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The lack of "real world complaints" and "anger" in popular music genres helps keep the masses docile

Been thinking a bit about this, popular music (the ones that hit top 100 charts or whatever) never has lyrics that point out real problems or point to culprits and how they’re fucking our shit, which is very easy to find in punk rock and some variations, as well as rap.

Of course, part of the problem are the record labels themselves, which often hold artists “hostage” in order to profit off them. Bigger ones will obviously prefer to avoid having such lyrics become popular.

Still, there seems to be absolute zero songs in certain genres that even come within 10 meters of talking/singing/teaching/bringing awareness about situations that affect a LOT of listeners, even from far away, and would be extremely helpful in spreading some knowledge.

Granted, doing so is easier said than done, a catchy tune that calls out big oil’s many attempts to burn the world, or big pharma’s frequent price gouging, aren’t things “any idiot” can come up with. But that nobody outside “angry” genres seems to be doing it is what saddens me.

Rhoeri ,

Are you serial saying that modern music isn’t angry anymore? Because it ALL sounds angry to me.

I miss the 80’s when things were far less angsty.

ICastFist OP ,
@ICastFist@programming.dev avatar

No, I’m saying some genres completely lack anger and seem to rarely, if never, touch or try to bring awareness to problematic issues

Fleur__ ,
@Fleur__@lemmy.world avatar

I feel like pop songs are incompatible with the kind of message you’re proposing. Pop songs need to be generic, lighthearted and catchy to receive as wide an audience as possible.

kaffiene ,

U2, Midnight Oil both managed it

vsg ,

I’m pretty sure that there still are a lot of songs about social issues.

ICastFist OP ,
@ICastFist@programming.dev avatar

That was not the point I was making

miak ,

If you care for music that touches on climate change and class disparity, you could check out King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard’s albums Infest The Rats Nest and PetroDragonic Apocalypse; or, Dawn of Eternal Night: An Annihilation of Planet Earth and the Beginning of Merciless Damnation.
I really enjoy those albums even though I don’t typically get into Metal music. For something that’s not Metal, the song Plastic Boogie from their album Fishing For Fishies is also great.

sarcasticsunrise ,

“Less Talk, More Rock” and “How To Clean Everything” by Propagandhi were released damn near 30 years ago and sadly that shit is still relevant

Sanctus ,
@Sanctus@lemmy.world avatar

Fit For An Autopsy exists. Listen to them. They just had a tour like last year.

tegs_terry ,

Are they ‘popular music’? How much airtime are they getting on mainstream radio? Where are they in the charts?

Sanctus ,
@Sanctus@lemmy.world avatar

They packed the Nile, man.

Companion1666 ,

i don’t treat music, or any entertainment medium, associated with reality. whenever i watch or listen to something, i want to be transported to the world the artists created.

like listeners who listens to whatever top charts now, they want escapism and we should not give a damn about it. the real world is depressing enough, you want to extend it?

eupraxia ,
@eupraxia@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar

Escapism is a valid reason to enjoy music, but catharsis is a thing for some too. Sometimes it’s helpful to hear someone artfully articulate something I feel but haven’t put words to. When I’m frustrated with the world I put on some Against Me, rage about things for a bit, and then feel better.

CarlsIII ,

Isn’t the stuff that’s popular only popular because that’s what people want to hear? That’s what the people who only like popular music tell me.

Chip_Rat ,

Hey OP, have you listened to what's on country radio these days? EVERY other song is about how alcohol is so useful (to party, to forget your ex, to enjoy being poor, to self medicate after a 70 hour work week). It's bonkers. And the other half still reference drinking.

Long Neck Bottle has nothing on these insane anthems that encourage drinking and being happy being poor. It's a perfect pacifier for a demographic that is largely impoverished with very few ways to escape poverty. Might as well have em singing along about how the cold beer they have means being broke is fine.

