Our Bards Are Back!
By
Cathy Pagano & Jonathan Shippee
Artists have always commented on their culture, and many grassroots artists and groups, such as Poets for Peace, have been working for change since 9/11. But it's also important that our nationally known artists use their media power to speak out on issues that are important to our nation. A group of musicians calling themselves Vote for Change, which includes Bruce Springsteen, the Dave Matthews Band, Pearl Jam, R.E.M., the Dixie Chicks, Jurassic 5, James Taylor, Bonnie Raitt and Jackson Browne, will be touring the swing states this October. Their goal is to change the direction of the government and change the current administration by getting people out to vote in the November elections.
We live in unsettled times. So it's only natural for the artists of America to speak out at such an auspicious moment in our history. But instead of the media praising their decision, they've been questioning these artists' motives. They've been accused: "who do you think you are to take such a stand?"
The question is not why our artists are speaking out now. Rather it is a question of the backlash that happens when they do. These are some of our most creative artists. How can we believe they have nothing important to say about the world when we acknowledge the truth of their art by loving their music!
Media pundits want us to assume that our artists are only here for entertainment, and they attack the idea of artists having an opinion about the world we live in. Yet a new kind of entertainment, one supposedly based on reality yet not reflecting it, has taken over our national consciousness. Commentators like Bill O'Reilly and Rush Limbaugh - as a matter of fact, almost every news commentator I've seen on television or heard on the radio - flood the airwaves with their opinions and viewpoints, while pretending to deliver a fair and balanced viewpoint. But they are false entertainers because they don't produce anything that they've personally created. They pretend to inform people, but in reality they entertain them with propaganda that is nasty and degrading to anyone who doesn't hold their own opinions, at the same time as they quietly misinform the people.
In most cultures other than our corporate-controlled one, musicians, artists and storytellers were important people in their own right. These bards had a social purpose, for their arts were for teaching, healing and transforming the collective conscious. The ancient Bard was a shaman, jurist, historian, newsperson, warrior, visionary, prophet, poet, truthspeaker, teacher and councilor to kings. The bards' purpose was to serve their people by helping them to understand their world and what it means to be human. In ancient Greece , a bard was a man of Logos, a man of the Word. For the ancient Greeks, this meant the power of language, the power of spoken words to communicate ideas, to reason and to persuade. Logos encompasses both the speaker and the listener. Logos reminds us of the power of words to hurt or to heal. Commentators such as Bill O'Reilly, who spew out poisonous words, degrade their profession and hurt our country by creating bigotry and hatred, and yet this is who Americans turn to for information about the world. The American people's interests are not being served.
It's no wonder that the true bards, the artists who have grown up with the American people, are now speaking out against the injustices of our times. Not only seeing but also feeling and sensing the state of America and our world, they are offering a creative message of hope and possibilities. They are assuming their traditional role of teaching their people, which is a deep responsibility. They are challenging the modern belief that 'entertainers' are not worthy of commenting on current affairs.
The troubadours were the bards of the Middle Ages. These troubadours believed in the idea that Truth, Goodness and Beauty were inseparable, and their creations brought out the best in people and changed the culture they spoke to. With a deep dedication to their art, they assumed the responsibility of a leader, animated by an ethical spirit which sensed the best direction to follow in living, for they believed that the art of a people is a reflection of their soul. The troubadours were champions of democracy against despotic power, and they suffered martyrdom for it.
It's time to stop the backlash of our true artists, such as Linda Ronstadt and Natalie Maines, for expressing their opinions and taking a stand, when our false entertainers do so constantly. It's time for us to start listening to what our artists are seeing and saying about our world. If we all acknowledge the deep social responsibility implicit in the archetype of the Bard, our musicians, storytellers and filmmakers will feel more comfortable speaking out on political and social issues, for they would have an ancient tradition to stand on. Look at what's happened since 9/11 because politicians coerced the people instead of letting our bards sense what was in our hearts. Instead of 9/11 changing our perceptions about ourselves and the world, we've been herded like so much cattle into a war with devastating results, not only for ourselves and the soldiers we sent to fight, but for the whole world. It could have been different if we had a strong tradition of respect for the true purpose of the artist's vision of life.
Bruce Springsteen's letter of August 5, 2004 to the New York Times said:
"It is through the truthful exercising of the best of human qualities - respect for others, honesty about ourselves, faith in our ideals - that we come to life in God's eyes. It is how our soul, as a nation and as individuals, is revealed. Our American government has strayed too far from American values. It is time to move forward. The country we carry in our hearts is waiting."
These are the words of a true Bard.
The sound of silence has finally been broken by the sounds of beautiful music. How lucky are we?
Cathy Pagano, www.fountainofdreams.net, is a mother, Jungian psychotherapist, storyteller, writer and teacher in private practice in Wickford , RI . This article is copyright by Cathy Lynn Pagano, but permission is granted for reprint in print, email, blog, or web media so long as this entire credit paragraph is attached.
Jonathan Shippee is Cathy's son. He is a college student and a candidate for Town Council in North Kingstown , RI . Contact him at arenewedhope@yahoo.com.
