Over the centuries, several countries have banned music and public concerts within their borders, sometimes paving the way, as in Cambodia and Saudi Arabia, for a whole new era of artistic expression and underground music scenes.
Music has the power to provoke and unite people, a rare capacity that has, throughout its history, often been double-edged. Indeed, whether for religious, political, or moral reasons, musical works that challenge the status quo are often silenced.
The BBC refused to broadcast the title God Save the Queen by the Sex Pistols in the United Kingdom; the United States banned certain songs by the Beatles; China banned K-pop for fear of its global influence; Nazi Germany abolished jazz; and the Brazilian military dictatorship censored no less than 500 songs between 1964 and 1985.
However, some bans can prove even more radical, such as in Afghanistan, where, after regaining power in 2021, the Taliban decided nothing more and nothing less to reinstate their total abolition of music. Despite all the restrictions it faced over the centuries, music nevertheless managed to maintain its universal capacity to defy repression.
The Dissapearence Of Cambodian Music
In 1975, the Khmer Rouge, a radical communist movement, began a reign of terror in Cambodia. Citizens were stripped of their homes, property and culture, and anyone likely to challenge the new regime, such as intellectuals and artists, were massacred. For four years, the Khmer Rouge erased much of Cambodia’s rich cultural heritage, including music.
From the 1960s to the early 1970s, before this violent takeover, Cambodian music experienced a true golden age. Men in suits and women in miniskirts moved on the dance floors to the rhythm of psychedelic tunes inspired by the iconic sounds of rock’n’roll and broadcast over the airwaves by American ships stationed in the South China Sea.
Many Cambodian artists, such as pop singer Sinn Sisamouth, enjoyed immense success throughout the country. Despite the efforts of some, who tried to resist by hiding records in order to protect their musical heritage, the radical nature of the Khmer Rouge reign made it almost impossible to preserve this emblematic culture.
Now, decades after the fall of the regime, Cambodia is finally beginning to reclaim its lost musical heritage. Le Gong, the country’s largest artistic and cultural center, has just opened its doors 60 kilometers northeast of its capital, Phnom Penh.
Featuring a modern recording studio and a 140-seat auditorium, the Gong aims to celebrate, preserve and revitalize Cambodian music, documenting traditional Khmer music and supporting new artists through cutting-edge technology.
Secret Concerts In Saudi Arabia
While Cambodia works to revive its musical heritage, other countries are still trying to balance artistic expression with government restrictions. In the 1960s and 1970s, the arts were actively encouraged in Saudi Arabia.
However, the situation took a sudden turn in 1979 when al-Jamaa al-Salafiya al-Muhtasiba, a group led by a preacher, seized the Grand Mosque of Mecca. Shortly after, the Saudi government adopted a more conservative stance, leading to the closure of cinemas and a ban on public musical performances.
Find A New Rhythm
Saudi and Cambodian music is not the only music to have suffered severe restrictions over the last century. Indeed, the 1979 revolution brought an abrupt end to music in Iran, with the new Shiite Islamic leaders believing that it was corrupting the youth.
Traditional music was able to resume a few months later, but Western titles and women singing solo were now considered culturally unacceptable in the country.
Today, forty-five years later, Iranian classical, folk, and pop music is openly broadcast, and street musicians entertain passers-by in Tehran. Western electronic music group Schiller even performed in the Iranian capital in 2017.
Not all artists have the freedom to perform openly, however. Although The Voice Persia features women singing solo, the show was actually recorded in Sweden. For its part, rap has gained popularity in recent years, but artists still risk imprisonment if they write lyrics deemed threatening by authorities.
Mark