by Marina Ogawa

In a year unlike any other, musicians found themselves scrambling to create make-shift studios in their apartments as they doom-scrolled on Twitter, attempting to navigate a world dealing with multiple crises at once. With the influx of quarantine-made music, the songs that came out of 2020 memorialized the inner thoughts of our favorite artists and provided solace for listeners in lockdown. The songs from this year will certainly be classified into a history book of sorts: a passive commentary on the events that took place over the year, month by month. 

2020 was the year that Americans experienced one of the most consequential elections in US history. In the months leading up to this election, many felt that the COVID-19 pandemic, economic shifts, and the preservation of democracy were urgent problems at stake. These issues actively affected millions of people within the divisive tension in the country. This pressure burst a societal bubble, resulting in a historic turnout for young voters. These voters included our friends, their families, and neighbors, but also many of our favorite public figures - most notably, young musicians in the public eye. Typically, we might imagine these musicians, who play on the radio and cater to a wide audience, to steer away from explicit comments or references to political discussion. But this was a year unlike any other: the urgency was real. For many artists, there was now a necessity to entangle politics with their craft. In 2020, the interactions between politics and music were more apparent than ever before. 

Since Donald Trump’s first presidential campaign in 2016, several artists have condemned the use of their music at his political rallies. During his early presidency, the list already included big-name artists such as Adele, Elton John, Rihanna, and The Rolling Stones. But when Trump’s campaign for re-election began to expand in the summer of 2020, this provoked an even wider response among musicians. In July, Neil Young was alerted that several of his songs were being played at campaign rally events. Young immediately took to Twitter to express his strong disapproval of the unauthorized use of his music, stating: “This is NOT ok with me…”. The singer later filed a lawsuit against Donald Trump, citing that his music could not be used as a “theme song for an un-American campaign of ignorance and hate”. Several other artists later joined Young and filed lawsuits due to similar sentiments during his 2020 re-election bid. What is perhaps most interesting about the collision of politics and music in 2020 is how we grappled with notions of ownership in music. On one hand, we assume music to be an art form with considerable freedom, much more than others. Unlike a physical painting for example, once an artist releases a song to the public, anyone can take it and appropriate it for their own means. It can be played on speakers from just about anywhere; it can be readily remixed or sampled too. So when a musician reclaims their ownership and declares “no, I do not allow my art to be interpreted in this form,” - it is a powerful stance driven by the artist’s ideology. In 2020, musicians repossessed their craft and sheltered it from political beliefs they do not subscribe to. But this was just one of the ways in which politics redefined music that year.

The fall months of 2020 were some of the most crucial for the election. During these months the candidates raced through the country, stopping in every state to make their last pleas while preparing for the televised debates, which were watched by millions. With social pressure looming over every voter, it was at this point when politics demanded its presence in pop music.

September: Janelle Monáe releases “Turntables” for the documentary film All The Fight For Democracy. She channels a strong sense of justice through a groovy bassline and her bouncy lyrics: “got a new agenda with a new dream / I’m kickin’ out the old regime / liberation, elevation, education”. The song was praised by critics for invoking a motivational spirit, one that was needed to push through the final spurt of the election period. Monáe later revealed in a Rolling Stone interview that she initially had her doubts about the song: “I was thinking to myself, ‘I am not in a creative mood and some of this will be triggering to me’”. She crucially reminds us of the toll that the year has taken on artists, who are often pushed to keep creating, despite the circumstance. With the public dealing with the pandemic and reckoning with the nation’s history of racial injustice, it was understandable that Monáe would hesitate regarding how to approach an anthem. In a divisive country facing a crucial election, what kind of song can motivate listeners? For Janelle Monáe, it was about emphasizing the power of an individual vote over the sound of upbeat drums and making the tables turn.

‍October: Ariana Grande surprises fans with the release of her music video for “positions”, the lead single off her sixth studio album. She revealed that she could not initially commit to a visual concept for the song: “it was missing a certain element of empowerment,” she said. It was only until her fiancé half-jokingly pitched an idea: “what if you were the president?”. For Ariana, who had been very vocal about the election on social media, this clicked. It combined something new and fresh, yet relevant, and so she shifted her entire approach to the track. The suggestion ultimately birthed a music video that both starts and ends with a shot of the White House, filled with political references in between. We see Ariana strutting down the pristine hallways of the White House while keeping her tattoos and perfect ponytail on display. One of the most notable moments from the video is when she awards a Medal of Freedom to a US postal worker, alluding to the vital role they played in the election. Ariana takes on the role of president and fills the video with an empowering spirit while maintaining her personal touches. She makes subtle political references while keeping the romantic tone of the song, which is exactly where we observe the confluence of pop and politics. Democracy my beloved, she said.

‍November: In the days following Election Day, the nation held its breath. A mere hours after Joe Biden was declared president-elect, FINNEAS, Grammy award-winning producer known for his collaborations with sister Billie Eilish, quietly released the methodical track “Where the Poison Is”. Down to the timing of the song’s release, the title, instrumentals, and lyrics are intricately calculated. From beginning to end, the song truly feels like an interrogation. It is as if FINNEAS invites the American administration to ‘have a seat’ while he spells out his political frustration and fears. He spits out powerful lines like “when the month of March felt more like 40 years / when all my friends get sick, it’s on the president / when all my friends get sick, it's on his government”. The deep bassline adds to the solemn texture of the song, which is amplified by lyrics like “there’s a snake that thinks it’s the President” and his daring confession that he “can’t say I’m proud to be American”. FINNEAS pours his frustration into this calculated track, with each line hammering an extra nail in 2020’s coffin. “Where the Poison Is” commemorated the exit of the Donald Trump-era and the end of a somber year. 

‍2020: In a year filled with social and political uncertainty, a creative approach to protest became a vital outlet for many American musicians. Protest music has existed for centuries, but this was the year of reclaiming and affirming pop as a genre that can be inherently political. The emblematic titles, gloomy instrumentals, powerful lyrics, presidential visuals, and the calculated releases of some of our favorite songs revealed it all. The songs of 2020 were soaked with the spirits of frustration, fear, and hope. What it signifies is that American pop continues to dominate not only the charts but now perhaps the way we interpret and remember global history. ■