Saturday, April 9, 2011
Popular Music and Activism
After our class discussion on Rage Against the Machine, I found myself thinking about popular musics role in social movements. Many individuals in our class had listened to RATM for years yet they never knew that they were talking about the Zapatista movement and their struggles. How effective are these groups in spreading awareness when many of their listeners had no idea that their music discussed this particular social movement? I also began to wonder how effective this particular type of music is in helping the Zapatistas. Although the mood is definitely right on, it is often rather difficult to understand what the actual words on just by listening. After reading through the lyrics, they are often referring to the specific events but never give a real description of them. It seems as though you already have to know some basic information about the issue to truly understand what the lyrics mean. Is there another genre of music that you think may be more beneficial to simply bringing awareness of issues such as those in Oaxaca and Chiapas?
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Honestly I feel that there is all sorts of music that will benefit any group. It all depends on the message that is being sent out there and the public that is beginning to absorb and understand what is going on. While speaking on the subject of RATM it may not necessarily be that the listeners don't realize what is being discussed in the songs but it just may be that they do not understand what is truly the meaning until they dig a bit and search into the music. Something I always used to do when I was younger would be if I found out something I liked I would try to gather as much information as I possible could or what was available to me in regards to the subject. Back to the question at hand a specific genre doesn't have to be named in regards to sending the messages. I believe that if there is a group that happens to be extremely popular it will be able to pass a message along. For example if we have Lady Gaga discuss the issues many people would want to look into what is going on.
ReplyDeleteI think one of the big problems with this type of music is that their lyrics can be great, and talk about a message, but how effective can those lyrics be if no one can understand them? They sing so fast, and they shout the lyrics so loud that its quite impossible to understand them without having the lyrics present. I feel like they have a chance to make a real difference but their message is being brutalized by the fact that no one can hear it (no offense intended to any fan of the band.... matt lol). I know that to change their style would be to change their demographic, and thus the people hearing the message etc... but I'm not sure even their die-hard fans really understand what's going on behind those lyrics even if they do read them.
ReplyDeleteThere is a song mentioned in one of the required readings called "ViVa Zapata" by Banda Bassiti that is more easy to understand. The diffrence I felt was that although it was in spanish it had a nice beat to it and almost as if the song could be played at a party and people could dance to and understand it. I agree with you all about Rage Against the Machine and other bands how there lyrics are not understandable. Something about the music makes it seem univiting and sometimes it sounds like alot of noise. On the other hand I feel that Viva Zapata is a more inviting song and easier to understand. I feel if there were more songs like this the message would be more understood. Check it out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DF89_kmtRRc
ReplyDeleteI think the biggest part of activism is the actions made by the individual. Music is so purely emotional that even if the listener isn't paying attention to the music, there's still an emotional aspect that gets conveyed from producer to consumer. It's only until we want to listen to what the artist has to say that the ball gets rolling. In terms of not being able to understand lyrics, I believe sometimes songs are written so that we can't understand them initially. I think that symbolizes the struggle in more ways that one. The people of Chiapas feel misunderstood and it's only until people see the problems and learn the causes of their freedom fighting that their struggle becomes more coherent. Same with the lyrics of songs from groups like RATM. They're challenging us to dig deeper in both their songs and the movement as well
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