Why a Beastie Boys series on Big Hollywood? Perhaps “To the Five Boroughs,” an album that largely eschews the fun party vibe in favor of left-wing political rants, helps to answer that question.
Here’s the thing about politics and music, in my very humble opinion: They sometimes go together, but it has to be a unique marriage of artist and material in order to work. The less overt the better, except in the case of, say, “Public Enemy,” because their whole persona is based around politics (and reality TV, but I digress). I don’t necessarily have to agree with the political message to enjoy the music, which is good because if I did, I would only listen to the soundtrack to “Bob Roberts.” My pet rule of course isn’t limited to politics or music, but encompasses any message in any form of media that is MEANT TO ENTERTAIN ME.
In terms of politics and social issues, The Beastie Boys had become increasingly active in the wake of the terrorist attacks that hit their city on September 11, 2001, even organizing a New Yorkers Against Violence Concert. The simplistic “Peace is better than war” grated me; of course peace is better than war. On the cusp of US deployment into Iraq, the Beastie Boys released a much-downloaded song on Moveon.org, of all places. It’s an amusing, and yes, simplistic cry for peace. In it, the Beasties go out of their way to fawn all over Islam, which I didn’t get. It was getting tiresome to hear the left apologize on behalf of Muslims in the wake of 9/11. To hear the left tell it, crazy white people were going all vigilante on Muslims at 7/11’s across the country. I don’t recall anyone in the liberal elite defending Christians in the wake of the senseless killings of abortion practitioners. Nor would I want them to.
Upon hearing first single from their upcoming album, “To the Five Boroughs,” I thought, “This is more like it!”
“Ch-Ch-Check It Out” was a fun song with a fun video, and I was eager to hear the album. Prior to its release, my wife and I scored tickets to the KROQ Weenie Roast in Irvine, headlined by you-know-who. Will Ferrell introduced them – it was pretty hilarious – and while the set wasn’t bad, their newfound political streak was on full display. While his cohorts took a break, Ad-Rock needled the crowd to get out and vote, but, he intoned, “Don’t vote for George W. Bush.” Not having heard the full album, the stump speech hit me out of left field. But it was a moment that symbolizes this period of American pop culture. A time when popular artists would say whatever they wanted about America and the President in particular, be it in their work or in an unsolicited tirade, and act like they were brave for doing so. You know, the chill wind and all.
“Shut up and rap!” my wife hollered, which garnered more glares than cheers. Listen, Ad-Rock, if I want a doo doo rhyme, by all means, I will come see you. If I want my mind made up about who to vote for, bub, you’re about 637,542 on my list of people I’ll go to for help. That’s right, somewhere between ME and George Soros.
The release of “To the Five Boroughs” proved that the Beastie Boys and politics were not a good fit. “I’m getting’ kind of tired of this situation, the US attacking other nations,” MCA hisses on “Right Right Now Now,” painting the type of picture that leaves the far-left euphoric. They whined about Bush rejecting the Kyoto treaty, called for his impeachment, accused anyone to the political right of them to be living inside a Cone of Silence (actually, that’s a funny reference, more on that in a minute). They never denounce the terrorists, but see fit to call out the Christian Coalition. Of course, Yauch did concede in an interview with Spin Magazine that “maybe Hitler” would be a worse president than Bush. So there’s maybe one worse person for the job, and it’s the H-word.
It’s not just that I disagreed with their childish, on the nose, articulation of their broad stroke political agenda, which can be summed up as “Bush and War are Bad” that made the political material a misfire for me. It’s that for the first time in their careers, they sounded like everyone else. Of course, Rolling Stone rewarded their efforts with a 5-star review, but that publication had by this time become increasingly consumed with Bush derangement syndrome. I don’t toe the party line, I don’t believe Bush to be above any criticism. But when the left has to distort his presidency in order to criticize him, they lose traction and respectability.
The song “Open Letter to NYC” proves the very point I’m making about the Beasties’ sudden fascination with political lyrics. It has no overt political references to speak of; rather, it’s a thoughtful, moving (but never sappy) song about the city they love, a city that’s “been through hell,” as they say. It works as a tribute to New Yorkers and a reminder of the events of September 11, 2001. With this song, they prove that they have the ability to get serious and remain entertaining. I wish that if they insisted on getting specific about their politics they could have done it with humor, as they did with the Cone of Silence reference.
Musically, “To the Five Boroughs” doesn’t sound like anything they’ve ever done; the beats are strong, but lyrically, it’s their worst album. Sure, there are some fun references; I love the Mutual of Omaha/Lorne Green stuff on “Ch-Ch-Check It Out.” But many of the other references are far too ordinary – this is a function of the times to some extent. It is no longer at all cool to name-check Darth Vader, and references to “The Cable Guy” will probably never be cool. Most egregiously, Mike D. confuses Fred Sanford’s beloved wife Elizabeth with George Jefferson’s long suffering Weezy. A low point, indeed. There are a handful of good songs, and even the ones with overt political references are mostly listenable. Perhaps the biggest problem with including so much specific political content is that it makes the album feel dated. The rest of their work has a timeless appeal, while “To the Five Boroughs” will forever be tied to the Bush years.
It didn’t alienate me, not completely. My wife and I saw them at the Universal Amphitheater, and they still put on a good show. The people next to us had extra tickets for the next night’s show in Long Beach. I had to work. My wife took a friend. I remain casually disappointed in her. And her friend.
In October of 2004, Nathaniel Hornblower came up with a great idea for a concert movie. The Beastie Boys distributed 50 video cameras to audience members at Madison Square Garden. Those with cameras were instructed to never stop rolling. The resulting footage was edited and released as the concert film, “Awesome! I F*ckin’ Shot That!” premiering at Sundance in 2006. A great idea, but the execution is probably only good enough to satisfy fans like me.
Ben Stiller can be seen in the crowd geeking out and rapping along. After that, the Beastie Boys revealed their next project, an album called “The Mix-Up.” I thought it was going to be a concept album about them being mixed-up about their appeal, which led to the recording of “To the Five Boroughs.” I was wrong…very wrong. More on “The Mix-Up” and the as-yet-to-be released “The Hot Sauce Committee Part One” next week!
To the Five Boroughs, 2004
Best Songs: Rhyme the Rhyme Well, Ch-Check It Out, Open Letter to NYC, Crawlspace, Triple Trouble
Cool Samples: Eh
Political references: Many, many, many.
Cam’s rating: In 2004, 2 stars. In 2010, 2 stars
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.