As Americans, we are entitled to many different rights, the most popular being the first amendment--free speech. Anyone can say what anything they believe in is how I would sum up the first amendment. Not everyone has to agree with your statements but you have the power to say them anyways. For this final blog I choose chapter 3--Confrontations: popular music and politics. This chapter discusses censorship, political form and popular music as a campaign instrument. All three of these subjects dance around what we all take for granted, free speech.
Our text, Entertaining the Citizen by Liesbet Van Zoonen says that "the history of popular music can be easily written as a history of censorship." Music from the 50's such as jazz, rock and roll, and even Elvis's famous hip swings were all censored to the public. They became more accepted as time went on and other music seemed worse, heavy metal, rap or grunge. I wonder how Elvis would feel today if he saw some of the dancing that goes on in today's music videos.
Musicians do have to be careful of what their lyrics mean because they get blamed for drug overdoses, violent acts, suicides, and mass murders. Can a person not just listen to a song or band because they simply like the music or the talent of the band? It seems obscured to link all drug overdoses or violent acts to the music that person was listening to beforehand. There comes a time when instead of blaming everyone else, we must take a look at ourselves and claim our faults. Censoring all lyrics starts to take away our right to free speech.
This leads me to my next topic: popular music as a campaign instrument. Using music can be a great tool to connecting with people's emotions. Certain songs can amp up the message and can connect with different demographics, but can also hinder your message. When politicians and musicians combine forces they must be aware of the pros and cons that can happen. As Van Zoonen says, "Musical taste and alliances are presumed to communicate lifestyle, social milieu, personality and general capacity to understand everyday tastes of ordinary people." We generally believe that if President Obama and Jay-Z are seen together, then they must be alike. So if Jay-Z likes Obama, that can bring in many young voters or could make those who dislike Obama to dislike Jay-Z. We discussed in class the wrath that musicians and celebrities can go through when they voice their opinions and the masses do not agree.
My final point popular music as a political form ties into using music to campaign. "The reason for the manifold connections between new social movements and popular music is that 'popular musicians share a cause, rather than an ideology or electoral campaign," says Van Zoonen. This is why it is extremely important for youth to educate themselves on what each politicians stands for instead of voting for the person with the coolest song or most celebrity fans. When musicians join with politicians is it because they believe in their message or because they are trying to get their face out there? This question is hard to answer beings we do not know the musician personally.
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