i guess if you're a successful full-time musician and can't play your guitar 10 hours a day, you gots to have a hobby. i bet bono and springsteen know a lot about politics and activism and stuff because either 1) they believe its their civic duty or 2) they have enough time and money to put some time into studying some of these issues. or 3) bono and springsteen are robots manufactured by an evil scientist and have been programmed to rock and/or stand for something.

If you read his entire post, the context would felsh itself out. In English, you don't have to say: Musicians have the right, like Ben Stiller has the right, to say whatever they want.

That is what he meant.

So, basicially this whole thread pretty much boild down to:
If I think an artist has something important to say, and is in line with my beliefs, they can say whatever they want.

If I don't like it, they really need to stop.

*Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome back to the EIB Network. during the break, I saw this 'rap group' the Beastly Boys, and boy are they Beastly. Yammering on about Our President and the war, just like all liberals do."

yes, you peopl are now as smart as Rush Limbaugh. good job.

Cock.

A layman's armchair Bononanalysis would probably reveal that he feels guilty about his success while there's so much wrong in the world, that he remembers how sucky life in NI was growing up, that he's extremely well-read and informed and notices how much crap is going on, and that he balances his egomaniac Christ Complex with genuine dedication to helping people. Some of the most outsized egos in history have also been the most effective humanitarians and social activists. I think he's both a self-righteous twat and a very good man. Historically, conflicted personalities are nearly on par with bipolar disorder regarding leadership, creativity and global impact. I'd rather see a pompous man care about their fellow human than a reserved one hate all mankind.

Grammar mistakes = funny to me. Even though I could figure out what he meant, the sentence implies that Ben Stiller is a musician. That's all. I thought it was funny. I did, in fact, read his entire post.

To quote Aaron: "Cock".

i don't think we should be quoting cock all day. that's just my feeling...

[img][260:500]http://www.thaiindochine.com/product_images/167_SAF000CO.jpg[/img]

I thought you were talking about the delicious line of asian sauces.

Foghorn LooGARn

I want this on a tshirt

so i'll mark that down as a 1 and 2. next...

Actually, he's right. Except I'd dominate Rush Limbaugh in a game of scrabble.

Four pages and unless my skim reading has failed me, no one has still offered up any opinion on Damien Jurado's new album.

I'm also curious how everyone's so into the melding of music and politics, why there aren't more fans of Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil (who were arrested several times and thrown into exile), Bob Marley (who was nearly killed in an assassination attempt) , or Fela Kuti and the countless other African musicians who didn't just whine about politics but put their lives on the line singing songs critical of thuggish dictators who didn't respect political dissonance the way our country does. These guys were real heroes in addition to making great music, and made the kind of difference Bono could only dream of making.

Anyone ever see Amandla, the story musicians played in ending apartheid. Its pretty fascinating.

np: Lila Downs "Uma Sangre"

See, I was con in this debate, so my non-knowledge of these facts are entirely consistent with my rhetoric. These other hypocrites, on the other hand...

I think the world has churned out enough toked-out white college kids to make a substantial fanbase for Mr. Marley, politics or not. Don't you?

I finally got around to reading one of the liner notes (though more of a novel) from one of F. Kuti's records. He practically lived the life of whatshisname from Hotel Rwanda. Taking full advantage of his traveling privileges, he'd smuggle people from his poor native Nigeria (?) to safer, more developed European countries. He was jailed numerous times, but continued to put life & limb (he smuggled people beneath train cars) on the line to help his people.

I don't think Conor would give me money for the bus.

I picked up a biography on Kuti recently. Haven't read it yet but expect it to be fascinating.

Yeah, man, but they're just in it, like, for the drugs, and shit. Like, that's why they like, you know, the Doors so much. Jim Morrison and Marley kind of, well, go together like that, man.

Billy G -- what, is this, like, an AA meeting? -- is talking about, you know, the politics, and, damn... the politics, and shit, with the musicians. But not, you know, like Rage Against the Machine or even, fuck... or even, I don't know, Against Me! None of that dorm-room psychoanalysis.

He's talking about, like, the real struggle, and not people, fuck... people struggling to talk about the struggle unincitefully.

You know, man?

I think that depends entirely on mileage and whether or not it meets his specific vehicular needs. Although, he strikes me as a mini-van kinda guy.

Who, Conor Oberst? He strikes me as more a rape-van kind of guy. So, maybe an Econoline Coach van, with noticeable cocaine and meth residue on the upholstery, having spilled off the mirrors used by the girls he brings back to it. They get so f'd on powder, they don't know their cooch from their clavicle, and ol' Brite Eyes takes that as licence to ball them in every orifice of their body.

I gotta roll with this dude.

Cine? Eu, ca a scris asta, sau Conor, pentru cine eu am scris?

instead of "rape-van", don't you mean "bang bus"??

No, I am pretty sure that an Econoline with no windows in the back is universally referred to as a 'raper van' or 'molester van'

if you see one in your neighborhood. Hold your kids closer.

And if you're too busy, let me hold your kids closer. I'll be the guy with the windowless white van.

first thing on this board to make me laugh out loud in a while...

and, as far as politics on-stage go, no one is comparing Fela Kuti and what he did and Conor Oberst and what he's doing...

Although his record label, Teen Love, seems to be heavily involved with the release of bad midwestern Omaha hip hop and the gainful employment of a Omahaian tap dancer.

Conor is saving the lives of people from a dreary midwest everyday-life kinda thing - it's just that he's not saving the people who should be saved...