The piece of political protest music that I chose is Chains by Usher ft Nas and Bibi Bourelly. This song was released back in 2015. The video that was released with the music helps to accentuate the meaning behind the lyrics. The purpose behind the music is to shed light onto the devastation of police brutality and racial injustice. The music did not have a usual music video but instead it was a compilation of pictures of individuals popping up following their name and ages and devastating stories as to how their lives were taken due to the wrongdoings of police officers. It was pretty evident as to what the purpose and end message of the music is. The genre of this music is R&B/ soul and overall this genre of music derives from African American culture; usually has a lot of meaning to it. It may not be a directly political genre but it can go hand in hand (especially with the song I chose). 

There are powerful lyrics that are sung and rapped throughout the music. Nas raps “We got a problem that needs some acknowledgment. I am no prison commodity, not just a body you throw in a cell. For any reason, just to bother me.” The meaning behind these lyrics are shining light into a problem that seemingly no one is willing to talk about and propose a solution to. Nas also says that  individuals are not a commodity (material) of prison that are just thrown into a cell. This is sending the message that people of certain color and races are not just animals that can be treated like they belong behind bars. Usher also says “Don’t act like you saving us, it’s still the same. Man don’t act like I made it up. You keep blaming us, let’s keep it one hundred. You gave the name to us, N****.”  The meaning behind this is that the police who kill innocent people are saying it’s their fault when in reality it’s the racist mentality that is pulling the trigger on people who have done nothing wrong. A musical characteristic that was present in the piece would be the very upbeat and fast rhythm. This is an important part of the music because it  adds the sense of adrenaline that pumps up the listener and makes the accommodating lyrics stand out. 

The song I chose was the Blacker the Berry by Kendrick Lamar. This song was associated with the black lives matter movement. The purpose of the song was to expose the government on how they treat African Americans and show people how his and many African Americans’ lives are. The listeners kind of added their own meaning to the song because not everyone who listens to the song comes from the same place or the same experience. So the audience can have their own interpretation. The musical genre that this song is associated in is rap music. This genre isn’t political usually but it can be depending on the artist. Certain artists in the rap game like to make songs that make people dance or sing. But other artists like to make music that has deep meaning to the song. The lyrics that are relevant to politics are “ I mean, it’s evident that I’m irrelevant to society. That’s what you’re telling me, the penitentiary would only hire me”. Kendrick Lamar was trying to get at the problem of mass incarceration in America and the injustice in politics. The musical characteristic that I hear is the crescendo. Most of the song was playing on the volume to get the attention of the audience.

Revolution by Helly Luv released 2015

Helly Luv’s “Revolution” was a way of political protest. This song was created as a response to ISIS putting her on a hit list for her other song “Risk It All” as she was deemed “too scandalous for a woman”. She created this song as a way to call for peace and a way to state that they were all united as one. The music video ends and then a small behind the scene clip pops up of her explaining that the music video was filmed on an active ISIS war zone and that they were 3 km or about 2 miles from ISIS themselves, and you can hear guns and bombs going off in the background. This song is a piece of protest as it calls for the end of a war and for peace to reign instead. Throughout the song you can hear drums that sound similar to what you would hear in military drumming, which fits with the theme of the song which is to fight back for peace.

The song Then I decided to talk about is “This is America” by a very known artist, Childish Gambino. the song was brought out in 2018. songs purpose is to show that there is a lot of black violence in the United States and it also talks about racial discrimination against African-Americans. In an interview Gambino was asked about his song but he totally ignored the question and didn’t answer it the correct way as to what the purpose of the song really was. Throughout the song Gambino speaks a lot about police brutality, he doesn’t say it straight up but he says it in a way to make people understand what he’s really talking about without really having to say it.  Some listeners listen to this song just for the fun of it and some listen to it because of deep meaning that actually has behind it. I think that Gambino definitely did have his own political purpose to the piece of music but didn’t accept it when he was asked about it. 

