Anger and Anthems: Protest Songs part 1

Protest songs.

These days, especially in the United States but in other countries as well, I’ve heard and seen people saying ‘we need protest songs,’ and asking ‘where are the good protest songs?’ ‘where are the good protest singers?’

There are many, both songs and singers, and they’ve been arorund for years, decades, centuries even.

This us the first in a series of article pointing you to a number of these songs .

You might be wondering

Are these songs relevant these days?

Yes. Many have stood long tests of time and acquired more resonance across the years.

There are people writing songs that speak to this moment, to be sure. There are also songs, many and many, from the past that are timely now as well.

I’ll introduce you to and remind you about some of those, and invite you to see songs you may know in a different light

At present, I am planning on a series of posts about protest songs:

Anger and Anthems

Stories and Solidarity

Hope and Healing

Onward

To begin, though, what do protest songs do?

What are protest songs good for?

What do you want protest songs to do for you? Take some time to think about that, as we go through this series.

You will likely have different answers to that last question at different times and circumstances -- and that is usually a good thing.

Protest songs can, in fact, do a range of things.

A song may share and/or release anger. A song could call wrongdoers to account -- which is another way of releasing anger, when you think about it.

Grief and anger can twine together; there are songs which come from and address this. Some of the quietest and most powerful protest songs include both grief and anger.

A song can be an anthem, to sing together or alone, to stoke courage, to stir emotion. A song can express or call for or be a way for creating solidarity.

A song can tell a story that reminds of the reasons for or need of protest or action, that remembers history, that suggests what meeds to change.

A song can suggest hope, it can show ways to healing, it can speak of possibilities, it can remind of community and resilience.

There are times and places for songs of protest which do all these things.