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The West Triumphs -
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The 1980s through to the early 21st Century is again an era of massive global political
change. Most prominently the Cold War ended and the Soviet Union collapsed. This
was truly an astonishing development, as indeed nobody saw the end of the Soviet
Union coming. Either way - it could be claimed that the West won the Cold War - or
at least the Soviets lost it. In short the West triumphed. But what sort of victorious
West was it - and is it now? And what sort of world is it now, and what sort of political
and social role does Western 'Rock' music now play in it?
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To many, the West post 2000 has had its social consciousness diluted, or evaporated, the result of the onslaught of the culture of cold economic rationalism and the cynical pursuit of individualism. It is now a West in which rampant capitalism is destroying the very communal soul of our society. Or has the West transformed into something else? |
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And what about Western Popular Music? How did it change during this era? Did the emergent new forms - or those that became more predominant such as - New Wave, Grunge, Rap, Techno and so on, reflect a society and culture in triumph? Or did they - and do they, reflect a certain protest waged by both class and ethnicity? And in the music is there perhaps a harking back to other eras, when life was maybe more certain? |
Billy Joel - We Didn't Start The Fire
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And what about Rock - that broad genre of music and all its evolutionary Pop
ingredients since the 1950s,' is it, finally in its death throes? At the time of writing you
could argue that 'Rock' is now officially dead - replaced by mass-produced, sanitized,
commodified, commercialised 'Muzac' - the music of MTV, of the endless 'Idol' music
TV and other commercial ventures, like seemingly never ending contrived TV talent
shows, the mass production line of the mass marketed capitalist machine?
To Address Some Of the Above Questions, We First Must Examine
Some Of The Politics Of The Era, Both International And Then
Western Domestic
To look at the politics of this era is a difficult task indeed given its complexity. But we
will do it as briefly and perhaps simplistically as we can.
First The International Politics Of The Era:
The 1980s &Cold War Two
The 1980s saw the emergence of Cold War 'Two', or the resumption of the Cold War -
championed and led by the new and indeed militaristic US President Ronald Reagan.
President Jimmy Carter
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The United States became much more aggressive and militaristic in the last year of President Carter’s reign in 1979, and then much more so under the militarist Ronald Reagan. |
President Ronald Reagan
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And under President Reagan during the 1980s, the United States focused very much on
Latin America declaring it would 'roll back' the 'evil Soviet Empire' believing the
Soviets had spread their influence there. As such the US began to support reactionary
and right wing governments and insurgent or guerrilla movements worldwide in their
fight against so called communism. This most particularly in a string of countries
globally which were used as surrogates to hold the US empire together - And then again
with a special concentration on Latin America - in Nicaragua, El Salvador and Cuba.
Latin America declaring it would 'roll back' the 'evil Soviet Empire' believing the
Soviets had spread their influence there. As such the US began to support reactionary
and right wing governments and insurgent or guerrilla movements worldwide in their
fight against so called communism. This most particularly in a string of countries
globally which were used as surrogates to hold the US empire together - And then again
with a special concentration on Latin America - in Nicaragua, El Salvador and Cuba.
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All were seen to be firmly in America’s backyard. However, the Reagan
Administration was unable to convince the US public to enter into direct foreign
military commitments and as a consequence had to use covert action- including military
action to achieve its desired goals of toppling governments it didn’t particularly like.
FSLN - Sandinista Supporters Nicaragua
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US Backed & Trained Contras - Nicaragua
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The reason for such lack of US public support at this time for direct military
intervention in these foreign states was manifold.
The Vietnam Syndrome
First and foremost was the reality that the American people no longer wished to see
the United States become involved in any more foreign wars for vague reasons such as
fighting communism. Such campaigns were so confusing when the US was friends
with China and so on. In other words the interventionist 'right wing rationale' no longer
made any sense to thinking human beings. This of course was the Vietnam Syndrome.
The US public simply didn’t want any more Vietnams.
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Frankie Goes To Holloywood - When Two Tribes Go To War
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The Public Realisation That Most Forces The US Was Opposing Were Revolutionary
Nationalist And Not Communist.
Another major reason was that the general public began to realise that what the Reagan
Administration was opposing world wide was not communism as such, but actually
revolutionary nationalism - the very same ideology and belief that had fueled America's
own war of independence.
Cold War Two In The 1980s Was Very Different In Nature To Cold War One.
