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Will Occupy Wall Street Lead to Better Music?


Carl

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As the masses rise up in protest over the systematic economic injustice that is strangling America and much of the world, the musical landscape remains pretty much the same - rappers are still bragging about their bling, and Katy Perry is still making hits.

Maybe we just need more time to brew up a few Jefferson Airplanes of this movement, but the musical reaction hasn't come close to the passion we're seeing on the streets. I love that a 92 year old Pete Seeger is out there, but we can't count on the old guard to provide the soundtrack to the Great Recession.

We just posted a piece on the blog about the music of this protest movement, where we look into the idea that global unrest leads to better music - Dylan might have been Dylan even if it wasn't the '60s.

This generation has plenty of creature comforts, but they are facing some serious problems that Maroon 5 isn't going to help them sort out. Where will the next great protest music come from?

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I really doubt we'll see the next "The Times They Are A-Changin'" in the Billboard Top 40 anytime soon. But Kanye West was spotted at the protests a little while ago, so I could be wrong.

I also don't really have any faith in the movement. The corruption in our financial and political system is a bit too entrenched to be fixed by drum circles and chanting. The movement prides itself on having no united cause and no leadership when a united cause and leadership is exactly what it needs.

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Any chance at valid, this-might-just-work protest music is, and will continue to be lost in the roar of corporately shoved-down-your-throat 'musical' television shows. Tripe like American Idol, Canadian Idol, Britan's Got Talent, Zimbabwe Idol, Glee etc. They have the volume cranked up on that to the max. Phone in your vote, text in your vote, don't miss the next, on and on and on. The people with all the money want to remain the people with all the money. What they spend on keeping that crap out there is a pittance to what they are making from it. The same goes for the current vapid 'artists' you can't seem to get away from, like Gaga, Justin Bieber, and turds like them. What chance do you think an artist or band would have at making it with music opposing that? (As an aside, I wanted to hear Queen's "Somebody To Love" at work. I entered that on You Tube and Justin Bieber was ahead of Queen. I had to go home to get my blood pressure medicine.) I think once people have had a gutful of what is out there, and it just might happen, real music might return. Right now, the best thing you can do is open your music collections to those who think Gaga is the shiznit. She has 2 studio albums 2 remixes and 2 compliations. Please.

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the funny thing about Kanye is that on his earlier songs like "All Falls Down" and "We Don't Care," he actually did protest America's economic system - or if not the specifics of the actual policies in place, at least the culture of money in general in the US. He's really gone the opposite direction now though. Compare these lyrics:

"We shine because they hate us, floss cause they degrade us

We trying to buy back our 40 acres

And for that paper, look how low we'd stoop

Even if you in a Benz, you still a n**** in a coop"

"They don't see me cuz I pulled up in my other Benz

Last week I was in my other other Benz"

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I really doubt we'll see the next "The Times They Are A-Changin'" in the Billboard Top 40 anytime soon. But Kanye West was spotted at the protests a little while ago, so I could be wrong.

I also don't really have any faith in the movement. The corruption in our financial and political system is a bit too entrenched to be fixed by drum circles and chanting...

Let's not kid ourselves, those people are also plagued by greed and egoism. They don't give a s*** beyond their own self-interest. Rather than volunteering their time for something productive that would add to the lives of others (and their own in the process), they chose to bitch and whine about themselves.

If kanye waste is representative of "good" music coming out, then we're really exploring the lower depths of social decay :beatnik:

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I understand where this whole Occupy [insert major to slightly major city here] movement is doing and where it's coming from, but I don't see it making much of a difference. Standing around complaining isn't going to change anything. All the people they're complaining about can still sit in their offices, make boatloads of money and say "What's with all those people and tents out there? Oh well. Who cares. Throw more money in the fire, it's getting low."

Plus, if there's one thing I hate more than a hipster, it's a whole group of self-righteous no-one-knows-what-it's-like-being-middle-class-and-raised-in-the-suburbs hipsters.

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