{"id":8429,"date":"2016-11-10T12:18:39","date_gmt":"2016-11-10T16:18:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/takenote\/?p=8429"},"modified":"2026-01-20T17:14:29","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T22:14:29","slug":"good-news-ears-shifting-political-leadership-can-lead-music-will-trump-uncertainty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/online.berklee.edu\/takenote\/good-news-ears-shifting-political-leadership-can-lead-music-will-trump-uncertainty\/","title":{"rendered":"Shifting Political Leadership Leads to Music that can Trump Uncertainty"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

How Political Shifts Spark New Musical Movements That Help People Process Uncertainty<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Editors’ note: Let us state before we get too far into this article that we don’t condone human suffering by any means, and we should also point out that we are trying to be hopeful that the upcoming change in America’s leadership will not lead to more suffering. It may seem trivial to say “hey, at least we’ll get some good art out of this” when something bad happens, but what art does is heal, and if human suffering occurs, art can heal. Berklee President Roger Brown recently shared<\/a> a very thoughtful message in regard to this matter. Anyway, let us proceed: <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the days after Donald Trump’s election, social media has shown us that we do have a number of artists in this country who are very upset about the election results<\/a>. And if history has shown us anything, it\u2019s that our favorite musicians are about to serve up some riveting angry music in the next four years. Regardless if the artists\u2019 work is overtly political, the feeling in the air can\u2019t help but seep into the music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take Nirvana\u2019s Nevermind<\/em>: Released in the fall of 1991 towards the tail end of the first Bush administration, there are no songs directly about politicians, but bassist Krist Novoselic has always claimed that the Gulf War informed much of the attitude of the album, and in 1993, he told Alternative Press<\/em> that he didn\u2019t think the alternative nation that Nirvana unwillingly created would have been born without political frustration.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"nirvana-with-the-lights-out-cover\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

“We came along at a time of great change, politically and socially,” said Novoselic, \u201ca time when America as a whole was awkwardly shifting its feet, and contemplating the legacy of thirteen years of Republicanism\u2014 musical and political.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

Let’s take a look at other eras of political frustration for artists that led to great musical movements. While there have been songs that protest Democratic leadership, artists are generally left-leaning, so much of what we\u2019ll explore after the classic rock era will deal with Republican leadership. But it all seems to have begun with Dylan and the Dems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bob Dylan released his first two records during the Kennedy administration, and some of the material was critical of the president’s policies, but two months after JFK\u2019s assassination, Dylan released The Times They Are a-Changin\u2019<\/em>, which featured his most caustic political criticisms to date, including \u201cWith God on Our Side\u201d and \u201cOnly a Pawn in Their Game.\u201d Political commentary in popular music had existed before\u2014and Dylan did record all of these songs during Kennedy’s lifetime\u2014but Dylan\u2019s bold statements in 1964 set the stage for the rise of the counterculture during the Johnson administration. And without Johnson\u2019s escalation of America\u2019s involvement in the Vietnam War\u2014which many in the youth culture obviously disagreed with\u2014the peace-and-love movement of the late 1960s may have never occurred.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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