I was in the car with my wife the other day, and a John Lennon song came on (Imagine) and it got me thinking.

Some of the parallels between that time period and the one we are currently in are uncanny…with political unrest throughout the world, everyone afraid of an attack on our homeland (nukes then, terrorism now) and the United States involved in a war that most of our own disapprove of.

I turned to my wife and asked her why there wasn’t more music like this these days. While I wasn’t alive at that time, the music seemed to symbolize and capture the feelings that America (especially the 18-30 year old demographic) and gave everyone something to rally around. These days, we are subjected to arguably the worst, least inspiring, and least influential music of all time. If today’s entertainers are so dead set on being “world-renowned”, why can’t they create something that brings us all together, or at least captures the feelings of a specific and significant era in our history?

5/4/2006 12:14:54 PM

There is plenty of music like that nowadays.

They just don't play it on the radio.

5/4/2006 12:16:39 PM

THE WORD

IS "SOCIAL"

5/4/2006 12:18:35 PM

maybe I am missing it then.

Thats also funny though that nowadays its not played on radios, but back then it was the most popular music around.

5/4/2006 12:19:33 PM

haha make another thread about global warming and cups of ice

5/4/2006 12:19:54 PM

Hahahahahahahaha.

5/4/2006 12:20:37 PM

holy crap

youre married?

5/4/2006 12:21:53 PM

Who drives the music industry, the artists or the labels? If they can get a quick buck on bands that have more look than talent then they will go for it.

Didn't Green Day try to make some kind of war/Bush are bad album? Didn't m&m come out with a "don't vote for Bush" song? Now did they do it because they wanted to change the world or because they thought there was a demographic out there that would eat it up?

The almighty dollar determines what music comes out these days.

[Edited on May 4, 2006 at 12:23 PM. Reason : http://iwokalone.ytmnd.com/]

5/4/2006 12:22:11 PM

yes.

and I have a two year old daughter.

I just kill time during down time at work.

Cube life sucks.

5/4/2006 12:22:43 PM

Quote :

"The almighty dollar determines what music comes out these days."

You are right, and that truly is the answer. Its just depresing that we dont have those great artistic minds around these days.

5/4/2006 12:24:24 PM

We do. We have thousands.

Don't blame the artistic community because you only listen to Clear Channel.

5/4/2006 12:27:39 PM

whatever
some music does, but after the world woke up from the 60s/70s it realized something...
music doesn't change anything...
it can express an idea, but it can't change hearts...

that was the point of the politically motivated music of the 60's and 70's... they thought that by singing about things they could change things, but then they grew up and realized that just singing about something does'nt change a damned thing... if it did then Compton would have become one of the nicest places to live on the planet...

oh yeah, that brings up another thing, just because you don't hear socially relevent music on the radio all the time doesn't mean it's out there... it's just covered up by music hat makes $$

5/4/2006 12:30:04 PM

[Edited on May 4, 2006 at 12:32 PM. Reason : and is it just me, or is this an Entertainment thread, not a Soap Box thread?]

5/4/2006 12:31:41 PM

I think it's mainly a Stupid thread.

5/4/2006 12:39:07 PM

Quote :

"Thats also funny though that nowadays its not played on radios, but back then it was the most popular music around."

What makes you think that music was played on the radio back then?

I suspect, 30 years from now, a lot of protest/anarchist music will be played on the radio from today and you will marvel that you've never heard any of it.

5/4/2006 12:40:02 PM

Quote :

"I just kill time during down time at work. Cube life sucks."

something we can agree on

5/4/2006 12:57:44 PM

Quote :

"I turned to my wife and asked her why there wasn’t more music like this these days."

U2?

Quote :

"The almighty dollar determines what music comes out these days."

Music exec: Yeah I was looking over the tracks. We don't really care for the line "I couldn't love you any more". We're gonna need you to change that to "Fuck you and your bullshit war."

And this part "My love for you is evident." You're going to need to make that "Fuck you, Mr. President."

5/4/2006 1:24:30 PM

More like:

Music exec: Is the artist a girl? Can we make her look like a skank?

or

Music exec: Is the artist male? Does their group look punk or emo?

What about the lyrics, message, and talent you ask? Afterthought.

