| Subject: Stories |
Last Update: |
This article was written by: Mark Swatek
political bands always seem to have one major setback. music, which is usually just about emotions, is suddenly made to include an opinion. so can you only like it if you agree ? well, it certainly helps, but on the other hand, most radicals believe that POP music is only for the empty-headed. the revolutionary avantgarde therefore should have nothing to do with it. bollocks.
chumbawamba - a band with a mission ? a mission with a band ?
i remember discussing the probability of getting kids interested in politics through music with boff some years ago. i could not help but admire his optimism, but in the end he more or less convinced me. he could not make me agree that it works, but i could not ignore the fact that it CAN work. boff says, he was radicalized by music, and when i think about it, the same goes for me. it need not work, but that never was a reason for not trying, now was it ? the language of today's pop music is reduced to a few words. well, actually it's always been that way. michael bolton says that his favourite subject is "love". just "love". how interesting, michael. "love crops up quite a lot as something to sing about, most groups make most of their songs about falling in love or how happy they are to be in love, you occasionally wonder why these groups do sing about it all the time - it's because these groups think there's something very special about it, either that or else it's because everybody else sings about it and always has, you know to burst into song you have to be inspired and nothing inspires quite like love. these groups and singers think they appeal to everyone by singing about love because apparently everyone has or can love or so they would have you believe anyway, but these groups go along with the belief that love is deep in everyones' personality and i don't think we're saying there's anything wrong with love, i just don't think that what goes on between two people should be shrouded in mystery." said the mighty gang of four (who also hail from leeds, pop kids) in a song that was first released in 1978. chumbawamba are a bit (but only a bit, ha) younger than this song, but they certainly know what it means. they've written love songs now and they're not in your usual sentimental style (which is probably why i don't like them that much...), but the whole point is: chumbawamba is not about truth, it is about opinion. take what they say for the truth, you misunderstand them. i love them, because i can disagree with what they're saying (or doing), but can see why they chose to do it. you can criticize them for playing at bigger festivals now, bigger venues, stepping out of the old "circuit", appearing on mtv, doing john peel sessions. but why ? cos you don't like the change, that's why. but that's not good enough. hey, i've even see them NOT play "that's how grateful we are" more than once now and it's still fun. sure, i'd prefer them to play "tianmen square", but that is beside the point.
chumbawamba, maybe more so than other so-called political bands, are as much about emotions and attitude as they are about politics. if you can relate to it, fine, if you can't it doesn't mean they're wrong.
it took me some time to understand, but i'm fine now.