It’s election time and I thought I’d get into the spirit by looking at the much derided area of “political music”. These days it seems like writing songs about serious issues is about the lamest thing a musician can do, despite the fact that there’s plenty of issues to sing about – given all the concerns about global warming, peak oil, over-fishing of the seas, and shortages of clean water (generally all bought on by over-population).

In fact, politics and pop/rock music have always made an uncomfortable combination. The rock attitude and earnestness of political causes don’t really mix that well. Perhaps that’s why it was folk music that continued to be the main form of protest music even after rock arrived in the late 50s, though it helped that Woody Guthrie got things started with such a strong set of songs. A lot of the folkie music that followed had less ability to stand the test of time. These days, who could stand Joan Baez’s shrill, over-sung melodies. Pete Seeger? Forget about it. The lyrics just sound clunky and deluded to the modern ear. Where’s the humour? At least Country Joe and the Fish used a bit of sarcasm in their anti-Vietnam song (encouraging parents to: “be the first one on your block to have your boy come home in a box”). Though our modern world hasn’t shown the same interest in anti-war songs since the wars of the Western world (the Falklands war, both Iraq wars, and Afghanistan) haven’t drafted members of the general public and instead involved professional soldiers, which made it easier for modern youth to ignore the fact they’re even happening.

Looking back on the sixties, it now feels as if many of the political songs were based more on wishful thinking, than a clear vision of what the future should be like. Though music possibly helped form a bond between protesters (who endlessly sung ‘We Will Overcome’ and ‘This Land Is Our Land’) and the success of African American singers no doubt helped move race relations forward, but the music just provided a soundtrack rather than a guide. And the Beatles didn’t change anything with their world-wide television performance singing ‘All You Need Is Love’, just as Lennon failed in his solo attempt to get the world to ‘Give Peace A Chance’. In fact, his most political solo album, Some Time In New York City, was also his worst.

Then punk came along and the anger of protest was directed into blind rage, rather than direct action. Even a focused songwriter like Joe Strummer had trouble making a clear political point (though calling one album Sandinista did turn people’s attention to that area of the world for a minute). The main problem was that if you actually get in-depth about an issue in a song then it’s bound to end up being overly long (Bob Dylan, I’m looking at you) and punk didn’t have time for that. This was the same issue that hamstrung Rage Against The Machine and International Noise Conspiracy in the nineties, and both bands responded by adding reading lists to their liner notes.

Once punk had faded, the main musical approaches to politics became far less confrontational. Early on, U2 might have seemed a little edgy, but soon it was all just ballads and clichés. The best political songs tended to be ones that had a specific rather than vague target – United Artists Against Apatite’s song against musicians playing Sun City in South Africa, Special AKA’s “Free Nelson Mandela” or many of the songs written by Billy Bragg. Public Enemy made it seem as if rap might be up to the challenge, but their influence was soon watered down by the arrival of gangsta rap and consciousness rap slowly faded and was replaced by witty one-liners or tracks buried deep on albums. Outside of these exceptions, the majority of political songs were increasingly trite and saccharine. Do you think anybody really became a better person after listening to Michael Jackson’s ‘[I’m starting with the] Man in the Mirror’? These days it seems like musicians achieve a lot more by being the face of different causes, assuming that they don’t say/do anything too stupid to ruin things. You’d think that global warming might’ve re-sparked political music, but about all that has emerged so far were tracks by Dave Matthews Band (oh dear) and punk band, Bad Religion (though slightly more tolerable is the second verse on ‘Rising Down’ by The Roots).

But what about in New Zealand? We’ve certainly had a few standouts over the years – Chris Knox and Don McGlashan singing against the Springbok tour; Herbs against Nuclear Testing; Chris Knox (again) singing in support of the Labour party; not to mention the plethora of political songs in local hip hop that go all the way from Upper Hutt Posse through to @peace. This year, National have staked their claim on the middle of the road by buying the rights to use a song by The Feelers for their campaign (they must’ve noticed when Republicans in the US were lambasted by the musicians who complained that they didn’t want their songs used by a party they couldn’t stand). Meanwhile, the Greens had a song gifted to them by Jess Chambers, Rebs, and Richie Singleton the Rebel Peasant (also a member of Phoenix Foundation). I’m a Green voter, so I think I’ll sidestep any comment on that track and instead point out that the worse song of this election season is surely the odd, folk number that backs the latest Act campaign ads. Though since we’re on The Corner, we won’t try to trick you into watching political ads and instead we’ll just fall back on our usual go-to music…

PRESS RELEASE: Public Enemy are coming to New Zealand in January to perform their seminal Fear of a Black Planet album on its 20th anniversary.

Chuck D, Flavor Flav, Professor Griff, DJ Lord, the S1W1s and a SUPER NASTY FUNK BAND will play the entire Fear of a Black Planet album plus Public Enemy classics.

Public Enemy will clearly demonstrate on multiple levels exactly why they are the most important group in the history of hip hop.

Exploding out of Long Island, New York in the early 1980s, their firebrand lyrical assault, the Bomb Squad’s innovative production techniques, and their unmistakeable live performances give them a formidable reputation. They terrify the establishment, and have continued to blaze a trail over a twenty year period up until the present day.

Rolling Stone Magazine ranked Public Enemy 44th on its list of ‘The Immortals: 100 Greatest Artists of All Time’, and today they are more autonomous and as determined as ever, with no signs of slowing down.

Few hip-hop albums had the impact of Public Enemy’s 1990 Top 10 smash Fear of a Black Planet. It struck a chord with black and white alike, city dwellers and suburbanites, while spawning No. 1 singles that illustrated the yin and yang of the group. Flavor Flav’s humour and Chuck D’s rabble-rousing political consciousness is all done in the best tradition of black funk music.

Public Enemy will deliver more than hype when they perform one limited capacity concert in Auckland.

Running time
Box Office opens 6.30pm
Doors open 7.30pm
Support 8.00pm
Main act 10.00pm – 12.00am
(Times are approximate and are subject to change)