Every era has its own music. Every generation has its own anthem. Protest music is a form of expression. It is a reflection of culture, both the minority and the prevalent. We have historic examples of protest music during the two World Wars. We have protest songs against the war itself, with popular numbers such as Old Man Atom by Vern Partlow. There were German folk songs against Nazism like, for instance, Die Gedanken Sind Frei or (translated: The Thoughts are Free). These forms of music are icons; they are symbols of the social scenario in their respective periods. Literature has been a much more pronounced form of expression of the ages, with innumerable books bearing innumerable testimonies to innumerable events. But music has always been the most prolific. This is because of the growth of media such as the radio, which really was the common-man’s rally-point. Music was something everybody could listen to and sing as an anthem. The cry for the protests against the Vietnam War, for instance, was “If you love your Uncle Sam, bring ’em home from Vietnam.” Of course, the racial implications of the Vietnam War were different altogether: thousands of African-American men dying for the United States in war while they were being oppressed in the States simultaneously. This was the reason for the birth of the Hippie generation.
Now, in the context of the Vietnam War, we have a Vietnam Era of music. These songs are, mainly, songs of the 60s and the 70s that were related to the war itself. Bob Dylan’s Blowin’ in the Wind was related to the Civil Rights’ Movement, but it was one of the most popular protest songs of the Vietnam War and was resurrected for the Iraq War. There are direct questions he asks, whose answers are ‘blowing in the wind’: “… how many deaths will it take till he knows / That too many people have died? …”, “… how many years can some people exist / Before they're allowed to be free?” and “…how many times can a man turn his head, / Pretending he just doesn't see? …” His music talks about civil rights, but there is an interesting reference given to cannon balls. All-in-all, this was a very popular anti-war song during the Vietnam Era. Another song (that was falsely held to be jingoistic) was Springsteen’s Born in the USA. Though not a protest against the war, we can’t deny that the song paints a grave picture of the American attitude during that period. Lyrically, it shows the treatment the army went through: “… Born down in a dead man's town / The first kick I took was when I hit the ground / You end up like a dog that's been beat too much / ’Til you spend half your life just covering up …” Then, there was a quaint underlining of the practice and beliefs when the soldiers were recruited and sent: “… I got in a little hometown jam / And so they put a rifle in my hands / Sent me off to Vietnam / To go and kill the yellow man …”
But, the real voice of the Vietnam Era was John Lennon. Lennon’s music was like anthems. Most notable, the ever-so-popular Imagine, which has grown into a stereotypical synonym of Lennon, as has the name of the Beatles. What people ignore is that Imagine has a deep, anti-war message. Imagine imagines a peaceful world, a Nutopia, where there is no such thing as ‘countries’ or ‘religion’, nothing to kill or die for, etc. Most of us would be familiar with the lyrics. Lennon was a leftist and Imagine was a communist manifesto. But Imagine is the repetition of the message of his other songs. Imagine came after Give Peace a Chance, a true anthem that is directly against the Vietnam War. As the name itself suggests, the song is asking the world to give peace a chance. It goes: “… Everybody’s talkin’ ’bout / Bagism, Shagism, Dragism, Madism, Ragism, Tagism / This-ism, that-ism, ism ism ism. / All we are saying is give peace a chance. / All we are saying is give peace a chance. …” “… Minister, Sinister, Banisters and Canisters, / Bishops, Fishops, Rabbis, and Pop Eyes, Bye bye, Bye byes. / All we are saying is give peace a chance. / All we are saying is give peace a chance …” and another following stanza goes: “…Everybody’s talkin’ ’bout / Revolution, Evolution, Masturbation, Flagellation, Regulation, / Integrations, mediations, United Nations, congratulations. / All we are saying is give peace a chance. / All we are saying is give peace a chance. …” Quite directly, he is mentioning the various kinds of propaganda and beliefs, religion and religious leaders, race, revolution, civil rights and discriminative regulations, United Nations mediations, etc. But what one really must do to stop a war is not let the fight finish itself, but give peace a chance. The idea is that violence will end when you stop fighting, not when one side kills the other. That is he was socialistic. He believed in pure equality. He ‘imagined’ a world where everyone is stripped of their beliefs and their ideologies, a place where the only laws are the cosmic and there only is a ‘brotherhood of man’ ‘sharing all the world’. He wanted people to join him in his dream; he wanted peace to come collectively and voluntarily, not as propaganda or dogmas. I guess, it’s justified for Lennon to be communist, as long as he preaches peace.
