[Heccubus]

Some of my favourite bands are political, so I think I'm somewhat obliged to vote "yes".

[Slade]

I also say yes. I say that music should mean something, and not just be "I'm in love" "my boy/girlfriend left me" and "my childhood was bad." all the time. Some themes are just too damned cliché.

[Chefelf]

If it is done well. Sadly most lyricists are a little lacking in the sublety department.

[J m HofMarN]

I like bands that can sing with feeling. Kurt Cobain and Korn may have sung the same whiny stuff that modern crap rock sings about but they sure felt it and they were going to rock while they talked about it. Listen to any of these crappy bands and they're just crying about how far away from the sun they are or something. They never even actually start to rock. In essence modern music is rock and roll sans rock and roll. They start off with a low guitar, quiet, and maybe a fading drum beat. In customary music you would hten build until the drums come to a crescendo and then the guitars start wailing while the lead singer's voice booms out the chorus. This does not occur in whiney rock. They just drone on.

As for politcal bands it's cool, it gets them fired up like nothing else. Can anyone really picture the guys from Propagandhi singing about anything other than politics with that amount of feeling? And besides, we all know that politics is read as liberal and radical leanings. Artists are intelligent and creative. That means they're liberal. When we are assigned a problem we think of ways to solve it, rather than blowing it up. There is noone who is going to write poetry about how great fascism is. There is noone who will create a piece of sculpture to show support for genocide in Iraq. There is noone who will kill their throat while screaming out the defense of Bush's tax cuts to a moaning guitar solo.

So let me take this opportunity to claim all artistic forms for liberals and radicals.

[Just your average movie goer]

I'm all for it as long as it's done well.

[Heccubus]

Artists are intelligent and creative. That means they're liberal.

Allow me to point something out:
There are a ton of perfectly intelligent, conservative artists out there too. Do not assume that one has to side with liberal perspectives in order to be talented and intelligent. You can support your government and fall under conservative viewpoint, and still create good music, or other forms of art. Just because the topic involved poilitics in music, that does not necessarily dictate that ALL political/socially aware music is designated for the left wing.

[Chyld]

I'm agreeing with Cheffers here. If you've actually got something to sing about, sing about it. Otherwise, don't. Quite simple, really. Or not, if you look at most of what counts as music these days...

[J m HofMarN]

I hardly see how. Liberalism dosn't necessarily mean comdemning your country it just means recognizing that we mess up, especially in the last three years for some odd reason. I mean how can you compare that country music guys song about how we should rack them up and roll to, say, "The hands that built America" or "Bad day" or "The Final Straw" To take a different stance than the media and the government tell you to is creative. Creativity is art. The national Anthem is an example of patriotic art but let's examine that. It came about during a revolution and was the song of people who were thinking creatively and differently. Who remembers any of the art made to suck up to the emperors of rome (The Aeneid being an exception though it's understood that it's nowhere near the scale of Homer's works) It's quite apparent that those with the guts to have dissenting opinions and the intelligence to back those opinions are the best artists. This isn't to say that all artists are liberal or political. I'm merely saying if you're an artist and you're politically active you're probably a liberal or radical. By the way, sorry if this is too debatey for this forum, I'm enjoyin it though.

[Zerahsedai]

I grudgingly voted yes. I hate mixing politics with anything, but some artists/bands can pull it off.

I was going to write some big statement about liberal/conservative influence in music. but then I thought, "why?"

I blame the media.