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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 28, 1989)
0 ( Jiiitx, ujha-b did. yt>KJ Iv ]do \Ag-f lM£ANWH/L£~... 71 \ATA GARBfcF impl I W®s ^S\rit1Bja^ker .war 'i ./ s: This is Rachel This is Rachel VloobennstV.'bW \n 1*2-years... fe!n your history then,She'// be -\a5S,or moybe, rr^rL Vou'-Chem. lab. She's PftH'/ nice,bat no 'T|o,ie^ "than you or>e 5eems +o Know her. \n fact,She'll |^S+fb>»ter-| be loaAed. -ming's pogsitte. Always benixetofeopl^ ■ —— Union of politics, music can open eyes to ideas By Brian Peterson Ivan Jirous has spent nearly nine years in Czechoslovakian prisons for various political ac tivities condemned by the gov ernment. He and his band Plastic People of the Universe were ar rested in 1976 for "creating public disturbances" and “sing ing indecent songs." Their arrest lea ih part to the internationally known human rights document Charter 77. Ilr ous has been arrested again, mis time charged with "harming the interests of the republic abroad" (Spin, August 1969). Jirous has a long history of ac tivism and long has used music to convey his ideas toothers. But hd is not alone. Thousands of musicians around the world have similar histories of persecu tion. Why do these musicians take such risks by performing music which they must know will be considered subversive and , likely lead to legal difficulties? • The circumstances are not al - ways so extreme, but anyone paying attention to music jour nalism can observe that musi cians of all styles and persua sions are uniting the domains of music and politics. Many listeners complain that political concerns are intrusions upon music. Others appreciate or even expect suen eiroris. Musicians who dabble in social concerns have two en deavors: to produce the music they enjoy, and to use that music to convey whatever messages they wish. Ideally, the two con tribute to each other rather than one overpowering the other. The recent commercial suc cess of countless performers with political messages shows that a* Union of the two can be both possible and successful. Tracy Chapman and 10,000 Maniacs are recent examples of a conUnuing tradition of such fu sion. Mega-events such as Farm Aid and Amnesty IntemaUonal's Human Rights Now! tour pro vide further^ evidence of the possibility of success in this area. Yet the question remains: Why do musicians get involved in social issues in the first place? Clearly, they want to get a mes sage to the audience, to commu nicate ideas in the best way they can. There are as many methods for communicating these mes sages as there are performers. Lyrics are the most obvious ex ample, and spreading their mes sage is facilitated by adding lyric sheets to releases. There are numerous other means for the musical expres sion of political sentiments. Al bum covers probably do more to sell records than advertising and reputation. A striking image on a cover stays with a listener whether or not the album is purchased. The Short Sharp Shocked LP of Michelle Shocked is an ex ample of such, showing her getting arrested at a Stop The City demonstration in San Fran cisco. For what it is worth, the same photo idea was used on a Chaos U.K. album called Short Shatp Shock. Tne release of an album, in dependent of its lyrical content, also can have political repercus sions. With the advent of glasnost, Western rock music is entering the Soviet Union and ‘ further eroding East-West barri ers. The official USSR label, Melo diya, has pressed more than four million copies of the double album 'Rainbow Warriors, a money- and consciousness-rais ing effort for Greenpeace (Roll ing Stone, April 20, 1989). The album features the likes of Sting, Eurythmics, Grateful Dead, Sade, Huey Lewis and U2, among others just as varied. Greenpeace also benefits from concert" announcements and proceeds from the single “Little Fighter” by White Lion (Spin, Oct 89), the top-40 metal band that everyone likes to slam. . The band's glossy photos mav adorn the lockers of junior high school students across the nation, but it takes something to open for AC/DC with ‘ When the Children Cry,” a tender anti-war number. — Musicians also can benefit causes by their mere appear ance, such as providing public service announcementslor vari ous organizations. Some more dosely gel in volved with the causes they pro mote. Sting recently spent ten days with Kayapo Indians in the Brazilian rain forest in an inter national protest to protect the See FIFTH on 7 »’ V >■ : < 4 . • column album renew ***' 1 T — - '■■
