|
Post by slowtrain7 on Apr 17, 2017 11:29:28 GMT
Bob Dylan, The Clash, The Specials, Sex Pistols, The Jam, Dead Kennedys, Devo are some artists that have used music as a vehicle to get a message to the masses.
Are they preaching to the already aware and informed or have they made an impact and influenced young people's way of thinking.
Is " Warning Shot " from RTYD a political statement " Defenders of the Beast" " Do as he says without question or reason" " Fight for the flag to hell with the rest" " Surrender your freedom to serve with the best "
" Fortunate Son " by CCR " I ain't no Senators son "
" Born In The USA " by The Boss is an anti Vietnam War song
In 1985, a person I worked with told me that it was a very patriotic song, they got very upset and angry when I told them what the song was really about.
|
|
|
Post by MrWaistcoat on Apr 17, 2017 15:21:11 GMT
Quo lyrics have almost all been about themselves - stuff that's happened, booze, sex, drugs, rock n roll, relationships etc. It would be difficult to name many songs not fitting this category. Army, which of course they didn't write, comes across as anti-war....but the band were happy to totally rewrite the words and sentiment for the Help For Heroes single. I think that shows that nobody should waste time trying to analyse or take seriously the bands lyrics.
The exception is Someones Learning, which was an honest Londoners take on the troubles in N Ireland. Blaming religion rather than nationalism, the lyrics lack political power as they basically get it all wrong. Doesn't matter though, as it's a crackin song.
I'll always remember my politics lecturer (many years ago!) at University. He took me to task for wearing a Queen t-shirt. He was a Marxist. He got right stuck into me for listening to the uncaring capitalists. How could I possibly enjoy "no time for losers coz we are the champions?"
We had a long and heated debate. I thought he was ridiculous, totally over-analysing things that were simply there to be enjoyed.
But in one respect perhaps he had a point. He believed that if a band never wrote anything political, it meant they were basically right-wing. In Quo's case, I think that's probably right. Some of Rick's social company has (at best) been very dodgy! I was too young to be arsed at Quo's (well, Rick and Francis) endorsement of Thatcher, although it will have hurt some fans. I wonder what Alan and John thought of that? Neither of them strike me at all as left leaning, but I suspect they would have preferred to avoid the issue. I don't think either of them would offend any Quo fan if they could possibly help it.
And that's it really - they have basically avoided politics or been blatantly right wing. And I don't care about that - I still think as I thought when I was young that you feel rock n roll, you don't analyse it.
With the cover of JS, the song NTL (then cant be done) there seemed to be some attempt to make Quo look all grown up with some sort of global / environmental or social conscience. I was never convinced by that. Again, never seen the band asked any questions there.
As for the OP, I'm sure Bob Dylan was very influential culturally. The others less so. I think fans of the clash, jam, specials etc knew that the Tories were not liked....but was anyone's mind changed by them? I doubt it. Part of the appeal of those acts was that they had attitude and opinions. I'm not convinced that the fans would have cared that much as to what they were...
|
|
|
Post by 4th Chord on Apr 17, 2017 15:32:20 GMT
Rhino is probably the most 'political' band member.
Quo were never about politics. Sun City anyone?
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Apr 17, 2017 17:22:38 GMT
Hi All, IMO Politics should be kept out of music it may be a godsend as a political platform but to me I like a band and listen to their music for enjoyment nothing more. Don't get me wrong if music is the only way of getting a message across I can see the point in that, but for the most I just want to listen to my favourite band and their music along with other Bands I like...
Geoff.
|
|
|
Post by Whoppa Choppa on Apr 17, 2017 17:51:04 GMT
Rhino is probably the most 'political' band member. Quo were never about politics. Sun City anyone? Oh... but they were out of it, you know...
|
|
|
Post by wolfman on Apr 17, 2017 18:06:51 GMT
politics in music....u2 up their own asses..
|
|
|
Post by Mrs Flittersnoop on Apr 19, 2017 10:25:22 GMT
Rhino is probably the most 'political' band member. Quo were never about politics. Sun City anyone? Sun City baffles me a bit. They weren't the only band or sports team to play there (but were they one of the first?). They took real trouble to make sure that the concert was not segregated, was open to everyone, and crew jobs were open to everyone, but they took a lot of stick for it and I didn't see other people getting the same stick. What did I miss? There are things you shouldn't do and say because they are bad or cause badness, and there are things you can't do or say because it causes a lot of shouting and screaming from people with an interest in shouting and screaming. It's not always easy to see where the divide is, and somewhere I have missed the information which might tell me what happened here.
|
|
|
Post by 4th Chord on Apr 19, 2017 10:39:17 GMT
Rhino is probably the most 'political' band member. Quo were never about politics. Sun City anyone? Sun City baffles me a bit. They weren't the only band or sports team to play there (but were they one of the first?). They took real trouble to make sure that the concert was not segregated, was open to everyone, and crew jobs were open to everyone, but they took a lot of stick for it and I didn't see other people getting the same stick. What did I miss? There are things you shouldn't do and say because they are bad or cause badness, and there are things you can't do or say because it causes a lot of shouting and screaming from people with an interest in shouting and screaming. It's not always easy to see where the divide is, and somewhere I have missed the information which might tell me what happened here. I suppose the most famous band to play there were Queen. I've cut and pasted the description below. It was well know about the UN boycott, each of these artists did it for the large paypackets they were offered. Sun City was developed by the hotel magnate Sol Kerzner as part of his Sun International group of properties. It was officially opened on 7 December 1979; at the time it was located in the Bantustan of Bophuthatswana.
