Politics and Music

Politics and art are nearly inextricably linked.  Witness what happened when people did not stand at attention during the playing of the National Anthem.

Context is important, but any song can be politicized.  A few examples:

Dolly Parton "9 to 5"

Bruce Springsteen "Born In the USA"

Billie Holiday "Strange Fruit"

The Clash "London Calling"

Duke Ellington "Black, Brown And Beige"

Bob Dylan "Blowing In the Wind"

George Cohan "Yankee Doodle Dandy"

Aretha Franklin "Respect"

Stevie Wonder "Livin' In the City"

The Who "My Generation"

The Band "The Night They Drove Ol' Dixie Down"

Marvin Gaye "Inner City Blues"

Village People "Y.M.C.A."

Jimi Hendrix "Machine Gun"

Rolling Stones "Under Cover Of the Night"

Gang Of Four "Call Me Up"

They even politicized "A Whiter Shade Of Pale".

Clearly, history has shown music and politics cannot be separated.  In that case, I agree with Frogman's above comments.

Please remember to add that the Democratic party of the 1800s was constituted by Andrew Jackson's Nativist/populist coalition, and the GOP was a brand new party devoted to abolition, with its base in the industrial North.  In today's world, the polical roles of the parties has flipped 180 degrees.  The GOP turned into its current alignment when it sought to improve its electoral performance by capturing George Wallace's voters.  The Democrats came to be what they are now after the Dixiecrats switched their alliegance to the newly re-positioned GOP.  Under FDR and LBJ, Democrats  championed of an activist Government promoting societal progress and strengthening the safety net.  The GOP opposes this, and favors nothing but reducing taxation.

The issue of stare decisis today is fraught with political overtones.  The SCOTUS with its new Republican appointed majority can lay waste to many progressive achievemants of the past by applying their tortured "originalist" logic.  Stare Decisis for Thee, Judicial Activism for Me.

@crustycoot + 100 - excellent description of what happened.

At 70 years of age and from MD, I certainly remember the Dixiecrats; Spiro Agnew got to be governor of Maryland because he ran as the liberal Republican, believe it or not; the Democrat running against him was a Dixiecrat....  

@onhwy61 - Good choices! But the main point of The Clash, Bob Dylan, and Gang of Four was political, as were many of these songs listed by other artists.

These songs didn't need to be 'politicized' - they pretty blatantly were to begin with. 

@uncledemp

I just don’t consider him or most musicians, actors, talk show hosts, and audio enthusiasts a reliable source of information to base my views upon.

Well said.

Here in the UK the early 80s were a time when quite a few UK artists got political (the Clash, the Specials, the Jam etc, and this seemed to culminate in the Live Aid fiasco of 1985.

After that, music became gradually less overtly politicised.

By then even the Red Wedge founder himself, Billy Bragg, realised the naivety of trying to mix it with the political big boys of the world.