Revisiting Anti-Bush Protest Music in the Trump Era
The day after Donald Trump won the presidency, New Yorkers filled the subway tunnel beneath 14th Street with wall-to-wall post-it notes. The notes contained messages of support, despair and catharsis. One anonymous person scribbled the following:
It's a common refrain on the left. Music fans want to believe Trump will usher in some golden age of righteous fury in the form of protest rock.
Is it too much to hope that we'll at least get some, good righteously pissed-off music out of the Trump years?
— Will Dana (@wdana) November 9, 2016
On the flip side, I'm interested to see what kind of music and culture thrives out of a Trump presidency. Like punk under Thatcherism.
— Matt Trevithick (@M_Trevithick) November 9, 2016
For realists, this is cold comfort: There is enough oppression and violence already for protest-minded music to flourish in Obama's America, and anyway, meaningful art isn't produced when the safety and resources available to marginalized artists are gradually stripped away.
"At least the next four years will have great art" - I would gladly only listen to Hoobastank for the next four years if it meant no Trump
— tyler mccauley (@tylernotyler) November 13, 2016
In this area, Trump will not be an aberration from historical norms. Rock and punk bands have been sneering at U.S. presidents for as long as rock and punk have existed. During the Nixon years, Elton John and Neil Young heeded the call with "Postcard From Richard Nixon" and "Ohio," respectively. During the 1980s, hardcore and hip-hop sailed to prominence on a wave of anti-Reagan fury, from D.O.A.'s "Fucked Up Ronnie" to The Damned's "Bad Time for Bonzo" and Prince's "Ronnie Talk to Russia." The 1990s were quieter, but they brought us calling George H.W. Bush a "war pig fuck" on 1992's "Youth Against Fascism," as well as a that mentioned Monica Lewinsky by name.
