I'm new here and this is my first post. Not sure where to put this.

Anyways, I'm in APUSH and we've been told to do a music video project.

We basically have to find a song that has social significance, probably a protest song or something that talks about the problems, and make a video for the song explaining the issues discussed.

I'm not sure what song to do.

So far I have:

Another Brick in the wall pt. 2 - Pink Floyd
Evening News - Chamillionaire

I like both of the songs very much but I'm not sure what to exactly I should talk about.

For example, say I use Pink Floyd. I should be able to relate it to actual issues like physical abuse from teachers. However, I'm having trouble finding these facts.

Or say I did Evening News. I know the issues in this song but not sure how to explain them.

For those who never saw the videos:

Evening news:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UruJKq5kaUM

Another brick in the wall:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=df8MikZx6w4

I'm not very creative and I don't know how to explain the issues. Any help is appreciated. :)

How modern does the protest song have to be?

It just has to be in the 20th or 21st century.

It just has to be in the 20th or 21st century.
Have you considered Bob Dylan?

I'll look him up and listen to him. Any specific songs?

Born To Die...LeftOver Crack

Super Tuesday...Leftover Crack

Athiest Anthem...Leftover Crack

American Women...The Guess Who (the American woman in question is Lady Liberty herself)

Here's one from Country Joe and the Fish about Viet Nam:

http://www.lyricsdownload.com/country-joe-and-the-fish-i-feel-like-i-m-fixin-to-die-lyrics.html

There's a YouTube video of it also.

Ant

Guess I'll listen to more music before I choose a song.

Btw, Nice parody ANT.

Give Peace a Chance ~ John Lennon

The Times They Are a Changing... that was Dylan right?

Wasn't there a song about Kent State?

What about I Ain't Gonna Play Sun City...does that qualify?

Turn! Turn! Turn! ~ The Byrds

Wasn't there a song about Kent State?




Ohio....Crosby Stills Nash & Young

Guess I'll listen to more music before I choose a song.

Btw, Nice parody ANT.


Thank you! And your first karma point as well!

Ant

Adam Freeland, We Want Your Soul, ca. 2001.

Anyone who doesn't understand data mining, anyone who says "who cares if Safeway knows what groceries I buy", anyone who says "nobody's interested in me", anyone who doesn't understand what the government did to the Japanese with the data received from the census of 1940, anyone who wonders why they get one kind of junk mail while their neighbor gets a different kind of junk mail, even though they're for the same product... needs to listen to this track.

Ohio....Crosby Stills Nash & Young



Thanks... I like it when I don't have to go research this stuff myself ;)


Wait...Another Brick in the Wall was a protest song??? I thought it was the anthem of Teen Rebellion...it's the only Pink Floyd song I've ever listened an I haven't heard it in about 20 years so don't go by me...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mnl1k64EWnQ

Snow Patrol
Isolation

The oldest European protest song on record is "The Cutty Wren" from the English peasants' revolt of 1381 against feudal oppression. Later examples include the 17th century ballad "Diggers' Song" (known also as "Levellers and Diggers") composed by Gerrard Winstanley. The ballad deals with land rights, inspired by the Diggers movement.

Wait...Another Brick in the Wall was a protest song??? I thought it was the anthem of Teen Rebellion..
.it's the only Pink Floyd song I've ever listened an I haven't heard it in about 20 years so don't go by me...




still waiting on an answer from my musicphiles on this one....

actually I woke up because I couldn't stop processing it...

not to do the kids homework for him/her but

It seems like there were 4 specific periods of rebellion since the 1920s...

the 20s had flappers
it was the industrial age and the times? "they were a-chan-ging"  ;)  it seemed to be mostly about getting away from worker mentality and just having fun...
(I haven't studied this period so don't quote me for it's just a theory) I don't even know if there was rebellion but I know the genre was frowned upon by age and embrassed by youth (well 20 yr olds)

the next era of rebellion and the first real case of teen rebellion came with the advent of rock & roll circa 1955.
Parents were against music they felt lead to juvenile delinquency and sexual activity....
Oddly enough the introduction of rock & roll (if we say it began in 55) at least we can all agree it began to find it's legs and gain popularity by 55-56-
anyway the infusion of Rock & Roll corresponded with the start of the Civil Rights movement... both gaining ground for the first time in 55... but the two weren't synonymous with one another.. I can't think of any pro~civil rights songs from the 50s.... they were singing We Shall Overcome while marching not weren't songs from Blackboard Jungle...

The late 60s early 70s brought the next wave of rebellion but this one was different.
The kids weren't just breaking away from the conservatism of their parents generation...they were the first kids to truly think for themselves especially politically.
They tried to stop a war they didn't believe in  and they were desperate to be heard... this generation though had music on its side... don't know if it had to do with the drug culture but everyone seemed to be into freedom of expression... there was more art, more writings and more music...all supporting the movement came out than ever before...

