From Summertime Blues to Holidays In The Sun. Strange Fruit to Get Up Stand Up. Maggies Farm to Free Nelson Mandela . Motown to Ghost Town . Remote Control to Complete Control . . .the list is endless and the causes many.
So, am I missing something?
Are we awash in the endless 24 / 7 of always online everything anywhere leading to aimless distraction ?
"It's not easy to think of a reason to protest because it's hard enough just to earn a crust these days besides did you know Eastenders is live now ?"
As I pondered the current whereabouts of the Protest Song, I thought of the familiar, ubiquitous image of 'the fist'. Associated with almost any protest everywhere, it is a powerful image, often representing 'the struggle' in all its forms.
Bringing it down to a personal level, I first became aware of the image as a badge worn by 'soul - bowlers' and the like , and later as a record cover by The Tom Robinson Band in 1977 -
Most recently, the clenched fist featured in coverage of the infamous Pussy Riot 3, specifically as worn by Nadezhda Tolokonnikova.
Unfortunately, this would - be resurgence of the symbolic little guy protesting in the face of innumerable odds was overshadowed by the media frenzy in which the 'ringleaders' were happy to assume vacuous poses and were feted by Madonna et al.
Performance art, maybe, but 'Punk Protest' ?
I think not.
Okay, so whither the Protest Song ?
Perhaps, as is the way of things in the 21st Century, texting and images are more potent than song - the last mainstream rabble-rousing song in the U.K. which I recall was 'Tubthumping' by Chumbawamba, which was aimed directly at the 'lager - lout' rabble I think... unfortunately, this one - hit wonder for the political agitprop group soared up the U.K. charts and over the heads of the masses, being chanted by drunken gangs up and down the nation, entirely free of any intended irony.
STOP PRESS
The Chumbawamba collective have revealed the true source of Tubthumping, after all these years !
'Irony' doesn't really work in the pop world, anyways...what of D. Ream and 'Things Can Only Get Better ?'* - that certainly gained a level of irony when commandeered by former Prime Minister Tony Blair for his political ends...
Through the 50's and Sixties, the Protest Song became a staple, as the Post WWII world changed ,' 'teenagers' were invented and people found their voices as individuals or as dissenting movements.
The (three - chord) song of protest was almost the entire reason for punk rock in the Seventies U.K., a movement spawned by frustration at inequalities, vacuous suburban values and faceless bureaucracy. It became a rallying cry for the individual struggling against dull conformity.
Unfortunately, it coalesced into its own brand of conformity, the uniform being spikey hair , bondage strides and safety pins.
It then splintered into 'Indie, Goth, New Romantic,' etc...
This thread could easily become an historical assessment of counter culture (in the u.k.), but that's a whole 'nother thing.
In the Eighties** there was the drop dead cool funk of Gil Scott Heron who gave us the seminal 'The Revolution Will Not Be Televised' , which certainly pressed the right buttons, but was more of a spoken word piece than a 'protest song' and Grandmaster Flash gave us 'The Message', which was less a protest, and more of a plea to stay away from Colombian Marching Powder.
Neither Blur nor Oasis nor any of the Nineties groups gave us anything resembling a rallying cry***, and whilst House music had its Anthems, they were mostly of the 'one love / unity' vibe - besides, we were too loved up to be upset, surely?
So where are the protest songs?
So, am I missing something?
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| "Fist". Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons - |
"It's not easy to think of a reason to protest because it's hard enough just to earn a crust these days besides did you know Eastenders is live now ?"
As I pondered the current whereabouts of the Protest Song, I thought of the familiar, ubiquitous image of 'the fist'. Associated with almost any protest everywhere, it is a powerful image, often representing 'the struggle' in all its forms.
Bringing it down to a personal level, I first became aware of the image as a badge worn by 'soul - bowlers' and the like , and later as a record cover by The Tom Robinson Band in 1977 -
 |
which I think was their first hit record (and had a confused nation singing a gay anthem loudly) Virgin Records reggae imprint Front Line (now defunct) also used a similar image (with added barbed wire and blood for grittiness).
Unfortunately, this would - be resurgence of the symbolic little guy protesting in the face of innumerable odds was overshadowed by the media frenzy in which the 'ringleaders' were happy to assume vacuous poses and were feted by Madonna et al.
Performance art, maybe, but 'Punk Protest' ?
I think not.
Okay, so whither the Protest Song ?
Perhaps, as is the way of things in the 21st Century, texting and images are more potent than song - the last mainstream rabble-rousing song in the U.K. which I recall was 'Tubthumping' by Chumbawamba, which was aimed directly at the 'lager - lout' rabble I think... unfortunately, this one - hit wonder for the political agitprop group soared up the U.K. charts and over the heads of the masses, being chanted by drunken gangs up and down the nation, entirely free of any intended irony.
STOP PRESS
The Chumbawamba collective have revealed the true source of Tubthumping, after all these years !
'Irony' doesn't really work in the pop world, anyways...what of D. Ream and 'Things Can Only Get Better ?'* - that certainly gained a level of irony when commandeered by former Prime Minister Tony Blair for his political ends...
Through the 50's and Sixties, the Protest Song became a staple, as the Post WWII world changed ,' 'teenagers' were invented and people found their voices as individuals or as dissenting movements.
The (three - chord) song of protest was almost the entire reason for punk rock in the Seventies U.K., a movement spawned by frustration at inequalities, vacuous suburban values and faceless bureaucracy. It became a rallying cry for the individual struggling against dull conformity.
Unfortunately, it coalesced into its own brand of conformity, the uniform being spikey hair , bondage strides and safety pins.
It then splintered into 'Indie, Goth, New Romantic,' etc...
This thread could easily become an historical assessment of counter culture (in the u.k.), but that's a whole 'nother thing.
In the Eighties** there was the drop dead cool funk of Gil Scott Heron who gave us the seminal 'The Revolution Will Not Be Televised' , which certainly pressed the right buttons, but was more of a spoken word piece than a 'protest song' and Grandmaster Flash gave us 'The Message', which was less a protest, and more of a plea to stay away from Colombian Marching Powder.
Neither Blur nor Oasis nor any of the Nineties groups gave us anything resembling a rallying cry***, and whilst House music had its Anthems, they were mostly of the 'one love / unity' vibe - besides, we were too loved up to be upset, surely?
So where are the protest songs?
all images creative commons except Tom Robinson Band cover art by Source.
*Former band member Brian Cox recently penned an article despairing of this sort of personal conjecture masquerading as hard fact , so my apologies !
** The Revolution Will Not Be Televised - was originally released 1970
*** there was 'Sit Down' by James, but seriously -