A musical characteristic or a musical genre of the piece is Repetition because throughout the song he repeats a lot of the words that he is staying. Some of these phrases are, “This is America,” and “Yeah Yeah.” The song itself has a lot of singing and ends up becoming polyphonic. Polyphony is a style of musical composition which has two or more concurrent but relatively independent melodic lines.

The song I picked is “I Ain’t Marching Anymore” by Phil Ochs. This song was created as an “anti-war anthem”. It is made in order to establish that he is done marching to war and doesn’t want to be involved in the deaths of others. It was released as the Vietnam War was escalating, but wasn’t specifically about just that war, as he wanted it to have a lasting impact. The genres that this song seems to embody are “protest song”, “folk” and “rock”. Obviously, protest song has political aspects, but so does folk and rock. Both can be tied back to having political lyrics and messages in them. 

 Some lyrics important to the political message of the song include:

“For I’ve killed my share of Indians

In a thousand different fights

I was there at the little big horn

I heard many men lying

I saw many more dying

But I ain’t marchin’ anymore””

Here, he discusses the wars that have happened and the people that have died, and how he will no longer fight for the government anymore and kill people. Another lyric that stands out is this one:

“It’s always the old to lead us to the war

It’s always the young to fall”

Here, he discusses how its always the young men fighting and dying in the wars started by the older men. 

A Musical characteristic that I think is important for political protest is a simple and catchy melody. In the song I picked, there is a simple melody throughout the entire song, making it easy to pick up on and sing along to after one or two listens. That is why I think it is an effective characteristic to have. 

Rock History 101: Phil Ochs’s “I Ain’t Marching Anymore”

https://www.songfacts.com/facts/phil-ochs/i-aint-marching-anymore

The song I chose is Better Days by Victoria Monet ft. Ariana Grande and it revolves around the Black Lives Matter Movement. This song was created to honor the death of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling after they were shot by police officers. The lyrics of the song helps bring awareness of what is going on outside in the word, and offers hope to those who listen to it. The song has the lyrics ”Stop the hatred, stop the murders. We’re all human, that’s for certain. Come together, we deserve it. What kind of life will our babies have if we don’t change up and make it last?” They are referring to the deaths of black individuals and telling people to stop or the life of our future family may not even have a good life to live. The whole song itself just talks about wishing for better days where the life of people are taken away so easily and disregarded. The genre of the song is pop and although the genre itself is not political, it has been used many different times to deliver an important message. Throughout the song, the rhythm remains constant and slow with a catchy beat that makes the song very easy to remember. The repetition of the phrase calms the heart and gives hope to the people, allowing them to remember what the song was about.

The piece I chose for this blog is Childish Gambino’s This Is America. This was released in 2018 and became very popular at the time. The song itself wasn’t the only reason, as the video itself caught many people’s attention. The piece is about prejudice against people of color in America. Glover throughout the song reiterates this idea through the lyrics. For example,”Police be trippin’ now,” which refers to police brutality that is usually aimed towards black people. Another example is,”I just checked my following list and you guys owe me,” which shows how they feel that the way they’ve been treated isn’t fair and deserve something in return. However, the most repeated line shows how Gambino views the situation,”This is America” which I interpret to him saying, that’s just how it is in this country, like it’s bad but you can’t really do anything about it. However, there is a lot more commentary in the video. Such as how gun violence is commonplace in America, yet guns are still treated as sacred, as can be seen when Gambino finishes shooting both the guitarist and the choir the gun gently wrapped in a red cloth before being taken away. In addition to this the video also seems to be commentating on how the media doesn’t focus on the serious issues and chaos that is happening, rather focusing on things that would distract and entertain. This can be inferred from how there is always something chaotic happening in the background, yet Gambino dancing is the focus and distracts from everything else. One musical characteristic that makes it especially good as a political song is the repetition. This repetition, of such words as “This is America” and “Don’t catch you slippin’”, make the song stick in the listeners head, making them remember for much longer.