Yes - there was always the nuclear threat - but this time many of the 'Cold War
opponents' were different. This time around, apart from Australia and Britain, the rest
of the global community was unconvinced that the Soviet Union or even 'communism'
as such represented any real threat to the world. Basically international ideology at this
time was confused, particularly as Communist China was now almost an ally of the
West.
In the Soviet Union in the mid 1980s there also had been enormous change. A
succession of elderly leaders died in a very short time with a relatively young
Gorbachev ultimately assuming power. Gorbachev was more interested in trying to
save the Soviet Union from its own domestic crises and launched the programs of
Perestroika and Glasnost (Political Openness and Restructuring). Gorbachev certainly
didn’t have any ambitions to rule the world - and the rest of the world knew it.
Nationalist And Not Communist.
Another major reason was that the general public began to realise that what the Reagan
Administration was opposing world wide was not communism as such, but actually
revolutionary nationalism - the very same ideology and belief that had fueled America's
own war of independence.
Cold War Two In The 1980s Was Very Different In Nature To Cold War One.
Yes - there was always the nuclear threat - but this time many of the 'Cold War
opponents' were different. This time around, apart from Australia and Britain, the rest
of the global community was unconvinced that the Soviet Union or even 'communism'
as such represented any real threat to the world. Basically international ideology at this
time was confused, particularly as Communist China was now almost an ally of the
West.
In the Soviet Union in the mid 1980s there also had been enormous change. A
succession of elderly leaders died in a very short time with a relatively young
Gorbachev ultimately assuming power. Gorbachev was more interested in trying to
save the Soviet Union from its own domestic crises and launched the programs of
Perestroika and Glasnost (Political Openness and Restructuring). Gorbachev certainly
didn’t have any ambitions to rule the world - and the rest of the world knew it.
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Mikhail Gorbachev Biography
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The End Of Cold War Two
The Cold War largely spluttered to an end at the end of the 1980s. Both sides simply
could no longer afford it. This was confirmed with the almost bankrupting of America
and the actual collapse of many Eastern European Communist states, and ultimately
the Soviet Union itself in December 1991.
In the Soviet Bloc the system had either finally failed, or been strangled to death. In the
late 1980s, Gorbachev’s Perestroika, and Glasnost, (openness and restructuring)
appeared too little, too late to save the Soviet Union and it disintegrated into 15
different states. So - as it turned out, the democratic West - as led by the United States,
was triumphant. Nevertheless, the Cold War aside, the 1980s were relatively stable and
free from major conflicts - save of course the Falklands, Grenada, and the Iran and Iraq
war - but the latter, the largest and the most bloody of the lot - of course did not trouble
the West too greatly, - this conflict was between Arabs and Iranians, as long as the
West’s man- Saddam Hussein - remained secure and triumphant at the time, he would
counterbalance Islamic radicalism.
Queen - We Are The Champions
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The 1990s
OK, let’s enter the 1990s. The Gulf War in 1991 perhaps more than anything else
symbolised the end of the Cold War, with the United States and the Soviet Union for the
first time since the end of World War Two, cooperating against a former ally - that of
course being Iraq - with Saddam Hussein now the bad guy.
To many, the Gulf War symbolised the emergence of the New World Order - one
which would no longer be dominated by the rivalry between the two super powers.
Mind you, there was really only one super power left - the United States.
symbolised the end of the Cold War, with the United States and the Soviet Union for the
first time since the end of World War Two, cooperating against a former ally - that of
course being Iraq - with Saddam Hussein now the bad guy.
To many, the Gulf War symbolised the emergence of the New World Order - one
which would no longer be dominated by the rivalry between the two super powers.
Mind you, there was really only one super power left - the United States.
The New World Order
What emerged in the wake of the Gulf War in the mid 1990s was the so-called New
World Order, a world no longer divided between two massive antagonistic blocs, but
one in which democracy was triumphant and one where so many thought we would
have a new world of peace and harmony.
The Gulf War itself, Operation Desert Storm, was also supposed to have been about
defending democracy etc, however, nothing much had changed in the 1990s. As it
turned out and as we all know, the US and its major allies appeared only fighting to
preserve their oil and other strategic interests rather than defending democracy and
human rights as a priority.
