We watch the news to see what Trump said today, to see where got bombed and how many died and to witness another shooting of a black man by police.
We watch the news to see racial tensions higher than we’ve ever seen in my lifetime. We watch the news to see society take two steps backwards for every one step forward in the LGBT rights movement.
We watch the news to see corporations swallowing democracy whole and shitting out tiny bricks of gold.
We watch it for other things, but these are the things we are seeing.
And I don’t know if it’s because what my eyes are seeing has stopped my ears from hearing, but I’ve been feeling a void. In this age of the inter-noise the protest song has disappeared, replaced by the sound bite and 24 hour news.
Oh, it’s still there – as I discovered tonight after actively searching it out – but the dominance of music as the prevalent form to speak out against injustice has given away to the late night comedian skewering the establishment which, while entertaining, is hardly affecting people’s hearts and minds past the initial viewing. It’s fantastic, brilliant stuff, but it is single serving outrage; the kind of commentary that lasts only as long as the time it takes for another brilliant comedian to skewer someone or something new.
The enduring power of the protest song is missing from our culture. It is showing up in pockets, but it is not making the mainstream and, as such, the most effective call to arms we have at our disposal is being wasted.
A song you listen to again and again and again… layers of meaning set in; you sing it to yourself, you attach yourself to it, it helps shape and prescribe your ideologies. Slave songs in the south, folk songs of the 60’s, punk, reggae, hip hop… hell, even good old rock and roll… during every major movement and social crisis we have been through in the last century has been accompanied by a soundtrack.
Think about what you have been listening to over the last six months… what has the soundtrack been? I’m not judging here, I know exactly what mine has been: a dollop of Katy Perry and One D for my daughter (yes, I use the term “One D” and if that doesn’t automatically make you stop reading, thank you, because there is some good music ahead) and a mix of Twenty One Pilots, AWOLNATION and some good old fashioned early 2000’s Emo. My point? My soundtrack has not reflected the environment I am living in… reading about… watching on the news.
But maybe that is starting to change…
If there was ever a night I wanted to be at Molson Amphitheatre, it was last night. Don’t get me wrong, number one on my list of places to be was exactly where I was – singing happy birthday to my now six-year old daughter at The Old Spaghetti Factory – but damn if I didn’t want to see AWOLNATION, one of my favourite bands, open for Prophets Of Rage.
I don’t need to describe it – just read this article: Dave Grohl joins Prophets of Rage in epic Toronto show
Wait, seriously, if you didn’t click on the link, read that article and then come back to me… it was, from all reports, an incredible show.
Meanwhile, Chuck D had many turns at the mic as well, although he was at his best when he was delivering U.S. election messages to the throngs.
“I don’t know what’s going on America, but stay as smart as you are and stay put. Stay the f— awake, Canada,” the veteran rapper implored, before busting out Public Enemy’s Miuzi Weighs A Ton.
The tour is called “Make America Rage Again” and it started just last Friday and seems to be picking up steam. Maybe that’s what we need! A music supergroup to come out, blast us with nostalgia and get us raging again!
I mean… COME ON…
What better way to stir up rage against the establishment than make us remember the rage we felt before?
Well, maybe there is a better way… maybe we do need NEW songs that speak to the atrocities we are seeing all around us, even if they were written about just slightly older atrocities from, like, a few months ago…
I am not poison, no I am not poison
Just a boy from the hood that
Got my hands in the air
In despair, don’t shoot
I just wanna do good, ah
Or better yet, put a song out that CANNOT BE CLEARER in its message that Black Lives Matter, and then surround that song with all of the news clips and video that has already been consuming us. A perfect confluence of form and message.
This is the best protest song I have heard in a LONG time.
Mistah F.A.B. – 6 Shots
So for all you white folks that say we all equal
I bet you wouldn’t trade pigmentation with my people
Drop a song during New York Pride that puts a clear message around the fact that while we celebrate acceptance we cannot forget the fight.
I guess love ain’t free, there’s a fee, they cut your paycheck
It’s a free country, that’s unless you love the same sex
To people with no place to stay, I hope you stay blessed
You ain’t gotta flex that you straight, long as you straight flex
* * * * *
At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter which cause we are talking about, which fight we feel is the most important fight.
Why aren’t we sharing THESE songs?
Why does 6 Shots only have 25 000 Views on YouTube?
Where aren’t these videos in my newsfeed, accompanying the commentary everyone I know is putting out there?
The Protest Song is alive, and if we want things to change, let’s seek out the music behind the issues that matter to us and flood social media with them.
John Oliver is brilliant, and sharing his segments does good, makes us feel smart and makes us laugh when we don’t know how else to feel. They spark outrage and unite us and justify our own frustrations and feelings of powerlessness to change things.
But I ask you again – how many times have you watched a segment more than once? And what have you done with the emotions it made you feel.
Now, have a look around at all of the music being generated on these topics… make a playlist… share it with your friends…
I’m not saying it’s the only answer to fighting back against the injustice in the world, but the echo we can create by filling the inter-noise with meaningful music might be just enough to shift the momentum in our favour.
* * * * *
Further Reading: A Brief History Of Protest Songs – Wall Street Journal
A social media post from Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson calling on musicians to write protest songs.
“Songs with spirit in them,” the Roots drummer and “Tonight Show” band leader wrote on Instagram. “Songs with solutions. Songs with questions. Protest songs don’t have to be boring or non-danceable or ready made for the next Olympics. They just have to speak truth.”
