Radio For Money Not Music

Radio For Money Not Music

1. Introduction

From the early age of five we are put in schools that consume five days of the week. The purpose of these schools is to "educate" the population and give us the knowledge needed to get a job that in turn with consume five days of the week. Working nine to five in a cubicle kills our individuality, as it becomes a necessity to live. Going to work everyday with our eyes fixated on a computer screen, just doing what you're told to serve the company your working for. After all, this is normal; isn't it? Major companies need middle intellect, obedient, and unquestioning people to work for them otherwise the companies would not succeed. They need people who do what they are told without questioning their way of life. The band Thursday expresses this well in their song, For the Workforce Drowning. They are satisfied with this lifestyle and are happy with doing nothing, but this isn't living. This is serving.

2.Berger's Mystification

John Berger is an art critic known intelligent and cultured views of paintings and the way people see paintings. In his "Ways of Seeing", Berger describes mystification as something that the ruling class does to "obscure the past" (Berger 108) and to "mystify rather than clarify" (108). "Mystification is the process of explaining away what might otherwise be evident" (112). The society as a whole needs to look to the past in order to decide what the right path of action is to make in the present. Mystification is a tool used by the ruling class to control the general population by making the past and objects of the present such as music and art appear the way they want it to appear. In turn, controlling the past controls the present. Berger feels the past is something we should embrace not something that should be hidden or mysterious, for all this will lead to is poor choices for us to make in the present. The ruling class also controls the population by mystifying objects in the present, such as music and art. They do so by restricting certain objects from reaching the general public or by mystifying the true meaning of the objects they allow the public to see. "If we can see the present clearly enough, we shall ask the right questions of the past." (112).

Berger uses Frans Hals' painting as an example of mystification. Frans Hal was a poor old man who lived on the charity of the town. He was asked to paint the Regents and the Regentesses of the town, and he did so skillfully. He did not paint them as people but as the "faces of capitalism". Yet this meaning was not what the ruling class gave to the painting. They, along with current members of the ruling class such as Slive, mystified the meaning of the painting. They did not understand the true meaning and if they did they did not want the public to know it. They showed this in the past by describing the painting as a portrait, and currently Slive (a wealthy art critic) describes it with words such as "harmonious fusion" and "unforgettable contrast"(110). In their description the meaning of the painting is mystified and the general population does not benefit they way they should from the meaningful this piece of art.

3.Thursday's "For the Workforce, Drowning"

Thursday is one of my favorite bands in which I have been listening and following for about four years now. Thursday is a band from New Brunswick, New Jersey with a message. They are a close group of friends who have the gift of making music filled with strong sound, emotion, and a meaning. Their music is a mix of hardcore and alternative, creating a new genre of music that is gaining popularity. Unlike many popular music that contains lyrics about partying, women, and money, Thursday's songs have meaningful music that sing about love, death, life, and society. They realize the power that music can have and they use it to motivate and educate their listeners about many different issues.

Their song entitled "For the Workforce, Drowning", is about the way that corporate America is killing our individuality. The song is expressed with hard music and a mix of singing and screaming that shows the bands emotion and strong belief behind the song. The message is so strong and full of lyrics and metaphors that scream for change.

Save our ship

The anchor is part of the desk

we can't cut free.

From the beginning of the song they scream out the lyrics:

Falling from the top floor your lungs fill like parachutes,

Windows go rushing by,

People inside dressed for the funeral in black and white.

These ties strangle our necks, hanging in the closet,

Found in the cubicle; without name, just numbers...

Much of the song is full of death; death of individuality due to a society controlled by major companies. They say that we need to stop this way of life because it is not living at all, going to work everyday from nine to five living in a cubicle doing the work of companies whose main concern is not the welfare of the workers but rather for the welfare of their bank account.

Although it is not clearly stated what they feel an alternative to this way of life is I believe the song is made to tell the public that change is needed and an alternative should be found within us. That we should not look to the ruling class or our employers for an alternative but we should look within ourselves.

From beginning to end "For the Workforce, Drowning" is stating that change is needed to save ourselves. We must be the ones making the change and we must do it now.

It'll never end,

til it gets so bad

that the ink fills up our fingerprints

Thursday is saying here that unless we do anything