Keep politics out of music

I recently went to YouTube and pulled up a few songs from a band used to enjoy listening to about twenty years ago.  While enjoying the music, I decided to watch one of their live concerts.  At one point in the concert the lead singer made some derogatory remarks about the President at the time. I found it very untasteful.  I mean really, certainly everyone in the audience doesn’t share his political opinion, but did he even care? I doubt it.  It was a comment that came from a hateful place, and I was surprised.  I guess I shouldn’t be - with a low emotion like that, why would I think there would be consideration for those  who might not agree?  But why shove it in people’s faces? 

For me, I turned off the concert, but not before leaving a comment about how I felt, keeping it polite of course.  Music is not a political matter, except when it’s a song written about something political. At least then you can choose to listen to the song or not.  I wonder how many other people attending that concert or watching that video, heard that and felt the same disdain as I did?

Music should bring people together, a concert is a place where people from different backgrounds, ethnicities, and education levels come together to share in a common interest.  How unfortunate for those who came to enjoy the band and had to hear hatred toward the President. Of course many people will agree with the vocalist, but many won’t. Whereas all of these people are fans of the band, why alienate anyone in your fan base?  When you make it political you change the vibe of the concert, you insult those who don’t agree. And for those who do, you are reminding them of the political divide that’s going on out in the world. A concert is a place to enjoy music, to be with others regardless of how different and diverse everyone is, that’s the beauty of it, a sense of unity with others who love the music, at a special event in a venue designed for auditory and visual delight to enjoy an evening of their favorite music.

This is not the first time I’ve heard a musician use their platform to advance their cause, and if it’s a noble cause that’s great, and there are many great humanitarian causes out there, but there is no need for a defamatory insult to a whole political party just for the sake of a negative comment. It reminds everyone in the audience of the division and tensions present in todays world about so many things. Instead of the concert being a respite from the challenging world we live in, a single comment like that will invite in negativity, bringing that separation into the concert itself.

I’ll never forget hearing that comment on the YouTube video, and every time I hear that band now I have a sour taste in my mouth. I do not judge that lead singer for saying that but I do have a little less respect for him for the shallowness of making that remark.  I will never forget it.  The biggest disappointment is that the comment conveys the hatred toward another human being, and while we all have good and bad in us, positivity and negativity, strong areas and weak areas, the concert is a place to forget all that, focus on the beauty and talent of the musicians and the music, and be in an environment of unity and happiness. It is extremely inappropriate at a concert  in my opinion to insult anyone publicly.