Our esteemed fellow blogger Rol has been stirring up debate recently through his excellent 'Cancel Culture Club' posts, in which a (now) controversial song from the past is held up for scrutiny by various contributors to either cancel or keep. I'm really enjoying this feature although taking part does brings its own anxiety, a reflection of how scrutinised we can feel too in even expressing an opinion on them! But thankfully, however you strongly (or not) you might respond to the lyrics of an old song, I think we all know that we're good people who abhor racism, sexism and all the other isms in real life. One thing that really comes through, though, is just how many lyrics from past decades would be contenders for cancellation now.
All this got me wondering - what about the flipside to that? What about all the songs which expressed things, perhaps forty, fifty or more years ago, that are still as relevant now, maybe even more so? So just to redress the balance a little I've been thinking about some of those which should get the opposite of the cancellation treatment. They should be resurrected. A possible, occasional series is brewing...
To kick off here's something by John Gary Williams, who was perhaps best known for being a founding member of the R&B vocal band, The Mad Lads. But around the height of The Mad Lads' success in 1966 he was drafted into the military, serving in Vietnam, and on his return two years later a newly found political consciousness was stirring within him. 'The Whole Damn World Is Going Crazy' appears on his eponymous solo album, recorded in 1973.
It's a breezy slice of '70s soul, with upbeat instrumentation and that easy, innocent voice - not what you might expect when you hear the lyrics. I think this is often a deceptively powerful way to get a message across, contrary to angry, shouty, uncommercial songs which might alienate a wider audience.
'The Whole Damn World Is Going Crazy' could hardly be more apt right now.
Now this is a series I can get behind, unlike that cancelling business.
ReplyDeletePS This song from Swamp Dogg about George W is only 20 years old not 40+ but comes from an album called "Resurrection" and meets all your other criteria I think.
Deletehttps://youtu.be/n8gnbaHyvW0?si=k-9dISJiSPArnC6e