Nobody’s Soldier

Shresta Nibhanupudi (she/her)

Editorial Team Member

The inherent nature of humans is to want to be comfortable. Everyone’s goal inevitably is to be truly comfortable in some way. We avoid confrontation, and we change ourselves to be “likeable.” We avoid the disturbing and shun the disturbed. One topic that is sure to cause shifting, fidgeting, and squirming is politics. Everyone hates politics. Society hates when people talk about the intricacies of politics and how it applies to almost every facet of life. They talk about how politics doesn’t deserve a place in everyday conversations because “not everything is political.” 

My recent encounter with this phrasing was at a Hozier concert. During the performance, he goes on a tangent about how currently, there are many issues to be spoken about around the world. He discusses the issues of NINA (No Irish Need Apply) which was a period of time in which Irish immigrants weren’t welcome in the U.S. He talks about how history might be repeating itself currently. He spoke out about the wage gap, the atrocities in Gaza, and the current administration trying to take away decades of progress. Many applauded him for speaking out, but many also said that there was no need. Many said that politics shouldn’t have been brought into the musical world. 

But, everything is political. Things that some can experience while some can't are political. Education, which shouldn’t be political, is now political. Religion is political. Music is political, especially Hozier’s. Hozier has a song that I would specifically like to bring up. It’s called “Nobody’s Soldier.” It tells people to be rebellious, to not follow someone mindlessly, to use their voice for what they believe in. That is the definition of politics. And it’s not just Hozier, Broadway has been political since it began. Musicals like "Cabaret," “The Sound of Music,” and “Newsies,” were made as political statements. And “Cabaret” has been known to make people exceptionally uncomfortable. All great art is political. And that makes society uncomfortable. 

I say to lean into that uncomfortable feeling. It is human to be disturbed at horrific events. It is normal to feel empathy. Uneasiness is the starting point of having complicated conversations. So, like “Nobody’s Soldier” said, speak out. Make people uncomfortable. Tell the truth that you believe in. Because that is how positive change starts.