Sunday, February 22, 2015
Disparity By Design: Kairos
The hardcore band Rise Against was formed in 1999 and is most known for singing about current events and progressive movements. In 2011, they released their album, Endgame, which consisted of songs about Hurricane Katrina, Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and LGBT suicides. One song on the album called Disparity by Design addressed the Occupy movements that occurred around the same time the album was released. The Occupy Movement was a series of protests around the world fighting for economic equality and evenly distributed economic relations. Since the album was released as these events were happening, more people were able to relate to the lyrics and understand what the band was trying to get across. By singing about current issues in society, Rise Against is able to appeal to a larger group of people. In this case, the Occupy movement was an issue before 2011, but the attention-garnering Occupy Wall Street movement took place in September, 6 months after Endgame was released. Because the band released the album at an opportune time, one can suggest that through the song Disparity by Design, more people were able to realize the growing problem and participate in the upcoming protests.
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I completely agree that these songs by Rise Against Machine portray deep societal issues we have going on. Now the response these songs elicit from the intended audience can be interpreted in two ways. In my opinion there are other ways to fight these issues than protesting and occupying wall street. Also, how does this relate to music in the 1960s?
ReplyDeleteThe songs released by Rise Against definitely had Kairos as they were released soon after the events they were about. The Kairos of their songs was likely very important in making the public aware of what was occurring. However, their music was probably more effective at raising funds and gaining social support than increasing protest participation.
ReplyDeleteThe kairos of this song is probably the most important component of the rhetoric within the song. Rise Against wrote this song during a time of great challenge towards long-held values and traditions. Even the band's name illustrates what the band's underlying goal was; to persuade the public to "rise against" oppression and protest.
ReplyDeleteYou do well to identify what events in specific catalyze the writing of their album, Endgame.
Rise Against almost made it their vendetta to let the world know about current problems going on, and to fuel listeners with reasons to make a change. But like Ankit said, it is important to relate this to the music in the 1960s. Janis Joplin and Bob Dylan are examples of artists in the sixties that also brought light to current events and provoked their audiences to make changes.
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