I don't want to sound like I'm obsessed with the musical tastes of conservatives. Yes, I know, I've only written a couple of articles about it, but that seems like a lot. But we just keep getting stories about right-wingers and their love of the same bands I love. The latest is Richard Spencer coming out as a fan of Depeche Mode, and declaring them "the official band of the Alt-Right."
Once again, I don't really understand how that happens. A lot of their early music seems to be directly out of the Communist Manifesto. And one of their most popular songs, "People Are People," is as clear an anti-bigotry song as there is.
I think it's pretty weird for a person to listen to music with a message so different from their own beliefs. And most people seem to see it that way. A few years ago there was a young pundit in Britain who became a laughingstock for suggesting that Morrissey was responsible for the country's turn to the right under David Cameron.
Okay, you may have been so distracted by the thought of someone thinking that left-of-Marx Morrissey could be a conservative icon, that you may have missed the irony that we were talking about David Cameron being shockingly right-wing. Ah, simpler times.
Anyway, you can kind of see where she was coming from: Cameron - and many others in his government - would have come of age in the eighties, at the height of Morrissey's career. (Cameron has claimed to actually be a fan.) And consider that Morrissey is the sort of cult-level celebrity that means a lot to some but will be largely absent from the mainstream pop-cultural record. Young people are forgiven for not knowing who he is, or why my generation cares about him. Just imagine hipster Millennials trying to explain to their kids who Jack White was. So when Morrissey's autobiography came out a few years ago, and people in Cameron's generation couldn't stop talking about this guy the young journalist had never heard of, she put two and two together and got the idea that he was the genesis for modern conservatism.
I still don't understand this concept. I mean, it's not like being a Sir-Mix-a-Lot fan who's attracted to svelte women. In that case you could say you disagree, but can respect his opinion, as well as his self-professed honesty about it. But with these alt-right alt-rock fans, they've dedicated their lives to fighting against the ideas in their favourite music, and their musical idols would despise their values.
Of course, it cuts both ways. If you're a left-leaning person, you probably don't have a problem with musicians unless you're into country. But there may be other areas of your life. Take sports, for instance. Massachusetts may be one of the most liberal parts of the US, yet in the Superbowl, they had to cheer for a coach and quarterback that supported Donald Trump, at least in as much as they are aware of a world beyond football.
And I'm feeling it too. Normally this weekend I'd be looking forward to the Daytona 500. But I've been put off by NASCAR and its overt support for Trump. Yes, despite this being the first time in a generation that a Canadian will be in the race. And even though that Canadian, DJ Kennington is a local boy from St. Thomas, who cut his teeth at my beloved Delaware Speedway in London. But I can't bring myself to watch the race, not even out of morbid curiosity of how many Confederate Flags will be in the audience, and how the TV coverage will avoid showing them. Unlike Spencer, I can't ignore the fact that someone is working against what I believe in.
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