It is well known that Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is a keen writer of both political and non-political songs, as evidenced by his CDs released in 2007, 2009, and 2010. One of his songs about the environment was played as a prelude to his speech to business leaders at an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Honolulu this weekend. In a very interesting comment about his songwriting, and about the power and purpose of political song in general, the President is quoted as saying

This is my way of communicating to the people. If I use political language, there is always some misinterpretation. But if I use (songs) as a communication it is more easily accepted by anybody.

Certainly, his song about protecting the environment makes his message very clear:

Come with me now to save this mother land
From the forest to the oceans to the sky
If we all just believe we could change everything
For the future of our children.

Further to an earlier News item – Radioactivity (A Nuclear Outcry Song for Japan) many more antinuclear songs have been released. Interestingly the songs are finding their widest distribution on internet social networking sites, and are not being much featured by the mainstream media. Some of the songs were written for previous campaigns, but are now again in demand. For example Kiyoshiro Imawano’s reworking of Summertime Blues with new antinuclear lyrics. Some of the newer songs attack the government for a perceived campaign of misinformation and incompetence, for example Kazuyoshi Saito’s It Was Always a Lie.

Kiyoshiro Imawano’s reworking of Summertime Blues:

Kazuyoshi Saito’s It Was Always a Lie:

Jayce Kingstone has released Radioactivity (A Nuclear Outcry Song for Japan) about the nuclear disaster at Fukushima, Japan. The song has been described as a “clear message to humanity that we are not in control of our destiny.” But the message is, perhaps, ultimately one of hope, and a rallying call for action “clear message to humanity that we are not in control of our destiny.”

Jayce has, more recently, released another powerful and inspirational song. You’ll Find Your Way (A Song for Freedom, Peace and Equality) was, as Jayce says “inspired by the recent calamities that face our world (such as the fight for peace Libya and catastrophe in Japan). In this video I attempt to portray the extreme contrasts between the classes and nations, the differences in opportunities and the segregation that has become a part of our everyday lives.” But again the overall mood of the song is one of optimism.

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