was supposidly stated by Lenin. Music, in fact any artistic medium, is a wonderful way to challenge existing values and perceptions within society. There is so much dross out there that fit in with the acceptable paramenters of society that it is difficult for anything to get a voice these days. It could be argued that rap only became an issue the the moral minority when white middle class kids started listening to it. The powers that be must be thinking Simon Cowell was a godsend when he intoduced X Factor – empty headed pop for empty headed people.
To give an example of what I mean listen to Pirate Jenny by Nina Simone. A song taken from the Threepenny Opera by Weill and Brecht, who themselves were very politically minded. It depicts a lowly maid at a “crummy old hotel”, imagining avenging herself for the contempt she endures from the townspeople. A pirate ship, with eight sails, and 50 cannons, enters the harbor, fires on the city and flattens every building except the hotel. The pirates come ashore, chain up all the townspeople, and present them to Jenny, who orders the pirates to kill them. She then sails away with the pirates.
Whilst the original depicts a class struggle, Nina Simone applies it to the civil rights movement and her live performance of it is breathtaking and exhillerating, and probably more subversive than a lot of songs today. She performed it only rarely, as it took too much of her energy. She stated once that one time after singing it, she had to recover from the performance for about seven years!
Any form of art, music, film, sculpture, used to inspire and lead people to challenge the staus quo can only be healthy, and should be more frequent.
Jason E Cooper 