why we REALLY need to "rock the vote"

[gauguin57]

If rock music could bring down Communism in Hugary, could it bring down the Bush totalitarian regime under which we all now suffer?

Hungarian Says Rock Defeated Communism

"CLEVELAND (AP) -- Rock music played lead in giving Hungarian baby boomers the resolve to bring down their communist state, says one of those reformers who today is a government official.

"...Andras Simonyi, Hungary's ambassador to the United States, spent an hour Saturday night discussing the impact of Western songs on Eastern European politics before an invitation-only audience of 250 at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. ... 'By keeping in touch with the music scene in the West, it kind of kept me sane and with the feeling I was part of the free world,' said Simonyi, an economist by training. ..."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A18159-2003Nov9.html

Another version from the Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A44243-2003Oct30.html

[grok]

1. Many Many caveats

Interesting idea but it doesn't fly here.

It was an effective tool in the socialist east because of the "forbidden fruit" factor If you "try" to deny or control something to the masses, it adds to the desire for the item in question. It acquires a value far and above what the music is and the message it contains. I doubt the administration will cooperate with you in this regard. They are not that stupid.

That just is not happening here. Rock is the norm. A wide variety of music is the norm. Even Rap, which conservatives(and others I may add) is often railed against, has an air of normalcy that any message a rap tune may contain is lost.

Criticism of the powers that be in music is so "normal" in this culture, that it loses it's power to persuade. It would have to be so overwhelming to have much effectiveness. In any case, you risk having the audience to tune out and simply listen to "inoffensive" music. So much is available and recorded from the past that you can easily do that. Something for everybody.

Another problem with evan the best of political rock that is so EASY to tune out the words and message of a song to begin with. I am guilty as charged in this regard btw. There are many tunes i have enjoyed in the past which only months or years later i played closer attention to the meaning. Often not to my liking. But that never stopped me from listening again. Think of the masses with even less ability to parse words than I, and you see the problem.

Another thing is that it is not so "unhip" to be conservative anymore. We often forget that those on the other side often embrace the music of the moment too. Dont expect them to just sit still and not provide "patriotic" counterpart of their own. Often just as powerful to the heart, if not the head.

Dont get me wrong, preach what you want with music. It holds the line. That is important in itself. Just don't expect it to launch a revolution.

Grok