[Marxism] Re: Two rock-and-roll band documentaries

[Ben C <minnows@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

[In between all the important discussions that are going on here....]

I personally think the main point about punk and heavy metal is that
they are an performance and sometimes dance phenomenon. One goes to a
concert for a "mosh" or slam-dance or for impressively LOUD sounds or a
good stage show. Depending on the band. The lyrics are beside the point,
at this level, other than providing a narrative or emotional level to
the experience. In terms of the poitics reflected in the lyrics, I think
this is largely (as with much other music) a function of the state of
mobilisation of the working class. Bands like Megadeth, Metallica, Iron
Maiden etc to some extent wrote anti-war songs in the 1980s because
there was a nuclear arms race and consciousness ran high. Sacred Reich
even wrote a pro-Nicaragua song I think. On the other hand Slayer wrote
a voyeuristic horror story about Mengele, the Auschwitz "Angel of
Death". Despite the fact that musically it's a great song, it's
lyrically apolitical and ghastly. You can find any number of examples
like these. And then recently, metal bands like Voivod and System of a
Down have written songs about the Seattle protest and similar.

And then look at the Rage Against the Machine song "Killing in the Name
Of... ". Although the band, and their songs, are incredibly political,
that song may as well have been a teen anthem to not cleaning one's room
("Fuck you I won't do what you tell me") not an anti-KKK and -police
anthem, for many of its fans.

in other words, context is a lot. For those of us who buy the CDs and
sit down to listen seriously (a measure of how tragic a punk/metal fan I
am?) the lyric sheets are usually provided and sometimes interesting (at
least the ones I get). As already noted, some sub-genres are far more
political than others. And then, in the underground punk-anarchist
scene, I would hazard a guess that about 75 per cent of the "politics"
is as much a fashion statement as a serious political statement. This
lifestylist scene tends, in my experience, to be the most cliquey and
fashion-victim-ridden of any "political" scene I've seen.

From the point of view of enjoying music without being offended in a
political sense it's definitely a mixed bag. But those bands like
Sepultura, Rage Against the Machine, System of a Down, Napalm Death, the
Clash, Propagandhi etc play a useful political function, I think. In
what other contemporary popular genres are political bands as
prominent/famous?

The music mainly speaks to the boredom of alienated male youth. Why does
it so often lack politics? Why does the football lack politics? Or the
workplace?

Ben Courtice


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