How can really conservative people be hard core Pearl Jam fans?

You mean you don't have the complete Toby Keith CD library? Commie!!

I think you may be slipping into sterotypes. I have been a fan since Ten ( actually loved Temple before seeing PJ)-and have not always voted a party ticket-one side or the other. Perhaps we all could be more careful of labels should we entertain oursleves as honestly empathetic.

BTW, Toby Keith is a registered Democrat....and I am pretty sure he has smoked some weed with more than Willy.

but all conservative-leaning bands are just rubbish. [/quote wrote:

Yes, and that Jim Morrison character( admitted political moderate/conservative) was bloody rubbish. .....and Bon Jovi has timeless talent? Really?....Really? Been on this board about 10 min and it's already sounding as divisive as Fox News.
Cheers

scb wrote:

I honestly don't get it. Being a liberal, I can't imagine that I could ever be a huge fan of a band that used its music and platform to promote extremly conservative ideas.

I love music for what it says, not just the guitar riff behind it. So if it said a bunch of stuff that I thought was total BS, I wouldn't be able to really love the music, and I wouldn't want to.

Additionally, I don't think being a talented musician makes up for being an offensive asshole. So I wouldn't be able to respect Ed as a person if he were espousing political philosophies or other ideas that I found offensive.

And before someone pulls out the same old tired anti-liberal line frequently used on this board, let me be clear that I love Pearl Jam in large part because of their liberal politics; I do not have liberal politics because I love Pearl Jam.

(This is about a dozen times I've seen this thread since I've been around)

I honestly do not see Pearl Jam's music as political at all other than that terrible Bushleaguer "song".

And I do not go to the concerts to hear Eddie talk politics. If he spent more than the 2 mins or so in a 3 hour concert babbling about politics, I wouldn't be happy,

In other words, it's about the music for me...which has very, very little to do with politics.

I think that people can and should like whatever pleases them. PJ, for being a band that often engages itself in political causes, I think has one of the most healthy balances of personal and political. I do not think someone's politics should be restricted from the song, but nor do I think the nature of the song should mean to be exclusive to certain individuals. It comes down to a level of respect on the part of both the (liberal) artist and the (conservative) listener. The artist has to be adult enough to handle the topics it is covering in an intelligent manner that does not condescend or harshly insult others, and the listener has to be adult enough to acknowledge and accept opposing viewpoints even in the music of their favorite band.

I'm trying to think of a conservative-leaning band that I enjoy, and I'm having difficulty coming up with one. I don't think that's due to the political content of the song, however. I think it's due to the quality of the music. If there was a great political rock band made up of political conservatives I would enjoy it, so long as the music was good and the lyrical content was inoffensive (i.e. "gays are going to hell", which is a stereotype of the social conservative wing of the party). I don't think PJ has been that divisive in their music regarding political issues. I mean, what's the worst they've done? The importance of political protest (Grievance), and America under W. (most of the self-titled). Those aren't particularly extreme or radical viewpoints.

Wait, Johnny Cash. I'm pretty sure he was a Republican most of his life, and no one screws with him.

cutback wrote:

joey ramone was a conservative

True, Johnny was. But I believe he was surrounded by a bunch of liberals, so it's hard to call the Ramones a 'conservative' band.

But these labels are pretty meaningless in music, I feel. Is a band a 'liberal' band just because it's made up of liberals? Is a band a 'conservative' band if its' players are conservative Republicans? I think it depends more on the political content of the lyrics then the politics of the players.

and wasn't stone a republican at one time?

Even if I disagreed with PJ's political stances, which I have on occasion, not often though, it's the music that drew me to them and will keep me there/here!
It's just good rock.

cutback wrote:

i just seem to remember long ago in like 92 i read an article about the band and it stated that stone was a republican....the reason i still remember is i was rather shocked that he would be in the band with ed or vise versa....but then i was young and stupid

I remembering reading an interview that said Mike read alot of Barry Goldwater once. I think that's as close as they've come. Stone has also said several times that he's the most moderate member of the band.