Index
Introduction
Music is an ever-changing and influential force in history. Music at momentscarries the essence of the eras it thrives on;on other occasions music is merely a reflection of the times. Music evokes emotion in everyone, depending on what the type of music is, and the message it tries to get across to the listener, the different emotions it stirs within the heart. The song Cult of Personality, released by the all black Hard Rock band, the Living Colour, is a very popular and influential song of its time,as it stimulated a sense of disillusionment in an already rebellious age worldwide mirroring this very same feeling.
A Brief Backdrop
It is fairly common for artists to incorporate a message into their music. Songs by some bands have a message hidden that only comes to ones attention through a series of subliminal clues and trivial hints throughout the lyrics or the music video, while other bands keep the message is the main driving thought for the entirety of the lyrics or the video. Cult of personality as a song that appeared in the late eighties as anecho of not just the suppression of expression especially through music, but also of minorities and the lack of guarantee in governments worldwide.
The band Living Colour was created as a voice against an unofficial apartheid in the music industry, and was originally known as the Black Rock Coalition. Not only was the band highlyinfluential because of the music they created, but also simply because they were one of the only Black Hard Rock bands of the eighties. To break through the norm of the times Living Colour did not give up when they faced denials, but pushed on and eventually came to be a well-respected and loved rock band. ”Living Colour began building an incendiary rep as one of NYC's best live rock acts.” (Artists.MTVBeta.com, 2013)
The Song “Cult of Personality”
If making the African American community a part of the Hard Rock community wasn't an illustration of the period, Living Colour’s hit song Cult of Personality undoubtedly was. Some of the beginning lyrics in the song include Mussolini’s, Malcolm X’s and Kennedy’s influential statements.I’m the Cult of personality, is a quote taking two completely different leaders, Mussolini, a leftist and Kennedy, a republican, who influenced history in different ways, which provokes an image ofdistrust in the history of governments. The decade of Eighties was a period when conspiracy notions thrived amongst the younger generation. Conspiracies circling the assassination of Kennedy and facts found afresh that were raised long after the rule of Mussolini led the newer generation to dissent against the administration years after these inhuman acts had occurred.
The lyrics of A Cult of Personality makes an impact upon a situation, when an individual uses mass media, propaganda, or other methods, to create an idealized and heroic public image, often through unquestioning flattery and praise. Many leaders use this technique to create an image of themthat appear to the people as a heroic figure. Even in the case of Hitler, he tried to persuade the public that he was doing everything in his power for the greater good of the world when in reality his hidden agenda was destructive for personal gain.
Another verse from Cult of Personality truly embodies how the public feels about propagandas of theworld leaders of thatera,
“I sell the things you need to be, I'm the smiling face on your TV, I'm the cult of personality, I exploit you, still you love me, I told you one and one make three, I'm the cult of personality, Like Joseph Stalin and Gandhi.”(Song Facts, 2013).
The public as a whole felt that the government was no more than a smokescreen and a ruse to make the public follow a form of numbed unquestioning culture.
The Afro Americans in the Eighties werebeginning to feel that they were making strides in equality when the government endorsed reverse discrimination and indicated that it should relax its efforts to reach employment equality on behalf of African Americans and other minority groups. Ronald Reagan proposed these new amendments in the eighties and in doing so threw the growing equality,which Afro Americans had begun to achieve,off balance. The song Cult of Personality may not be concerned with African American equality as much as the actual band does, but the song portrays a strong feeling of disgust for the regime ingeneral.
Conclusion
People may argue that not all music reflects the attitudes of society, and they would be right. Not all music does reflect a growing cause or movement, but all music does convey a feeling that a majority of people have once felt. Whether it is to be foundedupon emotions of one, two, or feelings of masses, for example the mass resentment after the Second World War, music reflects a vivid share, of the era it is produced in, the community it belongs and is purely a way of portrayal of both theaffected and effects of the time.
The band Living Colour created a song that was more in harmony withthe thoughts the people of the time had in mind, a voice of what they wanted to say aloud but couldnot find the right words to put with. Sometimes, music can create a far deep impact than the speech of a leader can, because music behind the words evokes more than just logic; it harps at the core of humanity, the thought and emotions, for alistener, for the crowd and for the audience it echoes sentiment as well.
Works Cited
Artists.MTVBeta.com, MTV, Web;http://www.mtv.com/artists/living-colour/ Retrieved. 10 July 2013
Songfacts, LLC, Tone Media, Web;http://www.songfacts.com/ detail.php?id=5013; Canton, Connecticut; retrieved 10 July, 2013
Living Colour (2013),http://www.livingcolour.com/ retrieved 16 July, 2013
