So, I was reading the New York Times this morning as an accompaniment to my yogurt and herbal tea when I noticed an article about the intriguing lack of protest songs. The article points out that many of the artists currently writing in the protest genre are older folks (with the exception of Everlast, but he isn't exactly young by music standards). Also, there was a sense that both the audience and the record companies don't like the controversy music like this might cause. Perhaps, too, songs about economic justice are just harder to write than peace songs. Finally, there was a nod to social networking bring people together in a way that music used to.
There was something else in the article that got me thinking. Someone pointed out--citing recent works by Green Day and Pink--that protest songs seem to be more easily written during Republican administrations. There is a person to embody the issue. On the other hand, Obama is someone that many of these potential protest writers voted for. Some folks had high hopes. Some of us (including me) just had regular hope. Obviously, it has been a frustrating few years for the 99%, which is at least part of why the occupation is happening. Plenty of protesters are angry with Obama, just not in the Tea Party kind of way.
With that in mind, I wonder if this is a case where the religious tradition of lament may be of assistance to our occupy songsters. That is, maybe not a fight song, but the blues...
Anyway, here is the link to the NYT article. It is worth the read.
Here--just in case you didn't read it--is the link to my previous post on this subject.
And...drum roll...here is a link to the new blog of my friend Peter Boulatta! Peter is doing quite a bit of "occupy" blogging right now but, as a fellow clergyperson, I know that he has other plans as well.
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