In the wake of the Presidential election, many Democratic and left wing fingers have been pointed in every direction, trying to explain what happened. Along the way, everyone’s been blamed, including FBI chief James Comey, the Russians, Millennials, pollsters, and of course, the media.
But in an interesting twist, Observer writer Tim Sommers says you also should be giving some of the discredit to rock n’ roll artists who no longer seem to revel in involvement in the political discourse. “How Rock N’ Roll Failed Us Again This Election” is provocative, a little angry, and worth a read.
Sommers avers that music has always carried a powerful message – from Woody Guthrie to Bob Dylan to the Doors – that has historically become the anthems of generations. As he notes,
“For generations, people have believed that rock n’ roll “stood” for something, that by endorsing it, one was fighting the establishment. This has all been utter bullshit. We’ve all been had.”
He points out that while celebrity musicians will make TV appearances, perform at fundraisers, or produce videos on behalf of candidates, rock has become a “paper tiger,” showing its true colors as well as being mostly impotent during a time when Americans were open to hearing political-tinged messages from their music idols.
Sommers is especially critical of Bruce Springsteen and Green Day for failing to truly engage with the political turbulence, ironically crediting Ted Nugent – an ardent Trump supporter – for risking concert dates and record sales because of his support of his strong views.
The reality is that Springsteen, in particular, has suffered from his active advocacy of Democratic candidates..for years. I’ve tracked it from his support of John Kerry in 2004 through last week’s Philadelphia appearance on behalf of Hillary Clinton. Springsteen’s activism has clearly cost him in airplay, and perhaps even concert attendance.
If you’ve seen music tests over the years, virtually all of Springsteen’s library has been penalized by roughly a third of respondents who automatically score every song in his repertoire a “1,” indicating their disdain for his politics by literally voting down his music. If you’re wondering why Springsteen songs are so rarely played on radio across the country, you can lay much of the blame on his overt political opinions and the toll that’s taken on how his songs test.
But to suggest as Sommers does that Bruce took “the easy route” this election cycle, joining musicians, rock stars, and pop idols everywhere in simply taking a pass on speaking out, misses the point. A number of artists, from Katy Perry to Nugent to The Boss risked angering at least half their fan base every time they took the stage on behalf of a candidate.
The real omission is that music no longer is a reflection of the political times in which we live. We’ve come a long way since the “Fish Cheer.” In a year when any of us might have united around an anthem reflecting our values and our aspirations, we end up with innocuous songs that fill the charts. Ironically, Sean Ross’ pick for “Song of the Summer” is Twenty One Pilots’ “Ride” which is introspective and even deep by pop music standards. But in the midst of this political maelstrom, it fails to connect with the times, repeating the phrase “I’ve been thinking too much.”
Hardly.
Sommers points to an impressive list of musical activists and the songs they recorded that became emblematic of the political climate of the day. From Phil Ochs to Neil Young to Nobel prize-winner Bob Dylan, rock became more than music on the radio by holding up a musical mirror to their activated fans, capturing the zeitgeist of the day.
That just doesn’t happen anymore. And it’s a missed opportunity during a time where there are even more zealots on both sides of the spectrum, eager to rally around songs and lyrics that speak to their beliefs, dreams, and aspirations.
New rock music, in particular, has struggled in recent years. Inside Radio’s series this week on Active Rock underscored the struggles that artists, labels, and radio stations have endured the past couple decades in producing and exposing music that connects with genuine enthusiasm and passion. At a time when it is so much easier to share tastes with friend networks, communities, and tribes, there is so little rock music that’s truly worthy of word-of-mouth.
The past 18 months have been a roller coaster commandeered by Donald Trump. Based on the news coverage of the events of the last seven days, the next four years promises to be more of the same. No matter your politics or your point of view, a soundtrack on the radio reflective of these changing times would provide much-needed accompaniment and even inspiration.
Who will write and record next anthem to join “The Times They Are A’ Changin’,” “Outside A Small Circle of Friends,” “Fortunate Son,” or Ohio?”