Operation Desert Storm 1991
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Winds Of The Storm
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What Has Unfolded Since
What did unfold in the New World Order? Well, unfortunately, there was not peace
and harmony. Instead, the global community was and is torn by strife. It continued to
be an uncertain place where conflict continued to be the order of the day. And part of
this new world turmoil was due to the competing forces of nationalism and trans-
nationalism.
At one level there was nationalism - revolutionary nationalism, wherein peoples the
world over were and are, in so many states, fighting for self determination and
statehood. And yet at the same time, the competing force of transnationalism existed
where a whole global community was forming - interconnected in every way.
Clearly, both were and are at odds with each other, and much conflict and uncertainty
is resulting from it.
For The West In The 1990s
For the West - in the 1990s, while the United States reasserted itself in terms of world
dominance and leadership, and capitalism appeared everywhere ascendant, to the
alarm of the US, there was also the rise of the Asian 'tiger' economies (Singapore,
Japan, South Korea, and others) and massive challenges to Western dominance.
Then in the late 1990s, most of the West appeared to have lost its way, with the rise of
China and others. The United States of course still remained the world’s policeman,
but had little real capacity to continue this role unaided, or without financial support
- just as it needed in the Gulf War.
dominance and leadership, and capitalism appeared everywhere ascendant, to the
alarm of the US, there was also the rise of the Asian 'tiger' economies (Singapore,
Japan, South Korea, and others) and massive challenges to Western dominance.
Then in the late 1990s, most of the West appeared to have lost its way, with the rise of
China and others. The United States of course still remained the world’s policeman,
but had little real capacity to continue this role unaided, or without financial support
- just as it needed in the Gulf War.
The World Order - 2000's Onwards
In the 2000's (aka The Noughties) the World Order - or the way of things as we now
know it, i.e., the present international power structure, continues to be under
increasing challenges. With the old Cold War World gone and the super power rivalry
with it, many other 'forces' now challenge, from religious fanaticism, particularly
Islamic militant radicalism, the threat to the global environment, demands for greater
democracy, human rights and self determination. The dangers of nuclear war of course
still lurk with many terrorist groups rumoured to have such weapons. India and Pakistan
are locked into a crazy arms race. China and Japan square off over disputed islands in
the South China Sea, and many more. And then there remains lingering fascism and
racism with all its evil and potential horrors. Morevoer, the Middle East is now
wracked by the 'Arab Spring' with a line of military strongmen challenged and
overthrown by uneasy alliances of democratic elements and fanatical Islamic
radicalism. The 2000s and beyond appears to be clearly an age of great global and even
domestic uncertainty. And above all, no longer is the West seen as to have all the
answers.
know it, i.e., the present international power structure, continues to be under
increasing challenges. With the old Cold War World gone and the super power rivalry
with it, many other 'forces' now challenge, from religious fanaticism, particularly
Islamic militant radicalism, the threat to the global environment, demands for greater
democracy, human rights and self determination. The dangers of nuclear war of course
still lurk with many terrorist groups rumoured to have such weapons. India and Pakistan
are locked into a crazy arms race. China and Japan square off over disputed islands in
the South China Sea, and many more. And then there remains lingering fascism and
racism with all its evil and potential horrors. Morevoer, the Middle East is now
wracked by the 'Arab Spring' with a line of military strongmen challenged and
overthrown by uneasy alliances of democratic elements and fanatical Islamic
radicalism. The 2000s and beyond appears to be clearly an age of great global and even
domestic uncertainty. And above all, no longer is the West seen as to have all the
answers.
General Themes In Western Domestic Politics In The Noughties
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Domestically in the United States and elsewhere in the West, the central social debates are no longer about welfare or the collective good. Society is no longer inclusive - it is individuals and the nation. The West is now driven by different politics- those of rationalists, economists and accountants, all of those marching to the god of profit. The result - the alienation and atomisation of society - big parties, big drugs, exctasy, big beats. |
Pink Floyd - Money
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Much of this social and domestic political transformation began in the 1980s during the
tenure of President Reagan in the US and Prime Minister Thatcher in the UK. As such
the 1980s became known as the 'Greed Generation' - the era of greed. Both leaders
preached the charms of the so-called free market and the politics of Economic
Rationalism - the sort of politics that motivates Western Governments today, an
ideology that pursues the goal of profit, and appears to ignore all debates about social
welfare and the common good. Economic rationalism is an ideology not of the
collective, but of extreme individualism with all its damning consequences. It was/is
and ideology with no social conscience. In essence what we have seen in this era is the
demise of any notions of the 'collective' in the West- in favour of right wing
libertarianism. If you like, we now mostly endure the politics of 'separation'. Gone is
the end of the Cold War consensus on social welfare. In its place we have the triumph
of inhuman libertarianism - Social Darwinism in you like -with every person for
themselves.
