It is my belief that music is meant to make you think and feel. The feelings and thoughts that are generated while we listen to music, whether it is consciously or subconsciously, can and do serve to motivate individuals or society to change by bringing to light political issues such as civil rights, poverty, global warming, war, and human rights, etc. Protest music can be general in nature speaking out against war for example like “What’s Going On?” by Marvin Gaye, or it can be about a specific event such as the song “Ohio” by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young which we talked about in class.
Can protest songs of the past take on new meaning? Yes. expecially those songs which take on social issues. ”What’s Going On?” by Marvin Gaye suggests that with understanding and love we can solve alot of our problems–the war may be different but war is war and by understanding and listening and opening our hearts we can end war. This song is not unlike the Lenny Kravitz song “Let Love Rule” where Kravitz suggests that “love can conquer any war”.
I was thinking after class what makes today different from the sixties and early seventies in relation to protest songs, marches, college students, Woodstock, “Make Love Not War”, etc. I believe that one of the differences is with the Vietnam War there was a national draft which affected all males once they turned 18. With the draft affecting college age students, protests and political music became a part of the college culture. Today, while I believe the sentiments are still the same, the military consists of a different type of soldier. Although he is still young, many of the new soldiers come from small towns, lower socio-economic groups, and minorities. Thus the war protests do not “seem” to be as widespread because we are not seeing these protest on every college campus, but rather music or concerts where political issued are tackled.
If I had to pick a favorite “protest song” I believe I would have to choose “Where Have All the Flowers Gone” by Pete Seeger. I believe that this song is as relevant today in protesting the war in Iraq as it was in the sixties protesting the Vietnam War. “When will we ever learn?”
October 4, 2007 at 12:32 am
Debbie,
This is excellent and I could not agree more. I think whether people are completely aware of the message of a song or not is not really the point. Music is a way of expressing values – political or otherwise – and has been especially important for those who do not have a “voice” in mainstream political debate. Young people typically do not . . . and I think that we have not learned lessons from the past. If young people were not only recruited, but drafted, I think the protests and protest music would follow.
Professor Hannagan
October 4, 2007 at 9:41 pm
I agree. I wonder what type of protests the inclusion of women in the draft would generate. It seems to me that even though we have women in the military, the number of women being killed versus men is very small. The draft may or may not change that. So many of the protest songs relate to our sons going off to war.