Accountability in Music • Page 899

sigh

 

Shit sucks

 

Not shocking from her in the least

 

Don’t complain, she will drive her key into the side of your pretty little souped up 4 wheel drive

 

that song goes off at karaoke

 

I briefly lived in her hometown when between foster homes

but that was before she was famous

 

Her biggest claim to fame should be writing that god-awful "I Got My Stretchy Pants On" song that they played at Target for Christmas.

 

She’s awful, she’s been anti vax for awhile. Another country artist that’s MAGA adjacent, seems like it’s 95% of the genre now.

 

Oh country is about to have a big 4 years

 

what do you mean “now”

 

I mean any artist that speaks up like Maren, Kacey, or Natalie Maines is ostracized so the whole industry is fucked up

 

They’ve had a big last two years

 

I get that it's not all modern country artists but when Morgan Wallen can go on a national apology tour after being caught on camera saying a racial epithet and arguably become bigger than he's ever been, or small-minded songs like Jason Aldean's Try That in a Small Town can be such hits, bolstered by the support of the exact kind of people you think enjoy songs like that, the genre evidently still has a problem. You look at the reception to a Black woman making space for herself in a genre like that (and moving hella units, well done Beyoncé honestly) and I just can't be all that surprised shit like this is still happening in the year of someone's lord 2025.

 

and Jason's wife has been openly bigoted

 

The tone deafness of the "Before He Cheats" singer participating in Trump's inauguration is hilarious

 

There's an irony in her being an outspoken animal rights activist and a supporter of same-sex marriage and choosing to sing in front of RFK and the numerous anti-LGBTQIA+ politicians who'll be in attendance.

As long as the check clears, I guess.

 

a lot animal rights people/vegans think RFK is going to make everyone eat healthy food lol

 

We all need to be prepared to see more and more of the "LIBERAL HOLLYWOOD ELITE" show their true colors in the next few months and years. It's always been about money and I'm scared the tide has turned and they're going to follow trump/maga since his platform is essentially about making sure the rich get richer (and too many poor maga people don't understand that)

 

was reflecting on art today in response to the stomach churning neil gaiman stuff

art comes from the soul

if the way we engage with art can't pick up on such depravity, that points to a veil between us & art

the moral question of "separation of art & artist" is irrelevant

we've probably not advanced enough collectively to really wield art as the tool that it is, which is why work that is masterfully crafted but missing some key dimension (SOUL) can become so popular and loved

the answer to something like this isn't "bad people can make good art" it's "if we think art made by someone that acts like this is good, then we don't know what good is... collectively"

there is a better way

there must be

(borne out of many arguments with my friend who believes there is an objective good & bad to art that's more about what it's saying/expressing/feeling than how it's saying/expressing/feeling it, and that craft isn't a substitute for that essence, but a vehicle for it. something can be masterfully, masterfully crafted and be bad art. i don't necessarily agree with that, but a bit of that perspective is sorely needed to reckon w/ things like this)

 

bad people and/or people that do bad things routinely make good art because these two things are simply not correlated. probably a whole lot of bands routinely discussed on here have members who have done horrible things in private we will never know about, particularly if they are commercially successful. doubly so if they formed before let's say 2000. might as well find your peace about it now.

 

Personally, I don’t believe that there are good and bad people in the way being discussed here.

I typed up a long post, but I don’t know if anybody even cared what I have to say.

I do believe there are evil people, but I don’t think it’s them and all good people. There’s a lot to consider and context to think about in each situation.

It’s easy to want to divide good vs bad as it allows us to put ourselves in the good camp for whatever reasons we use to self justify ourselves. I don’t think it’s that easy or an honest assessment of humanity.

 

i have spiritual beliefs that render that null. it's fine if others don't share them. if you believe art comes from a higher self/spiritual plane, it's clear that it's a powerful tool that can be used for directional purposes. also the denial of evil is just naivete imo.

it depends on what we mean by "good art" too. beyond just craft, art that touches on a universal truth/beauty is necessarily wrapped up in the harm or good we do others. the deeper you go the more all things are intertwined.

 

I think that you don't have to beat yourself up over enjoying or having enjoyed the works of someone that turned out to be a scumbag, or feel like it should have been obvious in some way, if that's what you're doing.

Hindsight is 20/20, and anyone can say after the fact that they should've picked up on the cues, but there are so many people out there who write or create crazy, dark, awful things, who are actually not terrible people. Fiction is fiction, personas are personas, etc., etc.

 

“good” and “bad” people don’t exist. the capacity to do harm is an essential part of being human; that’s what free will is. it’s convenient and maybe even comforting to explain away heinous acts as the result of someone having an evil soul, but it’s hardly ever that simple. good people do bad things, bad people do good things. someone like neil gaiman has done vile, disgusting things, and he should be criticized accordingly. he should probably lose his platform, his wealth, and be forced to engage in intense counseling and rehabilitation, among other things. his art exists separately from him, so his actions don’t really have any impact on its “goodness” or “badness.” people can choose to engage with or avoid his work, and there are valid arguments for both choices. i think seeking understanding of how someone like him (who, it sounds like, has his own history of trauma) can end up the way he did, we might be better off than if we just say “bad man bad” and leave it at that. this kind of shit always sucks, but painting it in black and white serves no one and nothing except our own desire to make difficult things more easily digestible.