Final Project – Protest Music
Tracklist:1.Blowin in the Wind – Bob Dillon
2.Get up, Stand up – Bob Marley
3.Pasi Inhaka (This World) – Thomas Mapfumo and the Blacks Unlimited
4.Universal Soldier – Buffy Sainte-Marie
5.Weeping – Vusi Mahlassela
6.”Making Noise” – Damien Rice
7.БРАТСКИЕ МОГИЛЫ (Common Graves) – Vladimir Vysotski
8.Bumi Hari Ini (The Earth today) – Iwa-K
9.El Trigo – Rolando Alarcón
Protest Music
Protest music is found around the world, and in a limitless number of forms. While there are a number of protest songs which are quite popular in the US or Europe today, many Americans have little exposure to protest songs from the rest of the world – some of which may be entirely banned under law. Because of the broad nature of the category of “protest songs” the songs do not necessarily share that many characteristics. The musical style of the region plays into the instrumentation and the style of the music, for instance, much more than the idea of being a protest song. However, there are three very important similarities that these songs tend to share: the song is part of a movement which is, at some level, aimed to protesting against something (this could be a specific government, or the idea of war, or anything else), lyrics that are at least somewhat metaphoric in nature, and a sing along quality.
Protest Movements
Protest songs never stand on their own. While music is a very powerful tool, it is never the be all end all of a protest. Instead, protest songs exist within protest movements. Interestingly, a song need not be written for a specific movement to be used by it. “Get up, Stand up” was originally written for a disputed cause – possibly as a Rastafarian protest against Christian influence in Jamaica. However, it is today used as a theme song for Amnesty International, a human rights organization. Some of the most important civil rights anthems in the US were similarly appropriated for their cause, rather than being written for that express reason. The disconnect between a song and its movement is often caused by its heavy use of metaphors.
Lyrical Content
The use of metaphors in protest music appears to be a universal connection between otherwise mostly disconnected songs. Metaphors are powerful because they can allow people to identify with the ideas that the music is trying to express. Protest music is used in two ways – both as an anthem for existing protesters, or a rallying call, but additionally as a way to spread the ideas behind the protest. In many cases, the listener might not be immediately familiar with the specifics of the unjust situation being protested, or the different events leading up to creation of the movement in which the song exists. Even if the lyrics are not strictly metaphorical in nature, they likely are very non-specific. They may refer to specific events that happened; however, they are not overly factual in nature. The aim of the lyrics is not to spread news and information, but rather to bring certain issues to the forefront of attention; this can be done with out figures and other technically natured information. Because the specifics in many cases are left out, these songs tend to be applicable to whatever situation they are needed for.
Participatory Nature
With few exceptions, protest songs are written for their specific scenario. Thus, most are not strictly participatory in nature; they have a more concrete and specifically limited structure. However, the songs do share a number of participatory features: they have simple, but catchy melodies, and invite singing along. Many tend to have an anthem quality to them – they don’t promote individually unique participation, but they do invite everyone to join in. There are a number of ways this can be achieved; naturally, not all songs will have all methods. Generally, the songs are simple and use standard melody and harmony for the musical style they have developed from. While they are not necessarily made up of endlessly repeated sections, many of the musical ideas are repeated to make it simpler for others to catch on. Additionally, there is generally some sort of refrain, so even those who do not know the verses can sing along.
Music and Politics
Protest music plays a central role in the combination of music and politics. While there are many cases of music fulfilling other political roles. For instance, Charlie and His Orchestra promoted the Nazi ideology; in modern America there are a number of “patriotic” songs; and lastly, president Obama’s campaign used a number of songs to further his political goals. Protest songs are powerful for a number of reasons: they can be unapparent conditioning to the ideas of a protest movement; they can act as a symbol or banner for the movement; and they can help the movement identify with other successful protest movements. In any case, all three of these factors may be in play.
“Blowin’ in the wind” by Bob Dillon
This song is considered a classic protest song in the US, although it is not protesting anything in specific. It has been seen as a protest of the Vietnam war, or of the assassination of President Kennedy, or simply as protesting the idea of war or conflict altogether. This song exemplifies many of the qualities of a protest song – it has a simple harmonic component, made up of two or three repeated chords, which are all diatonic (which is common in the folk style out of which this song has developed. It features a repeating Verse / Chorus pattern, with the chorus simply being a refrain – and at that, the refrain is essentially one line repeated over and over again: “The answer is just blowin in the wind.” The song leaves much room for improvisation: Dylan never actually says what answer is “blowin in the wind,” but simply that its so. The song speaks out against violence (“how many times must the cannon balls fly/Before they’re forever banned?” and “how many deaths will it take till he knows/That too many people have died?”) but does not specify what violence inspired it. This lends the song to being reused by different movements, beyond the Anti-War folk movement that spawned it originally.
“Get up, Stand up” by Bob Marley and the Wailers
This song is also considered one of the classic protests songs of the 20th century. However, despite its popularity in the united states, it was written in Jamaica. This song also exemplifies many of the common qualities of protest songs. Harmonically, it is a simple song, in terms of its style, reggae; melodically, it has a number of repeated, simple melodic ideas that are used throughout the song. After hearing the chorus a few times, one can very likely sing along. The structure of the song also features a chorus as a refrain. This song is a natural target of protest movements because of its refrain: “Get up, stand up/Get up for your rights.” Marley calls for everyone to stick up for their “rights” without actually saying what rights he is speaking of. The lyrics may allude to certain specific rights; but even with that, listeners and fans cannot always agree on what rights Marley was speaking of to begin with.
“El Trigo” (The Wheat) by Rolando Alarcón
This song is more specifically oriented than the previous two, but still exemplifies many of the qualities of protest songs. However, as this song was part of the “Nueva Canción” movement in Chile, and thus has not received the popular attention in America, like many American protest songs. Despite that, the song still maintains the common qualities. It has a simple structure and harmony, which is diatonic. The structure is a simple repeating verse, again, with a repeated refrain at the end of each. This song is much more metaphoric than some of the other songs. While the Nueva Canción movement was concerned with indigenous rights, and thus, the literal interpretation of this song does bear merit, the story could be considered as metaphoric in nature. Over the course of the song, Alarcón has to worry about weather the “boss will come in his car to steal [his] crop” or if “fierce men will come/and put [him] in chains… [and] burn the whole crop.” If not taken at face value, this song could be applied to oppression of almost any nature. Despite the powerful lyrics, the song remains simple in form and style, so that people can easily sing along, even if they do not quite know the words.
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