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A protest song is a song intended to protest perceived problems in society such as injustice, racial discrimination, war, globalization, inflation, social inequalities. Protest songs are generally associated with folk music, but in recent times they have come from all genres of music. Such songs become popular during times of social disruption and among social groups.
History
Folk protest songs occur throughout history, the oldest protest song on record is The Cutty Wren from the peasants revolt of 1381 against feudal oppression. In the American Revolutionary War and in the abolitionist movement of the 19th century many songs came about. During the American Civil War, traditional songs served as protest songs. "We Shall Overcome" was a song popular in the civil rights movement.
In the 20th century, the union movement, the Great Depression, the civil rights movement, the Vietnam War (see Vietnam War protests), and recently, the war in Iraq spawned protest songs, such as Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are A-Changin'" (1964), Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land" (1940), and more recently, System of a Down's "Toxicity" (2001). Another protest song that reached number 1 in Germany is "99 Luftballons" by Nena, in 1983 which sparked furious debate. The common form during that time, often with acoustic guitar and harmonica, was popularized by the work of Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger early in the 20th Century and continued into the later part of the century by Phil Ochs, Joan Baez and Bob Dylan.
Neil Young continues the theme in the 21st Century in his song, "Let's Impeach The President" - a stinging rebuke against President George W. Bush and the War in Iraq, as did P!nk with her appeal to Bush in Dear Mr. President. Pearl Jam also included two anti-Bush songs ("Worldwide Suicide", "Marker In The Sand") in their 2006 album 'Pearl Jam'. Radiohead are known for being strongly anti-Bush, and against the war in Iraq, and many of their songs show signs of this (although not many would consider many, if any Radiohead songs as protest songs). On Thom Yorke's new album, The Eraser, the song Harrowdown Hill is named after the place where Dr. David Kelly's body was found, and speak's about the circumstances of his death. This could be seen as a form of protest song.
See also
External links
- Antiwar Songs - a collection of pacifist and antimilitarist songs lyrics from all over the world and of any time, based on free contributions by readers and collaborators.
- * Malvina Reynolds: Song Lyrics and Poems
- Vietnam: The music of protest, Steve Schifferes, BBC News, Sunday, 1 May, 2005
- Integrity is Not a Chore Interview with Welsh singer/songwriter Martyn Joseph
- * - Wobbly songs
- * Peoples Music Network, an organization for protest musicians
- *Peoples Voice Cafe, a New York City-based venue specializing in left-wing protest music.
Protestlied | Chanson de révolte | Protestlied | Protest song | Protestsång
"Protest song"