Ill Manors, the accompanying soundtrack to Plan B’s directorial debut of the same name, landed at the top of the UK charts in its first week.

Quite the achievement considering the project sees the popular British musician get heavily into the politics behind last year’s London riots and the deprivation of today’s society.

Plan B has since been praised by many for creating what The Guardian called, ‘the best British protest song in years’.

As Plan B tackles Britain’s problems, across the pond, American musicians are also making their voices heard.

Bruce Springsteen got particularly fired up on his latest album, Wrecking Ball, taking aim at the people responsible for America’s financial crisis. Yes, The Boss is back and as angry as ever.

Of course artists being political isn’t anything new, just think of other internationally renowned acts like Rage Against the Machine, Public Enemy, Bob Marley and even Bono as examples of musicians using their standing to influence public debate.

But here in Australia, music and politics are far less synonymous.

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Sure, we saw The Temper Trap make a particularly cringe-worthy attempt at political commentary on the London riots with their song; ‘London’s Burning’ earlier this year. Then there’s Midnight Oil, also a glaringly obvious and historical example.

Other than those obvious specimens though, there aren’t too many other local acts that have powerfully communicated a political message with popular success the way the Plan B’s and Springsteen’s have in their respective countries. Of course, as with everything, there are some exceptions.

There are still a handful of artists who manage to incorporate their political ideologies with their music. Xavier Rudd is one of those few who has, in 2012, taken up a cause and passionately promoted it through his latest release, Spirit Bird

Rudd labels our politicians as “a bunch of Muppets”, arguing ”we have a beautiful country, a country that we should be cherishing. But from an environmental point of view our nation is embarrassing.”

Out west, there’s The Drones, whose brutal colonial narratives and raw songcraft are used to dissect the Australian landscape and reflect on our history, asking their audience to learn from the past and see how far we’ve come and got to go.

A little-known hip-hop/rock band from Newcastle, Whitehouse, not only used their debut album, A Funky Intervention, to promote Aboriginal rights; but went on tour in July to urge their listeners to oppose what is essentially an extension of the Intervention into the Northern Territory for the next ten years under a new title ‘Stronger Futures’.

Melbourne’s Blue King Brown use reggae-style and afro-beats as a means of singing about environmental issues, while John Butler regularly filters his tunes with political rhetoric, singing about “serving the dodgy companies we keep” on ‘Revolution’.

These artists prove that there are contemporary issues and politics worth discussing. But whenever we think of music and politics intersecting, there are some things that famously come to mind. Namely, Midnight Oil and Paul Kelly fighting for land rights. But that was almost twenty years ago, what has really happened since then?

When music and politics have managed to converge in the past twelve months, it’s been seen as a novelty. A joke. Who else laughed at the hilariously awful rap about the carbon tax by MP Craig Emerson? Who is taking Angry Anderson’s new life as a member of the National Party seriously?

What makes Australian politics so hollow for these events to keep occurring? When Springsteen and Plan B used politics to influence their music, it strengthened their appeal. When this occurs in the UK or America, an artist’s popularity doesn’t wane because of their political ire.

So where is our Aussie Springsteen then? Our treasurer Wayne Swan modelled his political ideology on The Boss. That’s actually quite sad when you consider that one of our pollies had to search overseas for inspiration to serve our country.

At the moment our greatest exposure to music and politics coming together has been via ABC’s Q&A, intended as a weekly political summit, broadcast on government-funded national television.

It may be national, but its effects – musically-speaking – are quite minimal. Other than bringing up the obvious debacle of Kate Miller-Heidke’s appearance, other panel members to represent the arts have included Katie Noonan and Busby Marou.

Their influence though could barely be felt amongst the constant squabbling between both Liberal and Labor candidates.

Going by the arts representatives that have graced the show, you get the impression that today’s musicians aren’t particularly interested in politics.