Now, the Vietnam Era was mainly war-protest. But, protest music is also protest against any other form of prevalent social evil, such as racial discrimination and also unstable neighbourhoods with prevalent gang-culture. What I am referring to is Rapping and Hip hop. This culture grew in the Bronx in the 1970s. This culture grew with the racial discrimination of the African-Americans and the Latinos. This form of music initially grew because the costs were low. This low cost played a very important role. The blacks were mostly homeless as they had fled the Bronx when the Cross-Bronx Expressway came up. So, when the instruments were inexpensive, everybody could start rapping. This growth of rap occurred simultaneously with the growth of scratching techniques in music, graffiti and breakdancing. The whole hip hop movement came out of the Bronx.
So, with the growth of the hip hop movement, we see the proliferation of rapping. It is interesting to know that the etymological origin of ‘rap’ as in rap music is ‘rap’ as in “I’ll rap you up.” It means “to strike sharply”. So, rapping was a form of rhythmic verbal duelling. The lyrics of most rap songs are related to issues that are political or ethnic. If we listen past the expletives, and listen hard (it would be easier to read the lyrics, for those who can’t comprehend words that come in rapid-fire), we can see that there is a message behind the music. It talks about something: incarceration, failing governments, gang-wars and racial discrimination. The songs are forms of expression. The violent West Coast is where most rappers come from, and gangsta rap is about the violence, the blood-thirsty rogues and the entirely different way of life in the alleys. I don’t listen to much o rap, so I don’t have much to quote. But, it is interesting to know, that rap is the modern protest-music.
Similarly, reggae, in its generation, was talking about the cash between the Rastafarian Movement. The most common example: Bob Marley’s Get Up, Stand Up, which talks about the differing beliefs of Rastafarians and the Christians, but the Rastafarians would still get up and stand up; they will still demand their rights. The lines I am referring to are: “… We're sick and tired of your ism and schism game / Die and go to heaven in Jesus' name, Lord / We know and we understand / Almighty God is a living man / You can fool some people sometimes / But you can't fool all the people all the time / So now we see the light / We gonna stand up for our right …” The song is hackneyed with the word ‘Jah’, which is the god of the Rastafarians, which was also a monotheistic religion.
Music has become a medium of expression. So, societies, cultures and artistes use this form of expression to portray themselves. That is why music has always been a popular protest method in every era, because you can’t put a lock on creativity and you can’t put an end to thought. Die Gedanken Sind Frei, as I had mentioned earlier, the thoughts are free. So is music. You can ban performances; you can destroy tapes, CDs, records, etc. But you can’t destroy the musical culture itself. Maybe that’s why so many of the rappers talk so freely about the law, police and about imprisonment with the most extreme of expletives. Music is a form of expression of the culture itself, the culture at large. It stands for everything that has happened, every thought that has transpired – legally or otherwise. It is an expression, an icon and an anthem. Every lyric has its own meaning, every genre has its own history and every generation has its own voice.
Now, in the context of the Vietnam War, we have a Vietnam Era of music. These songs are, mainly, songs of the 60s and the 70s that were related to the war itself. Bob Dylan’s Blowin’ in the Wind was related to the Civil Rights’ Movement, but it was one of the most popular protest songs of the Vietnam War and was resurrected for the Iraq War. There are direct questions he asks, whose answers are ‘blowing in the wind’: “… how many deaths will it take till he knows / That too many people have died? …”, “… how many years can some people exist / Before they're allowed to be free?” and “…how many times can a man turn his head, / Pretending he just doesn't see? …” His music talks about civil rights, but there is an interesting reference given to cannon balls. All-in-all, this was a very popular anti-war song during the Vietnam Era. Another song (that was falsely held to be jingoistic) was Springsteen’s Born in the USA. Though not a protest against the war, we can’t deny that the song paints a grave picture of the American attitude during that period. Lyrically, it shows the treatment the army went through: “… Born down in a dead man's town / The first kick I took was when I hit the ground / You end up like a dog that's been beat too much / ’Til you spend half your life just covering up …” Then, there was a quaint underlining of the practice and beliefs when the soldiers were recruited and sent: “… I got in a little hometown jam / And so they put a rifle in my hands / Sent me off to Vietnam / To go and kill the yellow man …”
