Written by Marco Crisari
Recent events involving Ed Sheeran and Macklemore have resurfaced an ages old argument about the place of politics in music. It’s frankly a weird argument because it’s not a do they/don’t they belong argument. Politics in music is a fact, not a debatable question. It’s turned into an argument by people who suddenly discover a beloved band or musician holds political views different to theirs and they cannot reconcile their love of the music with their opposing political beliefs so they start demanding the band keep their position to themselves. It’s a weird thing to do because it more often than not shows they have never actually listened to that band’s lyrics. You could sell out a stadium tour with people who threw devil horns and rocked out for years to ‘Killing In The Name Of' before they found out what RATM have always stood for and got all butthurt and upset before loudly vowing on social media never to listen to them again.
But, this is old ground. Why am I bringing it up? Because James Hetfield kinda looked at Sheeran and said ‘hold my beer’. Just in case you’ve been living under a rock the Metallica frontman said “Metallica is not here, like some other entertainers, to influence you with their bullshit”. There are so many layers of wrong in these simple 14 words that it’s hard to know where to start, but some things need to be said.
I suspect James, like so many people, struggles with the overlap between politics and ethics and self interest. His statement was a clear reference to Macklemore, and by extension to any band and entertainer showing public support for Palestine. The whole question of Palestinian support is always offered up as a political position, but it is in fact an ethical position. People don’t show their support for Palestine because they hold a particular political view, but because they can’t stand silently by watching a genocide unfold before their own eyes. So the problem now really is that Metallica consider the taking of an ethical position against genocide to be ‘bullshit’. There is both cowardice and hypocrisy rolled up in this. If James doesn’t believe there is a genocide being enacted on the Palestinian people then let him come out and say so. Let him stand by his beliefs and make his argument. At least we would have clarity. But if he accepts that there is a genocide taking place in open view of the world then his choice is to either speak up like others or remain quiet on the whole matter because he genuinely believes music and ethics should be kept separate. What he can’t do is hide behind his music and simultaneously call public objection to genocide ‘bullshit’. That is the work of a coward who is far more interested in keeping his Las Vegas millions safe than being a good person who understands the responsibility that comes with their platform.
And what about the hypocrisy? How is this coherent with his own songs? Remind me again James what ‘One’ and ‘Eye Of The Beholder’ and ‘…And Justice For All’ and other such classics are about? You weren’t trying to influence me with your bullshit were you?
But that isn’t where the problem ends. What made the whole thing even more objectionable was context and circumstance. James chose to share his position from the stage of the 17,600 capacity Los Angeles Sphere, where Metallica are mid-way through a 24 night residency where the very cheapest tickets at the back went on sale for $200, with premium tickets upwards of $800. You can imagine resale costs. You couldn’t ask for a better example of money over principles than this.
This is all very depressing of course, but you know what? Mere days after James showed us who he is we got a beautiful, glorious, life-affirming antidote to Metallica’s sad little display of corporate greed. Take a bow Turnstile. The Baltimore hardcore band showed the world what it means to not only have principles, and not only express them openly, but to act on them and do something positive and practical to make a real difference. Turnstile partnered with Human Concern International (HCI), a humanitarian nonprofit, and put on a free gig for 60,000 people at the Washington monument, with many more people turned away to avoid overcrowding. No ticketing, just a request that those who were able to please donate what they could. As of writing they raised over $270,000 for relief operations in Gaza, Sudan and Lebanon.
The contrast couldn’t be greater or clearer. Metallica play a lavish gig in a huge sphere with state of the art AV effects and a laughably huge stage where band members needed semaphore to communicate with each other and they state they’re all about ‘love’ and ‘energy’ to a seated crowd who have all paid a fortune for a ticket in the US’s foremost temple to greed whilst making as much money as possible for themselves and calling out genocide objectors as ‘bullshit’. Meanwhile on the other side of the country Turnstile throw a huge free party from a stage the size of a matchbox in broad glorious sunshine with no money wasted and bring moshpits, joy and true unity to a field within shouting distance of the White House. Go and find the footage online: it’s so beautiful in its simplicity it made me cry (in a good way).
While Metallica were filling their own pockets (even more) and trotting out the same old songs to a bunch of old rich white men who like to watch oversized animations of fields of headstones, Turnstile were joyfully bouncing a crowd full of diverse young people in the autumn sunshine and raising money for genocide victims on a day that represents a fundamental shift in the history of rock and hardcore.
Turnstile have shown the world what good people do when bad people moan about other musicians’ ‘bullshit’. Be more Turnstile.
