Life sentences for Sophie Lancaster killers

This post could be argued as nothing to do with music, but I think it has got relevance.

The killers of Sophie Lancaster have been given life sentences. Brendan Harris and Ryan Herbert will have to serve a minimum of 18 years and 16 years respectively. The pair of teenagers kicked Sophie to death last summer because of her goth background.

I for one, in an age where justice seems few and far between these days, couldn't be more happy. The fact that an innocent girl was murdered simply for being a goth is absurd. No one should ever be targeted because of the music they listen to and the culture that goes along with it. It's sickening to see such discrimination lead to events such as this and the scenes in Mexico that Gerard Way has recently spoken out against. As much as I think he can be a prat sometimes, he is definitely doing the right thing in protesting against this behaviour and I firmly believe more bands should be doing the same.

Mark Beaumont is spot on when he says that this has gone beyond bottling Panic At The Disco at Reading in 2006. Are we now living in a society where we are more highly discriminative than ever? What is being done to stop such tragic deaths like this?

The judge's comments are what I finish with, and there could not be more truer words spoken, courtesy of NME.com:

Judge Anthony Russell QC described the behaviour of the Harris and Herbet as "feral thuggery".

He added, "This was a terrible case which has shocked and outraged all who have heard about it. At least wild animals, when they hunt in packs, have a legitimate reason for so doing, to obtain food."

Speaking to the pair as he sentenced them, Russell said: "You have none [legitimate reasons for attack] and your behaviour on that night degrades humanity itself."

The judge went on to describe the goth community as "perfectly peaceful law-abiding people who pose no threat to anybody".

Speaking to the sentenced duo again he said: "This was a hate crime against these completely harmless people targeted because their appearance was different to yours."

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Music & Politics

It seems like a very general subject for a blog post. Perhaps too simple. But please don't click the back button on your browser.

I understand the intentions of musicians who do get political. It's usually either to raise awareness for a certain issue, raise money, represent the so-called 'united' views of a country etc. The people who will tend to believe these artists the most will be the hardcore fans. I mean, let's be honest, no 15 year old Green Day fan is going to disagree with anything that Billie Joe Armstrong says.

Let's also not forget the several music events with the same goals. These benefits range in size - from the 10,000 plus audience of the Islamic Relief-organised Sudan concert at Wembley Arena last night to Live Earth in July, which racked up way in excess of 20 million viewers worldwide - but they all have the same intentions.

But a lot of artists play the political card badly. Some of the reasons why they don't pull it off include:

Lack of knowledge - Artists not actually having a full understanding of what they believe in. One such example is Green Day during the American Idiot phase of their career. In all the interviews they did whilst the album was out, they just said the same thing in every single interview and all of their points were basic points that could have easily been counter-argued.

Sounding preachy - Artists trying to ram information down your throat. It annoys me constantly when bands decide to basically bombard their audience with opinions or propaganda.

Arse-licking world leaders - If artists are asked to talk to a world leader about the issue that irks them, you would at least expect them to really pressure them. But some just don't. The prime example is Bono of U2. If he was so dedicated about getting rid of AIDS in third world countries, then having a cup of tea and a laugh with President Bush isn't the way to achieving your goal.

But some artists can get it right, and can do so in an artistic way, without having the need to voice their opinions in countless interviews. Put simply, they let the music do the talking.

One such example is 'Year Zero' by Nine Inch Nails. It's a vision of the world in twenty years time and spells out the dire consequences that we could potentially face. Trent Reznor, the man behind Nine Inch Nails, said he did not want the album to sound preachy and wanted to express his views in a different way. The result is one of the albums of the year (not just in lyrics but in all other aspects).

It also helps to recognise that sometimes you can be hypocritical about thing. Thom Yorke has openly admitted that whenever he's spoken out about environmental issues (he's also an ambassador for environmental group Friends Of The Earth) that he reluctantly tours, even though to him it feels wrong because of the environmental consequences.

And also, some of the best music ever made has been political. 'Imagine' by John Lennon is the best example of such art. Because that is what music is - art. Art should not be restricted and anyone who performs an art should have the right to express whatever views they want in whatever way they want.

So, in short, politics in music is good. Just make sure you do it properly.

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