ICastFist OP ,
@ICastFist@programming.dev avatar

Where I live (not USA), most songs on the radio are about:

  • having fun at a party/show/bar
  • the joys of being single (flirt and kiss everyone)
  • betraying your wife/husband
  • crying about being betrayed by your wife/husband

It’s common to have a mix of those things in a single song

Th4tGuyII ,
@Th4tGuyII@kbin.social avatar

While there may very well be a conspiracist element to this, I suspect that it's simpler than that. For a lot of people music is meant to be their escape from reality, so having reality interject ruins the experience - as such any songs that try to capture that simply don't get as popular, so end up in alternative genres

DarkMetatron ,

That is it for me. Music, like PC games and Movies/TV Shows, are my escape from reality and I don’t want to have that tainted and ruined by real world, politics or the like.

bitsplease ,

Yeah, popular music - by definition - is going to have a broad appeal, and pointing out major problems with our society is always going to be at least a bit divisive, especially when the issue is split in party lines

LadyLikesSpiders ,

I don’t think it’s quite that simple, though I suspect there is a grain of truth to it, that apolitical or less emotional music is manipulated out of popular and financial success. Mostly, though, I think it’s just the nature of reaching wide audiences. The “blander” (here meaning simply not particularly heavy on any subject matter) something is, the fewer people will be put off by what it has to say. If all there is to a song is just enjoying the piece of music for entertainment, there are simply more people who would appreciate that over, say, black metal, that is designed to evoke certain specific strong emotions

I also suspect that your premise is not so much flawed, but a disingenuous oversimplification, and that popular music probably involves heavier and “angrier” themes then you are giving it credit for. Or maybe you’re right entirely. I couldn’t name a single Taylor Swift song. I’m a metalhead, and whenever I go outside that comfort zone, it’s never to pop music. I look for artistry in music, and the top 100 don’t guarantee artistry, only sales, which if you wanna get into, is a whole lot of conspiring, just not political

Sales as a measure of success is entirely flawed in a capitalist society well after the invention of the field of psychology. When you know how to manipulate people, you can manipulate populations into buying shitty music. If you have the money, you can pay for advertising, which will make your artist seem more popular than they are, and then give you even more money to pump into yet more advertisement. It is certainly political, but not in a “we can’t have people having revolutionary thoughts” way, just in a “capitalism must perpetuate itself” way

Anamnesis ,

I always thought it was pretty stupid that rage against the machine was criticized for simultaneously being anticapitalist and commercially successful. What do we want, commercially successful bands to all be bootlickers or completely apolitical? Much better to reach more people.

Son_of_dad ,

How is rage against the machine reaching more people when their latest concert tickets were going for like $500 a piece. Seems like they’re only reaching the wealthy at this point. I mean rage is a band that loses its meaning the moment they get big and wealthy. Now we got a bunch of millionaires on stage, singing to the children of millionaires, about how unfair society is. It’s kind of a joke

scytale ,

Music of rebellion makes you wanna rage; but it’s made by millionaires who are nearly twice your age.

-Porcupine Tree

DickFiasco ,

Damn, that song was written for this thread.

IchNichtenLichten ,
@IchNichtenLichten@lemmy.world avatar

I think it’s because the top 100 or whatever chart you’re looking at is meaningless these days. It used to be a fair representation of what people were listening to, I remember people taping the top 40 off the radio on a Sunday to listen to through the week, everyone was on the same page regarding new single releases.

Now we’re atomized, I don’t even know what the #1 single is on any given week and I don’t care. I’ve got 30,000 tracks on my home server. There’s no new artist who can speak for a generation like Dylan or Woody Guthrie could in their day.

scytale ,

Not to mention those charts are easily manipulated nowadays. The criteria changes depending on who they want to put at the top.

IchNichtenLichten ,
@IchNichtenLichten@lemmy.world avatar

It’s a byproduct of diminishing sales of singles. You couldn’t rig the charts in the 70’s or 80’s without spending a small fortune.

Jaysyn ,
@Jaysyn@kbin.social avatar

System of a Down, Flobots, Rise Against & Rage Against the Machine aren't popular music?

Wootz ,

Yes, but how often do you see them in mainstream media these days?

Jaysyn ,
@Jaysyn@kbin.social avatar

So now the qualifier is mainstream media & popular music?

Wootz ,

The qualifier listed by op was “popular music”

CarlsIII ,

Those are definitely the most popular artists in our current day. Rage out out a new album only 20 years ago.

Jaysyn ,
@Jaysyn@kbin.social avatar

SOAD has new songs out now & are working on a another album.

Rise Against released an album last year & the year before that.

Tom Morello released an album in 2021 & also has an XM radio show.

CarlsIII ,

Is SOAD currently popular? Ministry just put out an album with a lot of political lyrics (like they always have) but I wouldn’t consider them a currently popular band either.

Also, Tom Morello’s solo output is not Rage Against the Machine, and if you heard it, it would be pretty clear to you.

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