Stop bitchin' and play!

[The Pulsebeats]

Was sat here last night with my iTunes playing away on random and got two very different songs on one after another (no real surprise there, I know), but both had a similar thread to them...plain bitching. First up was Guns n Roses Get In The Ring, where Axl calls out a host of journos who have dissed the band and second up was Fiona Apple by Ze Malibu Kids, which responds to the singer's criticism of the guys from Redd Kross (who also, along with wives and daughters, make up Ze Malibu Kids). It got me thinking if there are any other instances where bands simply write a song to bitch about how they've personally been treated and if that's something that other people actually give a shit about. Should we write a song about how we've been screwed over by the electricity company? Would anyone care? Obviously sometimes it leads to some classic rock n roll - The Ramones' KKK Took My Baby Away a case in point, and a perfect example of band in-fighting to boot, and there's always The Beatles' Taxman. What do you think? Do you care or do you wish that sometimes bands would just stop the bitching and play? Perhaps more importantly, and maybe we'll get slammed for thinking that this is something that "little kids do", but has your opinion of one artist ever been influenced by what another artist thinks of them?

[kopper]

No one cares. In fact, you're more likely to LOSE fans with stupid lyrics bitching about something else no one cares about than to gain new ones because of it. I think the biggest thing that matters is the melody, the hook, and the BEAT.

Oh, and FUCK Axl Rose. That guy's the biggest whiner of the bunch. Should've gotten his ass kicked in St. Louis.

[John Battles]

 I agree. Here's a guy that had everything (Short of talent.) , and he sabotoged his own gigs at every given opportunity. Most famously (And I'm NOT a Metallica fan, either.) the time Metallica preceded Guns'n'Roses , and James Hetfield was severely burned in a pyrotechnics mishap. Axl Rose could have snatched victory from the jaws of defeat by giving the show of his life . He bailed after about 5 minutes , and a riot ensued.....And people are supposed to care if this band reforms , or already did ?

[Alison]

It is especially annoying when rich and famous artists complain - you know the ones who make it big on there first album and then their second album is all tears about how lonely it is at the top, and no one knows who they really are, but everyone wants to get a piece... Gag!

The band fighting is also pretty stupid, but nothing is worse than the rap world when it comes to that issue! 

[Mike Humsgreen]

The Byrds So You Want to be a Rock n Roll Star and the Kinks Top of the Pops both prove Kopper's point in my opinion lyrically speaking. Both are boring to hear and have the same message that might have been more original at the time but now has been regurgitated so many times.

I think if you are going to bitch then bitch about stuff people care about like the way countries are run, the bad cultures that exist, our reliance on oil etc. The only people who care about the music industry are those in it, talk about the 1%.

[The Ultimatemost High]

If something is pissing off, sure, write about.  If you write pleasing lyrics about something enough people hate - taxes, the queen, your asshole guitar player - someone has to dig it.

[The Pulsebeats]

Yeah, those lyrics to The Byrds tune are nowt short of terrible, but when it comes down to it, if you write decent lyrics and have a great tune to back it up, does it matter if you're just moaning about something? Obviously stuff inside the music industry is generally of no importance to anyone, but there are still some people who pull it off. I think Weezer's Pork & Beans is an example, which they wrote after their label told them to go back and write some hits. Arctic Monkeys' Fake Tales Of San Francisco is another lyrically fine tune that's basically moaning about bands in England pretending to be American in the wake of the rise of The Strokes, and the soap opera that is The Libertines pulled off the whole in-band fighting thing to great aplomb on Can't Stand Me Now. 

Are there any decent garage bands out there at the moment who are commenting on bigger issues, and how well are they doing it? I remember hearing The Jeevas How Much Do You Suck? for the first time and thinking that the lyrics were just plain embarassing, but you could argue that sometimes songs like that have to be lyrically very simple in order to connect with the masses, well, they don't always have to be so simple I guess, but sometimes it might be called for. British Sea Power did it well on their last album though with Who's In Control?, which was also asking why people weren't on the street fighting about what was happening in the UK. "Sometimes I wish protesting was sexy on a Saturday night."

Oh, and Axl, basically a complete tool, but with an ace backing band.

[Mike Gallows]

Personally I HATE when bands bitch about being famous or being on tour. I've been on tour a lot and it's been hard but at the end of the day I would never complain about it, cuz I love it. The WORSE offender at this is BOB SEGER complaining about being a rock star in "turn the page". Boo Fucking Hoo BOB, we all feel sorry for you for having to play your tunes in front of hundreds of fans. And screw Metallica for covering that song as well...they are just as bad. Everytime I hear that song I get pissed.

[The Pulsebeats]

Of course when there are soooo any bands out there trying to scratch a living playing music, it really grates when successful musicians complain about the privelidged position they find themselves in and there are some great great tunes that comment on the situation of our time, and past times. Dead Kennedys, Pennywise, Propogandi, NOFX, Crass, Bad Religion...and so on and on and on...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czx2p-GHBhk

But what about when those mega-artists do it, when they comment on other issues both within and outside of their music? When Bono and Sting open their mouth on stuff do we not just tend to think of them as patronising pricks? Is this fair? Do we tend to think of what they say as less valid because of how many gazillions they have in the bank or because they're from outside out chosen genre?