For the first time in a long time, rock ‘n’ roll artists are speaking out about their political beliefs with a passion that has not been seen since the late 60s and early 70s.
Lately, various musical artists of different genres have decided to use their music as a platform for their own political beliefs.
Whether they are influencing their fans and listeners is debatable, but one thing is for sure, this trend of political agendas in music is on the upswing, especially among anti-Bush artists such as Incubus.
Through lyrics and Web sites such as Punkvoter.com, the musical community is making its voice heard.
According to Punkvoter.com, it is crucial for all who are listening to do the same and voice their opinions through voting in the upcoming election.
As stated on the Web site, they hope to have a serious impact on the next election by rallying voters to “collectively force change.”
Artists such as Madonna, The Dixie Chicks and Toby Keith are just a few who have been in the news, voicing their views on the war in Iraq and President Bush.
While Madonna and The Dixie Chicks are openly anti-war and anti-Bush, Toby Keith is just as openly pro-Bush.
All three have most likely gained or lost fans by doing so, but are their opinions influencing those who listen to their music?
University of Denver first-year student Paul Keables doesn’t think so.
“It doesn’t necessarily influence my opinions as much as it just makes me aware of the opinions of others,” says Keables.
“The younger artists are becoming more popular and drawing younger audiences, and it happens to be the age group that is ready to change the world by being more politically and socially aware.”
Ben Krause, first-year student at the University of Northern Colorado, sees the situation differently.
“The youth listening to these artists who just Bush bash in their song lyrics are being mentally trained to think the same thing as the artist they’re listening to,” Krause said.
“There aren’t many songs that portray Bush in any kind of positive light, so why should they think of him that way?” said Krause.
Although there are artists from both political parties following this trend, there are more artists who are actively speaking out against Bush in their songs as well as on their Web sites.
Incubus, an alternative rock group, is an example of this. The first single “Megalomaniac” from their new album, A Crow Left of the Murder, contains these lyrics directed at Bush, “If I were your appendages, I’d hold open your eyes so you could see that all of us are heaven-sent, and there was never meant to be only one.” Throughout the song many of the same type of lyrics are present with a chorus telling Bush to step down.
“I think that it gets fans from a particular genre involved, which is good,” said Keables. “They’re not just standing on a soap box with a bull horn yelling at people. They’re actually conveying a message in a way that people want to hear it.”
There are also Web sites such as Punkvoter.com that are specifically designed to get out the vote.
Punkvoter.com is supported by numerous individual artists, companies and bands such as Green Day, Foo Fighters, Good Charlotte and The Offspring.
“Our goal is to educate, register and mobilize over 500,000 of today’s youth as one voice,” it is stated on the Web site.
“We plan to use this election as a way to get our fans engaged in politics and evolve our movement into becoming involved locally to affect real change nationally,” the message continues.
The site hopes to accomplish this through carrying news articles from around the nation on various governmental topics. They also carry political cartoons and columns from members of bands such as Anti-Flag and Pennywise, which also support Punkvoter.com. There is also a link that downloads the national voter registration form for visitors. The Web site shows the belief that it is important for people of all ages to vote.
“We must remember that today’s politicians are servants to their constituents therefore we must become a true voting force,” it says.
