I decided to write this post after seeing the front page of yesterday’s Sun (where they told Emma Thompson to “shut (her) cakehole” for daring to express an opinion contrary to theirs), but the subject matter’s been a sore point with me for over a decade. Ever since the end of 2004, when I read a letter in Q about R.E.M., Pearl Jam and Green Day’s attempts to stop George W. Bush from being re-elected.
The letter-writer talked about the “crushing inevitability” of the US election result, and how there was “nobody more delusional” than a musician who imagined he could somehow influence political matters. He concluded by telling the three bands in question to “stick to the music- it’s what you’re best at.” What really got to me, though, was the editor’s reply: “They all care deeply about the issues. The fact that they all had new albums coming out had nothing to do with it.”
Never mind that R.E.M. and Pearl Jam had both been deeply political for most of their long careers (the former even including voter registration forms in the liner notes of Out Of Time in 1991.) Never mind that Green Day were at the height of their success in the mid-to-late 2000s, and therefore probably didn’t need any extra publicity. Never mind that all three bands lived in the USA and the result of the election was quite likely to affect their day-to-day lives. Clearly, the only mature way to react to adversity is to accept it as a “crushing inevitability” and ignore it.
I hate the “shut up and sing” argument. Hate it like burning. People talk blithely about how sick they are of hearing about politics and how they listen to music (or, say, watch Emma Thompson movies) to relax and forget about the world, but all it amounts to is, “Stop reminding me that you’re a human being with thoughts and feelings instead of some kind of ambulatory jukebox designed for my entertainment. “
That’s one version, mind you. The other version is less “shut up and sing,” and more “stop disagreeing with me and sing.” That’s the version we got on the front page of the Sun yesterday- if Emma Thompson had come out in support of leaving the EU instead of staying in it, they’d probably have started a parade in her honour. Similarly, if, in 2003, Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks had told the crowd how proud she was that the president was from the same state as her instead of how embarrassed, there’s no way she’d have got nationwide boycotts and been forced to apologise in the way she did. Some people just get nasty when you disagree with them. Instead of telling you why they think you’re wrong, they deny your right to have an opinion at all.
In run-up to the 2005 UK General Election (i.e.- the one immediately after the disappointing US one), an advert ran on TV with the slogan, “If you don’t do politics, there’s not much you do do.” The advert pointed out that a lot of things in everyday life- traffic, litter, graffiti, prices at the supermarket- are inherently political. It’s ridiculous to expect anyone to stay out of the political arena when you can barely say a sentence without touching on one issue or another. If you disagree with somebody, say why you disagree with them instead of just telling them they’re not worthy of expressing an opinion. And if you really can’t stand to be reminded of the world outside of yourself in the course of your entertainment, even for a second, then just piss off and watch CBeebies with the rest of the toddlers.
The advert in question:
camelwithout 