It is difficult to determine how much of an effect popular music has on political change. It is evident that popular music has been used for decades in an effort to influence awareness and change politically and in the masses. This stems from the release of 'strange fruit' by Billie Holliday. The song recounted the lynching of two blackmen and at the time it was renounced by Time magazine as propaganda. Later Time magazine declared 'strange fruit' to be the song of the century. This was decades later, so it is difficult to determine the effect this song had on political change in terms of recognizing and attacking the problem of racism.
In 1985 Red Wedge was launched by Paul Weller and other artists. The band was used to promote the labour parties general election campaign. The labour party later lost the election. This is perhaps an example of popular music having no effect on political change.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
I wouldn't say that Strange Fruit was the beginning of political comment in popular music, simply that it was an exceptionally powerful one. Red Wedge wasn't a band, it was a collective of artists who joined together to support the Labour cause.
While these are interesting examples they aren't really used in a way that answers the question.
Post a Comment