What is the role of the artist when it comes to making the world better?

Question

Throughout its history, rock ’n’ roll has been derided as morally bankrupt, blamed for everything from the proliferation of drugs to the Columbine shootings. When it comes to social justice, though, rock has often led the way—it was on the vanguard of the peace and civil-rights movements, it raised money and awareness for the famine in Ethiopia, it helped American family farmers, and, to this day, its practitioners often look after one another when tragedy strikes the music community. In our July issue, we look at some of these artists—from Bono to Neil Young—who are trying to change the world. What is the role of the artist when it comes to making the world better? Should they just shut up and sing?

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Answer 1

I would hate to use the word "role" because it implies and obligation and I am not sure that art works well when saddled with obligations. Artists work best when unfettered with societal conventions.

However, I do believe that artists of all shapes and sizes do make the world a better place by expanding our personal, societal and world perspectives and visions. French philosopher and social critic, Marcel Proust, once wrote that "the real voyage of self-discovery consists not in seeing new landscapes, but in having new eyes." Artists are the new eyes of the world that allow us to see entirely new landscapes and possibilities.

Too many humans behave as a universe of one instead of a world of interconnected people who do best when they meld their collective strengths and perspectives to create new outlooks.

Artists remind us to see the world outside of ourselves. This is extremely valuable in a world filled with people trying to confine people's personal and world visions.

Artists also remind us to create and creating is a fundamental human need. Too many humans are living passive lives through which they watch the world go by. Artists say, "get up, stand up, create your world!" One needs to be reminded of this message every single day.

Answer 2

I think this answer heavily depends on who the artist is. If you're talking high profile musicians, then enough said. A person's popularity weighs heavily on how much a population will follow them, be it for good or evil. High profile musicians such as Bono, have the networking and monetary means to organize huge benefit shows. U2 is basically an (overrated) household name, or at least one that people recognize as easily as McDonalds. And funnily enough, they both lack in quality, but enough of my ranting.

Now let's talking about some lesser-knowns. Take any well-meaning indie band, for example, Joy Zipper at a small venue with an $10 cover. Let's say they're trying to raise money to help a family who has lost everything in a flood. Several things will most likely happen. For starters, unless everyone knows who Joy Zipper is, the turnout will be on the low end. Secondly, no one wants to pay $10 for a band they don't know about. Third, advertising is expensive, so unless they have the money conducive to heavy adverts, people won't even know about it.

So to answer the question at hand: what is the role of artists trying to make the world a better place? There isn't one. At least nothing more than being popular enough to get a good turn out. I also think that the "trying to make the world a better place" idea is kind of off the spectrum of reality. It's more important to help the individual at home, your next door neighbor, your friend's ailing grandmother, or a children's home. So should they just shut up and sing? Not entirely. Some should just simply shut up.

Answer 3

It's no wonder that music has been an everpresent unifying medium at so many world-changing events. Our world is designed to be in constant motion in its every aspect. From colonies of ants, to tectonic plates, currents of the ocean, migratory patterns, the seasons...even our bodies themselves. Blood flows, digestion, breathing, the growth and death of countless cells every day...Any time something slows down or stops, it's generally a sign of poor health, no matter if it's our bodies or our environment.

Music - rock music being a good example - stirs and excites the inert into action, while it's unifying characteristics pull all that stirred up energy and excitement into a common direction, channelling it. I like to say that where two people are listening to the same song, they are not arguing, and when those two people sing the same note, they are agreeing on a thing, and when those same two people sing in harmony, they are working together to build something greater than they could have built alone. There is immense power in this simple concept.

I see the role of the artist as two-fold:

One role is as an explorer and interpreter. The artist is a visionary who, when the rest of the world has hung its head in defeat and is walking away from what seems to be a hopeless situation, the artist sees what they cannot. And so it is up to the artist to not just say the words, but say them, sing them, paint them in such a way that the rest of the world not only hears, but truly UNDERSTANDS this truth that the artist has found. Explain music to the deaf, and colour to the blind. Make them truly feel and understand it, the way the rest of the world can, and thus unite them with the rest of Mankind with this thread of understanding. True art of any kind, as a defining characteristic, is able to bridge the gaps between souls, challenging us with truths that cannot be denied, and that are common to all of Man.

Second, the role of the artist is to not only rouse the emotions of the world to action, but to give that emotional energy a direction and purpose, however great or small. This little boat we're all floating around the universe in together is getting smaller by the minute..and dirtier. We've all seen enough negativity. We're all morally bound to do whatever we can to correct our situation. Some are organizers, some are labourers, some heal the wounded...and some are leaders, visionaries and explorers. We need this diversity to get anywhere, yet it's this very diversity that we find at the heart of human conflict.

