Sometimes to be glad to be who you are is a form of protest. Sometimes just making music is a form of protest. Sometimes it’s a form of protest to share the truth with others. Sometimes it’s a form of protest just to say, “This is how the world around me is right now.” Sometimes it’s a form of protest to encourage people who are down or down-trodden. Sometimes it’s a form of protest just to be alive, in your skin, in your time, speaking your language.
We’re all familiar with the classic anthems of protest in this country, and I love them all, I do. But as I started to compile this playlist with many of them, I began to think about another kind of protest song, or many other kinds, I guess. So this is a playlist of different kinds of protest. We have songs that function almost as news — relaying the stories of ordinary people and the troubles that they face. This is the Mexican Corridos, which tell stories of deportation and The Depression, and we have Calypso songs, which function in the same way on many of the same subjects.
We have songs about being glad to be who you are, like Nina Simone’s Jelly Roll. She has more well-known protest songs, for certain, but this one is so powerful to me, about the light we all carry within ourselves. And about feeling strong because of the very aspect of yourself that people look down upon.
Tie up my do right and tighten up my ‘fro
Wrapping myself in black and still I shine and glow
Ain’t that bad, ain’t that black and ain’t that fine
Ain’t that bad, ain’t that black and ain’t that fine
We’ve got a couple songs about the environment, because, my god, is the earth in trouble right now, and this administration is only going to make it better. It’s all good news now.
From Gorrilaz, Pirate Jet:
It’s all good news now
Because we left the taps
Running
For a hundred years
We’ve got Mos Def’s New World Water and Dis Papa, from Zoufris Maracas, which translates to
– Hey, did dad know you fish? – Of course my little one I knew the fish – And uh, how were the fish? – Well, do you see the sea?
The sea uh, the big black thing in front of us that makes soft swirls? – Exactly, my little one. Well you see this sea was once blue. And inside, there were a whole bunch of creatures about as big as that, covered with scales and which we called fish.
– Say, dad, did you know the trees? – of course I knew the trees – and how was it? – well you see this pylon – Yeah
– well it was about that big. All brown with lots of green stuff on top. A bit like paper, ha no you didn’t know paper… well, in short we called them sheets
– yeah, anyway, said dad said dad, have you known animals? – of course my little one. If there’s anyone who knows animals well it’s your father, turkeys, bustards, wildebeests, giraffes, tapirs, platypuses, hogs… – and the insects? – insects! Stick insects, spiders, dragonflies – and uh where did all that go dad?
– well my little one… it happened that it went wrong… that we ate them… that we ate them my little one – did you eat it all? – well yeah – you didn’t leave any for the others – well we didn’t think so, little one. Well, that is to say that the TV told us there will be more in 2048 so if you want, as there was going to be no more everyone wanted some like everyone wanted some everyone had some , and since everyone had it and everyone had it… – were there any more? – exactly my little one
– no, but wait! Now you’re telling me that before, there were fish swimming in a sea that was blue when it was black, that there were trees with green things, tapirs, facomochères, that it was cold and worse… aren’t you kidding me? – and the water knew you the water – Calm down my little one – of course the rivers. yes all of a sudden full of water – and you have everything… – well yes we have everything… that is to say, we didn’t think… we said to ourselves we won’t be here anymore and now that we’re not dying anymore well here we are with our noses facing our problems. But it’s not all your fault, my little one… eh, don’t be sad
– I’m not sad, I’m angry. Bird eater, fish murderer, sea killer, tree cutter, insect gobbler…
– listen, you’re going to speak to me in a different tone otherwise I’ll unplug your central unit!
We have songs that became anthems for people and gave them hope and became a symbol of resistance, despite the fact that they weren’t originally meant that way. Like Bella Caio, in Italy and elsewhere, and in Chile Gracias a la Vida by Violeta Parra. We have Algerian Rai music, in which women used non-traditional, frowned-upon musical styles to share bawdy lyrics of what life is really like for a woman. We’ve got Manu Chao asking if people in America know what life is like in Algeria. Brother, people in America don’t know what life is like in America.
We’ve got tales of intolerance, prejudice, greed, and injustice. And just singing about them is a way to overcome them. Songs defiantly sung in a language that is frowned upon, like Contra La Por, by Raimon, which is sung in Catalan.
Let’s call things by their name!
If we don’t break the silence
we will die in silence
Against fear is life,
against fear is love,
against fear we are,
against fear without fear.
And we have the great, agonized, heart-breakingly vulnerable I Can’t Go to Sleep by Wu-Tang Clan (and Isaac Hayes).
Jesse watched as they shot King on the balcony
Exported Marcus Garvey ’cause he tried to spark us
With the knowledge of ourselves and our forefathers
…
Medgar took one to the skull for integrating college
What’s the science? Somebody? This is trick knowledge
They try to keep us enslaved and still scrape for dollars
…
They got me trapped up in a metal gate, just stressed out with hate
…
I can’t go to sleep, I can’t shut ’em, son, I—
…
Don’t let the game make you lose your head
You should be calling the shots instead
The power is in your hands
Against fear and hate is life, love, who we are, what we know. Against fear, all over the world, is music.
Categories: featured, Magpie Mix Tape, music
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