When is a song not a song? When it is the soundtrack to a cause, the start of a dialogue, a rallying point and an act of altruism. It is an idea that, for a great time, was seen as a legacy of idealists and hippies from 50 years ago. But, I would suspect that given the way that the world, and in the case of this song, specifically The USA, has turned in the last decade, and even more so in the last year, that such ideas of sonic activism are being re-evaluated by many. The idea of music as an act of resistance is gaining new momentum.
Solid Gold’s latest single is the perfect embodiment of that, and “Government Grade” is a song that goes way beyond a piece of sonic entertainment. Although, of course, it is that too.
As its smooth sonics and lilting grooves embrace you with their sonic charms, and its hazy harmonies and synth-driven, almost neo-classical infusions beguile you, its cinematic scope becomes obvious, and it becomes clear that there is something powerful at the song’s heart. The lyrics level-headedly and precisely describe a sense of betrayal and failure on the part of the government, but, more so, reading between the lines, our minds play the media footage of seemingly out-of-control (or deliberately so) government forces descending on specific American cities. (And by specific, of course, I mean liberal leaning, predominantly blue-voting cities that the powers-that-be feel a threat, or at least an easy pawn in their power game.)
Beyond just raising awareness, all profits from this song go to various Minnesota Mutual Aid funds, a necessary support system for the resilient residents of The Twin Cities at a time when their elite political class seems not only to have abandoned them but sees them as the enemy!
Music has always been a potent mechanism for raising awareness, raising much-needed funds, and even helping to raise the barriers against such draconian forces. The question is less why have bands such as Solid Gold stepped into the shoes of an earlier generation’s modus operandi, but why they have been compelled to.
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