Rage Against The Machine's song 'Sleep Now In The Fire' is about the bands views on how the American Government pursues an 'ideal' American Dream. They believe that if you don't pursue the same dream, you are considered a terrorist or a threat to the country.
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Bob Marleys last hit before he passed away, "Redemption Song" was written based on his views of freedom and redemption. The song itself involves lyrics inspired by a speech given by civil-rights campaigner, Marcus Garvey.
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John Mayers song, "Waiting For The World To Change" was based on his belief that things won't get better, and the faith in the government is lacking.
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The creation and use of music in reaction to politics
Political opinions and expression has always been a huge part of music throughout the years. Topical songs usually involve anti-war and anti-establishment messages, which can occasionally change political opinions. Musicians such as Rage Against the Machine, Kings Of Leon, John Lennon and the Rolling Stones have all written songs to express their opinion on political situations; the reason music goes so far politically is due to the perseverance and support from fans. music makers |
The beginning of "Topical Songs" started back around 1955 when artists like Bob Dylan and Pete Seeger stood up for what they believed. These songs both sternly explain the artists views and are able to tell people what they feel is going wrong.
Bob Dylans 'Blowin' In The Wind' was written as an anti-war and anti-discrimination song; when questioned about the song Dylans' response was 'There ain’t too much I can say about this song except that the answer is blowing in the wind. It ain’t in no book or movie or TV show or discussion group. Man, it’s in the wind – and it’s blowing in the wind. Too many of these hip people are telling me where the answer is but oh I won’t believe that. I still say it’s in the wind and just like a restless piece of paper it’s got to come down some ...But the only trouble is that no one picks up the answer when it comes down so not too many people get to see and know . . . and then it flies away. I still say that some of the biggest criminals are those that turn their heads away when they see wrong and know it’s wrong. I’m only 21 years old and I know that there’s been too many . . . You people over 21, you’re older and smarter'. Punk and Anti-War songs were used as a weapon to change the minds and behavior of their fans. Bands with strong political views used their ability to make music to dominate their fans minds with their opinion on politics. Punks popularity grew throughout the 70's, this was when people rebelled against political parties. For example, in 2009, Rage Against the Machines' track Killing In The Name won Christmas Number One. This was due to the votes from their fans who agree with they're musical and political views. It was all an act of protest against the X-Factor winners who claim Christmas Number One every year. So in mid December, Rage Against the Machine attended an Interview and live performance on Radio Five Live, a radio station based in London. After telling the radio station that they will play the censored version of their track, they proceeded to curse and rebel. |
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historical factors
Following World War II, there was a baby boom. In Britain, young people were turning away from their parents and tradition to try new things. The Teddy Boys were a group of delinquent young men dressed in ‘Edwardian’ clothing who introduced anarchy and American rock and roll. This created a noticeable difference between generations of that time. The younger generation started evolving quicker than the elders.
In the 1950s, Britain was still feeling the pain of the war, with food and money shortages. Britain as a country was also in financial trouble, the economy was in bad shape. British ‘kids’ had no dreams, and could only copy the images which they saw on the big screen of life for kids in America. These young Americans would be driving cars their own cars, and wearing the latest clothes. Stars like Elvis Presley inspired British kids with his music and 'Rock N Roll' style. Many in Britain and America thought that rock ‘n roll was the devil’s music.
Films like "Rock Around the Clock" featured aggressive beats and moves that weren't brought to light in England and this shocked British kids and elders. "The product was skiffle, a type of cheap amateur rock often featuring unschooled musicians and a lot of spirit". Eventually the skiffle was an obsession in Britain and the younger generations were even putting their own twist on it. These early bands would eventually serve as ambassadors bringing a revitalized style of rock back to the United States during a time when American rock had died. In 1950's, America’s youth were being constrained by religious fundamentalism and rampant McCarthyism which called rock communistic and primitive.
This is when music was used against the opinions of others and it all started off with 'Rock N Roll'. Early Beatles and much later songs like The Who’s “My Generation” offered a breath of fresh air. Britain reentered the world stage as the new major producer of rock and roll.
In the 1950s, Britain was still feeling the pain of the war, with food and money shortages. Britain as a country was also in financial trouble, the economy was in bad shape. British ‘kids’ had no dreams, and could only copy the images which they saw on the big screen of life for kids in America. These young Americans would be driving cars their own cars, and wearing the latest clothes. Stars like Elvis Presley inspired British kids with his music and 'Rock N Roll' style. Many in Britain and America thought that rock ‘n roll was the devil’s music.
Films like "Rock Around the Clock" featured aggressive beats and moves that weren't brought to light in England and this shocked British kids and elders. "The product was skiffle, a type of cheap amateur rock often featuring unschooled musicians and a lot of spirit". Eventually the skiffle was an obsession in Britain and the younger generations were even putting their own twist on it. These early bands would eventually serve as ambassadors bringing a revitalized style of rock back to the United States during a time when American rock had died. In 1950's, America’s youth were being constrained by religious fundamentalism and rampant McCarthyism which called rock communistic and primitive.
This is when music was used against the opinions of others and it all started off with 'Rock N Roll'. Early Beatles and much later songs like The Who’s “My Generation” offered a breath of fresh air. Britain reentered the world stage as the new major producer of rock and roll.
CENSORSHIP
Over the years, thousands of songs have been banned from airplay and general release. The reasons being that they are inappropriate for a certain amount of time (due to circumstances), or banned for extreme racial, sexist or offensive views.