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Overall In The West
Overall in The Noughties, one could easily argue that in Western society things are
pretty bleak. We have the constant threat of Islamic radicalism, the threat of the
complete breakdown of the international capitalist system, the onslaught of Climate
Change, and more. At the domestic level there is much urban anger and decay.
Globalisation has led to alienation, unemployment, discontent, and riots. There has
been an end of idealism and a rise of despair. And there is also the supposed 'end of
ideology', with the political right wing believing that with rampant capitalism we have
found the promised land.
Moody Blues - How Is It
Music Of The Era
But what about the music of this era - our era. Does Grunge, Rap and the other strains
of Pop that emerged in the 1980s, 90s & Noughties represent the sort of society we are
describing. Perhaps so? But you may think otherwise.
And where to now at the beginning of the 21st Century. This is anybody’s question -
and we could ask this with either politics or music in mind. So let’s now turn to the
music of the era.
So what was the music range of this era? It was very diverse ranging from the
evolution of New Wave, Rap, Hip Hop, Heavy Metal, Grunge, Techno and Country,
Easy Listening, Ethnic or World Music, etc. Most of it overlapping at different times.
Go To Music Ingredients
RM Music Ingredients
The progressive trend of the late 1970s and early 1980s was Punk Rock and its
immediate spin off, New Wave. In the last segment we talked about Punk. It was not
so much a new sound as a new development in theatrics and rebellious, insolent
posing, following in the steps of earlier groups that had emphasised glitter and horror
(for example, Kiss). But Punk Rock was more camp, static, and gruelingly repetitive
than any previous white Rock style. Punk Rock’s premiere artists were the Sex Pistols
and its chief culture hero was Jonny Rotten. New Wave and `Art Rock’ were each
more serious and more adventurous in lyric content and in exploring electronic tone
colors.
Johnny Rotten
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Sex Pistols
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Trends toward Punk Rock and its derivatives abated in the mid 1980s, a period of
general conservatism in the arts and politics. The focus of popular music and
mainstream Rock during this time veered somewhat away from musical groups (bands)
in favour of solo singers, such as Madonna and Bruce Springsteen.
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Madonna
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Bruce Springsteen
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Music Has Both Regressed And Progressed
As the 1980s passed into the 1990s and then into the 21st Century, popular trends
in music both regressed and progressed. As the `baby-boomers’ (those people born
between 1946 and 1964) aged, the market for the older `Classic’ Rock revived. And the
most audible evidence of this trend was in the proliferation of `oldies’ radio stations.
The popularity of Country Music also continued to explode. This growth was associated
with a new generation of Young Country’ artists led by Garth Brooks, including Clint
Black, Reba McEntire, and Billy Ray Cyrus, among others.
Garth Brooks
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Clint Black
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Reba McEntire
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Billy Ray Cyrus
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Grunge
There was of course also Grunge. In the U.S. there was the rise of a `slacker’ culture,
where not every one was now considered a 'Yuppie' - instead there was a turn against
consumerism to a form of Nihilistic rejection of the mass music machine. Niche
became the key philosopher of such a trend.
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Grunge was a blend of Punk and Heavy Rock but its lyrics really offered no alternative to the ways of the world in the way that the hippies posed a non-materialist way of life. life. As it was, leading band Nirvana lost leader Kurt Cobain to suicide - the ultimate nihilistic act. Although the early 1990s called its newest music `Modern Rock’, the cutting edge among popular styles became `Rap’ or `Hip - Hop’. Originating among black artists, this half-spoken, half played music spread to white artists as far afield as Christian music. Also, in the early years of the 1990s one thing became clear, digital technology was here to stay and it was to be the wave of the future. But there were new waves and new genres of Pop Music, and so the machine goes on. But was Rock dead by the 2000s. |
Nirvana
Ice Cube - Gangsta Rap
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Some Would Say Rock Is Dead
Some would say that at the beginning of the 2000s Rock is dead. With many bands
turning away from traditional instruments to computers and record turntables instead,
some observers say they are saying goodbye to the guitar and farewell to Rock n Roll.
