Call for Submissions: The Music is the Message
In Nick Offerman’s 2015 book, Gumption, he talks at length about music. He talks even more about wanting to marry Jeff Tweedy. Offerman shares that he first recognized how music could carry social messages directly to one’s consciousness through a song from They Might Be Giants, “Your Racist Friend.” A partygoer declares, “This is where the party ends / I can’t stand here listening to you / And your racist friend.” A catchy tune had revealed its “thoughtful heart.”
Later, Laurie Anderson’s song “Beautiful Red Dress” made it possible for Offerman to understand the feminist movement.
“I’m sure I was distantly aware of the 1970’s ERA of Carol Burnett and other heroic ladies, but with the much more imperative subject of baseball on my child’s mind in small-town Illinois, it did not occur to me to perform any arithmetic around the topics. So when Laurie Anderson spoke these words to me and my fellow audience members during the bridge of that song in 1990, it was very much my awakening as a woman: ‘Okay! Okay! Hold it! I just want to say something. You know, for every dollar a man makes, a woman makes sixty-three cents. Now, fifty years ago that was sixty-two cents. So, with that kind of luck, it’ll be the year 3888… before we make a buck.’
It was hard to miss the point, when she put it like that… that was the moment I understood Laurie Anderson to be heroic as well as intoxicating.”
This Month’s Question
This month, we’re asking you to write about the music that helped you see more than you had in your view before listened to that track or experienced a moment at an event. Perhaps the full weight of an issue fell on your shoulders in that moment or the full scope of a movement’s struggle came into view. The question is not the usual one of music that transports you back to a time or place of personal significance but rather one that helped you connect to the experiences, concerns and hardships of others.
Please follow the general instructions of our submission guidelines and tell us your story. It is not necessary to include a marriage proposal for the artist the moves you the most, but Offerman proves there’s no reason to be too shy if you’re really feeling it.
***This question is now closed. If it provoked an idea for a story, we’d love to read it. Write your post on Medium and submit it to this publication***
Here’s how to share your story with us.
- Prospective writers for Politicolor will need to write their draft on Medium and send a a link to politicolor@gmail.com. If you need help, send a message to that address but be sure to include “help” in the subject line.
- If you’re work has previously appeared in our publication, submit your draft via the “…” icon and choose “add to publication.” We will acknowledge receipt of your work by either publishing it or getting in touch with you.
- Please send no more than two contributions per month. With few exceptions, most work will be added to Politicolor’s publication on Medium, Politicolor Sketchbook. Our editorial staff will review submissions and consider proposals for more frequent contributions once a writer has a history writing in the Politicolor mode.
- Our maximum length is 5,000 words (20 minute read). Short posts should be no shorter than 650 words (5 minute read).
- Your story should be well formatted, including subheadings and images (with proper attributions) to sustain interest, and be free of errors. Our editors will aim to publish your work unchanged but will correct obvious typos, add photos and adjust some formatting when necessary.
- We will verify that we received your story within 7 to 10 days. Work may not be published in the order that it is received but will be incorporated into the publication calendar to amplify the effect of shared themes or complementary efforts taking place on our main website.
