When political statements and notes merge
There are songs and then there are songs that carry a political statement which is extremely meaningful. The artists, who write, compose and finally release these songs manifest their angst against the wrong-doings of the society or simply make an attempt to make the masses open their eyes and see through the haze and the blur. Frankly, these songs represent a powerful statement and ask for explanations from the head of the society. These artists wage an intellectually influenced, artistic ‘war’ against what they feel is wrong in the society.
Gimme shelter- The Rolling Stones: The iconic British rock n roll band, THE ROLLING STONES sing about a turbulent time that was faced by America in the year 1969. The same year, US were warring with Vietnam, there were several race riots going on and the infamous Charles Manson was apprehended. THE ROLLING STONES frontman, Mick Jagger sings of a particular need for ‘shelter ‘from all this turbulence. Incidentally, "Gimme Shelter" is also the name of the film that documented The Stones 1969 tour, as well as the memorable Altamont concert where a fan was stabbed to death by a Hell's Angels security guard.
Bullet the blue sky – U2: This is a political song that in a way criticizes the US foreign policy for promoting turbulence in Central America. The lyrics were motivated by U2 vocalist Bono's trip to Central America in the year 1985. He was there as a part of the Amnesty International. His band mates Adam Clayton, Larry Mullen, and The Edge, were responsible for the music. The band along with Bono wanted to draw concentration to the fact that the US was doing a severe degree of damage in other countries.
Fight the Power- Public Enemy: Public Enemy have always been one of those artists, whose very songs sent shiver down the spine of the corrupted society. “Fight the Power” is one song that actually is their mission statement. From the Thomas “TNT” Todd quotation that starts the song to Public Enemy member Flavor Flav’s lyrical takedown of both Elvis Presley and John Wayne, this is a song that is challenging and expressive at the same time. Public Enemy was always mad and pissed off at the current state of affairs, the track “Fight the Power” laid out a platform for the band’s outrage which was absolutely indisputable. Perhaps, the best part of the song was that it wasn’t didactic and incorporated an infectious groove that no one could get out of their heads.
"Blowin’ In the Wind” and “The Times They Are A-Changin'-Bob Dylan: The artist known as Bob Dylan is one of the greatest musical poets known to mankind. He executed finesse and his grasp of words so as to showcase his signature political songs. He relied on subtlety and proved that you needn’t be angry to express the discontent that you feel inside. Both of the songs, luminous in their deceiving simplicity, expressively described the turbulent '60s and have earned the tag of being ‘ageless’.
This Land Is Your Land-Woody Guthrie: Woody Guthrie is a legendary American folk-protest singer. His songs primarily dealt with political causes. Most of the stuff that the present society describes as the populist American dream, has its roots in the folksy collectivism that was practiced by Guthrie. He has immortalized many songs, but perhaps no song summarizes his vision like “This Land Is Your Land,” This is a song that depicts a scenario where each and every citizen having an equivalent right to the bounty of the United States. Woody was one of those artists, who had ‘had been there done that’. His guitar had a label that read “this machine kills fascists”.
The Star-Spangled Banner-Jimi Hendrix: The US national anthem was stripped down to its bare bones, reconstructed and redesigned by the guitar god known as Jimi Hendrix. Hats off to Mr. Hendrix for showing us all the exciting and even dangerous side of the song that is sure to piss off traditionalists. The song’s extreme inventiveness and raw, unadulterated emotion purify something indispensable about the real American spirit.
Killing in the Name-Rage Against The Machine: With a name like Rage Against the Machine, you can expect that each and every subtlety would be thrown out of the window, and a seething rage would explode all over the system in which we dwell. RATM is one of the most politically charged up bands who knew what they were doing. Their songs reflected a certain virtuous resentment with negligible introspection. This song dealt with corruption and racism and is covered by bands all over the world, even after 18 years of its official release.
California Uber Alles- The Dead Kennedys: The Dead Kennedys always embraced a political message in their songs. Jello Biafra and his band mates nailed rapidly and artistically on everything from customer trends to the military-industrial compound. The song “California Uber Alles,” aimed directly at the fearful freak-out predicting Jerry Brown totalitarianism. This is one song that epitomizes a major instance of the fuming political attitude that defined the punk rock movement.
Strange Fruit-Billie Holiday: This wasn’t just any political song, but it also reflected the act of bravery by the artist. After her record label refused to even record the song, she went on to a new label. She also performed the song “Strange Fruit” in concert, though at times fearing retaliation for doing so. This song actually brought the dreaded concept of racism to the forefront of the nationwide awareness. “Strange Fruit” is evidence to the authority of the ideal pairing of a singer and a song to create an ineffaceable political declaration.
Imagine-John Lennon: Perhaps a list of ‘political statement songs’ wouldn’t be complete without this classic from ex-Beatles John Lennon. The song depicted of an Utopian state of affairs, where the line “all the people/ living life in peace” would ring truth and where there wouldn’t be any boundaries of nationality or religion forcing us to choose.
---- Kabya Ghosh
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