Also some would say modern day stars have come too self indulgent and lost the plot.
So far, Rock has survived since the 1950s through the eras of Clapton, Townshend,
Jimi Hendrix and then Punk. But now we have seen so many bands reform and tour
again, and again we ask the question: Is Rock capable of evolving?
As one writer stated: These days there is Techno and Electronic Music and virtually no
guitars. `'At the Moment, people tend to look at electronic music like the Prodigy (high
energy, tough beats, 16 tonne Pentium chips) and the Chemical Brothers (funky loops,
digital turbulence, explicit sample theft) and see that as the future - where there are no
guitars.’ OK, but you’d hardly call the Prodigy or the Chemical Brothers Rock n Roll
bands. They don’t even play instruments together. Instead they use computers to mash
up sounds to produce something truly scary... But it isn’t Rock. Once the essential
ingredients of live drums and guitars drop out of the equation, Rock is dead.’ So say
many.
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The Prodigy
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The Chemical Brothers
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As another writer observed: 'For example, David Davis, editor of the British music
magazine 'Q', now refers to the guitar era of Rock n Roll in the past tense. He says: `I
think that was just a period of its existence,’ says Davis in London, `There are still
plenty of people using that formula...but it’s proving far more resilient and adapting.’
Davis cites a recent Q interview in which Noel Gallagher - the songwriter in one of the
biggest Rock n Roll bands, Oasis - said he `probably won’t do a `trad-arranged rock
album’ again.’
Davis added: `I think that’s really exciting. And if Rock ever became a stable thing of a
singer, basist, guitarist and a drummer, then that surely, hopefully, was only for a brief
period and it should move on.”
For a lot of people, however, it is that stable format that defines the genre and anything
outside that is - for some reason- hard to grasp. ie quote: `If you get a guitar player, a
bass player and a drummer together in a room and they’re good, it does something to
your brain. It gets you off,” says Brent Eccles, drummer with the Angels and presenter
of the Homegrown Australian music show on Triple M in Sydney. `That’s why people
keep doing it and that’s why people keep going to see it.’ Getting back to the state of
Rock’s evolution, Eccles agrees that plagiarism is far too prevalent. The rubber lipped,
hip wiggling front man from Reef is Mick Jagger. You Am I is the Who. Lenny Kravitz
is convinced he is Jimi Hendrix jamming with the Beatles.
`You're always going to find clones of clones coming through, but all those musicians
are just doing what they want to do. I don’t want to philosophise about it to much
because its only Rock and Roll.’
And haven’t we heard that one before. And like the legion of acts on the reunion tour
circuit - Fleetwood Mac, Jane’s Addiction, Buzzcocks - we’ll hear it again. The idea of
ageing revolutionaries cashing in on reunion tours is where Davis is less enthusiastic.
Perhaps Rock’s greats were just too great and the goalposts set during the past 40
years really do mark the parameters that define a style of music which, by its structure
and the limitations offered by its core instruments, cannot go any further. Or perhaps,
the force of capitalist commodification has finally won out with its long struggle with
artistic innovation and talent. Perhaps the machine has finally won?'
So What Has The Music Been Saying?
So what has recent Pop Music been saying politically and implicitly - if indeed there
has been such a message?
Much of this music could be classed as music of melancholy, perhaps representing the
West’s hollow victory, as the world we inherent today is a far worse place than it was
in the 1950s. Hence much of Pop Music today tends to be backward looking (eg. to
The Beatles and Kinks, etc). But on the surface, there appears no ideology - hence no
meaning, no solutions, no current thread in today’s Pop. Does this perhaps reflect a
culture in disarray?
One could argue, there is in modern Pop, a certain hankering back to a period of
romanticised collectivism within the Western political culture. As current forces in the
New World Order are alienating, and are leaving an atomised people - with ethnic
nationalism, challenges to states, fragmentation, militant Islamic radicalism and yet
globalisation, all tugging at community in different directions - perhaps back there in
the past appears a nice place to be.
But what about Hip Hop and Rap, dance music reflecting the blacks of the ghettos of
the US system? While the West is triumphant through globalisation, does not such
music demonstrate racial tensions. Sure it does, it also reflects crime and violent culture,
and anti-female culture?
And why do we embrace it - because the machine tells us to. But now who is there to
sing against the machine?
