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| Picture from here. |
Usually it's a shotgun marriage leading to home disputes, fights and bloody divorce. Marriage between music and politics. Whenever politics is involved in art (be it music, literature or movies) the art ceases to retain its own principles. It becomes another tool implemented to turn the masses into kneadable dough.
JoongAngIlbo posted an article about comedy gag character singing the song "Animunida". The artistic values of the song are close to zero, since the very performer of it, Gyaru described the second song as “neither rap, nor a song, nor music.” But the problem lies elsewhere.
The relationship betweet music (or art in general) and politics is nothing new, neither it's a specific invention of any particular country. It was used ever since and everywhere from times immemoriam. Ever since the first man started to hum and beat the crap out of neighbours the rhythm on some tree trunk.
And again the quote: On Melon, one of the nation’s most popular music download Web sites, users gave the mini-album 4.5 stars out of five. Yes, I checked, it does have 4.5 yet only 533 people voted. Quick check - the first on the chart is Naul, whose album got 4.7, but 20,968 people voted for that. So it may signify also how unimportant that song is in overall.
Trot (our beloved teuroteu) has a dark past as an implementation of ideological war between North and South. Some songs were used as the means of propaganda. With teuroteu it's not that difficult as songs can depict the longing for a homeland, times long past (the golden, happy times) etc.
The problem with non-trot songs is more slippery. According to JAI: Lyrics contain a political element with the message “Dokdo is ours” woven in.
It is a product of ongoing populistic propaganda and hateful remarks that is going on on three-line front: Japan-Korea-China. None of this countries wants to give up this dirty, political and disturbing agitation.
Politicians are plain idiots saying what they say instead of refraining, but the carriers of their remarks are usually common people. Politicians' words are like sparks that fall on dry hay. And there is enough of dry hatred in Asia to start the next war.
Western music is filled with socio-political messages etc. Yes, but they are not based on nationalism and populism. It's usually contestation of some system or political course. John Lennon could sing that "the war is over" (accompanied by horrible miaouling of Yoko Ono), System of a Down can "sing" "F*ck the System" and Green Day can slap american army all they want precisely because their activity is NOT based on nationalistic pride. Nationalistic songs exist in Europe or the entire world, of course, but they are not broadcasted, they are not legally available.They are seen as crap and treated like that. They respond only to sentiments of far-right fascists who believe in what they want.
Some time ago, I made a research on Japanese nationalism, because - let's be frank - it's the most "beautiful" subject of study out of all nationalisms in Asia, in my opinion. There is this singer, Amamiya Karin who sings in her songs:
"Pearl Harbour was our only choice. Our race was corrupted from the day we lost the war!" or "Let us bomb America / Let us get rid of the Americans." It was the band "Revolutionary Truth" she was in.
Korea is far behind Japan in displaying nationalism, but I see they're catching up with this insanity fairly quickly.
I wish politics would stay outside of music. As far from it as possible. Especially that kind of politics.
