Music on bones by Amanda Motekaitytė

4-5/ We were watched from the days of kindergarten.

6-7/ Some nice men and kind women Beat us up. They chose the most painful places. 8-9/ And treated us like animals on the farm. • 1950. So we grew up like a disciplined herd. • 1960. We sing what they want and live how they want. • 1970. And we look at them downside up as if we’re trapped. • 1980. We just watch how they hit us.

10-11/

Get out of control. Get out of control.

12-13/

We have a right to yell. 3

We were watched from the days of kindergarten. MUSIC AND POLITICS The connection between music and politics, particularly political expression in song, has been seen in many cultures. Music can express anti-establishment or protest themes, including anti-war songs, but pro-establishment ideas are also represented, for example, in national anthems, patriotic songs, and political campaigns. Although music influences political movements and rituals, it is not clear how or to what extent general audiences relate to music on a political level. Songs can be used to portray a specific political message. However, there may be barriers to the transmission of such messages; even overtly political songs are often shaped by and reference their contemporary political context, making an understanding of the history and events that inspired the music necessary in order to fully comprehend the message. The nature of that message can also be ambiguous because the label “political music” can be applied either to songs that merely observe political subjects, songs which offer a partisan opinion, or songs which go further and advocate for specific political action.

MUSIC IS IDENTITY Music has historically been a way to cope with hardships, to give breathing space, and to formulate ways forward. Music is part of identity politics that marks distinctions between ‘us’ and others. Importantly, music is as much an instrument that mobilize for conflict or war as it is used for repair, bonding or peacemaking. No revolution without singing, as many have noted. Indeed many have said that

Historical revoliutionary song

Many consider the French Revolution as the birth of the modern protest song, in that songs were introduced that could be easily learned and adapted to suit whatever was happening. Proper names were easily interchanged in these songs, as well as specific events and place names. They made the perfect marching song for mobs of revolutionaries. Perhaps the most famous of these songs is 1792’s “La Carmagnole,” now considered the official song of the French Revolution. The name of the original composer has been lost, but the tune, often accompanied by wild dancing, spread like wildfire among the French peasant classes. During the Revolution, the song was turned into a battle cry at the Battle of Jemappes in 1792, along with another popular song, “La Marseillaise.” In that same year, thousands of peasants stormed Paris’ Tuileries Palace, singing “La Carmagnole” as they forced Louis XVI and his consorts to flee the palace. Since the revolution, “La Marseillaise” has become the French National Anthem, often sung in conjunction with “La Carmagnole.”

Music becomes fuel not only to protest goverment or seek revolution it has also been a way to control people, stabilize athoritarian regimes. So as well as free people generate their music to express their experiances and direclty or indirectly oppose the sociopolitical situation surounding them music can be used as a way to impose ideas onto them by ideological states or political movements so the way music is used in political context ir relitive to the ideas one agrees or disagrees with, but it certainly can become a tool of proganda. Music and political warfare have been used together in many different political contexts and cultures as a way to reach a targeted audience in order to deliver a specific political message. Political warfare as defined by Paul A. Smith is the “use of political means to compel an opponent to do one’s will... commonly through the use of words, images and ideas.” Music is useful because it creates an easily recognizable and memorable method of delivery for the desired message. Music is particularly useful medium for the delivery of propaganda. Jacques Ellul stated that for propaganda to be effective it must “fill the citizen’s whole day and every day”. Since music is often viewed to be a leisure activity, it is often not considered to be as threatening as other propaganda techniques, and as a result messages can often be surreptitiously communicated without being conspicuously noticed. Music was used by many idealogical movements and autothoritarian states or in situations of war, for example nazi germany, soviet union, maoist china, imperial japan and so on.

Some nice men and kind women Beat us up. They chose the most painful places.

