Can I Play With Madness?

Calling all conspiracy theorists everywhere! Have I got a theory for you!
 

On February 28th Boston based Ska-punk dub-rockers State Radio release their second long player, and their first to be released on this side of the pond. Full of politically charged rhetoric and following in the footsteps of arch musical protesters Rage Against The Machine the album is volatile, angsty and really quite good. But listening to it got me thinking. There are a few protest bands around nowadays, and throughout musical history there have been dozens of people who have raised their voices to speak out against the “Man” or the “Machine”. And I for one am glad about it. Groups such as RATM, Sytem Of A Down, and now State Radio make infectiously angry records full or wry and witty rhymes that stick in your head quicker than a Stock Aitken and Waterman pop song. What better sentiment for Generation X than “Wake Up!”? The disillusioned, the rejected, the disenfranchised can all unite behind these great slogans and slowly chip away at the collected evils of capitalism. This ground swelling of discontent will one day take shape as a great cultural revolution that will take the world by storm. Esso, Halliburton, Nat West and all of the great Capitalist monoliths will come tumbling down and we will live in a post-socialist utopia full of singing, dancing and sharing. Except of course this is all pish.

And here’s the crux. It’s my belief that all of these bands, dating right back to the folk revival of the 60s which laid the template for protest songs everywhere, are in fact part of an Orwellian societal control plan. The idea being that by distracting us all with these catchy lines and slogans we convince ourselves that we’re in some way better human beings, that we’re in some way helping to change the world. When in fact we’re doing nothing of the sort. Instead of actually doing something to change the injustices we see in the world we go to gigs and stand around with thousands of other like minded fools and par take in the worlds greatest and most moronic back patting exercise since Chamberlain stepped off the plane and declared “Peace in our time.”

Today of course this problem is getting worse, dozens, if not hundreds of bands have been infiltrated by the powers that be in a phenomenally detailed plan. Take Live Earth. A novel and noble concept: raising awareness of the dangers and damages of climate change. What better way to do that then have a simultaneous worldwide concert in the biggest cities in the world with the biggest bands in the world. Except the only thing that these bands were raising awareness for was their re-issued greatest hits package or the latest reunion tour. Call me a cynic, go on I dare you, but this was simply the latest part in the dastardly plan to distract the world from the things we should really care about. Think about it. Hundreds of thousands of people all in one place, collectively investing millions of pounds. Just image what could happen if those people could be mobilised politically or ethically? For some I guess that’s a tad terrifying. So instead distract them. Hold a concert, write a catchy slogan, appeal to their moral vanity. But for goodness sake don’t let them actually do anything. And lets face it, we’re happier this way. Its much easier to get angry than to make something happen.

Article By Parsons