Over the hill boy band, Backstreet Boys, have released a new single. … ... After a moment or two of silence in order to process such news, most people reply, “So what?” Well, the good folks at USA Today must feel that this is important news. For on Oct. 5, the lead music review was of the new song, “This is Us.” Maybe it was a slow week in music.
Nonetheless, the real problem with the review comes when Elysa Gardner writes: “Certainly, no one expects, or wants, to listen to the Backstreet Boys dissect the conflict in Afghanistan.” And here may be the actual problem with most music: it is afraid to confront the audience and make them think. With market-driven music riding the airwaves into the vacuum between the ears of most “consumers,” it is no wonder most people haven’t a clue when it comes to the realities of our society. Granted, those realities are complex and cannot be adequately addressed in a three minute pop song; however, that doesn’t mean that music has to become empty of all social significance. Maybe if the Backstreet Boys would “dissect the conflict [war] in Afghanistan,” their fans would become more politically active. If more musicians were openly political, then politics wouldn’t be a dirty word. And hell, if the Backstreet Boys released a song about the numerous wars we have recently instigated, I might just buy their CD. Might!
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