cross-posted from: https://lemmit.online/post/1736886
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The original was posted on /r/simpsonsshitposting by /u/maninplainview on 2023-12-25 08:28:44.
People who say "keep politics out of" anything are usually stupid. Most things are political. Implicitly supporting the status quo is political. Leaving things unsaid is political.
Usually the people who pop out that line mean "keep politics that are different than mine out of".
But on topic, punk is extremely political. For example, please review these lyrics from The Clash "Know Your Rights", 1982
You have the right not to be killed
Murder Is a crime!
Unless it was done
By a policeman or an aristocrat
No, most things aren't political. But punk isn't one of them.
Care to name some media that's about people that has no political dimension?
For example, if a story has only white people or a story has non-white people, that's a political dimension to the story. "Political" doesn't only mean waving a flag.
A story about rescuing a princess from a castle has a political dimension. Super Mario Brothers isn't what most people think of as a "political" game, but that's there. It's saying monarchy is okay, and unremarkably so as it doesn't really spend any time on it. That's not even touching the gender role stuff.
A story about a boy pursuing a girl is rife with political subtext. Why is he pursuing instead of her? Why not an arranged marriage? Why not gay? When does No mean No? All of that stuff is there, whether you like it or not. It might not be noticeable if it's the dominant paradigm, but it's still there.
Someone might say "Well you're just reading into things!". Unfortunately for them, that's like the entirety of literary analysis. Additionally, the author's intent is one tiny sliver of what's important, if it matters at all.
Finding a political dimension in, like, lyric-less chiptune music might be more challenging, but most stuff that involves people has a political aspect to it.
Punk is (was) almost nothing BUT politics.
A few years ago when Trump was still in office my wife and I went to see Roger Waters in Tulsa, Oklahoma. We had 7th row seats that cost a few hundred apiece, but we had looked at getting seats in rows 1-3 but passed because they were $1,600.00 each.
Well come the night and Roger is putting on a fabulous show, but Jesus Christ he is laying into Trump hard the whole time with anti-trump videos running and pig drones flying around the room. It was awesome, you can find most of the show on YouTube if you're interested.
Well six or eight cowboys in the first row walked out of the show, flipping off Roger Waters as they did so, yelling MAGA shit and screaming about what a dumbass Waters is and how he should keep politics out of his music...
Everyone is laughing their asses off because God DAMN, have you never read the lyrics to Pink Floyd songs? I mean, what the holy fuck.
Today I learned that Roger Waters is absolutely based. Glad to see it!
Reminds me of that guy on twitter told Tom Morello that he had no business getting all political and to just stick to making music.
I think it's wild that he's more qualified than most politicians (BA in political science from Harvard in case anyone doesn't know) to speak about politics but politicians want him to keep the politics out of his music.
What machine did you think he was raging againsf, sir? The washing machine?
A printer, obviously. And I bet it was a HP, too.
Fuck you, I won't do what you tell me.
THOSE WHO'VE DIED, ARE JUSTIFIED, FOR WEARIN THE BADGE THEY'RE THE CHOSEN WHITES
Smh my head, I can't believe Rage Against the Machine went political.
UNH!
god shave the queen
And her fascist reghime
I loved it when she died that song went into the charts.
Oof, I got shome bad newsh for ya
I mean, it's possible to like bands but not buy into their ideologies. I love Propagandhi but don't agree with all of their positions. Pretending that they don't have those positions so you never have to interrogate your own positions is the essence of being a poser though.
True, but if politics are deeply baked into a genre it is part of the genre. Post 9/11 country is pretty right wing, I accept that, if I’m listening to it I accept I’ll get right wing content unless I seek out left wing country. Similarly if I’m listening to Appalachian folk music of the early-mid 20th Century It’s gonna be communist as all hell. It was a genre defined in part by its association with a location and time and the politics within it, namely being extremely pro unionization.
Punk is similar but it broke containment. Punk is deeply tied to anarchism and antifascism. There are punk musicians, including famous and foundational ones who aren’t, like the Sex Pistols, but the by the time the genre had solidified anarchism ran in its veins. If I go to a random punk show I expect far left, anti bigotry, anti authoritarian themes in the same way I expect themes of romance and desire at a pop show. It isn’t necessary to keep and it certainly doesn’t need to be in every song, but it’s expected and it’s inversion will be something notable.
any mid century appelachian folk recs? im staunchly pro union, sounds like my jam
Pete Seeger is the iconic one for good reason
Not Appalachian, but Woody Guthrie and Leadbelly are both excellent. Smithsonian Folkways has collected hours and hours of their recordings.
And look up the Bristol Sessions.
I mean, it's possible to like bands but not buy into their ideologies.
I would think that's pretty rare, except from people who absolutely do not pay attention to the lyrics or do not know how to interpret their meaning.
Propagandhi is actually a good example of a band that has some stances that you may not adhere to, but still find enjoyment in the spirit of the lyrics.
I can wave the black and red flag with them, while still eating meat and not liking hockey.
I never really considered veganism a political view... But I do like Morrissey, even though I also like meat. However, I'm not really into Meat is Murder specifically. I don't agree with the lyrics and it's not that great musically either 🤷🏻♂️
However, veganism isn't really a harmful ideology, either. I can disagree with them and still respect them. It's much harder (for me, impossible) to respect a white supremacist or other harmful/hateful groups. I have heard plenty of country songs that definitely have that kind of views embedded in it. Fuck those bands.
I should maybe clarify - I don't find their veganism to be problematic. I just mean that I can sing along to songs like 'meat is still murder' without agreeing with that specific bit. But then the song 'nation states' comes on and I'm back to walking hand in hand with them waving an anarchy flag.
I never really considered veganism a political view…
[Edit to add: >I never really considered veganism a political view… I don't necessarily consider it a political view. But it is a moral view, and the places where morals bump up against each other is the political part. To me.]
I hope not. I really enjoy immersing myself in political spheres I don't necessarily agree with just to see what makes them tick, it's really interesting to me and humanizes people I might otherwise hate as a matter of principle. Music turns out to be a really easy way to do this.
I can't imagine I'm the only one, though it's definitely not something I often see online.
It's called cognitive dissonance, when a person holds two conflicting ideas or beliefs. It's stressful to acknowledge the conflict and change beliefs and behaviours, so people instead do mental gymnastics to justify holding both.
The funny thing about art is that people can interpret it however they want, even in the most stupid ways. See the many idiots that thought/think Rage Against the Machine and Pink Floyd weren't political.
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