# Do they no longer make pop music for/about the poor working classes? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 29, 2016, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-no-longer-make-pop-music-for-about-the-poor-working-classes/764392 "2016-08-29T13:50:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2016, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-no-longer-make-pop-music-for-about-the-poor-working-classes/764392/21 "2016-08-30T15:16:08Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > Disco…the music of the ruling elite? I remember disco as being a three-way cross between _Saturday Night Fever_ working class machismo, and flamboyant pimp funkiness, and barely concealed gay pride just beginning to burst out of the closet. Unless you count rampant cocaine abuse as being of the ruling elite, I’m hard pressed to see anything elitist about disco at all. Well, it did have more of an air of being rich and glamorous which at least folk and protest music were actively against. But yeah, I agree, disco didn’t seem to be interested in power. It just wanted to get down and have a good time. If it was elitist, it was by being a distraction that ignored what the folk and protest musicians wanted you to concentrate on. Oh, and here’s a rock song from 2013 that speaks on the subject at hand: Piss Test - [No Money](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTK8vMnVAW8) ---
**Author:** ![Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Living_Well_Is_Best_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2016, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-no-longer-make-pop-music-for-about-the-poor-working-classes/764392/22 "2016-08-30T15:59:46Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > I thought they were on hiatus. > > In fact, I kind of feel like since around 2011 there has been a complete lack of rock bands. Rock died way before 2011. I’d say early 2000s when boy bands and that horrible Kid Rock/Limp Biscuit/insert shitty band took over. ---
**Author:** ![Human\_Action](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@Human\_Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Human_Action)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2016, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-no-longer-make-pop-music-for-about-the-poor-working-classes/764392/23 "2016-09-02T01:13:48Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Poor/working class songs still show up in the country and western genre. Yessir! [Fifth on the Floor, “Another Day”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26NtVERxOdk) [Brandy Clark, “Pray to Jesus”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCP0y-mbaFo) [Angaleena Presley, “Grocery Store”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48WQpczaXAk) [Owen Temple, “Dollars and Dimes”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJFyWQafAdE) [Sturgill Simpson, “Call to Arms”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4J03ZTUAis) [Jason Isbell, “Something More Than Free”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhIL8H2P1Jk) [Drive By Truckers, “The Home Front”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EjPkJzHq4I) [Turnpike Troubadours, “Southeastern Son”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwTDxnAOM80) ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2016, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-no-longer-make-pop-music-for-about-the-poor-working-classes/764392/24 "2016-09-02T20:47:12Z")
For starters, much of the modern Left is fixated on social issues rather than economic issues. Since much of the white working class is conservative on social issues, they are regarded as the enemy, as evil, rather than as poor unfortunates being screwed by the System. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2016, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-no-longer-make-pop-music-for-about-the-poor-working-classes/764392/25 "2016-09-02T21:17:27Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > For starters, much of the modern Left is fixated on social issues rather than economic issues. Since much of the white working class is conservative on social issues, they are regarded as the enemy, as evil, rather than as poor unfortunates being screwed by the System. Riiiiiiiiiiiight. Daya: Sit Still Look Pretty > [@](#): > > Could dress up, to get love > But guess what? > I’m never gonna be that girl > Who’s living in a Barbie world > > Could wake up, in make up, and play dumb > Pretending that I need a boy > Who’s gonna treat me like a toy > > I know the other girlies wanna wear expensive things, and diamond rings > But I don’t wanna be the puppet that you’re playing on a string > This queen don’t need a king > > Oh I don’t know what you’ve been told > But this gal right here’s gonna rule the world > Yeah that is where I’m gonna be, because I wanna be > No I don’t wanna sit still, look pretty Lukas Graham: Mama Said > [@](#): > > When Mama said that it was okay > Mama said that it was quite alright > Our kind of people had a bed for the night > And it was OK > Mama told us we are good kids > And daddy told us never listen to the ones > Pointing nasty fingers and making fun > 'Cause we were good kids > > Remember asking both my mom and dad > Why we never traveled to exotic lands > We only ever really visit friends > Nothing to tell when the summer ends > We never really went buying clothes > Folks were passing on this stuff in plenty loads > New shoes once a year and then > Out to play ball so we could ruin them ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2016, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-no-longer-make-pop-music-for-about-the-poor-working-classes/764392/26 "2016-09-03T02:03:10Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > … > John Mellencamp > … I was listening to Mellencamp’s _Lonesome Jubilee_ recently, for the first time in a few years. I really like the album, and it was striking how well he captured the working-class struggle and anxieties of the 1980s, as well as some of the Cold War angst about the Soviets and the bomb. While some of the bands mentioned here write great music, there’s just not as much really popular stuff these days that focuses on class. Another artist who had some great working-class lyrics in her music was Tracy Chapman, especially, but not only, in her debut album. I admit that i don’t know what she’s been doing recently; i still listen to her old stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2016, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-no-longer-make-pop-music-for-about-the-poor-working-classes/764392/27 "2016-09-03T04:28:51Z")
