The topic of most music, especially pop music, is personal experiences, particularly concerning love, or love lost. However, sometimes musicians have an altruistic message they wish to convey; for example, messages of protest, or social comments, or critique of political issues. We can refer to these songs as songs that make social commentary, or as “protest songs.” The more successful protest songs are usually associated with some kind of social or cultural change. Some songs may not actually protest against anything; however, the song may still be recognized as a protest song because of its close association with the social or cultural change that occurred at the time that the song was prevalent.
To conclude our series on modern English music we will listen to a selection of protest songs. Listen to the songs, read the lyrics (hand outs), and identify the genre. What is “message” of each song? What are they “protesting” against, or what is the social commentary that the song makes?
“No More Auction Block for Me” – A “sorrow song” about the abolition of slavery.
“Strange Fruit” – Billie Holiday
“Uncle Sam Says” – Josh White
“This Land Is Your Land, This Land Is My Land” – Woody Guthrie
"Old Man Atom" – Adam Miller (Originally by Vern Partlow)
“The Times They Are a Changin’” – Bob Dylan
“Masters of War” – Pearl Jam (Originally by Bob Dylan)
You can read more about “The Politics of Bob Dylan” here.
“Eve of Destruction” – Barry McGuire (1965)
“Univeral Soldier” – Donavan (1965)
Skunk Anansie: “Little Baby Swastika”
“Imagine” – John Lennon
“Peace Train” – Cat Stevens
“Janis Ian” – Society’s Child (1965)
“American Idiot” – Green Day
“Soldier Side” – System of a Down
“Talking About a Revolution” – Tracy Chapman
“Wavin’ Flag” – K’naan
“Kingdom of Loss” – Pain of Salvation
“Luka” – Suzanne Vega
“Dear Mr President” – Pink
“20 Minutes with the President” – Original script by Charlie Sheen
For more on protest music, visit Tom Zarecki's hub post "Songs of Protest, Revolution & Change in America.". Also visit Antiwarsongs.Org for anti-war songs from different countries and languages, including Korea.
Postmodern Music
Last week we listened to Pop music; in other words, very popular music. The week before last we listened to Alternative Rock music. Today we will listen to even more “alternative” music – especially in how it sounds. I call this music Postmodern Fusion, also known as Postmodern music, because very different styles are fused into a new “sound.” Postmodern music is therefore eclectic in style and genre.
One example would be Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody,” which we listened to at the beginning of this semester (Week 3: Harmony). “Bohemian Rhapsody” is a fusion of two unique genres, namely classical rhapsody and rock music. A rhapsody is a single piece of music, but with different parts representing different moods. Listen, for example, to Johannes Brahm’s “Rhapsody in G minor” Op. 79, No. 2. The song “Bohemian Rhapsody” is similar, in that it has different parts with different moods. “Bohemian Rhapsody” is a postmodern composition because it mixes two different genres with each other.
Listen to Alanis Morissette’s “Baba” in the YouTube-video below. The song is from one of my favourite albums “Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie.”
This song also has a mixture of genres. The first genre is Rock. What is the other genre(s)? Maybe the lyrics can give you some clues.
Now listen to Fiona Apple perform “Shadow Boxer.” What music genres can you identify in this song?
How about Fiona Apple’s song “Extraordinary Machine”?
Another artist known for interesting fusions is the Dave Matthews Band. Listen to their song “Spoon.”
Watch the video of a live performance of Björk performing her song “Enjoy.” What instruments are being used? What sampled sounds are used together?
Beck is another artist that makes use of many synthesized sounds, including sampled audio clips from popular culture. “High 5” is an example:
Nightwish, a band from Finland, is described as a “symphonic power gothic metal band” with opera-style vocals.
Also mixing metal music with symphonic sounds is Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Listen to their “Good King Joy.” Notice the fusion of Christmas carols with metal music.
One example would be Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody,” which we listened to at the beginning of this semester (Week 3: Harmony). “Bohemian Rhapsody” is a fusion of two unique genres, namely classical rhapsody and rock music. A rhapsody is a single piece of music, but with different parts representing different moods. Listen, for example, to Johannes Brahm’s “Rhapsody in G minor” Op. 79, No. 2. The song “Bohemian Rhapsody” is similar, in that it has different parts with different moods. “Bohemian Rhapsody” is a postmodern composition because it mixes two different genres with each other.
Listen to Alanis Morissette’s “Baba” in the YouTube-video below. The song is from one of my favourite albums “Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie.”
This song also has a mixture of genres. The first genre is Rock. What is the other genre(s)? Maybe the lyrics can give you some clues.
Now listen to Fiona Apple perform “Shadow Boxer.” What music genres can you identify in this song?
How about Fiona Apple’s song “Extraordinary Machine”?
Another artist known for interesting fusions is the Dave Matthews Band. Listen to their song “Spoon.”
Watch the video of a live performance of Björk performing her song “Enjoy.” What instruments are being used? What sampled sounds are used together?
Beck is another artist that makes use of many synthesized sounds, including sampled audio clips from popular culture. “High 5” is an example:
Nightwish, a band from Finland, is described as a “symphonic power gothic metal band” with opera-style vocals.
Also mixing metal music with symphonic sounds is Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Listen to their “Good King Joy.” Notice the fusion of Christmas carols with metal music.
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