bands with a message

Dreamer wrote: I didn't see Frank Zappa mentioned. He always had social and political criticisms.

Mind you, before music,  he also started out peddling porn, eh ... Some say that the judicial intervention that put him & his partner out of business also fueled a certain hatred for authority. Though I've never read or heard whether that was because he felt that the police had better things to take care of, or because his source of income was taken away.
Mind you part II - a, if not the major fault of Zappa's (and not limited to him) was an inability to self-critique. Intelligence & wit are great, but self satisfied smarminess as if you are "obviously" superior to others will give detractors a field day. All they have to do is find the one mistake or incorrect opinion to sink the rest of the message.
And believe me, there are many things in Zappa's lyrics that can be justifiably attacked as being inappropriate, ill advised & sometimes, frankly just plain in execrably bad taste. Add to that the unwillingness to ever apologise for even the most obvious transgressions, nor even to bother to specifically address such concerns directly by explaining his intent in such songs.
So, too often your average Joe has reason to wonder where the line between critique of & belief in was.

WideAngleWatcher wrote: stonebeard wrote: WideAngleWatcher wrote: Much as I love David Lee Roth I always hated this quote from him;   "A lot of bands mature, which means they get square; they start delivering messages. Hey, you got a message, use Western Union." "A lot of singers get a big ego and leave/are kicked out of successful bands and end up as washed up ambulance drivers." - Stonebeard

Maybe, but even an idiot may come up with wisdom at times. As much as I "get" the social & political bent of Rush lyrics, after a certain point they get clunky. The wordsmith looks to fit his message into  a  4 minute song. And what may sound well in conversation comes across as forced & preachy in song.
Check out Test for Echo from Rush - Half the World knows this already, the other half's lot is not affected in the least by words to a pop song.

The main problem with "older" acts playing the social conciousness game is that it rarely comes across as natural. Almost as if they noticed that they are adults & must show responsability in their positions of cultural icons or musical idols. Give Johnny Cash a listen. When the man in black had something to say, he said it straight & backed it up with years of quiet activism. But he also knew that he was an entertainer, a singer.

And as the final nail in the coffin for the importance of "message music" - Woodstock, Live Aid, Farm Aid, Live 8, Free Tibet etc... Let's all quote Keef who said that it was all something for the "Sirs" to feel good about themselves.

Robert Wyatt has been writing songs from a left wing perspective since Matching Mole's Little Red Record, attacking racism, xenophobia, hypocrisy, greed and imperialism. He's also written some of the most achingly poignant and beautiful love songs ever.