More from Jason Isbell: “Speed Trap Town” “Outfit” (originally recorded with Drive-By Truckers) Drive-By Truckers: “18 Wheels of Love” (explicit lyrics) “Zip City” (explicit lyrics) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Z69gW7NFZdw/maxresdefault.jpg "Zip City Illustrated") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z69gW7NFZdw) ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2016, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-no-longer-make-pop-music-for-about-the-poor-working-classes/764392/28 "2016-09-03T09:52:37Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Riiiiiiiiiiiight. > > Daya: Sit Still Look Pretty > > Lukas Graham: Mama Said Please don’t copy full lyrics, just put down a few of them. I have edited your post to do this. Copyright laws and all. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2016, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-no-longer-make-pop-music-for-about-the-poor-working-classes/764392/29 "2016-09-04T06:49:27Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > I was listening to Mellencamp’s _Lonesome Jubilee_ recently, for the first time in a few years. > > I really like the album, and it was striking how well he captured the working-class struggle and anxieties of the 1980s, as well as some of the Cold War angst about the Soviets and the bomb. While some of the bands mentioned here write great music, there’s just not as much really popular stuff these days that focuses on class. > > Another artist who had some great working-class lyrics in her music was Tracy Chapman, especially, but not only, in her debut album. I admit that i don’t know what she’s been doing recently; i still listen to her old stuff. [/quote] I only know _Fast Car_. But yeah. I would take that as an example of the type of song they don’t make anymore. > [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](#): > > Rock died way before 2011. I’d say early 2000s when boy bands and that horrible Kid Rock/Limp Biscuit/insert shitty band took over. I disagree. There is a whole decade of pretty decent indie rock bands you are missing out on. > [@astorian](#): > > For starters, much of the modern Left is fixated on social issues rather than economic issues. Since much of the white working class is conservative on social issues, they are regarded as the enemy, as evil, rather than as poor unfortunates being screwed by the System. That’s a nice way of saying “being a racist, sexist, homophobic bigot is no longer tolerated”. I also think those issues are more closely connected than you might think. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2016, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-no-longer-make-pop-music-for-about-the-poor-working-classes/764392/30 "2016-09-04T19:21:17Z")
> [@NAF1138](#): > > County Western makes singing about poverty into a weird fetish […] Even the poverty fetish music in country western is a fantasy. It’s just a different fantasy. The folk side of country seems happy to just say “Being poor sucks” without turning it into “We’re so much more virtuous than the rich liberal city folk for it” Steve Earle’s “Burnin’ it Down”: \*Ten gallons of gas and a bottle of propane Electric igniter off my grill and I still can’t Say for certain if this thing will blow But if it does I’m gonna be the first one to know Thinkin’ ‘bout burnin’ it down, boys Thinkin’ ‘bout burnin’ it down Nothing’s going to be the same in this town I’m thinkin’ ‘bout burnin’ the Walmart down\* And James McMurtry with “We Can’t Make It Here Anymore”: \*That big ol building was a textile mill That fed our kids and it paid our bills But they turned us out and they closed the doors 'Cause we can’t make it here anymore You see those pallets piled up on the loading dock? They’re just gonna sit there 'til they rot 'Cause there’s nothing to ship, nothing to pack Just busted concrete and rusted tracks Empty storefronts around the square There’s a needle in the gutter and glass everywhere You don’t come down here unless you’re looking to score We can’t make it here anymore\* ---
**Author:** ![up\_the\_junction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f1d935/32.png) [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2016, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-no-longer-make-pop-music-for-about-the-poor-working-classes/764392/31 "2016-09-04T22:37:53Z")
Someoe said to me last week there’s nothing in Timeout anymore. The truth is we got old. Anyway. Not seen too much middle class rap. There’s plenty of working class struggle orientated music in the UK but a lot of it is UK-centric - this is current English working class not being very happy about things 🙂 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usksH8B07do ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-no-longer-make-pop-music-for-about-the-poor-working-classes/764392/32 "2016-09-06T19:15:17Z")
I repeat, the Left today HATES the white working class. Those are the eeeevil racist vulgarians who vote for Trump, after all. Springsteen now looks down on the white working folks he grew up with and USED to pose as the voice of. TODAY, Springsteen would be more sympathetic to Mexican illegal aliens than to Jersey factory workers who fear losing their jobs to the illegals. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-no-longer-make-pop-music-for-about-the-poor-working-classes/764392/33 "2016-09-06T21:37:20Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > I repeat, the Left today HATES the white working class. Those are the eeeevil racist vulgarians who vote for Trump, after all. > > Springsteen now looks down on the white working folks he grew up with and USED to pose as the voice of. > > TODAY, Springsteen would be more sympathetic to Mexican illegal aliens than to Jersey factory workers who fear losing their jobs to the illegals. I hope you’re open to the possibility that you’re projecting your own hatred as coming from someone else. It sounds exactly like that. Happens every day. