VIDEO: Musicians Who Got Politics Stuck in Throat

Everybody who ever sang for an electoral candidate, for Nelson Mandela or at Live Aid, musicians who bear the title of U.N. ambassador of good will, all those who raised their voices (more than any of us ever could) or were against some (socially) political issue, they all stuck their hands into a dish with political points (we should just mention there are negative points as well) and used the reputation and popularity to influence people.

At first glance it seems we could more easily point out those who never publicly stated anything political in their entire careers, never mentioned a politician, let alone associate them with someone infamous from another space an/or time. Until now. An excellent example is Madonna who compared U.S. presidential candidate John McCain with Hitler and Robert Mugabe.

Comparing McCain and Hitler 

‘If she wanted to help Obama, she should have steered clear of the whole story’, ‘Did she not notice in the fifty years of her life experience she is so proud of that it is better to accentuate her positive sides than her opponents’ negative sides?’ and ‘If would have been better for her to stick to easy tunes and not meddle in politics, she could drown’ – are just some of the most possible comments that could be heard from the mouths of the more rational people. But it is easy to say ‘who cares what she says’ when most people cannot be bothered to think for themselves, so they adopt the opinions of publicly exposed people whom they admire or relate to.

On the other hand, one could conclude she did it to promote her Sticky & Sweet tour. But why would somebody who has been the centre of attention for so long and so often resort to such means of self-promotion? And the answer is more than obvious – she has always done it – attracted attention to herself without choosing means and getting paid well for all the controversies she has got herself into.

Unseverable tie 

Not to steer too much away from Madonna’s lyrics, we should keep it simple. Politics deals with people. So does music. It is difficult to imagine it differently. Their fields of interest correlate in part. Often in times of crisis of human history music and politics went hand in hand, reveilles, battle songs and anthems were sung. Heroes were exalted, ‘the home boys’ were encouraged… But we all know where such music is headed for when the clouds disperse.

Protest songs are different extremes. Almost throughout history messages of resistance movements of all kind were carried, stressing social problems both local and global, specific for those times, as well as eternal ones. Human rights, social inequality, war, slavery, sexism are only the start of innumerable issues sang about in all languages – poisonous languages, if ruling politicians were to be asked.

Musicians who paved the way of political activism 

Irish band U2 probably came to mind first with the mention of musical activism. Their songs always carry political messages; just remember ‘Sunday, Bloody Sunday’ because of which the killing of Irish civilians will never be forgotten on Sundays in 1920 and 1972. The song is also the first protest song that criticised, without seeking revenge, but calling for peace.

U2’s Bono Vox is doing a lot even outside the band. He was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and is the founder of several aid organisations for Africa.

‘Strange Fruit’ sang by Billie Holiday in which strange fruit is represented by black people hanging from trees in America’s south, still shocks and points to insensitivity to racism.

‘Blowin’ in the Wind’ by Bob Dylan, in which he posed a number of philosophical questions about the meaning of life, war and peace, was pronounced an anthem of the civil rights movement in the 1960’s and became the favourite anti-war song during the Vietnam war.

A concert held in 1988 on occasion of the 70^th birthday of Nelson Mandela started a chain of events that led to freeing the famous freedom fighter from prison after 27 years. The event etched the song ‘Mandela Day’ by Simple Minds into our minds.

Punk and rap music, that are based on revolt, filled our heads with social injustice and rebellion. The tradition was continued by Rage Against the Machine, the loudest critics of the social situation of the 1990’s. As the band’s singer Zack de la Rocha once said, music has the power to cross borders, break military sieges and set up true dialogue.

What do we do with Madonna? She is not exactly innocent 

After all the examples of people who used their voices to send such a noble and touching message to the world, does anybody care about Madonna’s opinion any more? Of course they do. Her biography includes several performances at charity concerts. On the other hand, she is one of the rare musicians who everybody forgives when she includes in her lyrics George W. Bush and sex acts. She did so at a performance during the “Confessions” tour, replacing the original lyrics of the song “I Love New York” with a criticism of the American president.

Will we forgive her her ‘incident’ with McCain or will we simply allow musicians to meddle in politics as much as they want and be happy as long as politics does not retaliate and starts meddling in music? Which would affect us all. In the end, music and man are inseparable and that relationship is reciprocal.