Politics and Music

This topic is worth mentioning only if you live in a country ruled by dictatorships. If there is no personal risk or danger to the artist, then it does not count for much what is said or performed.

Now, imagine being a composer in Soviet Russia during the rule of Stalin. If an artist then, had the balls to write any music that didn’t meet the approval of that great music critic Stalin, it meant much more. Some did some didn’t.

Shostakovich comes to mind.

In the West, its just kids having fun upsetting their parents.

Cheers

Talking about Garth Brooks and politics, a few years ago Garth came to give a concert in Detroit.  The shows were sold out.  Garth came out in a football jersey #20 with Sanders across the back.  His fans were taken aback.  Garth is supporting Bernie Sanders in the '20 election?  There were jeers.  Both Garth and Barry Sanders went to Oklahoma State and Barry's jersey number was 20 when he played for the Lions.  Garth had to explain it to the crowd.

@rok2id the Dixie Chicks might have a thing or two to say about the matter of personal risk?

“Political.”

Just another needless category.  There’s more than one way to skin a cat.  The cat-skinning, in this case, is artistic expression.  Some artists may choose to express themselves in ways that are more routinely an explicit commentary on social matters and may do it with more frequency than others.  
If the music is good, it’s good.

Yes, “Beer for My Horses” by Toby Keith and Willie Nelson (why, Willie, why?!?!) has all the subtlety, nuance and complexity of a club to the head, but the song is not bad because the ideas expressed are bad (but, in all reality, probably) the song is bad because the song is really, really bad.

Just yesterday, I threw on “Okie from Muskogee.”  I forgot how stupid and bad the ideas expressed in that song were.  I still liked it.  Why?  Well, I guess I just think it’s a good song.