Music and propaganda

Begining control of expression under communism Communist states such as the USSR and China have also utilized music as a way to spread their message of global communism. The Soviet Union sought to control the negative influences of music on the people and attempted to shape the messages being used in music to glorify the Soviet regime. Throughout Communist rule, the state sought to create legislation that in effect controlled the creative output of musicians and composers by limiting musical education, controlling which musicians could be employed and by only allowing “approved” musical performances-in short ensuring that all music was within keeping with Communist principles and ideology. Songs were often used in the revolutionary period because they could be easily shaped to have explicit and revolutionary messages set to a simple melody. Latter on in soviet era music and art was controlled more and more since it was seen as a good tool to controll the masses. After Joseph Stalin had succeeded as a leader of soviet union, he very soon cut off connections with the West and established an isolationist state. Stalin rejected Western and its ‘bourgeois principles,’ as these did not agree with the values of the Soviet Communist Party or the working class. The Association of Contemporary Musicians a faction of more progressive Soviet musicians, who had thrived from exposure to the West during the NEP years, quickly dissolved without the support of the worker’s state. State institutions opposed Western music ideals, instead seeking to encourage traditional Russian music, or music aproved by the goverment. Altough after Stalins death regime became less strict, music still had to be aproved by the goverment in order to be broadcast or for musicians to make money playing it.

Soft power Music as a cultural export can be used to influence surounding countrys and depending on a world view spread or aid spread of certain ideas,whose spread might be more or less adventagous for your agenda. Inthis case music is used as a tool of public diplomacy, so-called “softer” side of political warfare. One common technique employed by the United States Information Agency (USIA), once the center of the United States’ entire public diplomacy strategy, was to arrange for musical exchanges. This was often done by scheduling tours of notable American musicians to foreign countries, especially those under Communist regimes, as a way to expose the average citizen to Americans and their culture.

ANd treated us like animals on the farm.

1950. So we grew up like a disciplined herd.

Music in soviet union took on many forms in the context of political influence. It became part of the propaganda machine as well as a way for people to express their ideals and rebel against the goverment opression. Music of the Soviet Union varied in many genres and epochs. The majority of it was considered to be part of the Russian culture, but other national cultures from the Republics of the Soviet Union made significant contributions as well. The Soviet state supported musical institutions, but also carried out content censorship. The party wanted art in soviet union to represent the ideals of the party. Western influences would still find their way in , yet such connection to estern culture and music became seen as a threat and opposition to soviet ideals, ingagment in such culture was seen as a form of rebellion against the soviet ideals. This influence woulf become stronger and stronger trough the next decades anf be esential to the colapse of soviet ideals The stilyagi, the first youth counterculture movement in the Soviet Union, emerged in the 1950s. The stilyagi, meaning stylish in Russian, listened to the music and copied the western fashion trends. Unlike later youth movements, the regime made no attempt to infiltrate and channel the movement toward their own ends, opting instead for public oppression. The stilyagi virtually disappeared by the early 1960s because many restrictions on the flow of information were relaxed, showing that the styles the stilyagi drew inspiration from were outdated.

1960. We sing what they want and live how they want. The Beatles sparked the love of rock in the Soviet youth, and its popularity spread in the early 1960s.Their impact on fashion was one of the more obvious external signs of their popularity. “Collarless Beatles jackets, known as ‘Bitlovka’, were assembled from cast-offs; clumsy army boots were refashioned in Beatles style.”In addition to their influence in fashion, they also helped drive the expansion of music in the black market. Illicit music albums were created by recording copies onto discarded X-ray emulsion plates. The music itself was acquired either by smuggling copies from the west, or recording it from western radio.The latter became easier and more common after United States president Lyndon Johnson made international broadcasting a priority in the mid-1960s.

Magnitizdat were DIY recordings that were the audio counterpart to the written Samizdat. Many of the early DIY recordings were made from plastic X-ray plates[Rock fans and black marketeers would smuggle records in from the west and would steal discarded X-Ray emulsion plates from dumpsters and garbage cans at hospitals. They would then bring their X-Ray plates and records into small recording studios, which were designed so that Soviet soldiers could record audio messages for family back home. Because the X-ray plates were flexible, they could be rolled and hidden in a sleeve which aided in the concealment and transport of the record. The recordings would still bear images of human skeletons, so they were referred to as “bones,” “ribs,” or roentgenizdat. This practice began in the 50s, but proliferated in the 60s especially as Beatlemania spread.