Answer 4

The artist should never just shut up and sing, even if they are exclusively told to, for example, the Dixie Chicks, if they had made their comment today, it probably wouldn't have been taken so harshly since there are plenty of others who are expressing themselves anti-Bush, for example, Rosie O'Donnel.

Society, and Big Brother need a scapegoat, and if they can blame the Rock & Roll community, or the Hip Hop community for violence, and negative movements, they will. What they (whoever THEY are) forget, is that these communities are made up of people, same as them, and it's the people that choose to act, not necessarily from the influences, but it stems from the nature vs nurture debate that proliferates the sociological movement.

Not to get off on a tangent, however these artists, like Bono, have a huge fan following, and if they can take those fans and open their eyes to what's going on than maybe some kind of change can occur. They make more money than the politicians do, and they have more of a say because these artists have the ability to sell out stadiums worth of tickets, can the politicians claim the same fame?

Answer 5

The role of the artist is to inspire people: to root out the problem, find a solution, and call others to action. Without music (or crazy people with a passion to do something good for the world), everyone would just sit idly by while the poorest of the poor continue to suffer, and the world slowly deteriorate before our eyes. It's sad that the only way to get people to realize that the world is full of problems that we can fix is by making it trendy and media-friendly. Environmentalism, AIDS awareness, poverty awareness, Africa, human rights, being anti-war; it's all trendy now. Though it may seem like making simple activism marketable is defeating its purpose, it surprisingly is working. That's why artists from the past and present are so significant now. People like Bono, Bob Marley, Bob Geldof, Neil Young, and John Lennon knew and understood the power that music has to change the world and that the only way to bring it to the masses was to sing and do something about it; be it making an album, raising money, organizing a benefit concert, or campaigning tirelessly. To quote John Lennon, "We're trying to sell peace, like a product. We're trying to sell peace the way people sell soap or soft drinks."

To those who think rock music is the problem, it's not the music, it's what you do with the music. You cannot blame the artist for how they were feeling when they were writing that song, or for what a person did because they heard that song. We have the right to sing about our problems and express how we feel in music, within reason. Nobody can take that right of expression away from us.

Now that our world has become so unsafe with threats of war and terrorism and climate problems, the time is now to make a change, but it can't just start with a rock star, or a major benefit concert or one song. It has to start with us. Gandhi said, "We must be the change we wish to see in the world," and we need to take that quote to heart.

Answer 6

Rock n' Roll has always been about speaking the mind of that generation, sometimes is considered morally bankrupt, sometimes is considered rebellious and abusive, and other times is considered an anthem of social justice, but rock n' roll has always been involved in societies issues.
When a singer or an artist uses their public exposure to get followers for a good cause it gains my complete admiration and respect.
Because they are part of the world, they have mass influence with their music, lyrics and actions, so, why not make a change for the better?.
Since the beginning of time, all artists (painters, photographers, musicians, sculptors, etc) have been expressing through art their view of the world and getting involved in social movements, this makes other people take action too and effectively make changes in the world.
An applause to that.
I think that maybe now, some people are using this as a publicity stunt, but in the end, if it helps countries to have a better life, let them do it.

Answer 7

Not all art and artists raise the peace awareness. Clumping artists together and saying they are the same is the least true on this subject. There is the music that plants can be nurtured and thrive by, and there is the kind that stunts and kills plants that are being tested in laboratory settings. If given the power to heal, music can also harm, and not only plants, but babies.

There are the left brainers and the right brainers. It is good to have a balance, no doubt about that. Play is considered essential business, and can make a cat or child smarter.

When things effect the mind, things like that should be considered. Put a box type efficiency house, next to a beautiful Gingerbread house or an Arabian onion dome with mosaic work or inlayed with whimsy.

Loud and cryptic,headbanging or foul mouthed rap 'music' rather wants to make me wretch or kill myself, and no amount of monies dedicated to 'peace' in the world by these 'musicians" can persuade me that that's what they want at all. Publicity more like, and showing how generous they all are. Wealthy 'artists' got wealthy with the public's blessings, and they need to contribute . Not all do, and more do than I am aware of.

