Muslim America” and a “gay America.” While these forms of expression aren’t as direct as _30 Days, 30 Songs_, it is surely a step forward in opening political discourse through music and art.
Music is truly inexplicable, but just because we find something difficult to explain does not make it any less powerful. In fact, when we find something to be more mysterious and indescribable, it becomes even more significant and influential.
Through the power of music, we can channel and facilitate discussion regarding the current political state. America desperately needs political music again because, looking at how matters are currently going, we will need to defend basic human rights for many groups of people. America, let’s make music political again.