Get Up Stand Up

This article first appeared in the Age on April 16, 2005

These days pop music is seen as the antithesis of things political, so it’s nice to be reminded of the long relationship between popular music and political causes on Get Up Stand Up, the six-part series that begins tonight (ABC, 10.00pm). The first episode 'We Shall Overcome' looks at music's pivotal role in the fight for human rights from Joe Hill, a worker's activist who's songs - including 'There's Power in the Union' - were never recorded but were passed from mouth to mouth through the American union movement to the singers Hill went onto inspire like Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan and John Lennon. 'We Shall Overcome' also looks at songs that were sung for the civil rights movement, the struggles against apartheid, and for Tibetan liberation (go the Beastie Boys).

Pete Seeger from The Almanacs is a real treat - he's vibrant, engaged, has the history of the folk music movement in his head and he still sings along with gusto. Martin Sheen is also interviewed throughout the series though watching him can be unsettling - he seems to have merged more and more with his alter ego, President Jed Bartlett. You'll be impressed by artists you may not have paid much attention to before such as Jim Kerr from Simple Minds. If you've seen the movie satirizing the folk movement: A Mighty Wind, you might have trouble keeping a straight face for the interviews with Peter Paul and Mary.

Get Up Stand Up also tackles that curly question -does high sales of a song with political lyrics mean that the audience is absorbing the message? Next week's episode 'Next Stop Vietnam' looks at the success of pop culture in the late 60s and early 70s in mobilizing a generation to try and end the Vietnam war. That movement has become a benchmark for successful musical activism. Bobby Muller head of the Vietnam Veteran's Foundation, talks about the Vets role in finally ending the war, as well as describing how grateful he and thousands of others are for work Bruce Springsteen has done on behalf of the Vets,including his massive hit sung on their behalf: 'Born in the USA'. Others interviewed include Kris Kristofferson, Graham Nash (Crosby, Stills and Nash), Joan Baez and Peter Gabriel.

In a couple of weeks 'Fight The Power' looks at more recent battles in which 60s protest culture has been replaced by strategic PR. Wider issues like war and human rights have been replaced by targeted campaigns against nuclear power plants, Amazonian deforestation, US foreign policy in Central America, the British Army in Ireland, the death penalty and the proliferation of landmines and includes songs by REM, U2, Simple Minds, The Clash, Nirvana, and The Specials. There are interviews with Annie Lennox, Tim Robbins, the ubiuitous Bono and Bob Geldof. Further episodes look at the history of politics in black music, the mega concerts like Band Aid, and singles like 'We are the World', and musicians who cross the line and dabble in politics themselves.

One of the truly pleasurable things about this series is that you can dance along to a forgotten favorite song- for me it was Artist' Against Apartheid's, 'Sun City'- while watching an interesting, if schematic account of political movements over the last 100 years. And as for that curly question: can music can change the world? Get Up Stand Up says that it can. Certainly for a moment when you watch Jimi Hendrix playing 'Star Spangled Banner', listen to gospel, Bob Marley (Get Up, Stand Up, stand up for your right/ Get Up, Stand Up, don't give up the fight) or John Lennon singing 'Give Peace a Chance', you believe it.

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