Answer 8

I do think music plays such a big role in everyone's life. I think of that song Barry Manilows' song "I write the songs that make the whole world sing, I write the songs, I am music and I write the songs". I guess that says a lot in that song there. Because music is happiness, saddness, inspiring, it can be passionate, it can be many things to whoever is hearing the song. Many songs have paved the way when someone is sad, to make a point, we have a national anthym song, We use music to express ourselfs and show people who we are and how we are feeling at different times. Now, do I think music makes something like the Columbine shootings or other bad things happen or did music play a role in that? I am sure that those boys listened to some kind of music while they where planning or thinking about what they was about to do.I think thier is music that is good for the soul and music that is just plain out bad for the soul. I personally think a person can tell who someone is by listening to the kind of music that they,that person, likes to listen to also. Music brings people together as one. The artist is Music because he writes the songs that make the whole world sing. He brings the world togther and in harmony with eachother. I feel that artist that make music are all one in a way. Some are bad and some are good. Some make good music that brings the good out in people and some make music that does bring the bad out in some people, some of the time I think anyway. Artist that sing should keep on singing because music is so important to the human soul. We feed the human soul good and we recieve good things from it. If we feed the human soul bad stuff, like music that speaks of hate and killing people all the time, then we feed the soul bad things. And when a persons's soul gets clouded with to much bad then, bad things come from the soul. Let me ask you a question? Can a tree grow without water and light? Can a flower bud open without water and sun? I think this is like the soul and music together.So when the artist agrees to sing a song then he or she should make sure that his song is good for the soul. I hope that you can understand this. Thank You and you God Bless You!

Answer 9

We need to remember that artists did not discover the famine in Ethiopia or the plight of the American farmer, etc., nor did they solve any of these issues. In fact, some of the examples used are even worse off today in part due to no longer being the hot topic of polictical action.

Political/environmental action has been a recent fad amongst certain artists who seem to misunderstand the realtionship of the artist to the society and social change.

The arts- music, visual, physical, written- whatever- REFLECT social change, they do not cause it. Some of the arts are so plastic and responsive that it can SEEM that they somehow LEAD the change- but they do not and never have.

The idea that the artist themselves play a major role in change is also a cyclical one. Sometimes, the artists are big players... but usually not. The grassroots American knows very little and cares even less about what 'celebrities' do.

When we DO emulate artists, we are just as likely to emulate them in superficial or even foolish ways, as the original poster mentioned. Most of the time, even these changes are short term and quickly vanish from our collective memories.



Now- to those that much has been given to, much shall be demanded. People with enough extra money to spend it in ways that seem excessive or extravagent to most of us wageslaves SHOULD put big chunks of it towards good causes, and they SHOULD lend their fragile celebrity to boosting bigger and more important causes.

What they need to be careful of, however, is the hubris that can easily follow along. No matter how big their name is, no matter how infuential they are right now- their fame will almost certainly not last forever. For every Mozart that goes on forever, there are a million George Walkers, Ulysses Kays, and William Grants who garnerd fame and praise and were quickly forgotten.

Answer 10

Good thing you bring this up. I´d like to say that there is a thin line between promoting a cause and promoting yourself by using a cause. Making it difficult for us (the audience) to figure out which of those artists are sincere. It strikes me every time there are loud ´artistic´ expressions it concerns topics that appeal to the masses worldwide. How convenient is that. And the promoting of these ideas resembles how religious messages are ´sold´: with large gatherings, chanting, icons and heavy marketing. Most political outcries are critical instead of presenting new ideas, that is negative instead of positive. Whereby ´bashing´ is the preferred mode of expression addressing our own governments rather than the real perpetrators: the govs of the countries where bad happens. Without suggesting how to bring about resolve. Not surprising of course since there is no way you can ´stop hunger in the world´ nor ´ the killing´ because that is only possible when the heads of those states allow it and without occupying that country there is no way it can be done.

Anyway, to find a famous artist working for a case the media is not interested in, you need to look hard. Clearly options that go down easiest are chosen and it is best to be suspicious bout that. We buy the cd´s and these concerts and make these artists filthy rich but what of that private income you know of was ever poured back into the cause? I see big cars, castles and expensive life style for our political activist hero's.

Let me tell you about what I overheard from a discussion among members of a group millions of us trust being ´our´ idols. They were thanks to the event given a chance for a comeback and while sitting around were talking jokingly about "...the gullible masses with empty lives in dire need to support through thick and thin and pay rack rates if only given a chance to become part of movements that create the illusion of unity and meaning... What a great product for a bunch that was going nowhere! It´s going down like Mars bars..." . In other words: Suckers!. This sector is too lucrative to accept idealism as the main driver.

Answer 11

Well first off, my favorite artist of all time would have to be John Lennon, no matter how cliche it is. With that said, I'm sure you can figure out my stance on this.

Personally, if musicians truly feel for the cause they are supporting - then why does it matter what they do? If you don't like the cause an album or a song supports...then don't buy it. But don't turn your back on an artist merely because they are "too involved" in politics and the state of the world. Shouldn't these be qualities we cherish in individuals? Especially individuals who can be so influential to youth.

Furthermore, we allow other art mediums to be "preachy-" film, writing, dance, theater, painting...they all have a tendency to "teach us a lesson," or open our minds up in ways we would have never imagined. Why can't music be the same?

Personally, I think everyone should stand up for what they believe in...if we did, I think the world could be a much happier and safer place. But too many people become disillusioned and apathetic at a young age. (Its essentially why we pay too much for college, and why we are the ones fighting a misguided war.)

All I am saying is give peace a chance.