Is All Right-Wing Music Bad? Part 2
Another pitfall that plagues both right wing and left-wing music is that, oftentimes, political messaging is prioritized over the music itself. There are many examples of this even outside the music industry, as is the case with the British sci-fi show Doctor Who.
While the writers of Doctor Who have always been open about their left-wing bias, at first, political messaging was not the primary driver of the show. Every now and then the writers would instill subtle political talking points, but they did so in a creative and non-intrusive way. For instance, in the first four seasons they featured a character who was meant to resemble the former British Prime Minister Margret Thatcher. While the show ultimately portrayed her in a negative light, the depiction was nuanced and complex enough to help the audience understand the underpinnings of her political and moral convictions, potentially leaving room for sympathy.
Regrettably, recent episodes of Doctor Who can be reduced to overt and explicit left-wing messaging. In one of its season 11 episodes, “Rosa”, the antagonist is a stereotypical caricature of an evil white man whose actions are motivated solely by unexplained racism. The quality of the show began to considerably decline once they prioritized left-wing propaganda over the development of a truly fun and interesting storyline.
This same exact pitfall can be seen with leftwing music, as well. Let us explore “Imagine” by John Lennon and “FDT” by YG. While the lyrics of “Imagine” advocate for communism, it is still generally a nice song. The melody is very calming and soothing with a touch of piano instrumental in the background. If you ignore the messaging, the music is still good. On the other hand, “FDT” by YG, an anti-Trump anthem that came out in 2016, demonstrates a complete disregard for musical quality, with the writer prioritizing the conveyance of a political message instead. Not only is the beat a bland and generic West Coast production, but the track offers poignant political commentary such as the entire chorus which is just the words “F*** Donald Trump” eight times in a row.
Some “political” topics may cut across party lines. This is often the case with anti-war music. When the US invaded Iraq in 2003, there was backlash from all sides of the political spectrum. In different ways, both the left and the right condemned the war through music. In “Guerra” by Bambu, the writer infers that the actions of the US government were analogous to “a case of chickens coming home to roost” for colonialism or terrorism. On the other hand, there are songs like Don Edwards’ cover of “My Own Native Land” where the songwriter criticizes the US for engaging in foreign conflicts while American citizens, border security, sovereignty, culture and history are being neglected at home.
There are also songs that feature an anti-war messaging that is much more ambiguous such as “Mosh” by Eminem which criticizes President George W. Bush’s leadership while calling for the troops to be brought home.
Producing right wing music is hard but, if you look deeply enough, there are some good tunes out there. One of the most iconic right-wing anthems is the anti-communist song “Ain’t I Right” by Marty Robbins which talks about the dangers of communist subversion in a Cold War context. Funnily enough, the label Columbia Records refused to publish the song as they thought it was too controversial and Marty Robbins had to release it with a different label and under the name “Johnny Freedom.” Speaking of Marty Robbins, another great right-wing song is his duet with Johnny Cash, “Song of the Patriot” which is about defending American honor and dignity. A similar song to that one is “The Minute Men (Are Turning In Their Graves)” by Stonewall Jackson which came out in the late 1960s and chastises the rebellious groups of the time such as anti-war protestors, communists, hippies and other groups, asserting that the Founding Fathers would be ashamed of what has become of their country.
Right wing music is not only confined to country or western music, either. A good example is the musica tropicale song “El Chacal” by Jose Conde y Ola Fresca, a protest song about the crimes of Che Guevara and the hypocrisy of those who support him, sung to the melody of Carlos Puebla's famous song, “Hasta siempre Comandante” which was a celebration of Che’s life.
There is some good contemporary music material out there as well. One such example would be as Kanye West’s 2020 song “Wash Us In the Blood” with Travis Scott which argues enforcement of laws, as well as criticizing mainstream news outlets with great lines such as “They wanna edit the interviews. They wanna take it to interludes. Cut a whole sentence to interlude. You know that it's fake if it's in the news.”
While the two hit songs “Try That in a Small Town” by Jason Aldean and “Rich Men North of Richmond,” by Oliver Anthony are reflective some shortcoming of the right-wing music industry, let us not despair. We simply need to look a bit harder than usual to find songs that have both nice tunes and actual right-wing messaging.
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