According to the YouTube page for the video for “You Don’t Own Me”, The Resistance Revival Chorus “is a collective of more than 50 women who join together to breathe joy and song into the resistance, and to uplift and center women’s voices”. The collective got some mainstream attention on January 28th, 2018 when they backed Kesha at the Grammy […]
Learn more →Music has long been a powerful medium to protest the social injustices faced by humankind. For example, many of the anthems of the civil rights movement of the 50s and 60s found their roots in the “negro spirituals” of the 1800s and early 1900s. Right now we will consider a list of 10 civil right protest songs recorded during the […]
Learn more →Sharon Jones sadly lost her fight with cancer on November 18th, 2016. After her death Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings posthumously released the album, Soul of a Woman (“Matter of Time” off of that album was one of the 50 Best Protest Songs of 2017). One of the songs recorded for that album session was “Tear It Down”, which didn’t […]
Learn more →Rock n’ roll folklore is filled with songs that eventually became prophecy. One of these tunes is “2 Minutes to Midnight” by Iron Maiden. The heavy metal classic is from their 1984 album, Powerslave. According to the Doomsday Clock, it is now officially two minutes to midnight. The Doomsday Clock was founded in 1947 by the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists […]
Learn more →“What a Time To Be Alive” is the title track to Superchunk’s 11th studio album which is due out on February 16th. Both the song and upcoming album deals with the realities of living in Trump’s America. According to lead singer Mac McCaughan, it is a record “about a pretty dire and depressing situation but hopefully not a record that […]
Learn more →If Sam Cooke was still alive today, he would be 87 years old. The legendary soul singer is responsible for composing and performing one of the most definitive tunes of the civil rights era, “A Change Is Gonna Come”, from his 1964 album Ain’t That Good News. Sam Cooke was motivated to compose “A Change Is Gonna Come” after listening […]
Learn more →“When Thugs Cry” is a reworking of the Prince classic “When Doves Cry”. It was recorded for a Like a Version session for Australia’s Triple J radio station. Bada$$ originally recorded the tune for his 2017 album All-Amerikkkan Bada$$, but his reworking was cut from the album when he was unable to get the sample cleared. Fortunately he was able to […]
Learn more →Tune-Yards just released their fourth full-length album, I Can Feel You Creep into My Private Life. Lead singer and songwriter Merrill Garbus grapples with white privilege and cultural appropriation on a number of the album’s tunes. The songs are very much a product of the current political climate. In a track by track analysis by NPR, Garbus made the following statement: “A lot of […]
Learn more →Black Eyed Peas is a rap group that it would be easy to take a dismissive attitude with. Their brand of pop rap is massively successful, but the songs often lack substance. It might get people up on the dance floor, but it isn’t going to provoke any deeper thinking. “Street Livin” deviates from their typical pop sound. It is […]
Learn more →Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15th, 1929 and he was assassinated on April 4, 1968. Considering the inedible impact that the famed civil rights leader had, it should be no surprise that numerous songs have been inspired by him. Here is a list of ten of those tunes. Blues For Martin Luther Kings – Otis Spann (1968) This […]
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