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Protest Songs


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"Compared to What" comes to mind. "For What It's Worth" usually comes up in discussions. "Big Yellow Taxi" was top of a list for Earth Day songs. "What's Going On?" is an obvious choice.

 

Have any of you considered putting together a set of protest songs with the goal of playing out at rallies, protests, marches, etc.?

 

I've found a few youtube videos of songs that have been written recently with our current political situation in mind. Surely there are more, but I haven't figured out how to find them.

 

 

 

 

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One of my Facebook musician friends was talking about old protest songs that he thought would apply to todays political climate. I got the impression he was looking to put together a protest band, and I wondered if others around the country might have had the same idea.

 

I also thought someone might have heard some songs inspired by the current "situation".

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One of my Facebook musician friends was talking about old protest songs that he thought would apply to todays political climate. I got the impression he was looking to put together a protest band, and I wondered if others around the country might have had the same idea.

 

I also thought someone might have heard some songs inspired by the current "situation".

I don't think modern music is as political. Neil Young and some other older artists might have some new protest songs but other than that? Idk.

 

I thought might see a ressurange in protest and political songs during the wars and after the financial crisis but all we got seemed to be more "escapist" fare.

 

Maybe that's a good thing?

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Protest music in the 60s made a positive contribution to the progressive agenda. Yeah, Iraq and the financial crisis were seminal events, but you would think that the current administration would inspire songs more than any event in the last fifty years. But as has been pointed out in this forum more than once, music doesn't have the same cultural importance now that it did then. I heard a female vocal group singing a song that was cleary composed with the recent women's march in mind, but that's about it.

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Protest music in the 60s made a positive contribution to the progressive agenda. Yeah' date=' Iraq and the financial crisis were seminal events, but you would think that the current administration would inspire songs more than any event in the last fifty years. But as has been pointed out in this forum more than once, music doesn't have the same cultural importance now that it did then. I heard a female vocal group singing a song that was cleary composed with the recent women's march in mind, but that's about it.[/quote']

 

 

Maybe as time goes on the current administration will inspire more music. It's still fairly early.

 

But I agree probably not. Music isn't the cultural focus point it once was. More likely to see an Anti-Trump App released than a hit song.

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Most people that care about political songs are younger - and young folks are so addicted to their cell phones, I don't think they'll even notice when the hammer drops. I hope I'm wrong though.

 

Anyway, I did a union rally a few years back and on the fly changed the words to Taking Care of Business to make it pro union. I also changed the words to Evil Ways, and made it about a a current political leader. The mayor of the city and a few other dignitaries were there so it made it on the TV news. Doubt if I could find the clip though.

 

Sadly, I think the only protest songs folks would be interested in these days would be protest songs against high internet or cell phone bills.

 

But if you're still looking, I like Do Re Mi by Woody Guthrie, Country Joe's Anthem, and The Wall. Oops, almost forgot Little Boxes and Strange Fruit.

 

Gotta go, I need to reread the Handmaid's Tale and Fahrenheit 451 :)

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The demographics of folks who attend rallies, protests, marches, etc. are all over the map, but they certainly include a lot of people who remember and might well have participated in marches of the sixties.

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I suppose you might not get far with a protest song band, but maybe a catchy protest song might get you some play. A song like United Breaks Guitars could give a boost to a career. It doesn't even have to be a protest song, it could be a novelty song, like Gaye Delorme's Rodeo Song - Warning Language!!!

 

Gaye was a very talented composer, singer and guitarist, and a very funny guy. He was instrumental in the formation of Cheech and Chong.

 

Side story, I know someone that got a request for the Rodeo Song. They played it and were fired for doing so. Some managers don't have a sense of humour...

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Yeah, I'm not a fan of gratuitous profanity.

 

Given today's political climate, if you're going to play any protest tune as part of your regular gig, you run the risk of alienating half the crowd . . . maybe more, but a well chosen protest song that will play pretty much anywhere would be the way to go. I wish I'd worked harder on rolling my own over the years, along with covering everybody else's tunes.

