Protest Songs - Do They Make a Difference?

Steve Biko, a leading anti-apartheid radical and originator of the Black Consciousness Movement who was agonized and murdered in safekeeping by the South African law wrote to facilitate, 'The largely compelling bat of the oppressor is the mind of the oppressed'. When government, media, and education is largely in the hands of the oppressor, whether to facilitate be visibly in despotic regimes or more covertly in a democracy, the walkout song becomes individual of the individual ways to foster resistance as it speaks to the head as well as the nucleus. The singer songwriter Phil Ochs wrote 'One accomplished song with a message can bring a purpose more genuinely to more inhabit than a thousand rallies.' Likewise, the Swedish-American Labor radical Joe mound, who was controversially executed in 1915, wrote to facilitate, 'A guide, rejection count how accomplished, is on no account read more than in the past, but a song is learned by nucleus and constant more than and more than.'

Jimi Hendrix goes expand and claims to facilitate, 'If at hand is something to be tainted in this globe, at that moment it can individual go down through song.' And at hand is a allocation of evidence in lieu of how supporting song has made a difference. Being Martin Luther king Jr claims, song was a scale module of the American civil privileges movement. Pete Seeger - recognized as the father of American folk song - introduced 'We shall overcome' to ruler and it became an song of praise in lieu of persons resisting racist oppression in America in the 1960's. The title of the song moreover became a theme in lieu of individual of King's major speeches. There is rejection doubt to facilitate songs such as this galvanized inhabit to courageously countenance the brutal racial cruelty of the American south - often non-violently. See the film 'Let Freedom Sing' in lieu of an tremendous depiction of the civil privileges struggle.

Hip Estonia, one-third of the population gathered to sing songs banned by the Soviet regime and this contributed greatly to the realm fast independence through a bloodless revolution. This is well renowned in the film, 'The Singing Revolution - a single land, a million voices, the fall of an empire'. And as Joan Baez claims, the Vietnam War was stopped due to increasing current opposition in the USA - the government had wanted to stay the war - the inhabit were informed and enlivened by walkout songs.

Hip South Africa, the connection connecting walkout songs and social replace is perhaps even clearer. The Apartheid regime in South Africa was supported by America, the UK and other European allies. This was despite the whites making up individual 8% of the population, holding almost all the wealth and the government brutally suppressing some opposition - blacks were not acceptable to show of hands. The British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, even claimed to facilitate Nelson Mandela was a 'terrorist'. Particularly in the 1980's, western populations were informed of the plight of the South African inhabit by musicians such as Eddie allowance, Labi Siffri and The Special AKA and this led to increasing pressure on the Apartheid regime with boycotts of South African goods and sanctions forced on the realm. The outside pressure coupled with brave inside resistance eventually led to the ruin of Apartheid. The Special AKA's song 'Free Nelson Mandela' was on the forefront of this wave of influential supporting song.

Music has played a powerful role in other areas of oppression. 'Glad to be Gay' by Tom Robinson was printed in lieu of the 1976 London Gay Pride parade and pointed absent the hypocrisy and cruelty of the 'straight' the system - especially the law. At individual stage banned by the BBC, it became an song of praise of the gay privileges movement and played its part in the increasingly prevalent acceptance of homosexuality in the UK.

The powerful are fully aware of the power of walkout songs, even though they rarely acknowledge it. Hip our estimation, the peak walkout singer songwriter of the twentieth century was Pete Seeger. Yet, he was indicted in lieu of Contempt of upper house in 1957 in imitation of refusing to swear sooner than the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) on the order of his socialist supporting opinions on the basis to facilitate this would violate his First Amendment privileges. He argued to facilitate "I am not obtainable to answer some questions as to my company, my philosophical or religious beliefs or my supporting beliefs, or how I voted in some determination, or some of these secret affairs. I think these are very illicit questions in lieu of some American to be asked, especially under such compulsion as this." He was blacklisted in lieu of 17 years as a findings. Likewise, the Soviets and Chinese clamped down sturdily on some song to facilitate seemed to oppose the someone. But such censorship is not very soon historical. Being the Americans prepared to invade Iraq in 2003 with the 'coalition of the willing' (mostly blackmailed and threatened!'), the largely lucrative female arrange of all instance, The Dixie Chicks, appeared on stage in London and believed to facilitate they were ashamed to facilitate President flowering shrub was a fellow Texan. The outcry in America led to them being blacklisted by many broadcasting stations with DJs sacked if they played Dixie Chicks' song.

Being we countenance the many challenges of the 21st century with environmental destruction, rising population, diminishing possessions, ongoing regional wars and the rising gap connecting the 'haves and bear nots' or has George flowering shrub plant it the 'have mores and the bear nots', we trust to facilitate an uprising of current resistance will observe solutions. This is already occurrence in the Middle East and North Africa in 2011 but seems about way rotten in the more comfortable West. If solutions are to be found it will likely be artists and musicians who will show the way the replace as in the past again walkout songs and supporting song stir up unrestricted estimation in the direction of lack of restrictions.

Why Hindi songs download are more popular than De dana dan songs and Raavan.

Related Articles - Movies, Music, Movie Reviews,

Email this Article to a Friend! Receive Articles like this one direct to your email box! Subscribe for free today!