5/4/2006 1:54:50 PM

im not even gonna mention Sage


cause i'll get shot down by the packer-haters

5/4/2006 2:44:15 PM

As a person who gets referred to as a backpacker on here fairly regularly:

SAGE FRANCIS IS SHIT.

5/4/2006 2:46:25 PM

do you people really only listen to the radio? jesus christ, no music that addresses social issues? someone should smack you

5/4/2006 2:49:01 PM

^^^ no youll get shot down by the "good music" haters



[Edited on May 4, 2006 at 3:55 PM. Reason : .]

5/4/2006 3:55:31 PM

I'M ALL FO' RUNNIN' UP ON THEM CRACKERS IN THEY CITY HALLS.

5/4/2006 4:02:29 PM

ilu sage

5/4/2006 4:06:28 PM

They dont put real music on the radio these days. They only put stuff out there to sale because its a BUSINESS. Back in the 60's, most artists didnt care about being rich and everyone knowing their name. Today, thats all they care about. I wouldnt even call them artists anymore because most music I hear on the radio, a 1st year guitar/keyboard/piano/drummer/flute/rapper/whatever else player could write (well come to think of it hardly anyone writes their own original material anymore). Anyways, its all about $$$, not about music. Everything the 60's guys were against is commonplace today.

5/4/2006 5:09:13 PM

Quote :

"While I wasn’t alive at that time,"

I was.
Lennon was kinda heading into his downswing with the general public in '71. While "Imagine" hit #3 on the Billboard charts...MCartney's fluffy "Uncle Albert" made it to #1.

Most of the popular tunes of that year were not what I'd call deeply socially significant...

"Knock Three Times", "One Bad Apple", "Joy to the World", "Go Away Little Girl", "Gypsys Tramps and Thieves", "Shaft", "Brand New Key"

And looming over the horizon just past the bubblegum pop years was... DISCO!

I think every era produces its share of "serious" stuff as well as its goofy and romantic tunes.

5/4/2006 8:45:09 PM

ok, this thread was borderline soap box at best from the get-go...it's now decidedly Entertainment material...

5/4/2006 10:33:49 PM

if we have music about society then nickelback wont come out with classics about two people fucking in the woods while the girls dad was watching through the car window. guess we're all just animals

eh see what i did there



[Edited on May 4, 2006 at 10:45 PM. Reason : asdf]

5/4/2006 10:44:42 PM

check out state radio. they're a reggae/rock band formed by one of the former members of dispatch. almost every song deals with some sort of social issue, from the war to health care for the elderly. the music is out there, you just have to find it.

5/4/2006 10:56:32 PM

how is t-dub not blocked on your office connection?

5/4/2006 11:08:07 PM

"Imagine" has staying power. Yes, it is a social commentary song, and yes it is specifically a response to the war. But it is written well enough that it can be applied to more than just the war.


Nowadays, these moron "musicians" write songs that are only going to be relevant NOW. Don't get me wrong, I hate Bush too, but no one wants to hear them whine about it.

and today's bands are incapable of writing decent songs because...... (surprise) they have no talent. Some suit just thought they would look good on TV.



For a good social commentary track, check Tool's "Vicarious" (it's on the radio).

5/5/2006 8:36:03 AM

Quote :

"and today's bands are incapable of writing decent songs because...... (surprise) they have no talent."

that's a gross generalization and just plain untrue.

Quote :

"Don't blame the artistic community because you only listen to Clear Channel."

exactly.
if you want to hear music that addresses societal issues, that challenges them- you're not going to hear it on 96Rock, you're not going to hear it on MTV. these are organizations that are quite content with the status quo.
they're steering the damn boat, they're not gonna rock it.

[Edited on May 5, 2006 at 9:22 AM. Reason : did you see what i did there?]

5/5/2006 9:21:41 AM

I immediately thought of dead prez. To an extent bands like System of a Down and Green Day are trying to fill that role on the radio.

5/5/2006 9:45:09 AM

Incubus--Megalomaniac

^system is another good example.

[Edited on May 5, 2006 at 9:47 AM. Reason : ]

5/5/2006 9:46:18 AM

Also, you could probably argue that people have more to say than just their political views or what they think is wrong with society. A lot of times a political track will appear on an otherwise innocuous CD.