Now, that may not be true, but perhaps there are others better suited towards the Q&A environment. Perhaps there are far better candidates to join Tony Jones and the panel one Monday night. Would John Butler raise his voice to show the public that musicians do have valid opinions?

Even then, while the TV show might reach a broad audience, it does not have the same effect as writing a popular song or dedicating an album to an important issue that affects our society.

So why is that that our musicians seem to shy away from taking a stand on issues? It’s not like there aren’t plenty of issues to get up fired up over. There’s immigration, the carbon tax, political dissolution, the mining boom and the environment – just to name a few.

Maybe our musicians are afraid they might cop a backlash for having a whine about Australia’s political situation when, compared to events like the London Riots, our situation can seem fairly tame.

Furthermore, why is it that our artists would rather get into the politics of countries other than Australia? As previously stated, The Temper Trap’s ‘London’s Burning’ was not an ideal way to make political commentary. Yes, they were there when the riots were happening, but the song failed miserably because the band lacked the necessary legitimacy and authority on the issue.

Perhaps one explanation for our musicians’ political apathy is the ‘lucky country effect’; the belief that Australia’s relative luck compared to the rest of the world has made us lazy and spoilt.

Hypothetically if Australia weren’t in such a sweet political situation would our music scene stand up to the task of expressing through song the issues that affect our country?

In the past month, The Age reported that Deloitte Access Economics had forecast our mining boom to end in two years. Now we’re not pretending to be financial whiz kids and nor do we want to incite fear, but just imagine for a second the serious effects the end of the boom could have on the state of Australia’s economy.

Which artists would stand up and sing for and about what affects the Australian people? More importantly though, would we really care or would we be too busy looking for a new job to notice?

Could you imagine if Matt Corby released a single in two years about job losses and political dissolution with national airplay on Nova? Would it make his music any less worth listening to than before? Would fans turn their backs because of it? As long as he doesn’t shave his hair off, he’s probably safe.

It’s possible any musician who did stand up could be open to vilification, or even ridicule. Australians have a long history of loving the underdog, but also an equally long history of ‘tall poppy syndrome, shunning those who rise to the top or seek to lecture us.

This is especially true when they come from a background such as the arts, an often misunderstood profession seen by many to be an easy way to make a living, out of touch with the average man and his struggles.

Knocking those who rise from their pedestal may be ingrained in our national identity, but that shouldn’t scare our best and brightest musicians off. They are after all, role models who can have a broader influence on the young minds of our society.

Different and independent voices are integral to diversifying the views that we already get from the media and other public figures. The more people contributing to the national conversation, the better. Musicians shouldn’t have to be afraid of career suicide just because they’re standing up for what they believe in, or for mirroring the public’s discontent with the way things are.

Australian musicians should be allowed to grow a pair without being knocked down by naysayers. Musicians have just as much right to be political as any other citizen in our democracy.

The more artists that stand up and create art that reflects and challenges modern day society, the better. It’s thought provoking, it creates healthy debate and it helps to keep people informed.

If the issue at hand is important and strikes a chord with many, the power of music can be a great way to electrify support for a cause and enlighten the public on serious issues or symbolise our anger.

Midnight Oil remain the championing example, their Blackfella/Whitefella tour of outback Australia, allowed them to see first-hand the health and living standards of remote Aboriginal communities. What the band learnt from the experience was a springboard for educating the public on what so many had previously ignored.

Their positive affects and progressive agitation prove that we should embrace musicians having a voice and if we don’t agree with it we’re more than welcome to say our piece through whatever means at our disposal, particularly in today’s digital climate that’s dominated by social media.

So next time we need to grab a pitchfork and head to Canberra, we should hope that our Australian musician friends join us with as much fervour as Plan B has in England. Or more importantly we could steer clear of dismissing Xavier Rudd’s voice just because he’s a musician, and if you’re inspired enough maybe even join him.

Because if things in Australia do happen to fall by the wayside, you can be sure it’ll be the musicians who’ll be able to make your voices heard.

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