With Labor Day fast approaching, we’re nearing the homestretch of the 2012 campaign. This also means it’s time for my favorite quadrennial past-time: watching musicians become apoplectic because conservatives have the audacity to appreciate their music.
Four years ago it was John Mellencamp insisting that Sen. John McCain not play his music at rallies. Today it’s Rage Against the Machine‘s Tom Morello and Dee Snyder of Twisted Sister lashing out at the Romney/Ryan ticket–actually more at Rep. Ryan than Gov. Romney (Gov. Romney doesn’t strike me as much of a metal fan). As CNN noted recently, such conflicts between conservative politicians and liberal musicians are nothing new in American politics, but it is a disturbing trend that calls into question the very purpose of art.
Throughout much of human history, art–whether painting, sculpture, literature, music or theatre–was expected to appeal to the gentler side of our nature, inspiring us, elevating our spirits, and stirring within us shared emotions with other individuals. It’s why you cannot help but experience a sense of awe when viewing the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, it’s why everyone instinctively rises when Handel’s Hallelujah is played (and why The Messiah will be performed in churches long after today’s praise and worship music has gone out of vogue), and, why almost five centuries later, Hamlet remains beloved by audiences and readers. Art appeals to our emotions and speaks to us across time and place. When so much in life seems to divide us into subgroups, art reminds us that we are all human and, despite our differences, we all long for beauty and emotional stimulation–something more than a base existence. No wonder, then, music has always played such a critical role in political movements, revolutions and, in our own republic, political campaigns.
That’s what makes the tantrums of Mellencamp, Morello, Snyder, et al. all the more strange: as self-described “artists,” shouldn’t they be glad that their music is appealing to listeners from a variety of backgrounds? Isn’t it a mark of their talent that the music and lyrics they produce can be appreciated equally by the most liberal and conservative members of our society? Instead of celebrating their unique ability to bridge the partisan divide that almost no one or nothing has been able to do for more than a decade, these artists are acting petulantly, demanding that those with whom they disagree not use their music.
Not all artists are that illiberal: the country duo Brooks & Dunn was honored that its song “Only in America” could be used by both Republicans (in 2004) and Democrats (in 2008):
“Seems ironic that the same song Bush used at the Republican Convention last election would be used by Obama and the Democrats now. Very flattering to know our song crossed parties and potentially inspires all Americans.”
That’s the attitude artists should exhibit (and isn’t it ironic that it was demonstrated by the conservative Brooks & Dunn and not the liberal Mellencamp, Morrello and Snyder?). Here’s hoping that more artists come to realize what Brooks & Dunn know: if you’re going to work in a medium that brings people together, don’t get upset when people you may not agree with find something to like in your art.
