Music for the resistance

Bob Dylan biopic, "A Complete Unknown," got me thinking about what music could be the soundtrack for these times.

I went to see the Bob Dylan biopic “A Complete Unknown” over the weekend. I walked out inspired and energized by the way music can light a fire under a movement or a generation. Dylan’s early folk songs – “Blowin’ in the Wind,” “The Times They are A-Changin’” – were protest anthems before people were marching in the streets of America to stop the Vietnam War. That’s what great music can do: wake up its listeners to demand change.

And the movie – which was excellent in other ways but I am not a movie reviewer, just an appreciator – got me thinking about what music will become the soundtrack for these times. By the way, one other thing this post is not about: how much better the music was in the past. I am old, but I listen to contemporary music. I live in Seattle, afterall, where the best radio station in the world is based, KEXP. Look it up online; you’ll thank me.

Back to the music of this resistance. I don’t think the song currently taking up space in my brain as an earworm, Chappell Roan’s “Pink Pony Club,” is a likely candidate. But it does have a strong social justice message. Most of the top pop songs right now are about love and relationships, but that could change in a moment. The artists on that list are all potential candidates for writing an anthem that will energize this generation, including Roan and Billie Eillish and Taylor Swift. Personally, I’d love to see a young woman wield this inspirational power.

Of course, the soundtrack for the resistance could already be playing and I am just unaware, since I’m much less familiar with current country and rap music. I’ve seen a few videos that use the theme song from “The Hunger Games” as a revolutionary tune, but that seems a bit reductive to me, using a revolutionary anthem from a fictional movie about a revolution to be the soundtrack for real political action. By the way, if you haven’t read “The Hunger Games” books, I strongly recommend them. They seemed considerably more politically subversive when I read them before watching the movies, which came off a bit more violent but tamer politically.

So what should be on the playlist for the resistance? If you have suggestions, please leave them in the comments. We could start a list on Spotify.

In a recent Substack post, Beto O’Rourke included a quote from punk rocker poet Henry Rollins: “This is not a time to be dismayed, this is punk rock time. This is what Joe Strummer trained you for.” O’Rourke concluded his post with a video of The Clash performing “Clampdown.”

Music as inspiration for social change has been the subject of much scientific research and even commands space on the National Institutes of Health website.

According to a study published in Frontiers in Psychology in 2013, music serves three main purposes: to regulate arousal and mood, to achieve self-awareness, and as an expression of social relatedness. Music as a catalyst for social change seems to involve a bit of all three. The research study, a combined effort of scientists at Chemnitz University of Technology in Germany and Ohio State University in the United States, involved hundreds of interviews with people about what role music plays in their lives.

Here’s one part that spoke to me: “Music contributes to social cohesion and thereby increases the effectiveness of group action. Work and war songs, lullabies, and national anthems have bound together families, groups, or whole nations.”

A 2024 report in Psychology Today talks about music as a motivator, because of the way it can influence our moods and feelings.

“For example, empowering music — music that sounds energetic, triumphant, and strong — can make listeners feel more inspired, and less afraid,” wrote Shahram Heshmat of the University of Illinois.

He uses athletes as an example of this, explaining that music in sports is a near-universal practice to enhance motivation, mood and self esteem. New Zealand sports teams employ Maori battle cries or haka before games to put them in the right mindset, Heshmat wrote.

Please motivate me and your friends with your ideas for a soundtrack for resistance.

P.S. An indulgent aside: The time I met Henry Rollins, a screamer on stage but a sweetheart in real life.

One of my best friends in college, Veronica Rusnak, had a cool job working for the University of Illinois campus radio station, WPGU, and wrote about music for The Daily Illini. When Black Flag was scheduled to play at local rock club Mabels in 1982, some high school students protested outside the club because they bought tickets for the gig but weren’t allowed inside because they were underage. The band heard about it and offered to play a private concert for the students at one of their homes. Veronica was invited to the secret show and I got to tag along. After Black Flag’s set, Veronica (and I) sat down with Henry Rollins for an interview. The fact that they recognized the importance of giving back to their young fans made a lasting impression on me. So did the parents who welcomed this very loud – and kind of scary looking – punk band into their living room.

I couldn’t find the awesome story Veronica wrote about the livingroom concert and interview, but I did find a photo she apparently took at Mabels. If she has a copy of the story in her personal archives, I’ll post it on my Substack later.