Viewer Discretion Advised: Socially Conscious Cuts

posted in: Features

Musicians are no strangers to social commentary. Throughout the years artists have used their music to catapult important causes to the forefront of their audience’s mind, spawning social change and charitable awareness across the globe. There isn’t a person on the planet who would deny Bono’s dedication to goodwill, morphing his rock and roll status into “the face of fusion philanthropy.” And for every Bono, there are a thousands more artists spreading messages of change and awareness about causes that are near and dear to their hearts. We’re proud to include one of OurStage’s own in this category. Trig Ashes created the music video for “Know You” with an important message in mind. He  took the time to share with us, in his own words, a cause that will maybe touch you as well.

Parental Alienation Syndrome or PAS occurs when there is a separation between two adults who have children and conditions are made jeopardizing the quality of the relationship between a child and a parent. The conditions may be imposed by the opposite parent or may result indirectly from a ruling made by family mediation. This infringes on what would otherwise be a healthy relationship for everyone involved. Everyone may have heard of the parent who went to the store to buy milk and never returned. This represents an unfortunate situation.

“My commitment to PAS is driven by my own experiences and compassion to raise awareness. My father passed away when I was very young. In dealing with my loss I observed my peers who did have both parents and the structure of the families relationships. Having one parent absent from the home wasn’t uncommon but beyond that I observed at an early age the fabric and quality of the relationships of those who had an absent parent. I saw first hand the anger and pain of friends because of conditions and boundaries placed on the relationships with the parent who no longer lived in the home. After my eyes were opened to this behavior and as I grew to become an adult myself, the unthinkable happened. After a decade of watching my friends experience and deal with PAS, my own son was being exposed to this traumatic behavior. My heart was broken. I knew that I must use my music and my voice to speak for those who didn’t have a voice.

“In my goal of creating awareness are two components. The first component is to identify with children and parents so they might see a flagship realizing that they are not alone. Most of the time, in an emotionally traumatic situation as PAS, it is easy to feel isolated, as if that person feels they are they only one that this is happening to. Lacking coping skills, the effect is much more magnified for children. The second component is to provide resources and educate everyone to the unfortunate impact of PAS by allowing it to intrude on otherwise healthy relationships of children and their parents. There is no substitute for quality healthy relationships of children and the parents. I feel that by educating people, we can realize the consequences of PAS and help end the emotional harm done to children.”

Many of you might remember this next musical message from the early ’90s. Really, who could forget the haunting video for Soul Asylum‘s “Runaway Train.” Below you will find the lesser-known UK version of the unforgettable video.  The original US version opens with “There are over one million youth lost on the streets of America,” whereas the UK version opens with “100,000 youth are lost on the streets of Britain” and closes with lead vocalist Dave Pirner urging anyone with information regarding the missing children throughout the video to call the number cited. MTV originally cut this message out for fear of the video would be confused with a public service announcement. VH1 still shows the UK version in its full length. Throughout the years the video has been credited with closing the book on many cases of the featured missing children. Unfortunately, they are not all happy endings.  This UK version includes two young girls that went missing in 1991 and whose remains were found in 2007. Their killer has since been convicted.