Steven O'Rourke posted on November 16, 2007 09:04
Key Notes doesn’t do politics. Well actually it does, but would be so inclined to rant and rave that it wouldn’t make for great reading material on a Friday afternoon. However, the current assault on the people of Pakistan and the swift and severe oppression of any form of protest against it, led your easily stirred blogger to consider protest songs and their history. 
A good table-quiz factoid for you is that the oldest protest song on record is The Cutty Wren, a composition from the 14th century speaking out against the feudal system in place in England at that time. Despite the rumours however, I could find no evidence that it was actually written by Steve Tyler.
Though its origins were in England, it was in America where the protest song emerged as a beacon of hope for those tired of the status-quo (though many were said to have enjoyed Rockin’ All Over the World).
The 20th century proved fertile ground for American musicians when it came to penning their protests. The lyrics "Southern trees bear strange fruit / Blood on the leaves and blood at the root / Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze" from Strange Fruit (famously recorded by Billie Holiday) were penned by Lewis Allen in response to the lynching of two black men. The songs impact was such that it was still being used in the Civil Rights Movement 30 years later, and was cited by Bob Dylan as an inspiration in (the excellent by the way) No Direction Home.
Dylan himself was responsible for thousands of buskers inflicting the world with their version of Blowin’ in The Wind, one of the most recognisable and popular protest songs ever written. The fact that it wasn’t written about a particular event but simply posed a number of questions designed to make the listener question themselves and the world around them has allowed it to stand the test of time. Of course, this was before Dylan was hawking iPods and SUV’s, but the song struck a chord and was used as an anthem for protestors of the Vietnam war, and most wars since.
Of course the Sixties produced a huge volume of protest songs from Respect to Give Peace A Chance and many of these are still used today. Indeed many commentators lament the lack of original protest songs emerging from today’ musicians.
While it’s true that there are some laughable attempts at protest songs around (Green Day or George Michael anyone?) there are some great examples of the genre emerging in response to US foreign policy. Neon Bible, for example, is littered with references to the state of paranoia created by the Bush government. Neil Young’s Living With War was even more blatant in it’s critique. However, perhaps the greatest protest song written this century (in Key Notes humble opinion) was penned by, the frustratingly inconsistent, Bright Eyes.
Containing the stinging opening verse; "When the president talks to God / Are the conversations brief or long? / Does he ask to rape our women’s' rights / And send poor farm kids off to die? / Does God suggest an oil hike / When the president talks to God?" it is a powerful critique and its rawness touched a chord with a great of disillusioned and disgruntled people. It’s a pretty good song too which always helps. So to the people of Pakistan, and indeed anyone living under the pretence that democracy is for your benefit and not for theirs, Key Notes presents Mr. Conor Oberst, When The President Talks to God.
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