What It Is
Instead of listening to the State of the Onion speech, I put on tapes I made of the Vote For Change concerts, with Bruce Springsteen, REM, Dave Matthews, Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Brown, John Mellencamp ... lots more, James Taylor performing with the Dixie Chicks.
Once again, it fortified my belief that we need a music revolution. Musicians need to take back their craft from the corporations that rule the music industry, keeping it very narrowly conceived and packaged. Music is a magic power and it must be unleashed once again.
The political channels are closed. There is no press in this country, not in the sense of the fourth estate, willing to challenge power, to monitor and hold politicians accountable. The mainstream of America has been disenfranchised, cleverly shut out of the decision-making processes of the country.
But if the official and traditional channels are closed, it is time for an upheaval of the public in assertion of its rights -- a cultural revolution, a full exertion of the power within each person's private realm. Music is essential. Come all ye musicians!
Bruce Springsteen delivered an eloquent monologue, one of many at the concert, stating what a reasonable American agenda would be. Not a left wing agenda. It's just portrayed that way by the radical right spin machine. They are mainstream American values: a responsible foreign poverty, a living wage, basic stuff. "The America we carry in our hearts is waiting," he said. It was so much better than the primetime fare of America that night.
February 5, 2005
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