Joan Baez calls out artists who avoid political activism: “Some are writing amazing stuff, a few are willing to speak out… I sort of cock my head at these stadiums filled with brilliant, young women songwriters & why can’t they just take that little step? Cause they’re already richer than God.”
by neoncolour
19 Comments
Pretty sure the young women songwriters are the only ones who have spoken out
Haven’t alot of them spoken out?
I thought this said Jeff Bezos at first and got really confused.
I think it’s that the music won’t get approved, not that they don’t want to write it. No one would want to step on toes like that with today’s backlash standards
Many could definitely be more outspoken (Beyonce and Taylor), but both have spoken publicly at points and made their political positions and values fairly clear. A lot of younger female songwriters are even more vocal but it still feels like male artists are rarely held to the same standard or scrutinised in the same way… Why not just talk about artists?
On one hand I agree, but speaking out today isn’t the same as it was during Joan’s hay day. Now you have people who will literally threaten to kill you if you say anything that they disagree with. So, while I also wish more people would speak out, in some ways I understand their reluctance I guess.
We know who she’s talking about….
I think she may be referencing protest music not just commentary. I’m not saying commentary isn’t good enough, but there is very little unifying protest pop music at present.
stream Big Stick by MUNA!
Why is she singling out the women here? Also, many artists DO speak out
I’m still of the mindset that if you need a pop star to tell you how to think politically, that’s a personal failure. It can be good for awareness of obscure issues, but in cases like Palestine, let’s say, you have to be living underneath a rock to not know what’s going on. And they no longer have the political clout to make change with just their voice as they did in the 40s-50s-60s-70s. At least not with these huge issues (smaller ones like Mariska Hargitay’s work or Olivia Rodrigo with PP, sure). Wanting to know the political stance of celebrities so you don’t give your money to artists you have fundamental disagreements with is a different case, however.
Call out the men too jeez
But what if they speak out against Israel?
The opening to metal gear solid V Ground Zeroes goes so fucking hard
While I do share Joan Baez’ sentiment, I do understand why many pop stars choose silence instead of vocally expressing their thoughts since a very vocal part of the public is hell-bent on twisting their words and support into something negative or performative or else, instead of amplifying it and engaging with it in good faith. So what good would speaking up do if even the audience who benefits from it chooses not to engage with it positively?
Also worth questioning why it’s only expected of women to speak up and rarely ever of male artists, who not only hold so much power and cultural capital and influence, but tend to also be taken more seriously -misogyny oblige- by the general public.
100% agree! Use their stations for political good! Ffs
Who could she be talking about though? Every younger pop girl I can think of has been very outspoken on various political issues. Taylor Swift and Lana Del Rey would not be classed as younger women (unless Joan Baez means younger in comparison to herself…?)
Im not convinced it even makes a difference. If celebrities getting political mattered then we’d have few, if any, republican presidents. And many people simply aren’t that political either. Or they still get called MAGA (by the same people whining about not speaking out) even after endorsing Harris and Biden.
So many iconic songs have been birthed from political strife. But, yeah, the past decade or so has been pretty weak. No nuance, no story telling, just “fuck Donald Trump,” or “the devil is a democrat.” Definitely, nothing that will last through the decades.