Wednesday 23 October 2024

'This is Now America' five years later

Five years ago Magne released 'This is Now America' as the first single from his solo album, 'White Xmas Lies'. What follows is a look back with Magne at the impact of the song.

'This is now America' was released just over five years ago. At the time, Donald Trump was President of the United States, and he is now running for that same office a third time. In some ways, it seems we haven't moved forward at all; but in other ways, it feels like an entirely different world, given everything that has happened in the interim.

What are your thoughts on 'This is now America’ today and do you believe the message is just as important as it was then?

Magne: well, sadly, i think the situation in the world today has made the song even more relevant. i wish it was not the case. i hasten to add that i used america here as the symbol of a dream which has been deeply rooted in people for decades - far outside of USA’s borders, and which now seems near fatally wounded. i was trying to tap into our times, and there are of course plenty of examples of things broken everywhere else too. ironically, this fall america is again faced with a choice between potentially the first ever female president, and donald trump for a second time, so it comes around for a repeat, perhaps with a different outcome…

in any event it is always a complicated exercise to be opinionated as an outsider living far away from a country you try to describe - there are probably as many versions of america as there are people in this world - but i believe my relationship and love of america in the past has given me a certain right to lament the tragic situation of hardline polarization and dismay that friends of mine in the US are struggling to cope with. i have no problem accepting the (necessary) idea that people have a different political opinion than myself - 'difference of opinion makes hores-racing possible’, as someone smart once said, but personally i struggle to understand how a disgruntled working-class and a vanishing middle-class would ever think that someone like donald trump is their guy. from where i stand it looks like he is just interested in personal power, not people. it must all come from having totally lost belief in government in general, with the result that literally anyone who portrays themselves as outside of that system seems a better alternative.

the polarized media-situation does not help. even though i make an effort to seek out differences of opinion on subjects in order to understand better, it is really hard to do. i myself find it really hard to watch two opposing networks presenting facts so wildly different. it is such a complex and bewildering world, so i understand people's need to just choose and rely on one version of news-coverage - even though this is exactly what causes problems.

Would you change the message at all, or add to it given the current global political climate?

Magne: with horrific wars on so many fronts, and the general disintegration of belief in democracy, it could probably use an update, but this is a dark road to take. i think possibly in such dark times we all could need something a little more soothing and hopeful, even though as an artist it is not easy to make with all that’s happening.

Back in 2019, you responded to a fan's reaction to the song on Instagram: "this song is an instinctive artistic response to my own growing concern about our drift towards division and entrenchment - happening all over the place, and on all sides of thinking. if we conclude that the ones who share our opinions are the good guys, and the ones who do not are bad, then we are on a dangerous path. it could have been written about a great number of places, like my second home great britain, or indeed my native norway...i don’t care much for what is happening here either. but truth is, what happens in america is just much more important to the world."

It is striking how the words ‘division’ and ‘entrenchment’ still resonate today. Do you see any progress since you wrote 'This is now America', or have things grown worse?

Magne: sadly i think things are way worse now, and that they will be getting worse for years to come until we learn to pull together. which we will have to, by the way, or self-destruct completely. voting now seems to be just for whatever may promote personal benefits with no concern for the greater good. this is a climate that populistic wannabe dictators thrive in.

In other words: does hope have a place in politics with as much bitter division as we continue to experience?

Magne: hope has a place in all aspects of life, and of course in art. but hope is a fragile thing and must be fought for.
with so much hopelessness around it is an even harder fight, but even more important.

As an artist, how would you respond to the current American presidential race and our prospects for living up to being "a symbol of the western mind and all of our hopes combined”?

Magne: it would be a heartbreaking thing to have to give up on the best things america has fostered, and all the progress the world has made on so many fronts in my lifetime. i guess the best way to sum it up is; ‘it’s hopeless AND i’m not giving up'.

‘This is now America’ was released shortly after Trump borrowed the rotoscoped look of the classic 'Take On Me' video - which has now been viewed over 2 billion times on YouTube - for a political message. At the time you said to Rolling Stone, "You want to be careful about deciding who’s allowed to do what with what you put out in the world. ...We make our music for everybody. We didn’t intend to make our music part of a divisive campaign and, all things equal, would have preferred it not to have been."

a-ha is not alone in feeling this way - the Trump campaign has experienced backlash and even lawsuits from artists who object to their music being used at his events. Have you been following the media around the use of music in American political advertising, and if so, what do you think about how artists have responded in this campaign cycle compared to the previous two?

Magne: well, we requested via our record company that this particular advertisement be stopped, and it was.
we felt there was a danger of looking like we endorsed this political campaign, which we certainly did not.

Lately we have seen some very prominent artists endorsing Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential race. What are your thoughts about artist endorsements of political candidates? Do you think endorsements – or denouncements – from artists strongly influence politics?

Magne: i have a lot of respect for artists who make their voice heard clearly. it is a little different when you are in a band, because you may have differing opinions within a group. in this case though, i think all of us in the band were very much aligned, even if we may view solutions for the world quite differently.

In February 2020 you released a music video for 'This is now America' which was made by experimental performance artists Vegard Vinge/Ida Müller in collaboration with Thomas Vincent Furuholmen. The response from fans included descriptions like, 'too shocking', 'really important and relevant piece of work', 'artistically risk taking', etc.

Looking back do you remember any particular response to the song and video that stood out for you?

Magne: choosing to engage with the artistic and experimental visual world of vinge & müller (in collaboration with my son thomas for the this is now america video) i knew this would be a departure and even a shock to many. making people think and discuss is always good, and in desperate times a shock to the system can be quite necessary.

Did you feel that folks understood the message and valued your voice in this conversation?

Magne: as with all art, there is no one way to understand things. reactions and opinions is just as relevant as what i may think about it.
we make it - we are not in the business of forcing people to like or agree with what we do. i make what i feel compelled to and stand by what is made - whatever the reactions.

Less than three weeks after the video was released, COVID-19 changed the world, and the political conversation suddenly shifted to include matters of global health and the varying national responses to the virus. It has been said that as a civilization, we have not truly had a chance to process the catastrophic loss of life, nor the ponderous weight of grief experienced due to COVID.

Your next music video after the Vinge/Müller/Furuholmen video for 'This is now America' was a heartfelt cover of 'Troubled Times,’ released three months into the pandemic and in memoriam for Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne. The video included submissions from people around the world related to their individual experiences during the corona virus lockdown. At the time, many described the single - and others like it - as healing and unifying.

Looking back on the video for your cover of ‘Troubled Times’, what was the experience like for you and your team, seeing those clips from fans around the world during the lockdown?

Magne: i really loved doing this project - collaborations like this are always rewarding and i think the result was just what the doctor ordered (or should have) at the time. even with all the deeply troubling things going on in the world, beauty and sweetness still exist.

What do you think makes art and music so well suited to building bridges and creating safe spaces for expression?

Magne: at its best music and art are more ambiguous and multi-faceted forms of expression than speeches and paroles.
as such it carries the ability to work on the receiver over time and be an agent for reflection - and potentially for change and healing.

The juxtaposition of these two music videos released back-to-back via your YouTube channel is profound, yet in a certain light, both are consistent with the themes of your musical output throughout your career. You are now less than a two weeks away from releasing your first single since 'Troubled Times.' Can we expect another surprising juxtaposition? What can you tell us about your next single?

Magne: i am not self-deluded enough to imagine it will have a great societal impact, but whatever i make is informed by my own life and a reflection of where i am today as a person in some way. to those who are interested in what i do, i (invariably) hope it will be a meaningful addition to theirs.

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'This is Now America' five years later

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