Maria Sonevytsky explores on Twitter, the "rich and complex" history of Ukrainian music. She goes across the country and back for decades. An interesting selection which includes punk rock, reggae, folk music, klezmer and much more.
Shortly after the military coup in Myanmar at the beginning of the year, four musicians recorded a protest song 'Headshot' about security forces shooting to kill. Within hours of releasing the song, the rockers scattered. Three of them were later placed on a wanted list for sedition, their names and photos shown on the military-run TV channel. By June, they’d be irreparably separated. Kyar Pauk has since fled the country. Han Nay Tar, lead singer of Eternal Gosh, an alternative and pop rock band established in 2013, has gone deep into hiding and couldn’t be reached. Novem Htoo, among the country’s most famous metal vocalists, has sought shelter with an ethnic armed organization. Raymond, lead singer of the band The Idiots and among Myanmar’s most influential rock musicians of this generation, had been staying in the jungle with Novem Htoo, but on June 23rd, the 32-year-old, who had long suffered from gastrointestinal problems, was found dead. Rolling Stone tells the story in full.
"I’m constantly going into different genres and fields to make the message more accessible. It’s really for young people and for mothers to be able to tap into what I’m doing. This record is like a gateway, a trickery: bringing people in with the smooth vibes. But if you know my music, I like to punch people in the heart and then kiss the heart" - Moor Mother says in Pitchfork interview about her forthcoming album 'Black Encyclopedia of the Air'. She also believes there's not enough proper protest songs now: "If we’re talking about radical statements and protest music, just standing around saying 'F this', what is that accomplishing?".
The political right-wing has a history of using songs of leftist or rebellious nature for its cause, starting with Ronald Reagan who used Bruce Springsteen's 'Born in the USA', to Boris Johnson who co-opted Clash, and Donald Trump who saw it fit to connect himself with Neil Young's 'Rockin' in the Free World'. The latest example comes from anti-lockdown protesters who, positioning themselves as oppressed, have contorted Twisted Sister’s 'We’re Not Gonna Take It' into an anti-mask anthem. Guardian makes a step in trying to explain it. "Co-opting is part of an effort to link conservatism to rebellion and the idea that to be conservative is to be rebellious. This crops up in younger conservatives" - says Jack Hamilton, a professor at University of Virginia. There is a way for the real freedom fighters to reclaim their culture - "what we can do is educate, empower and encourage people to listen with a critical ear” - says Kevin Fellezs, associate professor at Columbia University, who is researching “freedom musics”.
"Openly confrontational trap and drill songs like 'Faneto' have bled into the consciousness of this summer's rebellion, capturing crowds through their fusion of righteous anger and unbothered celebration" - Scalawag magazine writes in an interesting essay about what constitutes a "protest song" today. It's a complete change of perspective, Scalamag argues - "these songs know that our systems cannot be purified through an uplifting mantra, a catchy tune, or even a structural reform—only a committed, unrelenting program of insurgency could begin to address the atrocities at the core of the state".
NPR has started a series We Insist about protest songs released this summer in the shadow of police brutality in the US. There is H.E.R.'s 'I Can't Breathe', Adia Victoria's 'South Gotta Change', Usher's 'I Cry', Tunde Adebimpe's 'People', Anderson Paak's 'Lockdown' and other songs (some are notably missing, like 'Pig Feet' and 'Legendary'). The violence the authorities condone isn't over yet, so, unfortunately, more songs are expected to the list.
Tyrese returns with his most powerful record to date, and his first song in over 5 years - 'Legendary', featuring CeeLo Green. The song depicts an “artist's response" to the unfair deaths of Black Americans at the hands of police officers. It is paired with an equally powerful visual directed by Deon Taylor, who’s seen and been through the worst of the worst coming up in Gary, Indiana. Tyrese strayed from his signature R&B ballads, and got into hip-hop/soul territory, with CeeLo Green adding his signature voice and gospel undertones.
There is one song that keeps being heard in the crowds at the protests in Belarus - 'Khochu Peremen' ('Want to Change') by the 1980s USSR rock band Kino (Cinema). Previously, it was sung in Moscow by protestors opposing Vladimir Putin in 2011, although its author Viktor Tsoi had no intention for it to become a political anthem, or for him to be a revolutionary figure, according to the BBC. He said it was a song about inner change.
A great text in Nick Cave's Red Hand Files blog where he replied with a lengthy reasoning to a fan's question about why he doesn't write about politics in his songs, and in doing so, explained the backbone of his lyrics:
“Perhaps the thing you enjoy about my songs is that they are conflicted, and often deal in uncertainties and ambiguities. My better songs seem to be engaged in an interior struggle between opposing outlooks or states of mind. They rarely settle on anything. My songs sit in that liminal space between decided points of view.
Songs with political agendas inhabit a different space. They have little patience for nuance, neutrality or impartiality. Their aim is to get the message across in as clear and persuasive a manner as possible. There can be great value in these sorts of songs, but they are usually born from a particular combination of rigidity and zealousness, which I personally do not possess.
My songs seem to be resistant to fixed, inflexible points of view. They have, as you say, a concern for common, non-hierarchical suffering. They are not in the business of saving the world; rather they are in the business of saving the soul of the world.
I have very little control over what songs I write. They are constructed, incrementally, in the smallest of ways, the greater meaning revealing itself after the fact. They are often slippery, amorphous things, with unclear trajectories — position-free attempts at understanding the mysteries of the heart.
I guess I could write a protest song, but I think I would, in the end, feel compromised in doing so, not because there aren’t things I am fundamentally opposed to — there are — but because I would be using my particular talents to deal with something I consider to be morally obvious. Personally, I have little inclination to do that. It’s just not what I do.”
Terrace Martin has made a powerful protest song with an equally strong video, recorded in reaction to George Floyd’s murder and the protests that have happened afterward. "Someone asked, how do I feel? I told them hurt, fearless, angry, aware and fully ready to protect me, my family & my people at all cost” Martin said about the song. Denzel Curry, Daylyt, Kamasi Washington, and G Perico joined him on it. The song’s equally powerful video begins with a message - “the video to this song is happening right outside your window” - and features footage from the protests. It ends with a long list of black men and women who have been killed by the police.
During massive protests in Santiago de Chile on Friday, when around one million people gathered in the streets, thousands of people began singing 'El derecho de vivir en paz' by Victor Jara (the title stands for 'The Right to Live in Peace'), Pitchfork reports. Jara was a theatre director, poet, singer and political activist who […]
‘Glory to Hong Kong’ was written by a local musician named Thomas in his mid-20s, a producer known only as K mixed the track after answering Thomas’ online call for extra volunteers. Thomas told the BBC he hoped the song would "unite Hong Kongers and boost public morale". The song began spreading in August, thanks […]
