I found Hands Held High and The Little Things Give You Away very strong songs because they critique governments. With all the things going on in the world lately I would really like it if the band made some more of these kind of songs. Two topics in particular that bother me: - The NSA debacle, Manning, Snowden, the fact that everything is being monitored and the way the US government reacts to whistleblowers - The extreme violence against the LGBT community and the anti-gay laws in Russia, the fact that it's 2013 and still people worldwide can't love who they want to love nor marry the same sex because others don't approve I think these these topics, the latter one in particular, bother the band too and in my opinion it would be great to have one or two serious songs about these topics. Macklemore made a song/rap about this too (Same Love) and while I'm not particularly a fan of his music, I now really respect him for making it. I think it's amazing when artists tackle problems in society in their work. So, would you like it if the band put one or two political songs on the next album, like they did on MTM?
I think it all depends on how the band is feeling about subjects. The band was obviously mad enough to write more than 2 songs on MTM about the administration that was in power at the time. Truth be told, more than just Linkin Park dabbled in anti government stances back then because approval rate of how things were going was quite low. I truely think that now, with the current administration, it would be smart if they would keep their mouths shut on the matter. The country I live in is terribly divided and I don't think Linkin Park want to pidgeon holed themselves into a position of being labeled as a pro or anti administration group of individuals. If they do any political songs now, they risk losing fans who may see things differently.
They also lost fans by never returning to nu-metal. I don't think LP is the kind of band that plays safe to please fans. They make the music they want to make. I just personally hope that they don't stay silent about things like these.
Strange how you didn't mention No More Sorrow as it's probably the most political song in their repertoire. I doubt they'll tackle those subjects. It's easy to critique governments and war because we all do, but making a stance in such sensitive subjects like those you mentioned is probably not the best idea. They shouldn't engage in such polemic themes. (Although they may have their opinions on them by now)
Sometimes silence is smart. If things are a big enough problem, and the band feels that it is worth addressing, there is always Music For Relief that the band can always reach out with. I think putting songs of the matter on a new album could drastically sway opinions of everyone, not just fans, who hear it. Considering how many collaborations the band had that coincided with the release of LIVING THINGS, they could lose partnerships on stances they take on a new album. All the way around, it's not very smart for buisness.
Linkin Park have about as good a track record with "political songs" as Green Day, a handful of good and some real duds. TLTGYA was actually very specific and was great while No More Sorrow was vague and was terrible, but at the same time Hands Held High let you know exactly who that "mumbling leader on TV" was and was also complete garbage. I see them going more the ATS route; having songs that could be (loosely) interpreted as political but don't come right out about talking about COWARDS AND THIEVES and bombs going off in mosques. The Catalyst was a pretty good example of lyrics juuust vague enough to not date themselves but clear enough to be noticeable, even if they weren't exactly brilliant.
Nu Metal was as dead as disco before MTM came around. Linkin Park's switch was in first part reuniting the band members who kept branching out into side projects, and secondly to prevent their mainstream career from becoming totally irrelevant to everybody not in the xTreem Hardkore fandom (something destined to dwindle as years go on regardless of what they do). LP have always been playing up mainstream styles. They experiment with those mainstream styles, but at the end of the day they are songs designed to appeal to radio lovers. But I digress. LP's only good political song was TLTGYA on part that it at least painted a vivid, persuasive picture. All of the others had poorly executed lyrics (and if we count Dead by Sunrise, then awful) that often came off as vague, toothless complaining. Songs targeting a specific administration become dated very fast. I think a good political song looks at issues (instead of targets) and leverages a poetic, anecdotal pathos, and should fuel a core message of ethos and logos (eg, more than just complaining and screaming). I should be persuaded to do something when I hear it, or I should understand more about the world they are painting; some situation which I may not have heard of before. It needs actual emotion that stems from the story they are telling . Even despite what I think would make a good political song......... Personally, I don't think I actually like political songs. At least Linkin's.
More political songs would be good. If they do an LGBT song, it better be good, not Same Love at all. If they do an LGBT song, they better realise there are bigger issues than same-sex marriage. Too many celebrities just think of gay, and forget bisexuality (or even believe it doesn't exist!) and trans* people. It's like half of the population thinks "elgeebeetee" is latin for homosexual or some shit. If they do more political songs, I'd love to hear something about the whole NSA situation.
Very difficult in my opinion. Those kind of topics by nature are really polarizing, and I don't think Linkin Park would like to divide their own fanbase (or even neutrals) even further. It would be a very bold thing to address those topics but that could also a double-edged weapon.. It might do them good as well as it could backfire on them horribly. Also, if you'd like them write about that stuff, I think you should be equally prepared to hear something you didn't expect, it's a 50/50 chance. One thing is what you WANT to hear and another what's on their minds.
Yeah, but, then, that just depends on how you read it. I think that that song, along with some of the songs on "A Thousand Suns" are a bit broader in terms of how you can interpret the lyrics.
Yeah exactly. Wretches and Kings made me think of a few different things and once I studied more politics and more history it made even more sense to me. And does anyone else notice how genius Mike's rapping and metaphor is in those verses? "If you fear what I feel, put em up right high."
What if Linkin Park go down the American Idiot route and create a political rock opera? I'd like to see that happen!
That's not happening my friend... I want them to be free whatever they want to make.. if they go to Reanimation approach with a mixture of New Divide dynamics, then that's fine for me.. what i missed from the band is the darker side from them just like The Catalyst..
Actually, none of us are actually pressuring the band to make the music we want to hear. They are free to make whatever music they want, it's just that we like to fantasize...