This is that musical hole you could drive a truck through.
After writing this post, it occurred to me Observer is the online version of the New York Observer, purchased in 2006 by Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law.
P.S. We received a comment from Tim Cawley, questioning whether Springsteen’s airplay has suffered during the past several years. Our blog post discussed music research that’s been eroding, but Tim’s comment motivated me to check actual airplay over time. The chart below shows the national Mediabase Classic Rock panel’s historic airplay of Springsteen songs.
In 2001, he was the 32nd most-play artist in the Classic Rock format. Since then it’s been all downhill. Now looking 2016 to date, he has dropped more than thirty rank positions and sits at a very mortal 65, behind Kiss, Bryan Adams, Bill Idol, and Blue Oyster Cult.
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Thanks for this! Totally agree with Mr. Sommers. We need rock artists to get more active again. One side or the other, whichever compels them. Country artist Radney Foster isn’t sitting on the sidelines. He’s written a song that is likely not getting much airplay just for its comparisons of the scene we witnessed to the rise of Fascism in the 1930s.
https://youtu.be/rgAs9sZA-XQ
Chris, so I have the feeling I’m going to learn about music that is under the radar – or that simply didn’t show up on my touchscreen. Thanks for the link to the Radney Foster song, and of course, for reading our blog.
A couple of points…Looking over Tim Sommer’s articles he seems to be most enamored with subjects that will get him clicks and some hate mail…Other headlines from his articles include “The 2017 Nominees to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame are a Disgrace to Music”, and “King of the Inauthentic, Did Bob Dylan Deserve the Nobel Prize for Literature”, but it’s a modern and over communicated society, so you have to stand out some and that means having a definite opinion.
On the subject of opinions his premise needs some work as whenever an artist in any field speaks out on a political subject the monolithic media
(Whoever they are and really I’ve been doing this for 30 years…Shouldn’t I know some of these people by now?…Is it you Fred?)
But seriously if you’re an artist that chooses to take a stand on a political subject you are immediately painted as a light weight, no nothing until you show that you do know something…Then you’re a freak for a cause whether you’re Ted Nugent or Bruce Springsteen or in the case of Hollywood Susan Sarandon or Clint Eastwood.
The narratives are built for you by a media that has an interest and makes money off the boy bites dog nature of the story.
I appreciate when artists are outspoken…I understand when artists stay away from it like it’s the third rail (I’m looking at you Taylor Swift), but music didn’t fail us…The failure ,as always, is within.
Mike, good thoughts and the beginnings of a conversation that radio and the music industry should be having. That question of whether music reflect who we are or leads the way is at the core. Clearly, there’s a cost for taking a stand, especially if you’re already a big star or on the way up (Dixie Chicks?). But if you’re a fledgling artist, hey why not? Thanks, Mike.
Our beliefs which are so calcified
Upon which we’ll be crucified
(I just finished listening to the YouTube link above…call this “fan lyrics”…)
” Springsteen songs are so rarely played on radio across the country”. Really? I think some classic rock stations have missed that memo.
Tim, so I looked it up in Mediabase (the Classic Rock) panel. Bruce only ranks 65th. We went back to 2003 (the year before he came out for Kerry), and Springsteen ranked 28th. His politicizing has definitely cost him airplay. (When was the last time you did a music test? 🙂 )
I don’t quibble with the research or your overall premise, but I do stand by my nit-picking of the term “rarely”. Frank Zappa songs are “rarely” played on radio. Little Feat songs are “rarely” played. Even at #65, I would say Bruce Springsteen songs are heard…often, regularly, occasionally, sometimes, sporadically; especially on stations that that cannot afford ongoing local music tests. (I think the last local test done here might have been done by you 🙂 )
Tim, thanks for doubling back on this. After your first comment, I dove into Mediabase and started looking at Springsteen airplay on recent days across many Classic Rock stations around the country. On most stations, there are just a 2-3 spins a day. On a few, none. Of course, that may/may not reflect his politics at all as the discussion on Facebook has indicated. As for that last music test on your station, aren’t you due for another? 🙂
It hasn’t been lost on me the fact that listeners to rock radio, whether it be classic, classic hits, active or even alternative, seems to lean a lot more to the right these days than when in some of the formats the songs they play were hits (probably about the time Rush Limbaugh started using classic rock songs as music beds instead of the Sousa marches or Lee Greenwood singing “God Bless the USA” stereotype). It does seem to me that if a rock station has a personality show that does political material, it’s more likely to lean right than left. Now I know that the anti-war movement was an uneasy coalition of Yippies and libertarians, but did the Yippies and hippies retreat to public radio and AAA while the libertarians took over the mainstream rock formats?