5/5/2006 9:54:13 AM

I'm sure there's tons of songs out about world events today. It's just that a lot of them tend to suck. I don't really dig the 2000's emo scene or screamo or whatever the hell you wanna call it, it just sucks. It seems that everybody tends to like bands that are from back in the day; I see a ton of band tees whenever I walk across campus of older bands and I've never met somebody who didn't like at least one band from the 1960s or 1970s. It's not that the music isn't here, it's just that it sucks, and the prime seems to have passed. Radiohead is an exception; many of the songs on their latest album deal with social issues. Hell, the album is called "Hail To The Thief", that should be convincing enough.

5/6/2006 1:52:33 AM

Every time I read your posts a little piece of me dies.

5/6/2006 2:20:30 AM

I like Mr. Jingles' Happy Funtime 21st Century Political Action Band-O-Phone, man.

Don't give me this shit.

5/6/2006 2:23:37 AM

http://www.myspace.com/americasnexttopmodels

5/6/2006 2:32:16 AM

well are you sticking to one kind of genre? are you looking for political songs that are more rock based? have you tried rap? maybe a little bit of country? (toby keith comes to mind here [unfortunately]) have you tried the very social themed genre--folk? i think what you're saying here is you aren't hearing any pop that talks about social issues in their music...of course not. but there are bands out there that do, and occasionally you'll hear one on mainstream radio. but what you hear on the radio is obviously not all that's offered out there...if you want something like that then you should look a little harder.

5/6/2006 8:05:33 PM

^ Never post in Entertainment again.

WOODFOOT
SPOOKYJON
OR
VINYLBANDIT FOR MOD

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD

5/6/2006 8:46:36 PM

5/6/2006 8:49:41 PM

^^I couldn't agree more. SOme people need to stay out of entertainment, since they clearly know dick about it.



Panthro and elkaybie are two of them.





Also, Panthro, your problem is that you listen to the radio for discovering music. If you rely on the radio or television for new music, then you really are a moron.

5/6/2006 9:51:42 PM

i'm surprised no one mentioned Rage Against The Machine



c'mon guys

5/7/2006 3:35:43 PM

fuck you i wont do what you tell me

5/7/2006 3:44:52 PM

what the fuck did i say wrong?
i thought i had a decent point that maybe he's looking in the wrong places and i'm told never to post in here again? wtf?

Quote :

"Also, Panthro, your problem is that you listen to the radio for discovering music. If you rely on the radio or television for new music, then you really are a moron."

i mean i said, in different words, the same damn thing but didn't call him a moron in the process...how is what i said different? i said check out other genres of music, not the pop shit that's on the radio b/c "of course not" he's going to find anything...i asked had he tried to look for something different than rock, which was a popular genre from the 60s and 70s that had the political/social music Panthro references in this thread. most of all other bands mentioned in this thread that have been on mainstream radio are in fact rock bands that i didn't feel the need worth mentioning AGAIN. so...what exactly am i being flamed for here? not mentioning metal? rnb? what the fuck...seriously.

[Edited on May 7, 2006 at 6:22 PM. Reason : ]

5/7/2006 6:03:13 PM

Because you mentioned listening to stuff that isn't on the radio, and stuff that isn't so popular, but mentioned Toby Keith.


WHAT THE FUCK?!

5/8/2006 9:29:12 AM

Where were you
When they built the ladder to heaven

5/8/2006 9:32:05 AM

i think you completely missed my point which was to point out other GENRES of music to find the the type of music he was looking for. i was merely citing an example for that genre that IS mainstream that he COULD hear on the radio like his initial post suggests...but to really get his answer that he should look harder than just mainstream. in other words...I'M POINTING OUT THAT IT DOES EXIST ON MAINSTREAM IN MANY FORMS OF MUSIC, BUT TO REALLY FIND IT HE NEEDS TO THINK OUTSIDE OF THE BOX.

gah.

5/8/2006 10:06:31 AM

Toby Keith does not address social issues. Toby Keith panders to his audience.

Steve Earle (who was mentioned earlier, OHMAHGOD!) addresses social issues.

5/8/2006 10:52:18 AM