Singing out in protest

For Tom Waits, the trigger was a need to address the war in Iraq in intensely human terms. For Steve Earle, it was anger over the Abu Ghraib prison scandal. For Loudon Wainwright III, it was a flurry of emotions that came up during the last President’s Day holiday.

The reasons for a sudden rise in politically oriented songs by rock and pop musicians are as varied as the artists who have recorded them. But as the presidential election nears, musicians are adding their voices to the national debate almost daily, in a burst of activism unmatched in perhaps two decades.

“Writing songs about the war is like throwing peanuts at a gorilla,” Waits said by e-mail in response to questions from The Times about two songs from his album “Real Gone,” due Oct. 5, that are the first politically driven songs of his career.

“But then I think, look how important soul music was during the civil rights movement” of the 1960s, Waits says. “Sometimes I feel we are way outnumbered and the dark side has one more spear. But folks in the arts -- it’s their job to put a human face on the war.”

Waits’ “Day After Tomorrow” is a poignant ballad in the form of a soldier’s letter home, and “Hoist That Rag” is a jarringly critical look at jingoistic attitudes in the country.

Earle’s album “The Revolution Starts ... Now” is due Aug. 24 and focuses almost exclusively on the war and the political climate in the U.S.

“We as artists are citizens, too, and in a democracy you’re supposed to be able to say anything about anything,” said singer-songwriter and long-time activist Earle, whose previous album included the controversial song “John Walker’s Blues,” written from the viewpoint of the American who was captured in Afghanistan while fighting with the Taliban. “We’re supposed to be able to do that without being criticized or intimidated.”

Almost immediately after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, musical expressions of shock and outrage surfaced, mostly patriotic country tunes, from Alan Jackson’s “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)” to Toby Keith’s breast-beating “Courtesy of the Red, White & Blue (The Angry American).”

Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young, John Hiatt and other pop-rock figures subsequently offered their reflections on the aftermath of Sept. 11. The start of war in Iraq in March last year inspired antiwar songs by R.E.M., Lenny Kravitz, John Mellencamp, the Beastie Boys and a few more, as well as reactions supporting the war such as country singer Darryl Worley’s “Have You Forgotten?”

But since then, songs about the conflict and its impact have been noticeably absent.

The long dry spell, however, appears to be over given the new rash of politically motivated songs, the majority on the liberal end of the spectrum, some criticizing the war, others simply calling for peace and some urging the defeat of President Bush at the polls.

Along with Waits, Earle and Wainwright, those who have recorded political songs include rocker John Fogerty, folk-blues musician Keb’ Mo’, rapper Jadakiss and dance music artist Moby collaborating with rap group Public Enemy in a track available at iTunes.

Keb’ Mo’ shifted his original idea to record a group of his favorite protest music for his new album and instead focused on songs of peace. It’s scheduled for release Sept. 21 and titled “Peace ... Back By Popular Demand.”

“This is not a time to be angry,” he says. Ever since Sept. 11 he felt that “some people are going to want blood for blood, but that’s not the answer. I just didn’t want to buy into that whole thing.”

In addition to musicians increasingly going on record musically about the war in Iraq, the legacy of Sept. 11 and other election-year concerns, many pop, rock, folk, blues and hip-hop artists are taking part in benefit concerts supporting specific candidates or simply promoting voter participation.

On the top of the list is a series of all-star rock concerts due this fall featuring Springsteen, Young, R.E.M., Pearl Jam and other acts who are unhappy with the Bush administration.

“More than at any time in recent history, there’s a sense that there’s something at stake and that the future is up for grabs, and I think musicians are quick to respond to that,” says Rolling Stone music editor Joe Levy. “Without a doubt there is more political activity than we’ve seen in the world of rock ‘n’ roll for the last 20 years.”

Some industry veterans say radio and consumer boycotts last year of the Dixie Chicks after singer Natalie Maines criticized President Bush during a concert in Europe may have left some musicians reluctant to express their views publicly.

“I must say I was really happy when I wrote ‘President’s Day,’ ” says veteran singer-songwriter Wainwright, whose humorous song is posted on his website. “But the thought did occur to me that maybe I should be careful about singing it. That’s not a good sign when you start worrying about a visit from one of [Atty. Gen.] John Ashcroft’s people because of a song you wrote.”

There’s also the issue of how much mass media exposure any of the songs may receive.

“At first it surprised me when I heard somebody ask, ‘Where’s all the protest music?’ ” says Meg Griffin, programmer and host of two shows for Sirius Satellite Radio. “I’m seeing a lot of it, but I realized why they’d say that, because where would they hear those songs?”

Anything that might polarize listeners is considered anathema in commercial radio.

“Because the country is so divided about so many issues, I think that many programmers are reluctant to play any record that suggests a particular stand,” says Jeff Pollack, one of the nation’s leading radio consultants. “It isn’t like it once was, when -- particularly in pop and rock -- there’d be a protest song that would get tremendous support and airplay.”

By the same token, Pollack says airplay shouldn’t be the only measure of political activism.

“There’s so much activity out there,” he says, “you can’t examine John Fogerty and Tom Waits and what they’re doing [in the recording studio] as separate from the overall huge participation of music into politics.”

Says Rolling Stone’s Levy: “There hasn’t been this much activity inside the world of popular music since Live Aid [in 1985]. Then it was raising money for a humanitarian cause that no one could argue with. Now it’s trying to get people involved in the argument over the political fate of the United States.”