Nielsen ran this down a number of years ago, linking party affiliation to various formats. And yes, Classic Rock clearly had a Republican lean. We’ve come a long way from the Woodstock Era as programmers (especially old ones like me) have had to learn. Thanks, Mark.
Although many mainstream rock artists still take a personal stand, their music doesn’t seem to reflect it anymore. There is still activism in music, just not so much in classic/active rock. Indie artists are still all over it.
Best Coast tweeted this the day after the election:
Best Coast @BestCoast Nov 9
If you feel scared, discouraged, unsafe, etc. today- I made this: bestcoasthotline@gmail.com. Please write me and I’ll do my best to help ❤️
I sent an email and got a response from Bethany.
There was the 50 (anti Trump) songs in 30 days project. Here are some details:
https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/music/upset-about-the-election-listen-to-these-anti-trump-songs-8813786
And there are issue specific songs like this one from Connor Oberst’s band Desaparecidos that came out awhile ago ripping the soon to be ex sheriff of Maricopa County, AZ a new one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kjfNRolnTI
Its a shame that rock doesn’t own this anymore, but its nice to know that Indie artists have filled the void.
It is interesting, Bob, that while many rockers actively endorse candidates, it doesn’t show up in the music – despite a long tradition. The lack of anthems in these turbulent times is fascinating, and I would think that citizens on all sides of the spectrum might welcome it. Thanks for a strong comment.
I would say with Bruce Springsteen, his airplay catalog is more or less down to about five songs, with classic hits probably the most active format for those songs. I don’t think classic rock has played much of his music for many years, going farther back than 2003. Not sure if it has anything to do with his politics, but more to the fact his songs are just not that familiar to anyone but his fans – you can likely say that about a lot of other older artists as well. I would dare say Bruce has moved into the same realm as the Dead and Jimmy Buffett – big concert draw, little airplay.
Keith, maybe it’s a somewhat more cordial environment for Bruce on Classic Hits stations. But even looking at the Classic Rock ranker, Queen, Journey, Boston, ZZ Top, Eagles, and Steve Miller are in the top 20. Bruce is way, way back in the pack. For an artist that’s still touring and even releasing more new product than most other core Classic Rock bands, politics has to be a factor. Thanks for the comment and the thoughts.
The lack of airplay has very little to do with politics.
Most of his songs just don’t test.
Check out the chart we added to the end of the post. Clearly, something has driven his airplay considerably lower over the past 15 years, while other artists have held steady. Thanks, Marty.
Memo to the DNC: before the next election, you might want to change your messaging to the middle class in so-called flyover country, which for eight years has been 1) eat sh*t, 2) f*ck off, and 3) die. Oddly enough, most of middle America was not able to find the value proposition in this message. Come up with a better message and a candidate who does not embody every single thing that people outside the Beltway are disgusted with now, and you just might have a shot. And you won’t need to enlist the aid of over-the-hill rockers whose grasp of politics and reality in general has always been tenuous at best.
If rockers really were anti-establishment, then logically they should have lined up behind Trump who, whatever else you might think of him, is the only candidate who ran consistently against the establishments of both parties and who took endless delight in denigrating them publicly in the most abrasive and vulgar ways possible. I hasten to add, I didn’t vote for the guy, but I know plenty of people here in Central Wisconsin who did, including men and women who were lifelong liberal Democrats, members of the teachers union, enemies of Scott Walker. There is not a racist or misogynistic or homophobic bone in their bodies. They just hated being sold another pack of lies by a party that had totally abandoned them.
