With 2016 coming to a close and the Grammy’s fast approaching in February 2017, it is time to talk about which musicians should be recognized the most for their work over the last twelve months.
Music is something that, when used right, can bring very different people together. Music is an art form; it shakes us to our cores, inspiring full ranges of emotion, reflecting the concerns and desires of a generation. It can be entertainment, or it can make a political statement. The Drive-By Truckers, a Southern rock band with a reputation for political commentary, released American Band this year, perhaps their most politically-charged album in their nearly 20-year history. The album discusses gun violence, police violence against African Americans, and the racism that is often blamed on the American South, despite it being widespread throughout the country.
The album starts with “Ramon Casiano,” the true story of Harlon Carter and Ramon Casiano. Carter was an American teenager who murdered Casiano, a Mexican teenager, in Texas in 1931. Carter evaded his prison sentence and went on to become the leader of the National Rifle Association. Poignant lyrics connect the past deeds of Carter to racist gun activists today: “He had the makings of a leader of a certain kind of men, who need to feel the world’s against him… Men whose trigger pull their fingers, of men who’d rather fight than win / United in revolution, like in mind and like in skin.” Songwriter Mike Cooley describes the typical platform of bigoted leaders: men of privilege, who feel threatened by minorities fighting for equal rights, turn to scapegoating and violence in an effort to delegitimize civil rights battles. Starting this album with a historical moment is a brilliant move to show that violence against people of color is not something new that has been escalated by the media. The incident of 1931 shows that violence born from racism has always been a problem, and we as a society need to do something to end it.
The ninth track on the album, “What it Means,” directly mentions the shootings of 18-year-old Michael Brown and 17-year-old Trayvon Martin. The lyrics reflect a combination of anger, fear for the condition of the United States, and deep sorrow for the loss of young lives. Lyrics by Patterson Hood call out the racism that was vehemently denied by conservative media coverage: “If you say it wasn’t racial when they shot him in his tracks, I guess that means that you ain’t black… I mean Barack Obama won, and you can choose where to eat. But you don’t see too many white kids lying bleeding on the street.” These words suggest that, although our society is in a better place that in was in 1950, people are still dying, and we have a lot farther to go. It also implies that, if you know that this is happening and still deny that racism is the problem, then you are, in fact, perpetuating institutionalized racism.
The reason American Band is such a striking record is that its political boldness and liberal message is uncommon in bands that sing with a southern drawl and come from Georgia. With frank language and grungy harmonies, the Truckers are vocalizing their concerns about race and gun violence to an audience that is typically made up of conservative, gun-collecting, white southerners. This is a way for the message from movements like Black Lives Matter to be spread even to the communities that refuse to listen.
