I missed the Grammys this year. I never watch them, but this time I had an excuse, as they weren't televised in the UK. It is the sort of thing that Channel Five will put on at 2 a.m., but last night they showed NHL hockey instead. Whatever.
Apparently I missed something good this time around. Namely, Coldplay dedicating their Grammy to John Kerry. That's nice, but it would be much better if they took it to the next level. What about a Coldplay "Kerry for President" campaign song? For that matter, it doesn't have to be Coldplay. Could you picture "Don't send Bush back to Texas ('cause we don't want him here)" by the Dixie Chicks? How about Moby? What about Sleater-Kinney or Ani DiFranco? Kerry might not be left enough for them, but political activisim in their songs is not unprecedented.
This sort of thing used to be quite common. Frank Sinatra wrote songs for JFK in 1960, for instance. I suppose the whole music industry is more bottom line oriented these days but it would be nice to see this sort of thing make a comeback.
(Thanks to Jesse Taylor for the Coldplay reference.)
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