LABELLED, JUDGED and MISUNDERSTOOD

 

The Rola Cola Method

Some things are difficult to say out loud. So I put them into a song.

Throughout life, I’ve noticed something interesting about people and opinions.

Certain political, religious, social and human ideals can be difficult to talk about openly. Say something the wrong way, and you can quickly be labelled, judged or misunderstood — sometimes before anyone has even considered what you actually meant.

That’s not a new observation for me.

It’s a lifetime of watching people, listening to conversations and noticing how quickly an opinion can become a label attached to the person expressing it.

And that’s where Rola Cola Ray comes in.

Change the medium

I don’t necessarily believe every thought I put into a song. Sometimes I’m questioning something. Sometimes I’m challenging it. Sometimes I’m simply asking a question.

That’s the point.

Put an idea into a political argument and people can immediately take sides.

Put the same idea into a song, comedy or satire, and suddenly there’s another way of looking at it.

You can listen.

You can laugh.

You can disagree.

You can think about it.

Or you can completely ignore it.

It’s up to you.

The Political Jacket

There’s a line in the song:

“We cannot argue a Political Jacket…”

It’s deliberately unusual.

Because sometimes the jacket comes before the person.

Someone says something political and they’re immediately placed into a particular box. Someone questions a religious teaching and they’re judged by their position. Someone challenges a social idea and suddenly the discussion becomes about who they are rather than what they actually said.

The label can become more important than the conversation.

And once that happens, you’ve stopped listening.

A lifetime of observation

The song isn’t meant to provide answers to every question.

It’s about asking them.

I’ve spent a lifetime observing people, institutions, conversations, beliefs and behaviour. I’ve watched what people are comfortable saying, what they’re uncomfortable saying and how differently the same words can be received depending on who says them.

So I started looking at another way of communicating.

Music.

Instead of standing on a soapbox, I can put an idea into a melody.

Instead of telling somebody what to think, I can suggest that they think.

Instead of demanding agreement, I can leave the door open for disagreement.

“I hope you understand… But you don’t have to.”

That’s probably one of the most important lines in the song.

Because you don’t have to agree with me.

You have your own opinions too.

Of course you do.

It’s up to you.

Why Rola Cola?

The Rola Cola project gives me the freedom to experiment with ideas that don’t always fit neatly into ordinary conversation.

Sometimes they’re serious.

Sometimes they’re controversial.

Sometimes they’re ridiculous.

Sometimes they’re deliberately uncomfortable.

And sometimes they’re simply observations from a bloke who has spent a lifetime watching the world go by and wondering, “Hang on… why do we think like that?”

The music gives those thoughts somewhere to live.

And because it’s music, you can take it however you want.

You don’t have to accept the idea.

You don’t even have to like the song.

But if it makes you stop for a second and think…

Then it has done its job.

Labelled. Judged. Misunderstood.

That’s the heart of the song.

LABELLED.

JUDGED.

MISUNDERSTOOD.

Three words that can describe what happens when an opinion becomes more important than the person expressing it.

So rather than shouting louder, I decided to change the approach.

Put it in a song.

Give it a beat.

Give it a melody.

Give people the freedom to interpret it for themselves.

Raise the question.

Suggest you think.

And then let the listener decide.

That’s the Rola Cola method.

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