By The Landlord
“People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use.” – Soren Kierkegaard
“It's not the voting that's democracy; it's the counting.” – Tom Stoppard
“Hate speech and freedom of speech are two different things.” – Leslie Jones
“Threats to freedom of speech, writing and action, though often trivial in isolation, are cumulative in their effect, and unless checked, lead to a general disrespect to the rights of a citizen.” – George Orwell
“If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.” – George Washington
“Freedom meant for me to wear earrings, not freedom of speech.” – Park Yeon-mi (North Korean defector)
“Freedom of speech is freedom above all for those whose views you dislike most.” – Peter Hitchens
“Some people's idea of free speech is that they are free to say what they like. But if anyone says anything back, that is an outrage.” – Winston Churchill
“Democracy is the process by which people choose the man who'll get the blame.” – Bertrand Russell
“You'll never be criticised by someone doing more than you. You'll always be criticised by someone doing less.” – Denzel Washington
“I believe the second most precious thing in life is the right to express yourself freely ... But my concerns are less for myself, and more for those more vulnerable of a lower profile, like the man in Oxford arrested for calling a police horse gay.” – Rowan Atkinson
So then, with today being General Election day, 4th July in the UK, then this Sunday in France, then later among other upcoming elections, November's big US presidential pistol fight, overall more than half the world will, or have gone to the ballot box in 2024. These occasions are accompanied by mass media hype, but sometimes more appealingly dogs and whistles, brass bands and pencils. But however flawed and ungainly modern democracy may be, and sometimes, under shady regimes, an utter sham, it’s still something millions in the past have fought and died for, and still now are imprisoned and tortured over, to gain, to preserve, just to have your say with a small X marked on a piece of paper.
How might this current expression manifest itself? In the UK there's a big move and mood for change, to end 14 years of chaos, corruption, and narcissistic omnishambles from the Conservative Party's five variously different manifestations of truly terrible prime ministers, who have caused a protracted period of tangible decline, increased poverty and food bank reliance, isolation, pollution, division and dysfunction, set off by a series of truly awful decisions, mishandled situations, in which service to the nation has been completely replaced simply by self-service for a select few. What can be done about it?
Who? Time to exterminate the Tories?
Or just time for some paw-sitive change?
In France the situation is summed up as a collective move to shore up against the rising tide of fascism.
And in the US it's an uphill battle against age and manipulative media to stop an orange-tanned utter moron returning to wreak havoc on the world and get away with any crimes he likes through contrived chaos, and completely crass, corrosive corruption.
But enough about that. Our lovely Bar here is a place for creative craft, playful perspective, distance and discovery, escape and entertainment, but it's still possible to reflect and refract all sorts of issues and ideas through the prism of song. So in the light of Election Day, this week's topic is songs about freedom of expression, whether that be of speech, writing, art, thought, or other ways to have your say and potentially fighting to keep it. It might become a hot socio-economic-historic potato, or just a bubbling hot pot of pop, but there's all sorts of ways to look at it, from the political to the personal, from the serious to the silly, from fighting censorship to sending up religion, or perhaps finally telling someone that you love or will leave them. The focus is all about the idea of freedom to express yourself. At least it's a right we still have left.
It's also the Fourth of July, let’s highlight also that day Americans hold as dear that of Independence, enshrined with the Constitution's First Amendment, that which at least seems to protect freedom of speech, the press, assembly, and the right to petition the government for a redress of grievances. That's in theory of course. Here's film critic Roger Ebert on the subject:
“I begin to feel like most Americans don't understand the First Amendment, don't understand the idea of freedom of speech, and don't understand that it's the responsibility of the citizen to speak out.”
The whole idea of free speech in the 21st century seems to have got itself into a pickle, one stewing in a morass of social media and money:
The First Amendment always comes with some vested interests …
“At least in America, you have freedom of speech, which is a good thing. It's just a question of whether you're allowed to use it on Fox News, chips in Monty Python's Eric Idle mischievously.
Which loops back to the philosopher Soren Kierkegaard again, back in the Bar and unable to hold back with expressing himself on this: “How absurd men are! They never use the liberties they have, they demand those they do not have. They have freedom of thought, they demand freedom of speech.”
And others are also in the house, with other issues to consider. The eye-injured Salman Rushdie is around with a poke at religion of course: "It seems that the right of freedom of speech that was enshrined in numerous constitutions is now under attack by religious institutions."
The American poet, painter and social activist Lawrence Ferlinghetti, who has seen it all, and lived to be 101 until 2021, back now to warn us that: "Freedom of speech is always under attack by Fascist mentality, which exists in all parts of the world." Are you listening, America, and Europe, and beyond?
Israel, whose increasingly extreme regime is currently killing tens of thousands of innocent people in Gaza, also has its own critics from within, such as two-state solution supporter and left-wing politician Tzipi Livni, who tells us: “In a democracy, you need to have a strong judicial system. You need freedom of speech, you need art, and you need a free press.”
A free press is under threat in all quarters. Just ask the satirical cartoonists of France's Charlie Hebdo. "In a democracy, dissent is an act of faith." says J. William Fulbright, turning that controversy on its head.
Song Bar regular Neil Gaiman is here to declare, in a more US context, that "The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund is out there preserving and fighting for, and sometimes winning and sometimes losing, the fight for First Amendment rights in comics and, more generally, for freedom of speech."
Some certainly like to push the boundaries. Eminem, aka Marshall Mathers has been shadily back in the charts recently, and reckons: "I think my first album opened a lot of doors for me to push the freedom of speech to the limit."
And pushing the boundaries in the world of standup comedy, Eddie Griffin gives his view on a particular hero: “If James Brown is the godfather of soul, then Richard Pryor is the godfather of comedy, period. That man knocked down all those last freedom of speech doors.”
Richard Pryor
Offending or entertaining people, humorously or others, freedom of speech is also a serious issue, and one we realistically can't live without. Here's Noam Chomsky casting his vast political and historical perspective on the subject: "In this possibly terminal phase of human existence, democracy and freedom are more than just ideals to be valued - they may be essential to survival."
Freedom of speech and democracy are always under threat, and need public acts of protection as much as anything else, one that goes way back in history: "The tyranny of a prince in an oligarchy is not so dangerous to the public welfare as the apathy of a citizen in a democracy," declares he 18th-century man of letters and philosopher Montesquieu.
“Democracy's a very fragile thing. You have to take care of democracy. As soon as you stop being responsible to it and allow it to turn into scare tactics, it's no longer democracy, is it? It's something else. It may be an inch away from totalitarianism," adds playwright and actor Sam Shepard.
“The ship of democracy, which has weathered all storms, may sink through the mutiny of those on board,” reckons former 19th century US president Grover Cleveland, with a vivid metaphor.
But we can't have freedom of speech without also some wrily humorous comments giving it an ironic slant:
“Democracy is the recurrent suspicion that more than half of the people are right more than half of the time,” says E. B. White with a smirk.
“The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter,” adds Winston Churchill gain.
“Democracy means simply the bludgeoning of the people by the people for the people," declares Oscar Wilde, with a free flourish of his cane and glass in hand.
So on that note, it's time to vote for your tracks on the topic of freedom of speech and other forms of having your say. Back again at the wheel and helping sailing the good ship of free expression is the marvellous Maki! Deadline is 11pm on Monday for playlists published next week. Time for a change and make things better? The choice is yours. Play on …
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