Whatever Happened to Activism Rock?

After the US election, I wrote that celebrity opinions don’t mean shit when it comes to influencing the electorate. All the star power summoned by Hillary Clinton couldn’t mobilize the electorate enough to put her over the top. Jacobs Media follows that thread, musing about the death of activist rock.

In the wake of the Presidential election, many Democratic and left wing fingers have been pointed in every direction, trying to explain what happened.   Along the way, everyone’s been blamed, including FBI chief James Comey, the Russians, Millennials, pollsters, and of course, the media.

But in an interesting twist, Observor writer Tim Sommers says you also should be giving some of the discredit to rock n’ roll artists who no longer seem to revel in involvement in the political discourse.   “How Rock N’ Roll Failed Us Again This Election” is provocative, a little angry, and worth a read.

Sommers avers that music has always carried a powerful message – from Woody Guthrie to Bob Dylan to the Doors – that has historically become the anthems of generations.  As he notes,

“For generations, people have believed that rock n’ roll “stood” for something, that by endorsing it, one was fighting the establishment.  This has all been utter bullshit.  We’ve all been had.”

He points out that while celebrity musicians will make TV appearances, perform at fundraisers, or produce videos on behalf of candidates, rock has become a “paper tiger,” showing its true colors as well as being mostly impotent during a time when Americans were open to hearing political-tinged messages from their music idols.