As Bophuthatswana had been declared an independent state by South Africa's apartheid government (although unrecognized as such by any other country), it could provide entertainment such as gambling and topless revue shows which were banned in South Africa. These factors, as well as its relatively close location to the large metropolitan areas of Pretoria and Johannesburg, ensured that Sun City soon became a popular holiday and weekend destination. The United Nations had imposed a cultural boycott on South Africa in condemnation of apartheid. To overcome this, Kerzner offered substantial financial incentives to performing artists to use Sun City as a venue. Several famous performers disregarded the boycott and performed at the venue, such as the Beach Boys, Linda Ronstadt, Cher, Millie Jackson, Liza Minnelli, Frank Sinatra (1981), Paul Anka, Status Quo, Rod Stewart (July 1983), and Elton John (October 1983).
Queen's series of performances at the venue in October 1984 in transgression of the boycott caused considerable controversy, prompting criticism in the British music press, a fine from the Musicians' Union and their inclusion on the United Nations' blacklisted artists. Following the criticism, Queen strongly defended their decision, citing the fact that they had insisted they played only to desegregated audiences. They donated to a school for the deaf and blind to prove their philanthropic values.[4] In the late 1980s, Queen's song "We Will Rock You" was used as the sound track to Sun City's 60 second video promo, which was shown as commercial on SABC-TV and also when opening shows in Sun City's Superbowl auditorium .
|
|
|
Post by Mrs Flittersnoop on Apr 19, 2017 11:29:53 GMT
Thank you 4th Chord for giving the history and context. I suppose that the real issue then was that there was a United Nations boycott in place, so no matter how worthy the artist's actual operation, they were still breaching a boycott put in place for a good reason.
PS Our friend Wikipedia doesn't say when the boycott was lifted, but I assume that it has been.
PS I am a bit surprised at Queen - I would have thought they were doing well enough not to be tempted by offers like this.
|
|
|
Post by MrWaistcoat on Apr 19, 2017 13:31:59 GMT
And surprised by Elton John!
The segregation thing is basically BS, as the crowds were 100% white. The nature of apartheid was that black people could not afford to go to concerts. At best, a poorly advised excuse to use.
Quo got some bad press from it, including a quote from AL, "The Quo of old would never have played Sun City".
That said, Quo have played a multitude of dodgy places, such as Saudi Arabia and Russia. If Quo were limited to countries with zero human rights abuses, there wouldn't be many places left they could play....and I include the UK with that!
|
|
|
Post by cactuspete on Apr 20, 2017 19:01:23 GMT
Quo can and did write great lyrics.
It gets lonely on a table for two,laughing on your own can be no fin.even people that are talking to you remind that your really with no one. Be my friend.
But quo were known for their music,and rightly so.
|
|
|
Post by slowtrain7 on May 10, 2017 14:03:25 GMT
I was very interested in what Rossiwaistcoat had to say, though nobody has addressed or answered my enquiry about " Warning Shot" being an anti authority or anti establishment.
As for Rick and Francis being Pro Thatcher, well that sickens and disgusts me. Ignorance of the facts via lack of education. People like Francis and Rick (who lack general education, from either home/family or their own research, college or University), don't understand the injustices of Capitalism. When you're in your rock star ivory tower you have a distorted view of reality. They should realise that only a miniscule percentile can be The Greatest Guitarists in the Greatest Rock Band of all time. It's their working class fans that made them wealthy and of course their immense talent.
If you come from an impoverished family in Birmingham with 11 children where 2 of them are gay and none of them can go to College or Uni, you struggle to survive, why the fuck would you support Thatcher's vicious, nasty policies.
Well, I worked with a guy in Australia whose family met this description. He loved Thatcher. I explained at length and in great detail why The Tories are his families' enemy and that 'bad' politics and Catholicism is the reason for his families' predicament. Education,contraception and continuous support for Left Wing Governments would improve the lives of Billions of people on the planet. Including theirs of course.
In Australia there is a large portion of the voting electorate that vote for a Right Wing political party whose policies are to their detriment and the benefit of the wealthy elite.
For thousands of years the peasants have given their hard earned money to the Kings and Queens in the castle.
Capitalism will continue until there is a worldwide shift of consciousness to a unified Socialist Planet.
Imagine.
|
|
|
Post by slowtrain7 on May 10, 2017 14:38:20 GMT
Springsteen's guitarist Stevie Van Zandt ( hope the name and spelling is right ) had a song in 1984 called Sun City ( Ain't Gonna Play ) which charted and got a fair amount of airplay in Australia. Getting back to the previous topic of Francis and Rick's 'political' views, I saw an interview with Francis in his more senior years ( recently) where he said that he was neutral politically and religiously. Over the years he'd come to realise that his earlier opinions weren't "right" Hopefully meaning Thatcher. I think he said that the problems were within the 'system' and that neither side of politics could solve them. When Multi-National companies and Religion control the planet, then yes Francis, you'd be right. "Religion is the opiate of the people" Karl Marx My father used to say " Thank God I'm an aetheist
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on May 10, 2017 15:47:47 GMT
Lets be honest, while we all have favourite lyrics as fans and some songs have been quite cleverly written amongst a lot of really quite corny stuff, Quo have hardly ever been a profound lyrical band like Pink Floyd or someone like that.
|
|
|
Post by dennis on May 10, 2017 22:41:23 GMT
Little Steven was, of course, on the bill at Selhurst Park for the penultimate End Of The Road gig.
Talking of political songs & then Sun City reminded me of some of the anti-apartheid songs such as: (Waiting For) The Ghost Train by Madness ; Passengers by Elton John ; Let 'Em In, apparently, by Paul McCartney.
I suppose one of the main men for politically motivated songs has to be Peter Gabriel.
|
|