Raging against the machine

When the United States was preparing to go to war with Iraq last spring, politically minded music fans were hard-pressed to find a new rallying anthem. Musical responses to the war were either ostentatious in the case of the Beastie Boys' "In a World Gone Mad" or not, well, musical. Now artists both political and apolitical seem to be willing to throw their hats in the ring, releasing music inspired by the current world situation.

While notoriously political rockers like Tom Morello and Eddie Vedder are launching subtle musical attacks against the government, traditionally silly bands like Good Charlotte and Green Day are lending their talents to an album and campaign directed against President Bush. Though unusual in nature, all of these responses reflect a renewed awareness of the musician's role in motivating people to create change.

It's fitting then that this revived willingness of political artists to speak out on political issues may have begun two weeks ago at a concert in California to benefit the Bridge School, which prepares students with physical or speech impediments for mainstream education. While the majority of artists participating covered socially-conscious songs, Wilco and Pearl Jam both used their opportunities on stage to launch musical protests against the government. While Wilco performed the Woody Guthrie-penned "Christ for President," Pearl Jam offered up their rendition of Bob Dylan's "Masters of War," using its lyrics of betrayal and deception to criticize what they believe to be President Bush's attitude toward the war in Iraq. Yet despite the beneficent nature of the event, Pearl Jam and Wilco merely conveyed their views on the current political situation through other people's words.

While Pearl Jam is content to merely protest in song, Tom Morello has a more specific objective for his role on an acoustic tour organized by Billy Bragg to speak out against media consolidation and globalization. Performing under the name the Nightwatchman and playing original songs he wrote for the tour, Morello plans to present the "truth" about media consolidation so that people can make judgments and respond accordingly. Not only presenting his take on the issue, Morello is hoping to inspire change, believing that he has a responsibility to present the truth in order for people to make informed decisions. But while these bastions of politically-minded music are taking a more informative role, Good Charlotte, a band whose most political statement to date was its slightly veiled criticism of Marion Barry in "Lifestyles of the Rich and the Famous," is one of a number of punk artists contributing to an album--and accompanying tour--called Rock Against Bush, designed to encourage people to vote against the president in the upcoming election. Taking a more partisan approach to tactics employed by Rock the Vote and MTV since the early '90s, the tour is setting its sights on young voters, seeking to encourage 18-25-year-olds--and punks--to vote...against President Bush.

Rock Against Bush is only the latest organization to try to encourage young people to cast their ballot, and with CNN jumping on the youth vote bandwagon this year, young people may feel more pressure to get involved than ever before. Nonetheless, this recent wave of politically inspired rock suggests that musicians are no longer willing to remain silent on world issues. The question is... is anybody listening?