The Ongoing History of New Music, episode 1073: A brief history of protest music (part 1)

This can be a weird, difficult world, filled with injustice, inequality, and bad people doing bad things. We’re always up against things like racism, women’s rights, labour rights, the plights of marginalized people, class struggle, the disenfranchised, and various social movements—the list of righteous causes and grievances is pretty much endless.

And sometimes, you just gotta fight back. But how? Not all occasions call for armed insurrections and assassinations.

One way is through music. Come up with something topical and specific, put it all to music, and you have a chance of getting your message to a lot of people. And because it’s music, you might be able to reach those who might not otherwise be aware of the problem, or understand what the problem is.

This music isn’t confined to a specific people, group, genre, or era. You can be loud and angry, filled with the greatest moral virtues, screamed at the top of your lungs.

But you don’t have to be in-your-face about it. Your messaging can be subtle while still maintaining all the necessary effectiveness, rage, and authenticity.

Such songs have a long and fascinating history that goes back way further than you might realize. And these songs are everywhere today, although you may not realize it.

This is a brief history of the protest song.

Songs heard on this show:

• Green Day, American Idiot
• Tom Morello, I Dreamed I Saw Joe Hill Last Night
• Dropkick Murphys, Fortunate Son
• Rise Against, For What It’s Worth
• Cake, I Will Survive
• Sex Pistols, Anarchy in the UK
• The Clash, London Callling
• Sham 69, The Kids Are United
• The Specials, Ghost Town
• Artists United Against Apartheid

Eric Wilhite has this playlist.

The Ongoing History of New Music can be heard on these stations.

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• Live 88-5/Ottawa – Saturdays at 9am and Sundays at 6pm.
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• FM96/London – Sunday nights at 8pm
• Power 97/Winnipeg – Sunday nights at 10am and 10pm
• 107-3 The Edge/Calgary – Sundays at 10am and 10pm
• Sonic 102.9/Edmonton – Sunday at 8am and 8pm
• The Zone/Victoria – Sunday at 9am and 9pm
• The Fox/Vancouver – Sundays at 10anm and 10pm
• The Goat Network/Interior BC
• Surge 105/Halifax – Sunday at 7pm
• WAPS/WKTL The Summit/Arkon, Canton, Cleveland, Youngstown – Mon-Fri at 9pm

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