Music Against the Establishment

There are many songs in today's world, as in the past, that attempt to fight the grain and attempt to speak out against the mainstream culture and ideals. Many bands have done a great job but one is particular, this of course being completely all of my choosing, would be System of a Down. This band, a very upbeat heavy metal bands, goes against everything that the media would want you to believe. They speak a voice that is purely unique and unquestionably theirs that no one can stop. Their audience is mostly the "others" in society, but in reality any one who takes the time to look at the lyrics of all their songs will say that this band, regardless of whether they agree with their beliefs or not, is speaking about what they believe in a manner that is true and not unproductive, in the sense that all it does is criticize and nag about how shitty the world is where they actually just put the issue forth and point out it's flaws in a manner that is almost polite. One song in particular which not only is amazing from a musical perspective but also with the message it conveys, is Lost in Hollywood. This song uses the metaphor of Hollywood as the mainstream and how mainstream culture takes and makes you into something that you are not. The message is simple and almost cliche but the truth of the matter is that this songs really attacks the mainstream as it points out how people become lost and are used for the profit of others. The band is amazing, the song is great, and their message is true. Music is a great tool to convey ideas, but we can't over do it as music will lose its credibility and becomes all about sex and drugs, not saying their shouldn't be songs about that, but their needs to be a balance before music is no longer a useful instrument to unite people together.