Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young, R.E.M., Pearl Jam and a deep roster of other rock stars will unite for politically minded concerts this fall that will give voice to dissatisfaction with the Bush administration.
The all-star rock shows, which are expected to begin in October and target campaign swing states, are in the planning stage but were confirmed by half a dozen music industry sources who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Insiders disagree on the unifying rhythm of the celebrity coalition. Some say it is the promise of the John F. Kerry candidacy, but at least one emphasizes the fear of President Bush's reelection. "There is a range of feeling about Kerry," the source said, "but a uniform belief that Bush must go."
The tour turns up the volume of the rock scene's role in politics, but it is not the only example of an apparent surge of commentary among artists. Rockers seem virtually unanimous in their anti-Bush stance, just as country music has seen a wave of passionate patriotism and support for the president, exemplified by the songs of Toby Keith.
MTV has been showing a video by the British dance-pop outfit Faithless that features a teen shipped off to Iraq only to return home wounded and disillusioned. Representing a different generation, Tom Waits and John Fogerty have recorded songs about Iraq. For Waits, it's the first political song of his four-decade career; for Fogerty, it's a return to his Vietnam-era songs such as "Who'll Stop the Rain."
Elsewhere, rapper Sean "P. Diddy" Combs is steering a new voter registration drive, and the usually bratty punk-pop band Green Day has said its next album will be a political concept piece. Steve Earle has a new album laced with songs about Iraq and Bush and even a mocking valentine to national security advisor Condoleezza Rice. Blues player Keb Mo has an upcoming album of peace songs, including John Lennon's "Imagine" and Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth."
Introducing political commentary into music is sometimes a risky prospect -- even if it's just a passing reference.
Last weekend, Linda Ronstadt was booed in Las Vegas for praising a Bush nemesis, filmmaker Michael Moore, while Ozzy Osbourne relented to critics and removed concert imagery that showed Bush and Hitler together on an overhead screen.
The countercultural mind-set and recklessness once at the core of rock music now seem relegated to the distant past, Elton John told Interview magazine. He said that protest had often given way to strict careerism in this corporate age.