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Feel Like I'm Fixing to Die Rag (Country Joe)

Drug Store Truck Driving Man (Joan Baez)

Coming Into Los Angeles (Arlo Guthrie)

Signs (Five Man Electrical Band)

Woodstock (CSN&Y)

War (The Temptations)

What You Gonna Do About Me (Quicksilver Messenger Service)

 

Side Note: In the '60's I played a lot of protest rallies. Gigs like SDS, sit ins, anti-war stuff...) I got a call from agent to go play an event and he gave me an address that turned out to be a HS auditorium. I got ready, walked out on stage, with lights in my eyes of course. I hear lots of people but can't really see them. I played most of these songs, and thought it went well except I never got any real applause. Polite clapping when I walked off. I looked from edge of curtain when house lights came on....yea, every guy had a hat that said VFW on it. Doomed from the start....)

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I sent a FB message to a politically active guitar player to see if he was interested in getting something together. Definitely yes, so we've scheduled a meeting. He's a local, so should have a pretty good idea of the political leanings of good players. I'm hoping to avoid a Craigslist ad . . . .

 

Here's a list I like:

Big Yellow Taxi

Compared to What

Everyday People

For What It’s Worth

How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live

It’s Money That Matters

People Make the World Go Round

Respect Yourself

Stand By Me

Taking it To the Streets

The Times They Are a Changing

This Land Is Your Land

What’s Going On?

Why Can’t We Live Together?

You Haven’t Done Nothing

 

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Update . . . The guitar player baled for reasons unknown. I placed a CL ad and got a couple female vocalists, and a few who seemed to want to "play along". No core musicians, so I packed it in.

 

Maybe guys were worried about their reputations. How's that song go? . . . "Which side are you on?" Maybe the guy who books some of your best rooms is on the other side of the fence.

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Protest songs are for political rallies/events. For all other events, the band is there to take people AWAY from all that crap.

 

One of the reasons I don't write music is that the political/social stuff is really all I care about, but what gets the girls on the dance floor is what Steve Hackett calls songs written about the "mating ritual". Stick with that stuff and you will do well.

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If you're looking for political rally gigs, make sure you're a member of groups that have those rallies. My household is very liberal and I do a number of sound jobs for them at the West Steps of the Colorado Capital building. (the public place to make political statements.) Had some interesting results. Carole King has been on my sound system. (Was running my 1965 Kustom Pa speakers. Kind of funny.) Had the last three Governors, many of the State political leaders. (Least the liberal ones.) Had Johny 5 of the Flo-bots on the system twice. (His real name is Jamie and the FLO-BOTS have always been political.) It has been interesting.

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I probably won't try to resurrect this idea, but if I do, perhaps trying to model the project after the ever-popular weekly open mic sessions would get more interest. Meet up at the state capitol steps, bring your axe, here are the six songs. Be prepared to go solo if everyone bails on you . . .

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It's hard to be a legit "protest" artist when both sides of the political spectrum are not arguing against big and powerful government, but rather merely over who gets to run it. In the 70s, when I was a young hippie wannabe, I remember we tried to live outside the law, off the grid and in an alternative economy. We bartered or worked under the table, we made as much of our own things as we could, and of course ignored many laws. We didn't trust 'the man" and wanted as little to do with government as was humanly possible. Today, it seems like nearly everyone has accepted a massive central administrative state as the norm, so long as their guys are in charge of it. Both sides appear to want more, not less,government control over things and more laws. It is difficult to claim to be "the resistance" and the opposition when all you're opposing is who's in charge and you are essentially merely a different variety of the establishment. My take on why "protest music" it isn't happening, anyway. WTF do I know?

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We stayed in Dubuque a couple weekends back while I was doing a rather large weekend gig at the casino there. On Saturday afternoon we saw a group of maybe 50-60 people gathered in a park near downtown who were obviously participating in that "Women's March" thing. We went to eat and drove back by an hour or so later and they were all gone. I imagine they'd hoped back into their Beemers, headed home and were probably sitting in front of their large screen HDTVs.

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When I conceived of the idea, I knew it would be twice as hard to pull it off compared to your typical startup because not only do you want guys who are on the same page musically, they need to be politically compatible. This isn't a politics forum, so I'll leave it right there. If there's anything we've learned during the past year, it's that efforts to change hearts and minds will be unrewarded.

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