1970. And we look at them downside up as if we’re trapped. The major development for rock behind the Iron Curtain in the 1970s was original songs written in the authors’ native language. Bands like Illés in Hungary, the Plastic People of the Universe in Czechoslovakia, and Time Machine in the Soviet Union adapted their native languages to rock. They managed to enjoy a steady following, unlike similar attempts by other bands in the 1960s, although they were mostly underground.The mainstream was dominated by VIAs (vocal instrument ensembles) which were officially sanctioned rock and pop groups whose lyrics were vetted and whose music was considerably tamer than the underground groups. The East German government even established a bureau for rock, indicating their desire to gain control of the movement. Although the Seventies were mainly a doldrums for Soviet rock fans, resistance to official policy would still erupt from time to time elsewhere in the bloc, particularly East Germany. Even in places where rock’s suppression did not produce violent reactions, like Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union itself, the underground continued to flourish, creating a “second culture”, which would have dramatic effects in the future.

One Of the most intresting cases in the 70s soviet block rock music is the case of a band called The Plastic People of the Universe. The Plastic People of the Universe (PPU) is a Czech rock band from Prague. It was the foremost representative of Prague’s underground culture (1968–1989), which had gone against the grain of Czechoslovakia’s Communist regime. Due to their non-conformism, members of the band often suffered serious repercussions such as arrests. In 1974, thousands of people traveled from Prague to the town of České Budějovice to visit the Plastics’ performance. Stopped by police, they were sent back to Prague, and several students were arrested.The band was forced underground until the Velvet Revolution in 1989. Unable to perform openly, an entire underground cultural movement formed around the band during the 1970s. The sympathizers of the movement were often called máničky, mainly due to their long hair.

“

We were watched from the days of kindergarten Some nice men and kind women Beat us up. They chose the most painful places And treated us like animals on the farm. So we grew up like a disciplined herd. We sing what they want and live how they want. And we look at them downside up as if we’re trapped. We just watch how they hit us. Get out of control. Get out of control. And sing what you want. And not just what is allowed. We have a right to yell.

“

After the Chernobyl disaster, a benefit concert was organized. When government bureaucrats attempted to enforce compliance with a series of regulations and paperwork, the artists and planners simply ignored their requests. There was no official reprimand, confiscation of instruments, or violence from the police in response, something unthinkable even a few years prior.More signs of dissent occurred; at a festival in Petersburg shortly after, the band Televisor stirred the crowd with a song entitled ‘Get Out Of Control’:

I’m dirty, I’m exhausted. My neck’s so thin. Your hand won’t tremble When you wring it off. I’m so bad and nasty. I’m worse than you are. I’m the most unwanted. I’m trash, I’m pure dirt. BUT I CAN FLY!

