Art is the result of isolation. It is a result of not being the center of attention. When an artist visually creates a piece, he is putting himself into the middle of everything. He is creating a controversy, much like that of politics. By placing himself in the center of attention, an artist is able to present his opinion on any matter, including political, governmental matters. Many artists choose a side, whether it is positive or negative and in their artwork are very adamant about presenting their views to the public.
Artists, such as music artists generally tend to take a negative outlook on political life and the government. In a popular 80s song, Fight the Power, by Public Enemy, the lyrics start,
“And the rhythm rhymes rollin’
Gotta give us what we want
Gotta give us what we need
Our freedom of speech is freedom or death
We got to fight the powers that be.”
As they continue to shout out against the government, Public Enemy goes on to say, “It’s a start, a work of art
To revolutionize make a change nothin’s strange
People, people we are the same.”
To Public Enemy, the government was a racist machine, holding back equality for Blacks, and their song Fight the Power helped bring people’s attention to the matter. The song appeared in the Spike Lee movie Do the Right Thing as a way to grasp the attention of the characters in the movie as well as the viewers in order to show the harsh inequality and the public and government indifference to the cruel and unfair treatment of Blacks at that time.
Another popular anti-government song, specifically demeaning the American government is Green Day’s song, American Idiot, in which Billy Joe sings
“Don’t want to be an American idiot.
Don’t want a nation under the new media
And can you hear the sound of hysteria?
The subliminal mind f*ck America.
…..
Welcome to a new kind of tension.
All across the alien nation.
Where everything isn’t meant to be okay.
Television dreams of tomorrow.
We’re not the ones who’re meant to follow.
For that’s enough to argue.”
Billy Joe and his band disagree with the politics of America which are meant to involve the citizens of the country, but in reality only alienate them from those who are supposed to be leading them. He mocks the “television dreams of tomorrow,” the goals that the government tells us will be achieved and make everything better. The mockery of all of this in this song, shows the band’s anti-American government stand point and distributes their opinion to not only America but the world. In this manner, not only Americans will begin to adapt this opinion but so will other countries.
Another mockery of the government can be seen in the Eminem’s music video for the song My Name Is, where Eminem impersonates Bill Clinton. In the video, “Bill Clinton” is standing at a podium, giving a speech, and when he goes to walk away from it, his pants are around his ankles, he pulls them up, and then a woman comes out from behind the podium, wiping her mouth. This part of the video is a mockery of Bill Clinton’s scandal with Monica Lewinsky and his lies about not having “sexual relations with that woman.”
Music, as an art form, is one of the best places to find mockery of the government. Every year, thousands of songs come out, and it’s a guarantee that at least one has a political undertone, whether it be in the lyrics or in the video. Many songs are straight out against the government, and others are more subtle about it. Music artists tend to let out the rage they feel toward the government in their songs, and in turn, the negativity is distributed to the public.
