By Rick Olivares
Before, during, and after Irish rock band U2’s concert in the Philippines, social media was abuzz about the quartet’s political messages while others wondered about the ethics of rock stars using their stage to sing their beliefs and creed.
To even postulate about the latter is bewildering. Really? There should be rules for music? That reminds me during Martial Law when local comic book artists were told to avoid drawing guns of any kind. Seriously?
Music, for as long as it has been written, performed, and recorded, has been a means to convey messages. Some might be about life, love, challenges, or even plain old silliness, while others have political messages. In fact, one need not be political to be a danger to a certain ideology. At the height of the Cold War, even the music of the Beatles was banned in Eastern Bloc countries because the communist governments believed that any Western pop culture could corrupt their youth or implant ideas.
I am not sure how far back is the history of politics in music, but I do know that “Finlandia” written by Jean Sibelius in 1899 was the unofficial anthem of Finland protesting the Russian occupation.
Ninety years later, Leonard Bernstein conducted the orchestra as they performed a stirring rendition of Friedrich Schiiler’s “Ode to Joy” in Berlin just a few weeks after its infamous wall went down.
Pop music and rock music has been forever littered with songs that sang of the times. “Blowing in the Wind”, “Give Peace a Chance”, “Nelson Mandela”, and “Two Tribes” are but a few of songs that were popular hits that said a lot about the world we live in.
Original Pilipino Music isn’t a stranger to this. Freddie Aguilar’s rendition of “Bayan Ko” is probably the most famous as it was an anthem during the fight against former President Marcos.
The Radioactive Sago Project’s “Baboy” takes huge potshots at the corrupt. Yano’s and its iconic frontman Dong Abay have recorded and sang a lot of pointed songs. And most recently, Chickoy Pura, frontman for the legendary punk band, The Jerks, released “Sa Madilim Na Sulok ng Kasayasayan.”
These are but a few.
It is said that during times of turmoil or political upheaval, the conditions are right for musicians or even artists to express what goes on. It isn’t only music. Throw in film and literature. I suggest you watch Five Came Back on Netflix.
Personally, I think a lot of local artists are afraid of writing overt protest songs against the incumbent administration because of the climate of fear that we live in. So it’s all ambiguous and open to interpretation. Whether that is sad or not, it depends on how you look at it.
It took a foreign band in U2 to crack wide open this discussion.
Since their third album, War, the band has adopted a more political stance to their songs instead of the existential matter of that was the theme of their first two albums. Subsequent albums – The Unforgettable Fire, The Joshua Tree, and Achtung Baby had an eye to world events. Other releases such, All That You Can’t Leave Behind and How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb had one or two political overtones.
A lot of my favorite artists have songs that espouse their religious, personal, or political beliefs – The Style Council, Paul Weller, Rage Against the Machine, Thievery Corporation, Broken Social Scene, British Sea Power, Bob Marley and the Wailers, the Clash, and of course, U2, to name a few. Do I agree with everything they say? No. Not at all. But that goes for everyone I know. I agree with some of their ideas and beliefs; others maybe I disagree more vehemently than others. Yes, I know of the accusations against Bono and U2 and some of it is justified. As I have painfully learned over the years is that there is no one true person that you can fully admire because there is something different that you might find. But I still listen because one cannot always listen to what he wants.
U2 have made a career out of saying what they believe in. Love them or hate them, it is who they are as a band.
Do I agree with every woman they placed in HerStory during “Ultraviolet”? Kind of. Were there omissions? There always are. If there are omissions from an all-star team so what more a song that has only a few minutes to tell or sing its story? Do I agree with their stand in all things? No.
Have I decided to not follow an artist, a writer, an entertainer, actor or actress, or even a band for their beliefs. Yes, I have. But I never think ill of them. I don’t think I have called anyone out because I am disagreement with regards to their music. We even have a local punk band where its band leader is pro-EJK and pro-government never mind if punk is supposed to be the anti-thesis of these kind of actions. As the saying goes, yung ang trip niya. Hindi ko lang siya trip.
Do I think U2 should keep their beliefs to themselves? Of course not.
Even in sports, the lines blur when it comes to making a political statement. Let’s not be blind to this. The just-concluded Southeast Asian Games has been pilloried and glorified depending on what side of the political spectrum you adhere to. Even those in the middle who offer comments are lumped into one of the two camps never mind if people like me are for neither; we just go with what we believe is right regardless of who does what.
I just find it funny that those who are upset at U2’s messages don’t seem to mind it one bit when the man they admire the most has used his position to take shots at many a people and yet in a most obnoxious and rude manner.
For the record, I agree with some of the president’s actions but do not with most. Again… I go with what I believe is right. And that goes for every government official we have past and present.
And rights are the most fundamental thing that we have or must adhere and respect. Our nation’s history is stocked with episodes and periods of expressing that belief in both peaceful and hostile forms. We as a people are not going to go gently into that good night.
Unless you forget the lessons of history.. know that you can only suppress for so long before people have had enough.
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