On October 10th, 1989, the New York Times published an opinion piece written by David King Dunaway about politics and music and the relationship between them.
https://www.nytimes.com/1981/10/10/opinion/politics-and-music.html
In the article, Dunaway argues that there are inherent limitations to music as a tool for political advocacy, partly due to its outcomes being impossible to quantify. Dunaway suggests that music is a ‘barometer’ for society, something that is reflective of material conditions. That being said, he also acknowledges that music is something that connects with people in ways few things can and that the effects of music as organisation are not non-existent, arguing that much of the political effects of music play out “separate in time and space from the original singer”.
In the article, David King Dunaway touches on something which many a politically inclined musician, including myself, grapple with quite consistently. Dunaway claims that as musicians, despite our best efforts, songs can seem “ephemeral when compared with bullets or votes”. The dichotomy between having first hand experience of how music can connect and inspire individuals and communities and the sentiment expressed here, that political advocacy that starts and ends with music can feel futile, is something I believe to be very potent in my own understanding of music’s place in politics.
Despite this, Dunaway goes on in the following paragraphs to talk of how music has a profound impact on people and has been tied to political movements since the dawn of time, so why is it that both of these things can be true? My interpretation of Dunaway’s thoughts on this requires going back to the ‘barometer’ quote. Music may not have the political power that a bullet has, but music will remain as much a part of the political process as bullets will. This is because music is, as Dunaway states, a barometer for society, a reflection of material conditions. Therefore, political music will inherently be created as a reflection of political ideas and values growing and spreading in response to the current political state. This political music’s effects on the movement, Dunaway argues, can have positive and negative effects. It can bring people together in their struggle and inspire people, however it can also dull people and give them an escape.