BY MIKEY MIGO
There are plenty of political songs from the past like John Lennon's "Imagine", Marvin Gaye's "Whats Going On", and many Bob Dylan songs just to name a few. Are these great tunes? Yes. Are they revolutionary? Many would say so. With a lot of these protest/revolution types of songs becoming timeless classics, many of the "video age" artists have put out their own of the same genre.
Are these modern artists trying to share their views on things or are they trying to capitalize on knowing songs like these can make them music icons. Some musicians are utilizing their fame to speak out against the things that they don't agree with. While that's respectable, some of these videos and songs can come off a bit pretentious. Are these artists speaking for our generation or just jumping on board to sell more records and hope for John Lennon cred. Who knows?
This week, we'll take a look at SOME of the political music videos out there...
"Megalomaniac" by Incubus
I remember when I first saw this video. I was taken back by it because it's not what I've grown accustomed to by Incubus. This track and video was a huge step forward for the band and voiced their frustration with the Bush administration. I consider this one a bit more ballsy because the carved their niche in music as more of a mellow rock group. A damn good one at that. Lyrically this is a strong song, but the video carries it a lot. The animation and direction of the video is awesome and I wish this album would have caught on more with the general public and myself. Watching it now again a few years later is nice and makes me want to dig out the CD from a box in the closet.
Anything by Public Enemy
"Fight The Power" was directed by Spike Lee. If you want to get a message across, you can't do much better than Spike Lee. The version I have above is the extended and uncut version of the video. It's everything a hip hop protest song should be. Public Enemy has many more tracks that go against the grain and speaks leaps and bounds for a generation under fire. Say what you want about the commercialization of Flava Flav, this is hip hop at its finest.
"B.Y.O.B. (Bring Your Own Bombs)" by System of a Down
I'm a bit torn on System of a Down now a days. On their first album there wasn't much political push to it, but lately it's all political. Granted, the differences of times from the late 90's until now are pretty damn big, it's just a little odd. I do enjoy this song and it's lyrically strong and to the point. It might be too much to the point though. Maybe it's just my preference, but I enjoy songs like this to be a bit more metaphoric. Either way, I anticipate their return.
"Counting Bodies Like Sheep" by A Perfect Circle
TO be perfectly honest, I'm not sure if this is an "official video", but its damn good. I do similar animation work myself so this one stands out to me. The Sheep, the TVs, the overall mindfuck of a video that this is, is a great visual to a great song. The song itself is from A Perfect Circle's last album "Emotive" and if it's the finale of the group, it's a damn good one. There's a few different anti-Bush tracks on this list(okay, more than a few), but this one focuses more on the oil side of things that makes it more unique. And that fact that it's Maynard... it just rocks.
"Anarchy in the UK" by Sex Pistols
The Sex Pistols comes off as brash, violent, and vulgar. And those adjectives are very true, but there was much more to them than that. They were anti-conformity defines. This song is really the one that made their mission more clear to the mass public. In a world of Good Charlotte, The Used, and other so called "punk" bands, this is what it's really all about. You could call The Sex Pistols the godfather's of punk, but really they are the drunk uncle who you don't like being around. Then on your 21st Birthday, he takes you out and gets you drunk and parties with you all night.
Anything by Rage Against the Machine
How I miss this band? Rage Against The Machine isn't just a witty name, it was the entire point of their music. They wage a very valiant war against "The Machine" that is evil corporate America. The video I picked from their many protest songs is "Testify". I went with this one because the video's message is loud and clear. One can only hope that their "one time only" reunion turns into something more. I enjoy Audioslave, but there is a much bigger picture for Rage Against the Machine. Emo kids take notice, THIS is music.
"Do The Evolution" by Pearl Jam
This is by far my favorite Pearl Jam song. If it weren't for that little "croaking" sound that Vedder belches out at the beginning this would of been my entrance music in pro wrestling. Animated by Todd McFarlane, this video is a bit trippy but with an awesome story that is told. Pearl Jam is another genuine band that cares about the issues they sing about. There's plenty more where this came from, most notable the newer "World Wide Suicide". They basically wave the flag of Neil Young and carry the same torch for a new generation.
A lot of great songs by U2
While a lot of bands attempt to do something revolutionary, only a few can actually live up to it. For the past twenty years, U2 has been making music with very strong messages and rocking out while doing so. Many would claim "Sunday Bloody Sunday" as their best track, but I'm more of a fan of "New Years Day". Everyone wants to tell Bono to shut up and claim he's pretentious, but fuck that. U2 has been voicing their opinions on these issues for longer than most of us have been alive. Now that they have amble money and fame and do something with it they are pretentious? I think they're just living up to what they have been preaching. Then again, I won't stop anyone from laughing(including myself) at the joke, "What's the difference between Bono and God? - God doesn't think he's Bono."
"American Idiot" by Green Day
I got so burnt out on this album that I almost didn't include them because of it. Yet, I wanted to be fair and on topic. This Green Day video does what a lot of other videos on this list from the past three or so years does and that is attack George W. Bush. Valid cause? Fuck Yeah. While this album won a lot of awards, I think the message fell deaf on a lot of ears. I like the maturity of Green Day on this, but hope they don't just focus on political work because it's not who they are. At least who they've been for many years.
Those are just a small handful of music videos out that are protest/revolution types. Some are creative and some are pretentious. But which ones is really your choice. Art on all forms is subjective. So are opinions on government.
|
