Monday, April 24, 2017

Molotov is a Bad or Good Influence

Molotov 


“Molotov is an incendiary created by filling a bottle with oil, petrol, or bathtub napalm, and lit with a rag fuse. Used by Bolshevic rebels in the 19th century, and various insurgents since.” (Urban Dictionary). For a Mexican band created in 1995, Molotov was the perfect name to describe their music in the Mexican society. This band sings lyrics using politics and sexual topics, generating controversy in the society. It has been claimed that Molotov is a bad influence especially at the youngest audience; however, some of Molotov’s songs try to wake up a sleeping society with strong language, sending a direct message against all they think is wrong in their context, and sometimes they use humor with creative lyrics to give people a good time.



Molotov Mexican band
Micky Huidobro vocal and bass guitar, Tito Fuentes vocal guitar, Randy Ebright vocal and drums, and Paco Ayala vocal and guitar.




“¿Dónde jugarán las niñas?” (Where are going to play the girls)
by Molotov
“¿Dónde jugarán las niños?” (Where are going to play the boys)
by Mana
Latin America has a lot of controversial problems, starting with politics. Molotov took these situations to create lyrics expressing people's nonconformity. When Molotov was created, they wanted to be controversial. Their first album “¿Dónde jugarán las niñas?” (Where are the girls going to play?) introduced their intentions about expressed topics that are not conventional in the society. The name of this album was a sarcastic joke taken from Mana a Mexican pop band with their album “¿Dónde jugarán las niños?” (Where are the boys going to play?) (La opinion). Some music stores refused to sell this album because their songs used a lot of taboo topics and the language was very strong. However, Molotov did not stop, so they went to the streets to sell this album (Wikipedia). One of the most powerful songs is “Gimme the Power”, that song talks about the elections for president in Mexico, and the best decision is when people are together and think about common people. “El Carnal de las Estrellas” (The Buddy of the Stars) is a song dedicated to Televisa, a Mexican television channel, that refused to put  their videos on air (Wikipedia). Molotov takes topics that involve Mexican people. It is true that a lot of Mexican people come to the United States, and some American people stereotype Mexicans, so Molotov takes this controversial topic creating “Frijolero”(Beaner) (Wikipedia).  They really try with their music to send a direct message and change people's minds.






Photo by Jorge Vergara.

But Molotov does not all the time find problems to create songs. Sometimes they only want to make people laugh with their incoherence. In the Latin community are words that people use with a double sense and a lot of bad words. Molotov uses these kinds of words to create songs that people enjoy sing because they are not common in the music world. Songs like
“El Marciano”(The Martian), “ChanguichA La Chichona” ( A translation is not possible),“Queremos pastel” (We want Cake), and more are really funny, showing to the audience the real versatility the band has. The globalization and the connection between Mexico and the United States add an important feature in their songs using  two languages Spanish and English. It is a reality that English is one of the most important languages in the world; however, Spanish is so involved with the United States community that a lot of people speak the two languages, so  Molotov incorporate this linguistic mixing in their songs.



http://www.axs.com/performer-profile-on-molotov-53314
It has been claimed that Molotov’s songs use  rude language, and it is not apt for young people. Obviously, parents do not want their kids singing and listening to this music because it is rude and aggressive. However, most of  Molotov’s audience is older, and they can make their own decisions. Parents should try to explain to their kids what  the important message is in Molotov’s songs because kids might listen to these songs in other places, taking only the bad words meaning. Young audiences could enjoy listening to this band, and parents might see this like an opportunity to be involved in their kids’ lives.

FRIJOLERO
(Original lyric)
Yo ya estoy hasta la madre 
Photo by butacaancha
de que me pongan sombrero
Escucha entonces cuando digo 
no me llames frijolero.
Y aunque exista algún respeto 
y no metamos las narices
Nunca inflamos la moneda 
haciendo guerra a otros países.
Te pagamos con petróleo
 e intereses nuestra deuda
Mientras tanto no sabemos 
¿quien se queda con la feria?
Aunque nos hagan la fama 
de que somos vendedores
De la droga que sembramos 
ustedes son consumidores.
 Don't call me gringo, you fuckin beaner
Stay on your side of that goddamn river
Don't call me gringo, you beaner.
 No me digas beaner, mr. puñetero
Te sacaré un susto por racista y culero.
No me llames frijolero, pinche gringo 
puñetero.

Frijolero
English
I am so damn sick
About the hat stereotype
Listen when i say
Molotov
Don't call me beaner
And even if there's some respect
It's none of our business
Let's never blow the coin
Making war to other countries
We pay you with petroleum
And Interests, our debt
Meanwhile we don't know
Who takes the money
Even if they say
That we are traffickers
Of the drug we sow
You're consumers
Don't call me gringo, you fuckin' beaner
Stay on your side of that god damn river
Don't call me gringo, you beaner
Don't call me beaner, Mr. Asshole
I will scare you for being racist and asshole
Don't call me beaner, fucking gringo
Asshole


Molotov is a controversial band that takes politics and sexual topics to make songs. They really have a point of view to criticize problems that people are afraid to say. The strong language used in their songs are generated taboo in the society; however, people sometimes need to wake up and see what is the reality. Molotov maybe is not the most famous band, but they have never changed their style of songs to become more successful. People are free to decide what they want to listen to. A warning if you listen to Molotov’s songs: you are taking the risk to enjoy them.