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-no-longer-make-pop-music-for-about-the-poor-working-classes/764392/34 "2016-09-07T12:34:40Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > I hope you’re open to the possibility that you’re projecting your own hatred as coming from someone else. It sounds exactly like that. Happens every day. Sorry, but I’m right and deep down, you have to know it. The Left despises the white working class, and that’s why liberal singers no longer warble about the blue collar male’s travails. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-no-longer-make-pop-music-for-about-the-poor-working-classes/764392/35 "2016-09-07T12:48:00Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Sorry, but I’m right and deep down, you have to know it. > > The Left despises the white working class, and that’s why liberal singers no longer warble about the blue collar male’s travails. So, name a few Good Republican Artists currently singing about “blue collar white male’s travails.” (I fixed your statement.) Surprisingly, poor working people don’t spend all their time bitching about being poor. Sometimes they like entertainment to be “entertaining.” Just like “regular” people… Hey, Springsteen is on the cover of _Vanity Fair_! He’s no longer the poor 24-year old who wrote “Born to Run” but he’s [glad to play it every night](http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2016/09/bruce-springsteen-cover-story). > [@](#): > > “A good song gathers the years in,” Springsteen said. “It’s why you can sing it with such conviction 40 years after it’s been written. A good song takes on more meaning as the years pass by.” (Is Bruce relevant here? I don’t care. **astorian** bores me. After all these years, Bruce does not.) So–that list? ---
**Author:** ![Human\_Action](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@Human\_Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Human_Action)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-no-longer-make-pop-music-for-about-the-poor-working-classes/764392/36 "2016-09-07T14:32:38Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Sorry, but I’m right and deep down, you have to know it. > > The Left despises the white working class, and that’s why liberal singers no longer warble about the blue collar male’s travails. [\*Something More Than Free \*is Isbell’s most sonically diverse album to date. It features Isbell’s Southern inspired vignettes of working class men, women and traditions that permeate 11 new songs of pure honestly and authenticity.](http://foxtheatre.org/events/jason-isbell) [Isbell and Springsteen come from very different places — Springsteen was raised in Freehold Borough, N.J.; Isbell was raised in rural North Alabama, the son of a housepainter. But each occupies a familiar place, writing about America’s working class as both an insider and outsider.](https://brewhouseblog.com/2015/08/07/on-jason-isbell-and-sportswriter-music/) [Like a novelist or a playwright, Isbell went searching for characters that fascinated him and for situations where those characters might reveal themselves. More often than not, those characters turned out to be working-class adults from North Alabama, the kind of people he grew up with, the kind of person he might have turned into himself if he hadn’t had an unusual ability for singing and songwriting.](https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2015/07/jason-isbell-making-the-ordinary-exceptional.html) Jason Isbell is…drumroll…[a Democrat-voting liberal.](http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/ex-drive-by-trucker-jason-isbell-interview-i-have-a-hard-time-accepting-taylor-swift-as-a-sexy-adult-10395765.html) ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-no-longer-make-pop-music-for-about-the-poor-working-classes/764392/37 "2016-09-07T16:58:55Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Sorry, but I’m right and deep down, you have to know it. > > The Left despises the white working class, and that’s why liberal singers no longer warble about the blue collar male’s travails. OK Donald. I sense a whole lot of despising going on and not from “liberal singers” whoever they are. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-no-longer-make-pop-music-for-about-the-poor-working-classes/764392/38 "2016-09-07T17:05:46Z")
Yeah, you’ve got me and **drad\_dog** agreeing on a musical topic. Quite a feat, **astorian**. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-no-longer-make-pop-music-for-about-the-poor-working-classes/764392/39 "2016-09-07T19:58:16Z")
> [@Human\_Action](#): > > [\*Something More Than Free \*is Isbell’s most sonically diverse album to date. It features Isbell’s Southern inspired vignettes of working class men, women and traditions that permeate 11 new songs of pure honestly and authenticity.](http://foxtheatre.org/events/jason-isbell) > > [Isbell and Springsteen come from very different places — Springsteen was raised in Freehold Borough, N.J.; Isbell was raised in rural North Alabama, the son of a housepainter. But each occupies a familiar place, writing about America’s working class as both an insider and outsider.](https://brewhouseblog.com/2015/08/07/on-jason-isbell-and-sportswriter-music/) > > [Like a novelist or a playwright, Isbell went searching for characters that fascinated him and for situations where those characters might reveal themselves. More often than not, those characters turned out to be working-class adults from North Alabama, the kind of people he grew up with, the kind of person he might have turned into himself if he hadn’t had an unusual ability for singing and songwriting.](https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2015/07/jason-isbell-making-the-ordinary-exceptional.html) > > Jason Isbell is…drumroll…[a Democrat-voting liberal.](http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/ex-drive-by-trucker-jason-isbell-interview-i-have-a-hard-time-accepting-taylor-swift-as-a-sexy-adult-10395765.html) Isbell is one of the best songwriters around. He and his former band, Drive-By Truckers which also has deep Alabama roots, share similar political leanings. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-no-longer-make-pop-music-for-about-the-poor-working-classes/764392.md?page=1)