Revolution Music and Over-the-counterculture

Further to that last post, I feel like the transformative impact of music (and art) is seriously overstated. The 'establishment' isn't living in fear of rock, it's busy studying its success at business school.

Beware of people praising to the skies a particular thing, when they they just so happen to make their living creating that thing. That goes for musicians and artists (and the academics) just as well as it does for vacuum-cleaner salesmen. Music (or art) is wonderful -- my life basically revolves around it. But it isn't the end-all and be-all of life -- just one of many worthwhile interesting aspects of life, no better than any other.

That said, these two things are awesome. They've gone a long way to dissolving my cynicism about art these past few months. It really is possible to make art that challenges 'the powers that be' in electrifying ways...



This is CocoRosie's subversive cover of Akon's misygonistic tune, where they give a voice to the pole dancer he's busy objectifying in the original. (If you're as cut off from mainstream culture as I am -- an edited version of this songs was a #1 hit but I didn't come across it until CocoRosie -- you can watch the original here. You'll get the idea after the first minute or so -- I know I haven't managed to sit through the whole thing, so don't feel obliged to).



CocoRosie - lyrics to You Wanna Fuck Me



Now this is Sinead O'Connor a week after she tore up a photo of the pope on live national tv, as a way of protesting then fresh revelations about sexual abuse within the Catholic Church, and the way the hierarchy systematically protected offenders. (She was abused as a child herself).




Is anybody else amazed at the irony of trying to boo a performer off the stage at a tribute to Bob Dylan? (And what she did was quite a bit more gutsy than just plugging in an electric guitar...)