The day the song was released – December 7, 1984 – I took my paper-run money to Brashs record store and bought my first seven-inch vinyl single. At home, it spun on repeat on the turntable. It was a formative moment for me. All my idols were involved in this project. All the artists and musicians I admired joined in an act of selflessness that was the outward display of their social conscience.
Idols, role models, are important to young people. Their behaviour shapes the thinking of a young mind and helps construct a worldview.
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At the risk of sounding like the Boomer I am not, I sometimes wonder whether Gen Z misses out here. I wonder why the same social conscience is no longer evident in popular music.
Perhaps it’s because those British and Irish pop icons who sang for Africa – now described as Boomers – were only one generation away from those who witnessed the horror of World War II. The despair and disgrace of the Vietnam War was in their living memory. At the same time, the Cold War gave us all fear of annihilation. Globalisation and mass media gave us knowledge of the deprivation of the Third World while the West enjoyed wealthy lives.
So of course, Sting was singing about disarmament of the two superpowers and U2 about violence, conflict and Ireland’s Troubles. And Midnight Oil sang about politics, consumerism, Indigenous disadvantage and the threat of nuclear war. I listened to music made by these bands and artists, and they knew how to “feed the world”, to shake things up.
Pretty sure when Taylor Swift suggests you Shake It Off, she’s not inviting you to disrupt. And Sabrina Carpenter isn’t demanding an end to child labour in coffee production in Espresso.
I’m not claiming that the desire for social upheaval isn’t expressed in indie rock, pop and rap. It’s just that the mainstream music doesn’t fly that flag any more.
Relationships, sexuality and the industry itself provide plenty of material, but songs about overthrowing the system do not get many plays on the streaming services.
So, my Gen Z child’s playlist is on rotation as we drive, and Kendrick Lamar is dissing Drake again: “I hate the way that you walk, the way that you talk, I hate the way that you dress.”
Ouch. I can’t see those two making a charity record together any time soon. I guess if Gen Z are looking for warriors of social justice to model themselves on, they will have to look elsewhere.
Maree Badgery-Parker is a writer and a schoolteacher.