Whether they’ve been sold a pack of lies by the guy they did vote for, however reluctantly, remains to be seen. But one thing is for sure: the opinions of popular musicians about politics mean nothing and affect nothing, and probably shouldn’t.
The reason Springsteen doesn’t get played as much these days has nothing to do with politics. It is simply that with a few exceptions his work doesn’t hold up and hasn’t aged well. No one is ever going to give him a Nobel Prize, unless there is a Nobel Prize for mentioning cars in every song.
Kurt, obviously the election has seriously impacted all of us. Political opinions aside, the lack of great music with messages (on either side of the spectrum) is what we were pointing out. In Bruce’s case, his fan base remains loyal, but his radio airplay has precipitously fallen off in recent years. Whether it’s because his music hasn’t held up or his campaigning is an unknown, but worthy of discussion.
Understood, Fred. I was responding to the silly unquestioned assumptions of the original article — the election went wrong, someone must be to blame, so let’s blame rockers.
The truth is there has never been much diversity of political opinion in popular music. Like the media in general, it leans one way and always has. On the right you have Ted Nugent, Iggy Pop, and not too many others. On the left you have virtually everyone else willing to stake out a position, and in the middle all of the musicians who wouldn’t be caught dead being political. Rage Against the Machine is aptly named, as they have only ever raged against one machine, not all political machines. If they had any integrity they would have been blasting both major party candidates throughout this election cycle.
True, there used to be some fairly astute political observations in popular songs, from the likes of Dylan, Marvin Gaye, the Clash and a few others. Some hold up, others don’t. I think the ones that last are subtler, more artistic statements if you will, like Dylan and Marvin Gaye. The ones that fall by the wayside lack balance and nuance. Does anyone today know why the Clash named one of their albums Sandinista? And if they did would they care? Aligning yourself with revolutionary totalitarians may not be the best strategy for musical longevity. The Beastie Boys did better by taking on the Chinese communists over Tibet, which was honest and good and somewhat contrarian.
As others commentators have noted here, there is still plenty of interesting, politically engaged music in most genres, but it will never find a home on commercial radio, and perhaps not even that much on NPR. This may have more to do with a general lack of interest in substance in popular music right now than with a particular aversion to political statements.
You may be right, Kurt. But we know from history that music that connects with the times (“Ohio,” etc.) has the chance to resonate with millions. These are good observations, and I appreciate you taking the time to comment.
Interesting read. but if this election thought us anything it is that the validity of polls is suspect.
Those people giving Springsteen a 1 problably secretly turn up their radio when Badlands comes on.
As far as ticket sales, I don’t think The Boss is worried.
No doubt that polls, ratings, and music research are flawed instruments. But the fault is with those who take them as Gospel. We all share in that, whether we’re the analysts, the media, or the audience. And you’re right that Bruce is doing just fine. But his activism certainly seems to have cost him airplay.
Fred as you know, I’ve been doing an all-Springsteen show on the classic rock station at the Jersey Shore (Townsquare Media’s 105.7 The Hawk) for 13 years.
After reading this, I did some poking around of my own in Mediabase. Looking at 2016, Bruce doesn’t show up on Q104/NYC until # 195 with “Glory Days” and at WMGK/Phila until # 68 with “Born To Run.” Very enlightening to be sure.
My sense is that his politics have cost him some fans. I see/hear that in the fan community. Every four years the “shut up and sing” folks are out in full force.
He’s certainly still a massive concert draw, and given the nature of the format, thankfully still viable at AAA radio. Not to mention now a best selling author.
As always, thanks for the great insights.
I saw some of the same things, Tom. Several Facebook comments are having trouble getting their heads around the dichotomy that his music doesn’t test well and yet he fills massive arenas every night. And many also conclude, probably correctly, that Bruce doesn’t care. Thanks for commenting.