Every so often I venture out of the typical music & music news blogs to help assist the musical community with their own personal life expression and creative trajectories.  I believe it is important to live a balanced life both within and without music.  As musicians, our role in society is to help uplift and inform the population via the creation of music, not take self-appointed positions of authority because we “are” musicians.  This type of behavior reeks of ego and couldn’t be more obvious in the current overuse of political posturing by self indulgent performers.

It’s one thing to embed political, societal and even religious views inside the creation of music; it is another entirely to go off reservation and preach to us “plebes” as if one’s musical talent gives them moral superiority over everyone else.  Keep in mind that the political rants of Bob Marley and Steel Pulse are real–the issues they communicate in their music relate to (in this case, political) damage done to the population by over-zealousness, greed and an “ends justifies the means” ideology held by a bourgeoisie upper class that control the government.  Many punk bands like the Sex Pistols, Black Flag, etc., commonly weave a “question authority” theme into their works.  In fact, much of music contains embedded scripts that are placed there to communicate a greater message to people via the use of musicality.  There is nothing wrong with this at all, but leave it up to the listener to decide if they like the music and the message.

On the other hand, far too many musicians these days feel the need to condescend to us “little folk” about our wrong-doings, our misinformed views, and our own ideologies, especially when these seem to be in conflict with theirs.  The problem here is that these particular musician’s own “ideologies” are as subjective and uninformed as most of the people they speak about.  After a particular musician reaches stardom (generally through pure fortune and/or family and friend connections) their lives take on a different tact then most of ours due to the incredible amounts of income they generate through music.  These uber-stars simply don’t have the same issues that we all do because of the money factor.  It is here where many of these performers forget that this income is still derived from their fans.

In particular, of late we see both Taylor Swift and John Mayer enter the fray (among others).  Both are well respected musicians in their own right and I’m not here to bash their music, regardless of my personal taste.  However, both have injected themselves into a debate that at the end of the day is just another limited hangout for the politicians and the media.  When the wind blows a different direction, the “issue du jour” will dry up and another one will take its place.  In that the entire media presentation of any topic is generally one-sided and blatant propaganda to distract from the real issues we face, why even venture to comment at all?  Are we supposed to believe that all of the sudden John Mayer, who is well-known as a “bad boy” and philanderer is now looking out for women vis-a-vis the #MeToo charade?  The guy that wakes up every morning and “needs to see 300 vaginas” before he can go about his day?

How about Taylor swift feeling the need to side with “women” (which ones, btw?) over the circus of Brett Kavanaugh hearings?  She is literally dictating to all of us that we are wrong for not condemning a man who is accused of a sexual crime with no corroboration of proof.  The idea of due process is based in a presumption of innocence, which sets our country/government apart from many others, including some of the more historically brutal dictatorships a la Mao Zedong, Stalin, Hitler, etc.  Are we going to let some tart of a musician delegate moral authority to us in stark contrast to what is truly the real moral authority of due process?  It’s ridiculous to no end and assumes that all of her fans are just brainless automatons that can’t function until Queen Tay-Tay decrees order.

As many of us know, garnering fans via music is incredibly tough.  There is so much competition out there and there will always be someone who does it better than us.  Being on stage, being in the limelight can enhance the musician’s ego to the point of a non-essential departure from music to discuss one’s personal views.  Having a microphone on stage gives anyone more presence than the rest of the people in the room.  Use this position wisely!  Don’t alienate your fans because they have differing views.  At the end of the day you are unnecessarily limiting your audience and for what?  Do you really feel that your ideas are that superior?  What the hell do we really know anyway, whether we are musicians or not?  Remember that many of us in the audience turn to music to tune out of the political spectrum.

Objectivity in this world is the name of the game.  It takes constant work via consciousness and mental flexibility.  There is no way for one person to know it all nor be able to own a certain ideological position that hasn’t been approached before.  Keep this in mind not only when creating music, but when feeling the need to speak out about the various happenings in the public sphere.  You are only your own opinion, and no one else needs to agree with you no matter how great your musical ability is.  More importantly, if you do decide to venture out into the nonsensical wilderness of our current news cycleS, strive to be informed, sound informed and emit a proper understanding of the situation that allows your fans to make their own decisions versus simply following yours.  Aside from that, my personal advice is KEEP YOUR POLITICS OUT OF YOUR MUSIC!