Contemporary Culture and Environmentalism

So, inspired partially by Mike’s Making Change Happen project, Laurent’s culture post, Yo’s IQ post and Turaj’s Van Morrison song (I still think it was more about emotional enlightenment rather than Smith and Rousseau), I decided to delve into the murky world of politically-charged songs and message music... In general, popular music has struggled to combine political issues with universal themes that can appeal directly to the human heart. Furthermore, in a liberal democracy, it is generally assumed that there are two sides to every story, and it can be easy to alienate half your audience if you “pick a side”...

However, “The Pioneers” by Bloc Party seems to be an exception that proves the rule. This song works because it picks a theme – human hubris and the rational detachment from society and evironment inherent to enlightenment scientific attitudes – that doesn’t attack any one person, nationality or social class in particular. And as we all know, the concern it expresses for the implications of these attitudes is very contemporary.

Here are the lyrics - I think they are pretty self-explanatory after Turaj’s course:

If it can be broke then it can be fixed,
if it can be fused then it can be split
It's all under control
If it can be lost then it can be won,
if it can be touched then it can be turned
All you need is time

We promised the world we'd tame it, what were we hoping for?

A sense of purpose and a sense of skill, a sense of function but a disregard
We will not be the first, we won't
You said you were going to conquer new frontiers,
Go stick your bloody head in the jaws of the beast

We promised the world we'd tame it, what were we hoping for?
Breathe in, breathe out

So here we are reinventing the wheel
I'm shaking hands with a hurricane
It's a colour that I can't describe,
It's a language I can't understand
Ambition, tearing out the heart of you
Carving lines into you
Dripping down the sides of you

We will not be the last.

The lyrical structure is a subtle progression from absolute certainty in scientific methodology in the first verse, to increasing self-reflection on the dynamics of a competitive system of knowledge in the second, and ultimately despair and confusion once the limits of human capacity have been acknowledged in the third.

Beyond the message, what makes this song particularly striking is the use of the singer’s voice to convey urgency through the short, sharp, staccato phrasing of every sentence. This urgency is also conveyed in the gradual build up of instruments. The first verse commences with sparse, angular riffs from two electric guitars before a martial drum-beat kicks in on “all you need is time”. Eventually, the bass-line appears as the first verse is repeated. In addition, the repetition of the scientific mantras “it’s under control”, “all you need is time”, and “we will not be the last” reinforces the irony of the statements themselves as the urgency of the vocal delivery undermines the listener’s faith in the “pioneers’” certitude. It sounds like the singer is reassuring himself, and not doing a good job of it. Indeed, the song can be read as an endorsement of “strong ecological modernization” or fundamental structural reform as it implicitly asserts the futility in trying to “solve problems with the thinking that created them”.

Anyway, if you are crazy enough to have read this far, you might want to listen to the song on youtube. Here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8N_n5npm7I

But be warned, music that tries to convey tension and confusion is not necessarily easy on the ear the first time you listen to it. But it rewards multiple listens. And I am sure you will agree that the video explores several interesting interrelated themes in the space of three minutes...

Aah, only 139 days to the concert… just around the corner... the anticipation!!!