Dancing to Early Day Motions

Music is incredibly important to me. The direct power and impact of a good tune coupled with a great lyric take me to places emotionally that little else can reach. In the broad church that is Rock and Roll I worship at the high culture alter of the true artists and get my kicks at the low church of pop stars. My CD collection houses everything from Richard Thompson to Take That – via a few less well known bands like the Republic of Loose and Common Rotation.

I also grew up listening to a lot of political music. Whether it be the early angry stylings of Billy Bragg or the fanatic polemic of the Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy a lot of the sound track to my youth was sharply political and a lot of my heroes played guitars.

I wasn’t introduced to politics through music, but a lot of people are. Music has a vital role to play in the politicisation of young people and the spreading of messages that are often hard to promote through more traditional means. Music and brave musicians taking a stand has led the way to enormous social change and has paved the way for political progress on several fronts.

Musicians writing about politics have at once an easy and incredibly difficult job to do. They have 3 minutes (there or thereabouts) to sell us a dream that makes us think, that touches us emotionally and that sometimes even makes us dance. They distil a complex thought into a seemingly simple lyric. “Imagine there’s no heaven”  is an important start, and it’s certainly true that “wearing badges is not enough on days like these”. Opening up people’s minds and hearts to radical thinking is an incredibly important tool and not to be sniffed at when it comes to building popular political movements.

But mixing art and politics is a double edged sword and we shouldn’t pretend it isn’t. Proselytizing political ideas – however well done and however important that is – is not the same as implementing those ideas. Implementation is often hard, tough and unsung. It frequently involves the kind of compromise it is essential that politicians make just as it is essential that artists never do. Artists have the freedom and ability to sloganize without having to build the steps and infrastructure that arise from the daily grind of political life.

Artists have an incredibly high profile political platform. When they speak, thousands listen. Depending on the artist, that can be millions. Politicians crave the kind of limelight and unquestioning acceptance stars can lay claim to. Why do you think so many of them cling to the credibility an artist can give them that being a politician never can and never will.

As someone who grew up being so passionate about music, it can be really hard to disagree with my idols. The 11 year old who knew all the words to Milkman of Human Kindness is mortified at the 38 year old who thinks Billy’s People’s Assembly is a bad political move. I’m even mortified that Gary Barlow votes Tory (while secretly hoping that Mark Owen (my favourite) has at least voted Labour in the past).

Disagreeing with your heroes can be an incredibly hard thing to do. But it must be so much worse, when your heroes disagree with you. If I become an elected politician, at some point I am bound to do or say something which someone I idolise disagrees with. That’s a great deal of pressure to change my mind.

On any contentious issue there will be two sides to any argument, and the fame of one side should not outweigh the arguments of the other. That’s why I felt it was a misstep for the Hacked Off Campaign to put Hugh Grant at the centre of their campaign. Sure it gave them profile, but it also gave them a sense that they too were prioritising celebrity over the issues.

I’m not a person who believes that musicians should have no say in politics. I believe everyone should have a say. But I don’t believe that the size of your platform or the following you have achieved in a separate arena should be the arbiter of whether I take you more seriously or not. Sometimes the people with the smallest platform can be drowned out.

It is essential that political music, films, art and culture continues to thrive, and to reach the people in ways political actors never can. They have an incredibly important role to play. But as we continue to be swamped by a culture in which celebrity is all, it is also important that we don’t allow those with the biggest platforms to dominate. The relationship between the artist and the politician has never been an easy or comfortable one. And however sad that might be for me on the day I write something an artist I love passionately disagrees with, it never should be. Both sides would do well to remember that.