Politics and Music


The Trumpets of Jericho

Beethoven and Napoleon 

Wagner and the Nazis

"Ohio" and the Vietnam War

"Imagine" and consumerism 

The Dixie Chicks 

Countless examples illustrate the intersection of Music and Politics. Jerry Garcia referenced his group as "just a dance band." Always pondered how we react to our choices of music. Divorce it entirely from the controversies of the day and merely enjoy the artistry or allow it to change the way in which we view the world. Transformative, escapism, nostalgia, intellectual profundity, cultural discovery. Large questions. Your thoughts?

jpwarren58

With your opinion you will educate us on what he Trump did to be called a traitor ?

Uhhh....................how about a very blatant, visible, attempted coup to steal the election and thwart the will of We, The People because his ego is so incredibly fragile his tiny mind absolutely cannot countenance even the THOUGHT of losing?  Something never before attempted in the history of the USA, btw.  Are you seriously asking the question now, after the mountain evidence that has been dropped on your head?  Firsthand testimony - not by liberal democrats, or Nancy Pelosi, or Bernie Sanders or AOC - but by right wing members of his OWN administration?  Even that crackpot Eastman admitted he knew it was illegal.  If Michael Luttig's testimony didn't open your eyes, you're hopeless.  All due respect.

That said..............

I can't believe Gil-Scot Heron hasn't been mentioned.

 

CrustyCoot, Well said. I share your observations on 60's counterculture and the fact that there was an equal and opposing view very active at the time. That view did not cause the outrage that was covered by the press. Nor did that view create coverage and or documentaries like Woodstock.....mainly because they couldn't.

@jssmith 

But my thoughts are that there are probably no lyricists, or other types of celebrities, with the brainpower of a Thomas Sowell or Jordan Peterson, so people should definitely look elsewhere for their inspirations, political or otherwise.

 

Well, I haven't found any.

But then I've only been listening for a few decades.

 

@hartf36 

I respectfully couldn't disagree with you more, but thanks for the GSH mention.

My friend Calvin introduced him to me during our student days and I never forgot.

 

However, I have to say, the world today is an entirely different place to what it was back then.

The information age has changed almost everything.

What was up is now down, what was right is now left, what could be said then, can't be now, there were 2 genders back then, now seemingly there's 30, rather strangely considering, race is a bigger issue than ever etc.

Division, division, division.

24 hour division seems to be the norm today.

 

Thankfully we have the likes of Petersen and Sowell keeping it real.

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God Save the Queen by the Sex Pistols comes to mind.

The entire Blows Against the Empire album by Paul Kantner and The Planet Earth Rock and Roll Orchestra is another, as are Volunteers, Crown of Creation by the Airplane.

Then there’s Gorecki’s Symphony #3. Sorta relevant given the sadness that is Ukraine today:

 

Words Accompanying
Górecki’s Symphony No. 3
(in translation)

First Movement

My son, my chosen and beloved
Share your wounds with your mother
And because, dear son, I have always carried you in my heart,
And always served you faithfully
Speak to your mother, to make her happy,
Although you are already leaving me, my cherished hope.
(Lamentation of the Holy Cross Monastery from the "Lysagóra Songs" collection. Second half of the 15th century)

Second Movement

No, Mother, do not weep,
Most chaste Queen of Heaven
Support me always.
"Zdrowas Mario." (*)
(Prayer inscribed on wall 3 of cell no. 3 in the basement of "Palace," the Gestapo’s headquarters in Zadopane; beneath is the signature of Helena Wanda Blazusiakówna, and the words "18 years old, imprisoned since 26 September 1944.")
(*) "Zdrowas Mario" (Ave Maria)—the opening of the Polish prayer to the Holy Mother

Third Movement

Where has he gone
My dearest son?
Perhaps during the uprising
The cruel enemy killed him

Ah, you bad people
In the name of God, the most Holy,
Tell me, why did you kill
My son?

Never again
Will I have his support
Even if I cry
My old eyes out

Were my bitter tears
to create another River Oder
They would not restore to life
My son

He lies in his grave
and I know not where
Though I keep asking people
Everywhere

Perhaps the poor child
Lies in a rough ditch
and instead he could have been
lying in his warm bed

Oh, sing for him
God’s little song-birds
Since his mother
Cannot find him

And you, God’s little flowers
May you blossom all around
So that my son
May sleep happily
(Folk song in the dialect of the Opole region)