“

1980. We just watch how they hit us.

in 1980, the Tbilisi Rock Festival was held. The festival was significant because the bands that generated the most “buzz” were not official VIA groups but underground acts like Aquarium. As the 80s progressed, more authentic and “street” oriented groups would gain popularity. Mike Naumenko upset the status quo of even the underground with frank lyrics about life in the Soviet Union; he even addressed taboo subjects such as sex in songs like “Outskirts Blues” and “Ode to the Bathroom”.A result of this greater enthusiasm for a genuine native rock scene was a burgeoning homemade album movement. Bands would simply make their own albums; many artists would record copies by using personal reel to reel machines. The finished products were often complete with album art and liner notes, bringing a greater level of quality and sophistication to amateur recordings. By the mid-eighties, under pressure from the Composers’ Union and out of concern for the negative effects of rock, the underground and rock music were effectively outlawed. Clubs were closed, rock journalists were censored, popular underground bands were criticized in the press, and official bands were forced to play songs written by the Composers’ Union. Elsewhere in the Eastern Bloc, punk was beginning to take hold due to dissatisfaction with the political and economic situation for the youth in Czechoslovakia and East Germany. In 1985, with the election of Gorbachev and the inauguration of glasnost and perestroika, official attitudes toward rock music became much more permissive. At the 12th International Festival of Youth and Students, foreign bands were allowed to play. They ranged from English rock bands, to Finnish punks, to a reggae group that ritually smoked ganja in red square.All these changes inspired the new slang word of the day tusovka - “meaning something’s happening, some kind of mess, some activity.”When the Rock Lab Festival took place in 1986, the tusovka spirit was on display with Zvuki Mu frontman Peter Mamonov singing lyrics like:

THE WALL FELL

GET OUT OF GET OUT OF

All over the Eastern Bloc, resistance to rock was being worn down. In 1987, David Bowie, Genesis, and the Eurythmics played in West Berlin. Radio in the American Sector announced the lineup and time well beforehand and the concert planners pointed the speakers over the wall so that East Berliners would be ready and could enjoy the concert. When East German security forces tried to disband the crowd of fans assembled by the wall, the fans promptly rioted, chanting “tear down the wall!” In 1988, a similar situation erupted when Michael Jackson performed in West Berlin, and the security forces, while trying to disperse the fans, even attacked western camera crews that were filming the scene. In an attempt to improve its image, the East German government invited Bruce Springsteen to perform in East Berlin in July 1988. No violence erupted during this concert. The crowd joined in enthusiastically while Springsteen was singing “Born in the USA”, with many clutching small, hand-painted American flags (something the official East German press neglected to mention).

Additionally, Springsteen said: “I am not for or against any government. I have come here to play rock and roll for you East Berliners in the hope that one day all barriers can be torn down”, showing his understanding of the restrictions East Germans faced while avoiding the impression that he was playing in support of the East German government. A few months after that concert, Erich Honecker, the leader of East Germany, resigned.The Berlin Wall itself collapsed in 1989.

The debate over the role of rock in the US public diplomacy effort began almost as soon as it became popular, and lasted through the Reagan administration.“Rock music was blasted to through the Iron Curtain through government-subsidized Voice of America and Radio Free Europe, and we interviewed the legal counsel for VOA who described the debates inside the Reagan administration about the appropriateness of sending “degenerate” rock music eastward. But even the advisory boards came to understand that it was the structure of rock, as much as the lyrics, that counted.

F CONTROL. F CONTROL.

And sing what you want. singing revolution The Singing Revolution is a commonly used name for events that led to the restoration of independence of the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania from the Soviet Union at the end of the Cold War.[ The term was coined by an Estonian activist and artist, Heinz Valk, in an article published a week after 10–11 June 1988, spontaneous mass evening singing demonstrations at the Tallinn Song Festival Grounds. Later, all three countries joined the EU and NATO in 2004.

BACKGROUNc of THE REVOLUTION After World War II, the Baltic states had been fully incorporated into the USSR after military occupation and annexation first in 1940 and then again in 1944. Mikhail Gorbachev introduced “glasnost” (openness) and “perestroika” (restructuring) in 1985, hoping to stimulate the failing Soviet economy and encourage productivity, particularly in the areas of consumer goods, the liberalisation of cooperative businesses, and growing the service economy. Glasnost rescinded limitations on political freedoms in the Soviet Union which led to problems within the non-Russian nations occupied in the build-up to war in the 1940s.

