Module 14: Protest Music
Prompt:
Now that you have dug into some
protest music, the role and impact that it has in popular and mass culture, and
the movements affiliated with the artists and songs - think about some of your
favorite musical artists and see if they have ever written a controversial political
song about politico/socio issues in America. In your post, you should:
·
Identify what artist(s) and political song you
would like to use for your blog post
·
Identify who the artist(s) is/are
·
Identify what the song is about
·
Why do you support the political message of the
song?
·
How does it make you feel?
·
If there is a music video for the song that
tells a socio/politico story, explain it and share it in your post
For this assignment, students should avoid using songs that have an
ambiguous message or are simply socially progressive. For example, “Girl’s
Just Wanna Have Fun” by Cindy Lauper or “No” by Meghan Trainor are examples of
songs with a strong and relevant progressive social message, but they do
not fit the description of a “political song”. Just because the Talking
Heads wrote a song called “Life During Wartime” does not mean that it is a
political song (but it is a good one, so you should go listen to it).
Songs like “Fight The Power” by
Public Enemy or “Bulls on Parade” by Rage Against the Machine are stronger
examples of political and protest music, as they are speaking directly about
things like war, political corruption, race inequality, etc.
*A Tribe Called Quest’s
recent album release We Got it From Here… Thank You for your service and the amazing
timing of its release and performance of the new song “We The People” would be
an excellent focus for this blog post.*
Relevant tags: Artists,
Song, Social Movements
Example:
In 1963, Bob Dylan released the
album The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan. These
were the early days of Bob Dylan. The very early days. The album featured Dylan classics like “Blowin’ In The Wind”, “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All
Right” (literally best breakup song ever), and “Oxford Town”, which is a
politically charged song about the tragic racial inequality in the southern
states of America, specifically Mississippi. Bob Dylan was never shy about
standing up for what he believed in. But as far as this Dylan fan is concerned,
“Masters of War” remains to be the most poignantly written political song that
I have ever heard.
In the liner notes of
the original album The Freewheelin’ Bob
Dylan, it reads “"Masters of War" startles Dylan himself.
"I've never really written anything like that before," he recalls.
"I don't sing songs which hope people will die, but I couldn't help it in
this one. The song is a sort of striking out, a reaction to the last straw, a
feeling of what can you do?" The song feels like a combination of
helplessness and pure rage. Dylan is indicting the politicians and diplomats of
the world, and revealing their cowardice war mongering and true motivations.
The song features lyrics
like “You’ve thrown the worst fear, that can ever be hurled. Fear to bring
children, into the world. For threatening my baby. Unborn and unnamed. You
ain’t worth the blood that runs in your veins.”
I will
never forget the first time I heard this song. I had a visceral reaction to it.
As someone who plays the guitar and is primarily interested in instruments and
improvising, I really don’t care much about lyrics. I joke with my friends that
a perfect world would be one where music didn’t have lyrics, which of course
isn’t true, I’m exaggerating (or am I?...). But Dylan was always the one and
only exception. I know that everyone
knows that Bob Dylan is a great poet and lyricist, bla bla bla, who cares? Seriously
though, go read the lyrics to songs like “It’s alright Ma, I’m Only
Bleeding” or “Visions
of Johanna” or “Shelter
From the Storm”. It is, in my opinion and I believe many others, undeniable
literary genius.
The reason
that I chose “Masters Of War” is because we are living in an America that is
ramping up the very war machine that Dylan is talking about in the song. That
is what the song is about, these evil politicians who profit off of war and the
consequences that we, the people, suffer as a result. Dylan is speaking for us,
the people. This song is everything that I would ever want to say to the likes
of Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, George Bush, etc., and he did it for me – and
better than I could have ever done! What more can you ask for?!
I stand for the message in “Masters
Of War” because I am against war and I am for peace and equality. I am against,
and frankly sick of, America’s ruling elite class and oppressive, patriarchal
system. When I was a younger man and beginning my disenchantment with the
values of my parents generation, the baby boomers (sigh), the lyrics spoke to me in a
way no song ever had before. “How much do I know, to talk out of turn. You
might say that I’m young, you might say I’m unlearned. But there’s one thing I
know, though I’m younger than you. Even Jesus would never forgive what you do.”
That lyric empowered me as a politically interested person. This song validated
my distain for the government and its policy rollouts of the time, because it
was still as applicable then as it was when it was written in 1963. This, to
me, is the golden standard of what a political protest song should be. And it
was just one of Bob Dylan’s many, many masterpieces.
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