While it did get me thinking that there is really a lack of bands/artists who dare to protest against establishments outside of the ones they are "expected" to protest against (i.e.The Man), I couldn't help but remember this quote from Morrissey:
"Just as the public can be inspired they can also begin to yawn at the very notion of yet another song for a cause"
So after hearing hundreds of songs in the last decade which said "Bush is bad, the war is bad, just for oil", in final years of decade and current one have people grown bored of the idea of protest and when they hear that something is a "political song" they assume it's about Iraq. Has this apathy been fueled further by the fact some consider electing Obama as the final victory over this rather than the start of an uphill battle to improve the world. What about in the UK? Will protest songs increase if the Tories get elected? Do we really want to find out?
Anyway contemporary mainstream artists that make protest songs?
Lily Allen maybe? She has spoke against many subjects in her songs. Coldplays Viva La Vida song got to number one in the US and UK and that was in top 10 in many other countries, it might be spliting hairs to call it a protest song though. Kanye Wests "The College Dropout". Way back in 2004 now but has sold millions while tackling much more subjects than you average chart topping album.
I'll leave it there. I have probably overlooked some really big things
It's not that they don't exist, they do; I just think it's not what people are buying, and more to the point, it's not what the record companies are selling. Why would the major labels want to market something that might hurt their bottom line?
Springsteen can be counted on write a protest song now and then. Green Day has been somewhat topical with recent albums. Son Volt did and does some very topical songs. But true in your face protest, is mostly undergound probably. Aaah, Billy Bragg, a musician for a different era.
Personally, I think that protest music has gone out of the public eye because record labels don't think it will sell. Most of the music on the radio currently is fairly nonpartisan, one could even argue it lacks any realism whatsoever, and I think labels like it that way. The less people that disagree with the song's message, the more that are likely to purchase it.
You could argue hip-hop has a bit more leeway in that respect, because it is the dominant genre right now. Artists like Lil Wayne and Kanye West have written songs that could considered protest songs (mind you Lil Wayne's was on a free mixtape, not to mention it is titled Georgia... Bush, good song though), and they are some of the few sure sellers the industry has left. Not to mention more deliberately politically artists like MIA.
I have a feeling this will be the decade of the evolution of hip-hop. Many things will change, Eminem will become far less of an anomaly,there will be more quality rap albums than any other genre, and politics will certainly be a part of some of them.
All it takes is one spark to create a movement like punk again. Perhaps something much bigger.
I would like to play devils advocate here, what if most the protest singers are more concerned with how "indie" they look and create music which is a bit boring and you can't blame the industry for not signing them? What if the record companies would be eager to sign someone who creates new exciting music but are unable to because the vast majority are trying to be original for the sake of being original rather than writing an amazing song? What if the protest singers are more preoccupied with criticizing the industry rather than criticizing themselves? A cult of bands/artists who don't get signed and say "well we're to smart for the establishment... I don't want to get signed anyway" rather than "Well let's improve are songs and gig some more".
Two lines from Dead Kennedys - Triumph Of The Swill
"If the Doors or John Lennon were getting started now
The industry wouldn't sign 'em in a million years"
What if they would fight tooth and nail to sign them?
(Yes, I went a little off topic but I thought I would ask a question sort of related to what Alt Rocker77 and Mr Shankly were saying Plus I forget to mention another mainstream protest act - Rise Against)
IMO it's a sad commentary and situation about and with the state of today's music when we have all of these needless wars going on and very few protest songs.
But there is one band that has been in the trenches for 30 years depicting the reality and horrors of war.
Thumbnail. Click to enlarge.
Link _________________ .
I owe $100,000 and wasted 4 years of my life.
Steve Earle keeps churning them out. I guess he's not generally considered mainstream though.
I don't think there ever really was room for protest songs on main mainstream. A handful slipped through over the years, but not so much because they were protest songs as that they were the latest single by an artist big enough to get to do what they feel like (Dylan and Lennon come to mind here). The Iraq/Al Qaida protests got to the charts and airplay for a while because it was a hot topic and anyone who wanted to exploit that got to sell a bunch riding on the wave, but in general the protest song has always been a bit of a fringe phenomenon.
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
Plus I forget to mention another mainstream protest act - Rise Against)
.jpg)
