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At a rally protesting the recent World Economic Forum in New York City, I saw the most incredible thing: a folk singer. He stood in front of a throng of politically-motivated young people and sang pointed songs of protest, anger, and hope:
''IMF, WTO,
I hear these words just every place I go,
Who are these people? Who elected them?
And how do I replace them with some of my friends?
Can you hear us? Are you listening?
No power without accountability!''
Strange, right? Musical dissenters have been few and far between for a couple decades now, and since Sept. 11, voices of protest have been even less welcome than usual. Of course there are still a few mangy political types who roam Manhattan's East Village with a guitar and a gripe. But this was no unknown beatnik -- it was Billy Bragg, a well-known beatnik, maybe the only well-known beatnik still making records. And his voice was a welcome reminder that music has the power to transcend entertainment, to open minds, to be politically conscious, and to change the world.
There are still some mainstream bands that focus on politics. In hip-hop, there are folks like dead prez and the Coup, but they rarely rise above the underground the way Public Enemy once did. Rock bands like System of a Down and the now-defunct Rage Against the Machine sell millions of albums criticizing U.S. foreign policy.
But inevitably, such bands have trouble pleasing anybody with their message. The real activists fault them for hypocrisy, i.e., selling records (and getting rich) via one of the world's biggest corporations while decrying global capitalism. And the vast majority of their fans, suburban mooks who like the music's crunch and could care less what they're screaming about, get incensed when the band finally puts its money where its mouth is. When Rage planned a benefit concert in New York City to raise money for the Mumia Abu-Jamal defense fund, local radio station K-Rock complained and many fans demanded refunds. For all their anger, bluster, and piercings, fans of bands like System and Rage (and less-political colleagues like Limp Bizkit and Korn) tend to agree with their parents' political views.
Billy Bragg and a few other artists (Ani DiFranco, Tracy Chapman) maintain the political folk tradition of legends like Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan. Bragg collaborated with alt-country band Wilco to record two discs worth of Guthrie's protest songs from the 1930's and 40's (the Mermaid Avenue series). And like Guthrie, who wrote songs arguing for the rights of migrant workers, and Dylan, who became an eloquent voice for the anti-Vietnam movement, Bragg added his notes of dissent to the chorus of protesters in New York.
At the protest, Bragg sang ''NPWA,'' a track from his forthcoming album ''English, Half English'' which also focuses its ire on the singer's homeland:
''Take down the Union Jack, it clashed with the sunset
And put it in the attic with the emperor's old clothes
When did it fall apart? Sometime in the '80s
When the Great and the Good gave way to the greedy and the mean.
...Pile all those history books, but don't throw them away
They might have some clues about what it really means
To Be Anglo hyphen Saxon in England.co.uk.''
It would be heartening if among all the American musicians who stepped up to make patriotic music after Sept. 11 (Neil Young, Alan Jackson, etc.), a few stuck around to speak out on some of the problems in America and elswhere, to increase awareness and understanding of the issues of the day, and to try to improve the world. That would take courage. That would be the ultimate patriotism.
Where have all the folk singers gone?
