Protest!

Mon 21st Jan, 2008 in Features

Stickin’ it to the man has been, and always will be, a part of popular music to some degree. The vitality of protest as an element of popular music over the years has fluctuated considerably, however, and to follow its path in detail would take significant effort. This short piece will aim to encapsulate how the act of protesting, in whatever form, sits within popular music’s current incarnation.

Public Enemy’s Chuck D recently released an album with Fine Arts Militia entitled We Are Gathered Here…. Drenched in heavy political criticism, it has yet to find a distributor. Such an occurrence is reflective of where protest music presently stands in popular culture – on the edge. The existing environment poses a number of problems for the artist wishing to subvert the hegemonic establishment in some way. Here are a few of those problems:

Modern protest songs are often declawed by insipid commercial presentation. Nonsensical film clips and product association for instance can drastically alter how the meaning of a song, which may have been intended as dissent, is perceived.

Independent labels and avenues of distribution are finding it increasingly difficult to survive economically and at the same time cater towards politically focused artists. Many bigwigs have made comments to the effect of “economically speaking, ignoring politics makes sense”. Nowadays even the motives of indie labels predisposed to protest in the past are being questioned. Ex-editor of Punk Planet, Joel Schalit has highlighted that many indie-punk labels which stemmed from a highly charged reaction to Reaganism have ended up part of an apolitical “petit bourgeois” feeder-system for the majors.

The age old dilemma of protest music – the audience. Preaching to the converted is a constant danger to the relevance of an artist wishing to subvert. As Arlo Guthrie said, “You don’t accomplish very much singing protest songs to people who agree with you. Everybody just has a good time thinking they’re right.”

That said, – œprotest’ artists can and do succeed in the current popular music climate. Satirical songs are a form of protest music that is increasing in popularity. A growing prevalence of groups like The Capitol Steps (who have released albums with titles such as Between Iraq and a Hard Place and Papa’s Got a Brand New Baghdad), and the success of satirical songwriter Weird Al Yankovic are indicative of such a shift.

Also pertinent is the recent reformation of protest heavyweights Rage Against The Machine. Guitarist Tom Morello has been quoted as saying, “Is it a coincidence that in the seven years that Rage Against The Machine has been away that the country has slid into right-wing purgatory? I think not.” Or may it just be that the drive to protest has diminished somewhat in our generation and, as Frank Zappa once noted, most youths are “loyal to neither flag, country nor doctrine, but only to music”?