Hitherto unrecognised issues previously kept secret by the Moscow government were admitted to in public, causing dissatisfaction within the Baltic states. Combined with the war in Afghanistan and the nuclear fallout in Chernobyl, grievances were aired in a publicly explosive and politically decisive manner. Estonians were concerned about the demographic threat to their national identity posed by the influx of individuals from foreign ethnic groups to work on such large Soviet development projects as phosphate mining.[4]

Massive demonstrations against the Soviet regime began after widespread liberalisation of the regime failed to take into account national sensitivities. It was hoped by Moscow that the non-Russian nations would remain within the USSR despite the removal of restrictions on freedom of speech and national icons (such as the local pre-1940 flags).[citation needed] However, the situation deteriorated to such an extent that by 1989 there were campaigns aimed at freeing the nations from the Soviet Union altogether.

And not just what is allowed. The March of Rock

was a rock music festival, organized in various cities of Lithuania. It was held in 1987–1989. It was resurrected in 1996 and 1997. The first festivals were organized while Lithuania was still part of the Soviet Union. They became part of the Singing Revolution, spreading ideas of the Lithuanian independence movement among the youth. It helped to awaken the younger generation from Soviet-era apathy and inspire them.In total, the three first festivals attracted an estimated 130,000 spectators. The festivals became a rehearsal for the mass protest rallies by the Sąjūdis that lead to the declaration of Lithuania’s independence in March 1990 The idea for the festival was raised by Algirdas Kaušpėdas, leader of the band Antis, after a successful concert Kažkas atsitiko (Something Happened) in 1986. The event encouraged various underground bands to become public. The festival toured cities in Lithuania. The first installment in 1987 focused more on music without an obvious political message while later installments had clear political agendas.

ANTIS

Most notible musicians

A band from Lithuania. Literally, “antis” means “duck” in Lithuanian, but is also a colloquial term for a false newspaper report. Algirdas Kaušpėdas has stated in an interview that the latter was the intended meaning. Additionally, being a play on the name of the official Soviet-era newspaper “Tiesa” (truth), the name alluded to the biased reporting and truth-bending in Eastern Bloc media.

BIX BIX is a rock band from Lithuania. The band wasin Šiauliai and soon a cult band. After a period of intensive touring throughout the world they probably became the best known baltic band in the West. Band name originated from informal way tocall the butt of the cigarette “bikas”, “byčiokas” or just “biks”.

Foje Foje was one of the most successful and best known rock bands in Lithuania. Foje was formed in the present-day Antakalnis Secondary School in Vilnius under the name of Sunki Muzika (“Hard Music”), In 1984 it was renamed to Foje (literal meaning: “foyer”). The group cited several influences, including the sound of the Stranglers, as well as the 1980s post-punk movemen.

We have to yell. Colapse of soviet union Despite the attempts to stifle the native rock movement, the underground survived and managed to create a different culture that many would flee to. Identification with this subculture would make one less susceptible to Soviet propaganda and ideology and less likely to view the West as a threat. “The kids lost their interest in all Soviet unshakeable dogmas and ideals, and stopped thinking of an English-speaking person as an enemy. That’s when the Communists lost two generations of young people. That was an incredible impact.”[53] Even if the individual did not enjoy rock for political reasons, because the political system was opposed to it, merely listening to music was an act of disobedience. By extension, active participation in the underground made one an active agent against the regime, as far as the leadership was concerned. Rock music played a role in subverting the political order of the Soviet Union and its satellites. The attraction of the unique form of music served to undermine Soviet authority by humanizing the West, helped alienate a generation from the political system, and sparked a youth revolution. This contribution was achieved not only through the use of words or images, but through the structure of the music itself. Furthermore, the music was spread as part of a broad public diplomacy effort, commercial ventures, and through the efforts of the populace in the Eastern Bloc.

e a right

Indeed music becomes not only a way to control people but a way for them to protest and free themselves. Music was used to stand against the authoritarian regime everywhere actros the Eastern block as well as eventualy became a way for countrys such as lithuania to show the world the way they freely and peacefuly want to establish their soveregnity and declare their freedom, eventualy the the power of music became one of the factors that collapsed the bigges country in the world.

Amanda Motekaitytė IIIk., rudens sem. Dėstitojas: Prof. A. Klimas

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