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"art, any art, can never have any impact on social injustice"
So says a man from the Spectator (I think it was) on the Politics Show just now.
Do you agree?
I don't. When he expanded upon his arguments he seemed to be taking the route of saying you're just normal people and entertainers you can't change anything so why even bother. He even quoted Auden saying his poems never saved a single life during the Holocaust, because that's exactly the same as what is happening these days isn't it?
Three cheers for apathy.
I don't think art/music/literature on their own can solve the worlds problems alone but politics (small 'p') in the arts can create awareness and help give ideas a voice that might not otherwise be heard.
It's when it comes to things like staging a giant stadium shows to highlight global warming or spending a fortune on concerts to talk about poverty that cynicism and apathy start to sink in.
But as far as musicians go, if you look at what the likes of Billy Bragg have done, working with real on the street activists to help further their causes that that is where art and music can make their difference.
Rather than the corporate feel good back slapping of LiveEarth - famous petrolhead James Hetfield even said during a Live Earth interview he was only really their so people could hear the music of Metallica.