Released on May 21, 1971, Marvin Gaye’s 11th studio album What’s Going On is one of the most important albums ever released. The landmark concept album is sung from the perspective of a Vietnam War veteran returning to the USA and observing injustice and suffering. The socially conscious tunes that he composed were deeply rooted in the personal. For example, […]
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Publicity photo, photographer Jim Britt, Public Domain One of the most important protest tunes of all time, the genesis of “What Going On” happened when Four Tops vocalist Renaldo “Obie” Benson, witnessed police brutality in San Francisco in May 1969, while on tour. While stuck in traffic, Benson observed young protestors being brutally attacked by cops wearing riot gear. “The […]
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Cover of the 1964 reissue by Folkways Records Released in 1940, Woody Guthrie’s first commercial recording Dust Bowl Ballads is widely cited as the first concept album. Based on both his personal experiences and John Steinbeck’s novel The Grapes of Wrath it details the 1930s Dust Bowl era during The Great Depression when farmers were dispossessed of their land due to […]
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From the band’s website Admittedly, being inducted into the Protest Music Hall of Fame, which is not an actual hall of fame but more of an online archival project for this little-known website, doesn’t mean as much as being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame (even though 3/4 of Rage Against The Machine didn’t show up for […]
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From the artist’s Bandcamp “When she walks, the revolution’s comin’In her hips, there’s revolutionWhen she talks, I hear the revolutionIn her kiss, I taste the revolution” These are lyrics to Bikini Girl’s tune “Rebel Girl”, widely considered the anthem of the riot grrrl movement. “The power of “Rebel Girl” is that it’s about being a feminist pirate, being an adventurer,” states Bikini […]
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“Don’t push me cause I’m close to the edgeI’m trying not to lose my headIt’s like a jungle sometimesIt makes me wonder how I keep from goin’ under” That famous chorus is from the landmark socially conscious tune “The Message” released in 1982 by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. Before that time, rap music was known for its party […]
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X-Ray Spex at Rock-Against-Racism march/concert in London, April 1978. Via Andy Wilson, Flickr “Some people think little girls should be seen and not heardBut I think“Oh bondage, up yours”One, two, three, four” That is the intro to the 1977 incendiary single by X-Ray Spex. It is a statement of intent and a battle cry against female objectification. Due to what some […]
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In 1955 Johnny Cash released the single “Folsom Prison Blues” a tune that resonated with inmates, many of whom wrote him letters requesting that he perform at their prison. The first time that Cash performed at a prison was at Huntsville State Prison in Texas in 1957. Afterward, he continued to perform several prison concerts. Cash long intended to record one of […]
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1967 Atlantic Record Promo Photo When determining whether or not a song meets the definition of a protest tune an important factor is intent. Often it is the intent of the songwriter. At other times it is the intention of the singer. It is possible to have two versions of the same song, and only one of the versions is […]
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Source: malvinareynolds.com “And the people in the housesAll went to the universityWhere they were put in boxesAnd they came out all the same” “Little Boxes” is an anti-conformist anthem composed by singer-songwriter and political activist Malvina Reynolds in 1962. The satirical tune critiques suburban housing development and middle-class conformity. It also popularized the term “ticky-tacky”. The song also received widespread […]
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