In the last few years, the music world has seen a resurgence of the protest song, mostly in response to the war in Iraq. Some of the more notable anti-war tunes or albums have come from the likes of Green Day, Ani Difranco, Eddie Vedder, Bonnie Raitt, Public Enemy, Pink, Morrissey, John Fogerty, Wyclef Jean, REM, Paula Cole, Beastie Boys, Lennie Kravitz, the Dixie Chicks, and Neil Young. It’s become quite a profitable little musical niche for several artists. How much of the profits made off of multi-platinum albums such as Green Day’s American Idiothave been channeled into charities or anti-war groups? I think it’s a legitimate question, and one my internet research has yielded no results on.
Before I go any further with this, I must make a few things clear. I am not attacking any of the bands listed above. I am not pro-war, nor am I pro-Bush, for that matter. My sole purpose for posting such a long list of diverse artists is to question the effectiveness of the protest song in today’s world. In the mid-1960′s, artists such as Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs, and others lit a fire underneath the conservative American society and sparked off a cultural revolution in the youth of the United States.
These days, however, with the record industry in constant decline and the Bush administration enjoying a 27% approval rating in the face of the Iraq war, it seems almost like a safe bet to record anti-war songs. When over two thirds of Americans agree with what you’re saying, are you really stirring up that much shit? If you’re not giving away some or all of the profits made off of these recordings, then what is the point behind them exactly other than preaching to the choir?
Last year, a band released an album that was mostly devoted to scathing criticism of the music industry. The band is a folk/punk group called Against Me!, and their album is titled New Wave. Included among these songs was one that really got me thinking about the futility of protest music in today’s political and economic environment. That song is called “White People For Peace,” and I think that it expresses very well my frustrations with the current glut of anti-war music that’s flooding today’s market.
So you were reading the new posts at our little site yesterday, and you saw my announcement of Snoop Dogg’s upcoming bluegrass album. If you’re like most people, you said to yourself, “Man, I need to have that album right now! It’s cruel beyond belief to make me wait for something that’s going to be as awesome as that.”
Well, I can’t make the album come out any sooner, but I can offer you a little taste of what it might be like. Here’s “My Medicine,” from Snoop’s current release, Ego Trippin’. It’s dedicated to Johnny Cash, “a real American gangsta,” and features Willie Nelson. Hopefully this will tide you over until SDBA day finally arrives:
Update: Jason brought up this Gourds number in a comment on my last post on this fine subject. I’m a bit embarrassed that I didn’t think of it myself. Thanks, Jason.
At the AllMusic Blog, Andy Kellman compiles a single disc Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis compilation, covering 1982 through 1988. He notes the staggering amount of material they have produced in the past 25 years:
A thorough collection of Jam & Lewis’ output as session musicians, songwriters, arrangers, and producers would be unwieldy. You would probably hurt your back carrying it in vinyl form. When EMI Music Publishing celebrated the duo in the form of a promotional four-disc box, the compilers crammed 78 songs onto four discs and had to use several abbreviated edits in order to make it all fit. That set, put together in the mid ’90s, did not allow key album cuts, and a few hits involving the honored in lesser capacities were not considered.
He provides links to some of his choices, many of which were too R & B to be on my radar in my little Upper Peninsula Michigan town with only one rock radio station. It was good to check out Cherrelle’s original version of “I Didn’t Mean to Turn You On.” While it’s inferior to the definitive Robert Palmer version of a couple of years later, the Robert Palmer video doesn’t feature King Kong break dancing. And “If It Isn’t Love” by New Edition is a great little number, a simple song with banal lyrics and a nice understated Ralph Tresvant vocal beneath all the production. Somehow it works. If you don’t know the song, definitely hit the hyperlink.
I don’t know why the compiler stopped at 1988, as Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis had plenty of good material after that–maybe he’s planning a sequel. Since I’m not limited by that restriction, I can draw attention to two of my favorites, “If” by Janet Jackson and “Rub You the Right Way” by Johnny Gill.
The guitar lick underlaying the first third of “If” is just plain awesome, and, in an up-tempo song, Janet somehow manages to sound like she really means it when she laments “If I was your girl…”
Whatever happened to New Jack Swing? I loved that sound. “Rub You the Right Way” is about as good as it gets. Can someone revive New Jack Swing, please?
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