But, the real voice of the Vietnam Era was John Lennon. Lennon’s music was like anthems. Most notable, the ever-so-popular Imagine, which has grown into a stereotypical synonym of Lennon, as has the name of the Beatles. What people ignore is that Imagine has a deep, anti-war message. Imagine imagines a peaceful world, a Nutopia, where there is no such thing as ‘countries’ or ‘religion’, nothing to kill or die for, etc. Most of us would be familiar with the lyrics. Lennon was a leftist and Imagine was a communist manifesto. But Imagine is the repetition of the message of his other songs. Imagine came after Give Peace a Chance, a true anthem that is directly against the Vietnam War. As the name itself suggests, the song is asking the world to give peace a chance. It goes: “… Everybody’s talkin’ ’bout / Bagism, Shagism, Dragism, Madism, Ragism, Tagism / This-ism, that-ism, ism ism ism. / All we are saying is give peace a chance. / All we are saying is give peace a chance. …” “… Minister, Sinister, Banisters and Canisters, / Bishops, Fishops, Rabbis, and Pop Eyes, Bye bye, Bye byes. / All we are saying is give peace a chance. / All we are saying is give peace a chance …” and another following stanza goes: “…Everybody’s talkin’ ’bout / Revolution, Evolution, Masturbation, Flagellation, Regulation, / Integrations, mediations, United Nations, congratulations. / All we are saying is give peace a chance. / All we are saying is give peace a chance. …” Quite directly, he is mentioning the various kinds of propaganda and beliefs, religion and religious leaders, race, revolution, civil rights and discriminative regulations, United Nations mediations, etc. But what one really must do to stop a war is not let the fight finish itself, but give peace a chance. The idea is that violence will end when you stop fighting, not when one side kills the other. That is he was socialistic. He believed in pure equality. He ‘imagined’ a world where everyone is stripped of their beliefs and their ideologies, a place where the only laws are the cosmic and there only is a ‘brotherhood of man’ ‘sharing all the world’. He wanted people to join him in his dream; he wanted peace to come collectively and voluntarily, not as propaganda or dogmas. I guess, it’s justified for Lennon to be communist, as long as he preaches peace.
Now, the Vietnam Era was mainly war-protest. But, protest music is also protest against any other form of prevalent social evil, such as racial discrimination and also unstable neighbourhoods with prevalent gang-culture. What I am referring to is Rapping and Hip hop. This culture grew in the Bronx in the 1970s. This culture grew with the racial discrimination of the African-Americans and the Latinos. This form of music initially grew because the costs were low. This low cost played a very important role. The blacks were mostly homeless as they had fled the Bronx when the Cross-Bronx Expressway came up. So, when the instruments were inexpensive, everybody could start rapping. This growth of rap occurred simultaneously with the growth of scratching techniques in music, graffiti and breakdancing. The whole hip hop movement came out of the Bronx.
So, with the growth of the hip hop movement, we see the proliferation of rapping. It is interesting to know that the etymological origin of ‘rap’ as in rap music is ‘rap’ as in “I’ll rap you up.” It means “to strike sharply”. So, rapping was a form of rhythmic verbal duelling. The lyrics of most rap songs are related to issues that are political or ethnic. If we listen past the expletives, and listen hard (it would be easier to read the lyrics, for those who can’t comprehend words that come in rapid-fire), we can see that there is a message behind the music. It talks about something: incarceration, failing governments, gang-wars and racial discrimination. The songs are forms of expression. The violent West Coast is where most rappers come from, and gangsta rap is about the violence, the blood-thirsty rogues and the entirely different way of life in the alleys. I don’t listen to much o rap, so I don’t have much to quote. But, it is interesting to know, that rap is the modern protest-music.
Similarly, reggae, in its generation, was talking about the cash between the Rastafarian Movement. The most common example: Bob Marley’s Get Up, Stand Up, which talks about the differing beliefs of Rastafarians and the Christians, but the Rastafarians would still get up and stand up; they will still demand their rights. The lines I am referring to are: “… We're sick and tired of your ism and schism game / Die and go to heaven in Jesus' name, Lord / We know and we understand / Almighty God is a living man / You can fool some people sometimes / But you can't fool all the people all the time / So now we see the light / We gonna stand up for our right …” The song is hackneyed with the word ‘Jah’, which is the god of the Rastafarians, which was also a monotheistic religion.
Music has become a medium of expression. So, societies, cultures and artistes use this form of expression to portray themselves. That is why music has always been a popular protest method in every era, because you can’t put a lock on creativity and you can’t put an end to thought. Die Gedanken Sind Frei, as I had mentioned earlier, the thoughts are free. So is music. You can ban performances; you can destroy tapes, CDs, records, etc. But you can’t destroy the musical culture itself. Maybe that’s why so many of the rappers talk so freely about the law, police and about imprisonment with the most extreme of expletives. Music is a form of expression of the culture itself, the culture at large. It stands for everything that has happened, every thought that has transpired – legally or otherwise. It is an expression, an icon and an anthem. Every lyric has its own meaning, every genre has its own history and every generation has its own voice.
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