Research of genre - protest songs
REASEARCH OF GENRE - PROTEST SONGS
Definition
- A protest song is a song that is associated with a movement for social change. These songs are usually written to be part of a movement for a cultural or political change and to try and draw people together and inspire them to take action or reflect.
History
- The earliest protest songs an the tradition of using music in this way dates back to the founding of America.
- Joseph Warren's song 'Free America', was possibly the first protest song to have been sung out by American Soldiers.
- Also, the song 'Yankee Doodle', which is now a popular children's song, also finds its roots in this era as it originates as a song sung by British soldiers to mock the Americans but taken up by the 'Yanks' to throw it back to the British.
- In the early 20th century, as the American Civil War ended and America became divided by class and race, protest music evolved with the music of that era.
- In the 1930s, more and more people owned record players and radios. With this development in technology, music was able to spread outside of the vocal tradition - this led to protest songs developing from the easy-to-learn Civil War songs.
- In the 1960s, this was a significant period for artists, with the civil rights movement defining much of what was happening in the media.
- In this time, one of the most famous protest songs by Sam Cooke - 'A Change is Gonna Come' was released. Cooke was living as a black man in 1960s America and was no stranger to racism and after being turned away from a whites-only motel, he felt he had to write about the struggles of African Americans.
- The 60s and 70s saw a rise of folk music, and many artists used the acoustic form to share their political views.
- A major singer in this segment is Bob Dylan, who despite denying being a writer of protest songs, produced many songs which were adopted as anthems by civil rights and Vietnam War protestors.
- In the 1980s and 90s, there were fewer protest songs which was perhaps due to the end of the Vietnam War.
- Protest songs didn't completely disappear as some very prominent songs of the decades included:
- NWA's 'F*** Tha Police' which focuses on police brutality and the experience of young black men on the streets of LA.
- Rage Against The Machine's 'Testify' - featured a music video which harshly critiqued George W Bush, Al Gore and American politics as a whole.
- After 9/11, as the world recovered from the terrorist attacks in 2001, it seemed that it was the perfect time to see a real revival of protest songs however, there was a lack of unifying political movement despite efforts from Neil Young's 'Green Day'.
Definition
- A protest song is a song that is associated with a movement for social change. These songs are usually written to be part of a movement for a cultural or political change and to try and draw people together and inspire them to take action or reflect.
History
- The earliest protest songs an the tradition of using music in this way dates back to the founding of America.
- Joseph Warren's song 'Free America', was possibly the first protest song to have been sung out by American Soldiers.
- Also, the song 'Yankee Doodle', which is now a popular children's song, also finds its roots in this era as it originates as a song sung by British soldiers to mock the Americans but taken up by the 'Yanks' to throw it back to the British.
- In the early 20th century, as the American Civil War ended and America became divided by class and race, protest music evolved with the music of that era.
- In the 1930s, more and more people owned record players and radios. With this development in technology, music was able to spread outside of the vocal tradition - this led to protest songs developing from the easy-to-learn Civil War songs.
- In the 1960s, this was a significant period for artists, with the civil rights movement defining much of what was happening in the media.
- In this time, one of the most famous protest songs by Sam Cooke - 'A Change is Gonna Come' was released. Cooke was living as a black man in 1960s America and was no stranger to racism and after being turned away from a whites-only motel, he felt he had to write about the struggles of African Americans.
- The 60s and 70s saw a rise of folk music, and many artists used the acoustic form to share their political views.
- A major singer in this segment is Bob Dylan, who despite denying being a writer of protest songs, produced many songs which were adopted as anthems by civil rights and Vietnam War protestors.
- In the 1980s and 90s, there were fewer protest songs which was perhaps due to the end of the Vietnam War.
- Protest songs didn't completely disappear as some very prominent songs of the decades included:
- NWA's 'F*** Tha Police' which focuses on police brutality and the experience of young black men on the streets of LA.
- Rage Against The Machine's 'Testify' - featured a music video which harshly critiqued George W Bush, Al Gore and American politics as a whole.
- After 9/11, as the world recovered from the terrorist attacks in 2001, it seemed that it was the perfect time to see a real revival of protest songs however, there was a lack of unifying political movement despite efforts from Neil Young's 'Green Day'.
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