As Occupy Wall Street threatens to ignite a powerful left-leaning cultural movement in the United States, I have to wonder if music can play or should play an important role. American music and radical leftist politics share a long and fruitful history. No one may be more aware of this history than the union sympathizers so gallantly entrenched in the polite folk and gospel traditions that claim Pete Seeger and Josh White among their originators.
Eight months after the budget repair bill passed, a core group of admirable loonies still gathers at the Capitol every day at noon to sing schmaltzy protest ballads like "We Shall Overcome" and "This Land Is Our Land." Of course, these tunes have immense historical value. They have been with the American progressive movement through the Civil Rights era and conjure up memories of the all but forgotten glory of the New Left of the 1960s. Jesus Christ, I hate these tunes.
I'm about the last person on earth who would be labeled anti-historical (history major and Hank Williams fan since 2008.) But have you heard these songs lately? What am I thinking? You live in Madison. Of course you have, and I am so sorry.
Frankly, these songs aren't very good. Their tunes are leaden and hopelessly unfashionable. "We Shall Overcome" is a Civil Rights spiritual and stinks of white appropriation in the hands of anybody not dealing with an existentially threatening, socially repressive regime of terror. Get real, guys. Scott Walker's Wisconsin is tough, but it ain't the Jim Crow South.
Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Our Land" is about as hokey as it gets, and I cringe every time Tom Morello (The Nightwatchman, formerly of Rage Against the Machine) suggests that it must one day become our American national anthem. And let me tell you, I've seen a couple of his shows. The poor guy can't shut up about the whole anthem swap nonsense.
Not coincidentally, Morello exemplifies some of the worst aesthetic tendencies of the modern American left. A Marxist/Maoist, Morello seeks to emulate the union-song heroes. In recent years, he has taken to dressing like the "black Johnny Cash," mistakenly associating the highly moralistic but apolitical Cash with his own antiquated communist ideology. He writes slogans like "Whatever It Takes" on his acoustic guitar in reference to Guthrie's guitar-gracing trademark "This Machine Kills Fascists." Most embarrassingly, he wears a cap inscribed with the logo of the Industrial Workers of the World, a radical trade unionist organization last politically relevant in the 1920s.
I participated in the Capitol protests last spring. Though my engagement was limited to few hours a week, I had the pleasure of viewing a number of inspiring scenes. I fondly remember the uncanny organization, the distribution of free food, and an awe-inspiring and deeply moving soprano saxophone solo from a Madison street musician.
One day, a man was attempting to lead the musical celebrations that raged quite continuously in the central rotunda. He was overweight, dressed in an all black button-down and carryied a megaphone in one hand. He yelled, "This one is for all you Pete Seeger fans out there!" Never mind that most of the college-age kids present have never even heard of Pete Seeger. (He arranged the modern version of "We Shall Overcome" and might have tried to cut the power on Bob Dylan when that shifty rapscallion went electric.)
I'll never forget his voice; it reminded me of one of those bad kiddo sitcoms my little cousin used to watch on the Disney Channel when I babysat. It occurred to me that this man, like Tom Morello, was playing dress-up. He had adopted the aesthetic but not the authenticity or the spirit. This man had seen the glorious protest tradition on some PBS special and was attempting to recreate it.
The tendency to rely on its old aesthetics infects the modern left. This misguided hero worshipping nullifies the free thought and forward momentum that once made the progressive movement so powerful. We live in a time quite different from the 1920s, 1960s or 1990s. When artists or activists neglect to honestly engage with our present situation, everyone loses. And while I would never suggest that we abandon our sense of history or tradition, I would feel justified in demanding that the Occupy movement and the artists that support it take a look around and acknowledge the truth of our situation in their music. No playing dress-up. We are faced with nothing short of reality, and the stakes have never been higher.
Have questions or comments for Alex? E-mail them to him at seraphin@wisc.edu.
