Shut Up and Listen

another article that I wrote for my school paper...it was published a few issues back.
=)

Imagine this: you’re sitting at a concert, enjoying the music and the atmosphere when the artist makes a political statement. Gasp, shock, horror. After all, we’re approaching an election year and politics is at the forefront of everybody’s mind. After you consider what the artist says, you’re train of thought is interrupted by a rude, uncouth “fan”, booing at the top of their lungs over the said political statement.
What is wrong with this situation? No, it’s not the artist making political statements. Nor is it your thoughtful consideration. It’s the “fans” who buy tickets to these shows, knowing very well the political persuasion of the artist, and yet, booing anyway. I mean, what’s the point? You’re just putting money into the pockets of people that are going to eventually give it to candidates you disagree with.
I don’t blame right wingers for liking liberal musicians—after all, most good music is made by liberals. Let me name a few examples: Bruce Springsteen, R.E.M., Bright Eyes, Death Cab for Cutie, Dave Matthews Band, etc. I can go on forever. Who does the right wing have? Toby Keith? Ted Nugent? Not my idea of quality music. But after all, it takes a pretty open mind to like artists purely based on the music, rather than for what they think.
Off the top of my head, I can think of two instances of heckling to the extreme. One is the now infamous incident of the Dixie Chicks in 2003. At a concert in London on the eve of what would be the first strike in the US war in Iraq, lead singer Natalie Maines told the crowd that she was “ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas.” This small, innocuous comment sparked a firestorm not only throughout the country music community, but throughout a deeply polarized nation. Though the Dixie Chicks incident made headlines for weeks, many other incidents did not. I personally witnessed another incident of concert heckling in Atlanta in 2004, when I saw R.E.M. Yet again, the lead singer made seemingly innocuous remarks and the hecklers went nuts and even made gestures.
The “Shut up and Sing” retort of the concert hecklers is trite and failing in logic, along with their claim of “it’s not about the lyrics” are repeated ad nauseam. Song lyrics are never without meaning, especially the lyrics of such blatantly political songs as “When the President Talks to God” or “Mr. Richards”, a new song by R.E.M. about an “anonymous Bush administration official.” Personally, I'm glad American artists are still willing to raise their voices.