Music as Rebellion

Every once in a while you happen upon a story that reassures your faith in something. Often I need these reassurances about Art, and this is a case of one...

The artist known as, Bombino is a Tuareg guitarist from Agadez, Niger. He grew up and has lived through two Tuareg rebellions. The first, during his birth, and second, after he began playing as a professional musician. But the government in attempt to hinder the rebellion, banned guitars from the Tuareg because they were seen as a symbol of revolt. Two of Bombino's fellow musicians were executed for the act, which drew him into exile. Filmmaker, Ron Wyman, heard a cassette of Bombino while traveling through the area, decided to track him down, and helped him produce an album. Since then, a full film has been created to tell his story and Bombino has been able to return and is now revered as a musician of the rebellion, playing for thousands of people and existing as a symbol and representation of peace, equal rights, and their rich, cultural heritage.

Good Luck

Folk Punk is a genre merging the composition (and often the attitude) of punk music, with the personal, down home feelings and instrumentation of folk music. There is the sense of community embedded in folk punk music, often including multiple people singing, shanty style, and instigating everyone else around to join in on the tune.

I learned about the Bloomington, IN

based band, Good Luck, from a couple of my Floridian best friends. While living with them we would often, while hanging out at home or driving out to the beach, turn on a Good Luck song at full volume and lose ourselves, shouting along with the lyrics and jumping around. For some reason, acoustic guitars and untrained singing voices sound very nostalgic and comfortable to me even if I've never heard the song before. Maybe it's because it sounds raw or like it could have, or might have, been created around a camp fire (or in a library). In any case, it is often these simple sounding songs that contain poignant and strong messages in them. I think this one is a good example...

AESTHETICS

Gook Luck is a band somewhere between the Folk and Pop Punk genres. The music is often pretty Pop based with the repetitive and catchy structure, but the singing style and the lyrics seem more imbued with punk and folk themes. This song is off of their album Into Lake Griffy, which they released in 2008. It is the first track off the record and I think performs as a wonderful introduction into their songs and the type of messages that they are trying to put across in them.

CONTENT

As with the rest of the political songs that I have posted about, the meat of it all really lies in the lyrics. This song is no exception. The lyrics and simple, poetic and perceptive. Somewhat existential at times, they talk about the human condition. Why are we here and what are we supposed to be doing with our time? It is less political and more about relationships in general, not just romantic. We're here on Earth and we're bound to bump up against other people that often become the things that sculpt and change us the most.

Here we are in this world.

I don't know how we got here, but somehow we learned how to live here.
Now our brains are too big for our heads. They're expanding.
You can order your life through meticulous planning,
but it's a crapshoot
when things unexpectedly start to move faster.
And you try to avert a disaster.
But you can't always get what you're after.
I know you know this.

We all want to feel content,
but we need more than a place to shit and to lay a bed.
If sometimes living doesn't terrify you, if love doesn't pulverize you, then where are you at?
Where's the power in that?
Though it's been nothing but complicated
since the first time that two people dated,
and your heart makes you deathly afraid,
it's all you've got.

Is it impossible, friend?
Is it only a dream to find truth in the visions you see?
Or to believe the love that I'm waiting for is somewhere waiting for me?
Well maybe the way to get what you want
is to stop waiting for it to show up.
Have faith in the wind and the rain it will come (but only if you let it come).

Yeah, everyone feels alone.
Maybe more, maybe less, maybe this year or next or when they grow old.
But what a bogus affliction!
It's the human condition. We all want affection
and the sound of another heartbeat.

Maybe when this ends and the stars all call down for me
it'll finally make sense, or just as likely still be mystery.
I don't know where you are my friend,
I don't know if I'll ever know.
But maybe you'll be there when it's time to go.