Some of today’s Pop for sure, applauds both the West’s triumphs and the West’s ills.
Bruce Springsteen for example represents a return to Rock basics with a Dylan
sensibility - with many songs about the US working class, Vietnam vets, the OPEC and
other crises, unemployment, etc.
Bruce Springsteen
Others also sing about what it means to be American - of political empowerment - of
self and nation. The key word is `freedom’. But freedom to do what? The freedom of
the right wing to crush other countries and 'lets kick arse', i.e. the freedom to pursue
'US Manifest Destiny'! How to invade Nicaragua, Iraq, Afghanistan etc, and get away
with it.
But Pop Still Has A Conscience
Nevertheless, one could argue that aspects of Pop still have a consciousness and have
had from the 1980s and still have how. This has been expressed in the formation of
music such as New Wave - the fusion of Reggae with Punk - a result of the organisers
of Rock against Racism. This represented the radical left strain of Punk as opposed to
the Punk which ran with Fascism.
self and nation. The key word is `freedom’. But freedom to do what? The freedom of
the right wing to crush other countries and 'lets kick arse', i.e. the freedom to pursue
'US Manifest Destiny'! How to invade Nicaragua, Iraq, Afghanistan etc, and get away
with it.
But Pop Still Has A Conscience
Nevertheless, one could argue that aspects of Pop still have a consciousness and have
had from the 1980s and still have how. This has been expressed in the formation of
music such as New Wave - the fusion of Reggae with Punk - a result of the organisers
of Rock against Racism. This represented the radical left strain of Punk as opposed to
the Punk which ran with Fascism.
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80s New Wave Music Hits
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There Was Also A Growing Awareness of World Problems In The
Music eg. 'Live Aid'
And of course, there has been also concern for poverty and the plight of people in the
Third World, particularly due to famine in Africa (Live Aid was organised by Bob
Geldorf of The Boomtown Rats). Much of this was expressed in the Live Aid concerts
in which many artists were brought to together such as U2, Bowie, Dylan, and so many
more.
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First of all a British initiative, even while there was Prime Minister Thatcher and 'Reaganism' (both Reagan and Thatcher promoted what could be argued was the greed generation in the West) there was still recognition that African famine and poverty is a mirror of First World greed, and such concerts acted to tickle First World consciousness. While, Prime Minister Thatcher in Britain promoted a `greed generation’ there were nevertheless many in the industry aware of the enormous poverty and famine in the Third World. As such, Live Aid were concerts designed to spread awareness and gather help for these people. |
Live Aid - 1985 USA For Africa
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But if we wish to be cynical, could we not also say that the capitalist industry behind
such concerts was itself only more interested in making bucks out of such charity
music. You make up you’re own mind.
In The 1990s - 2000s We Have Also Seen The Globalisation Of
Western Pop Music - With It Now Being Played Everywhere
Apart from that, in the 1990s and beyond we have also seen the globalization of
Western Pop Music. As a result, there has been the globalization of many issues often
transmitted through music such as human rights, the environment and world poverty.
As such, much Pop does now appear to be truly World Music, and much World Music
today has become Pop Music.
Such Music Also Perhaps Indicates A Lack Of Answers And A Losing
Of Way
But perhaps the distinct disparateness of the music today, and its lack of a central
theme, reflects a certain hollow victory for Western culture over everything else. As we
know much of the music of the 1990s tends to be backward looking, So does this mean
the end of ideology? And music increasingly with no meaning, no solutions and
therefore a hankering back to period of romanticised collectivism?
But In Closing The Common Thread Is The Capitalist Nature Of The
Music Reflecting The Machine
All in all, the common thread nowadays appears to be the continued Capitalist
commodification of music. This is the implicit common thread and with all else in
disarray, it reflects in the 2000s a Western culture in a time of crisis with no clear goals
or conscience.
OK - we have now finished the chronological walk through international
and domestic politics and the evolution of Western Pop Music. From now on, we shall
look more closely at the political themes expressed 'explicitly' in Pop Music.
In the next few segments we will survey the explicit politics of Popular Music by
looking at some of the overt issues and themes as they have emerged in modern Pop.
So let’s go.
looking at some of the overt issues and themes as they have emerged in modern Pop.
So let’s go.
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Rocking The World 
Rocking The World
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- Political Themes in Popular Music 
Rocking The Word - Themes
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