Music Politics Quotes

People underestimate the hip-hop audience and the capacity to understand politics when it's part of music.

I was always a politician from the day the civil rights people chose me as their protest singer.

When it comes to music, we should be hoping for as outlandish a Republican candidate as we can get.

If you give a good performance, something that gets some feeling across to people, that's such a rare gift. It's underestimated at this point in history, when the music biz is inevitably turning into a kind of politics.

Ray Charles' revolutionary approach to music was also reflected in his politics and his deep and abiding commitment to Martin Luther King and the plight of African-Americans. Ray Charles may not have been on the front lines, but he put his money where his mouth was.

We have quite a few political songs: 'Channel Z,' let's 'Keep This Party Going' on. Our lyrics aren't too hit-you-over-the-head, but they have political undertones. We're active politically.

Politics can be strengthened by music, but music has a potency that defies politics.

Probably the biggest bring-down in my life was being in a pop group and finding out just how much it was like everything it was supposed to be against.

It's not like we were setting out to make a political statement - we're just a band with opinions.

There were a lot of anti-apartheid rallies and marches and concerts that we would go to as a family. And music was a big part of that. It was never just the politics.

If rock criticism is to be a political calling, which has always been my angle, that's obviously not because it's a fountainhead of protest songs.

The idea that musicians should be talking about politics is, in some ways, quite a sixties' idea. Music no longer has a vanguard role in youth culture.

I'm a Republican myself, though I think there are actually some Democrats in Lynyrd Skynyrd.

My dad's family were political and he was always a theatrical creature, whereas my mum is really musical and her father was the touring pianist with Nat King Cole. My family was an explosive mixture of politics, religion and music - no wonder I turned out how I did.

I think that all music is inherently political, and, at the same time, I'm interested in the politics of inclusion not exclusion. So I think that my goal is to make music that anybody can hear and feel moved by.

Music is the language of the heart, and conservatives always screw it up.

In fact, many rock critics look askance at explicitly political lyrics, which I think is pretty stupid, without denying that some political lyrics are also pretty stupid.

Ultimately, to insist that rock criticism be political is first to insist that the humans who make and enjoy music are embroiled in politics whether they like it or not - and whether they know it or not.

I've been in a band, so I understand the politics. Sometimes the bass player doesn't like what the guitar player is doing, and you have to sort of even that out. But I've also always loved the technology part of it. I've always loved the studio part. Making albums. Besides writing songs, which has been my primary thing, making records would be second. Obviously, touring would be third. Touring wasn't my favorite thing to do, but the first few tours were pretty fun. Seeing the world and everything.

Opening acts are hard, really hard. There's more politics involved than music, sometimes.

I could write songs about politics, but I'm conscious of not writing songs that sound the same as the ones I wrote 30 years ago.

If it's just politics that's running music, f - k that. I'm out of here! I can't think of anything more boring.

Back in the day, in '91 or so, I tried to interview Fugazi for Rolling Stone, which the band felt stood for everything they detested about corporate infiltration of music. They said, 'We'll do the interview if you give us a million dollars of cash in a suitcase.' Which was their way of saying no.

Macklemore gets a Grammy over Kendrick Lamar. I still can't get over that. But again, it's not Macklemore's fault. It's the way of the country.

Politics has always been in my music. Anybody who doesn't understand how political "Copperhead Road" is isn't listening very well.