The law states that if the songs lyrics can be either changed or censored, it can be released. If the song has explicit sexual content, drug references, controversial political subject matter, racism, sexism or any offensive language the song cannot be played on radio and in some cases', released at all. They call edited songs 'Censored' or 'Radio Edits' which means changing the whole view of the song so it can be released.
To censor a song, the editor will use the following techniques to blank out any offensive language:
A good example of Censoring would be from Cole Porters cover of Frank Sinatra's' "I Get A Kick Out Of You". The BBC told Porter to change the lyric "I get no kick from cocaine" to "I get perfume from Spain".
When first released, Boyd's record was banned in Boston by the Roman Catholic Church on the grounds it mixed sex with Christmas. Boyd made worldwide news when he went to Boston and met with the leaders of the Church to explain the song. The following Christmas the ban was lifted.
During the Gulf War in 1990 sparked musicians to write and publish songs based on the event. Due to the amount of offensive and inappropriate material, the BBC banned over 200 songs from airplay (this included songs from previous years which may cause offense). These include hits like 'Waterloo' by Abba, "Buffalo Solider" by Bob Marley, "I Don't Like Mondays" by The Boomtown Rats and loads more. 70% were released when the war ended.
Examples
The BBC didn't ban other songs that were controversial. Prodigy’s “Smack My Bitch Up,” a song that some thought celebrated misogyny, despite the “shock” ending of the video, wasn't exactly banned, although the BBC did limit its airplay and in some cases, only played a lyric-less version. And The Kinks’ “Lola,” the best, most melancholic song about falling in love with a trans-woman ever, was only briefly banned, not because of content that the 1970’s audience might have objected to, but because it made a reference to “Coca-Cola.” BBC Radio had a strict no product policy, so singer Ray Davies was forced to interrupt the band’s American tour to fly back to London and re-record the lyric to say “cherry cola” instead.
The law states that if the songs lyrics can be either changed or censored, it can be released. If the song has explicit sexual content, drug references, controversial political subject matter, racism, sexism or any offensive language the song cannot be played on radio and in some cases', released at all. They call edited songs 'Censored' or 'Radio Edits' which means changing the whole view of the song so it can be released.
To censor a song, the editor will use the following techniques to blank out any offensive language:
- Blanking; when the volume is silenced for all or part of the word.
- Bleeping; playing a noise, usually a "beep", over all or part of the word.
- Resampling; using a like-sounding portion of vocals and music to override the offending word.
- Resinging; Replacing the offensive word/phrase with a more appropriate word/phrase.
- Backmasking; taking the offensive word and reversing the audio, sometimes the whole audio is reversed (often because it is a home-made job), but more usually only the vocal track is reversed.
- Repeating; repeating the word said just before the explicit word was used.
- Skipping; deleting the curse word from the song without a time delay.
- Disc scratching; in hip hop, scratching on the word, making it sound like another word, or make the word said faster or slower.
- RoboVoicing; making the word totally non-understandable by overpowering a robotic voice effect (usually used as a last resort for home-made jobs).
A good example of Censoring would be from Cole Porters cover of Frank Sinatra's' "I Get A Kick Out Of You". The BBC told Porter to change the lyric "I get no kick from cocaine" to "I get perfume from Spain".
When first released, Boyd's record was banned in Boston by the Roman Catholic Church on the grounds it mixed sex with Christmas. Boyd made worldwide news when he went to Boston and met with the leaders of the Church to explain the song. The following Christmas the ban was lifted.
During the Gulf War in 1990 sparked musicians to write and publish songs based on the event. Due to the amount of offensive and inappropriate material, the BBC banned over 200 songs from airplay (this included songs from previous years which may cause offense). These include hits like 'Waterloo' by Abba, "Buffalo Solider" by Bob Marley, "I Don't Like Mondays" by The Boomtown Rats and loads more. 70% were released when the war ended.
Examples
The BBC didn't ban other songs that were controversial. Prodigy’s “Smack My Bitch Up,” a song that some thought celebrated misogyny, despite the “shock” ending of the video, wasn't exactly banned, although the BBC did limit its airplay and in some cases, only played a lyric-less version. And The Kinks’ “Lola,” the best, most melancholic song about falling in love with a trans-woman ever, was only briefly banned, not because of content that the 1970’s audience might have objected to, but because it made a reference to “Coca-Cola.” BBC Radio had a strict no product policy, so singer Ray Davies was forced to interrupt the band’s American tour to fly back to London and re-record the lyric to say “cherry cola” instead.
organisations supporting music
There are plenty of organisations encouraging music education and providing musical equipment to those who need it. For example, the National Lottery Fund help pay for schools musical equipment when they need it.
Also, you'll find celebrities starting up charities which raise a lot of money for musical education or instruments or anything to do with music and music industry. For example, in 2005, Beyoncé released a single called "Stand Up For Love" which was the anthem for World Children's Day. The song spread message of hope and inspired others to give to organizations and people in need. In 2007, she supported a long and varied list of anti-hunger organizations in conjunction with her own tour; this raised a lot of money for the charities and inspired people to keep on giving. Alongside all that, she co-run a charity to empower women through education. This is something Beyoncé is passionate about and comes across in numerous songs she has released. |
government LEGALIZATION
Music legalization can cover many aspects of the music industry. It makes sure artists get what they are entitled to when they publish their music. Some things to consider when it comes to music legalization is that;
'Copyright' makes sure that artists receive the right royalties for their material. Without Copyright, there is no owner of material and royalties are out of the question. It is much easier to download music for free off the internet now. When albums and songs were released in the past, it would only be available to buy on vinyl or CD. Now that everything is published online, it is so much easier to download without giving royalties to the owner. |