Anyway, jump to 1979 and Pink Floyd. It seems like this song marked the rise of teens in the 80s.  These kids were the last with conservative parents and the first to have been raised by the parents who rebelled in the 60s. It seems this cultural dichotomy bred the apathetic, self indulgent teens of the 80s (like myself  ;D ) who were so busy trying to find an identity different from their parents that they just became frustrated and angry.

If you think about it... in recent years... kids have been so doted upon that they really have nothing to rebel against so they rebel for the sake of rebelling.

anyway..... if I am wrong about the pink floyd song let me know... like I said I haven't listened to it in 20 years and I vaguely remember the video showing kids breaking from that "communist-like" big brother is watching atmosphere but were they rebelling against anything but conformity in search of free will?

You haven't listened to American Protest of the 60s uf you aren't familiar with Phil Ochs.  Dylan started out with a couple of protest songs, but to say he was a protest singer, the be all and end all, is to be misinformed.  Phil Ochs on the other hand....  I could listen to him for days, (and get madder and madder)

"Cops of the World" still works well

Dump the reds in a pile, boys
Dump the reds in a pile
You'd better wipe of that smile, boys
Better wipe off that smile
We'll spit through the streets of the cities we wreck
We'll find you a leader that you can't elect
Those treaties we signed were a pain in the neck
'Cause we're the Cops of the World, boys
We're the Cops of the World

Joan Baez was a protest singer too.

Early 20th century:
-any Wobbly song: "Dump the Bosses Off Our Backs", "Hallelujah I'm a Bum", "Joe Hill". etc. etc.

Artists to listen to:
Woody Guthrie
The Weavers
Pete Seeger


60s:
-"We Shall Overcome"
- "Eve of Destruction"-Barry McGuire
- a lot of Peter, Paul, & Mary or Bob Dylan songs.
- "The Flesh Failure"-from the play Hair.

70s:
"Ohio"-Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young

80s:
- "Born in the U.S.A."- Bruce Springsteen
- The entire "War" album-U2
- "Land of Confusion"-Genesis
- "Do You Hear the People Sing"-from the play Les Miserable. 


These are the ones that I can think of off hand.


Cat

Ohio....Crosby Stills Nash & Young


Isn't it ironic that we are back in the 60's again? (Except there's no good music, TV Shows because of the strike, and Movies).

Why? Unpopular President, War, Unemployment, and not being safe anywhere.

Isn't it ironic that we are back in the 60's again? (Except there's no good music, TV Shows because of the strike, and Movies).

Why? Unpopular President, War, Unemployment, and not being safe anywhere.


Well, technically, the massacre at Kent State happened in 1970.  ;)

However, you do have a point. And the answer has to do with the fact that some people did not learn the lessons of the past.

As George Santayana stated:  Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.




Cat

A few others:

60s: For What it's Worth-Buffalo Springfield
80s: 99 Red Balloons-Nena



Cat

Give Peace a Chance ~ John Lennon

I was thinking of Working Class Hero... (but then, I did write and record a parody to that one, that's a bit of a protest song in itself)

I wouldn't have called Another Brick in the Wall a protest song as such: taken in the context of the album, it's just.. well, another brick in the Wall.

The perfect protest song has got to be The Folk Song Army by Tom Lehrer ;)

Joan Baez was a protest singer too.


I'd listen to Joan Baez before listening to dylan... dylan was a great songwriter but sucked as a singer.

I'd listen to Joan Baez before listening to dylan... dylan was a great songwriter but sucked as a singer.


Joan Baezs' voice is just.... I don't know how to explain it, her voice was made for his songs, too bad he didn't(doesn't) know that.

There's some really good parodiers on this boar.d I've listened to a lot of parodies and they're all really good.

I also didn't know all this music existed. Well, I knew that music existed since like the beg. of time, but didn't know the details and all that good stuff.

Anyways, I'm gonna keep listening and pick the right song. I've got a while to do the project anyways.

Oh before I forget, someone did a video of Kent State Massacre in one of the previous years. It was one of the two examples we watched. The other was Kenji by Fort Minor.

You haven't listened to American Protest of the 60s uf you aren't familiar with Phil Ochs. 


What he said.  I'm as anti-hippie as they come, but Love Me, I'm A Liberal won me over.  Ochs pulled no punches even when looking in the mirror, and in so doing earned his rank as a God among men.

For an up-to-date take at some of these tracks, listen to the originals, and compare them with Mojo Nixon (and Jello Biafra)'s 1994 album Prairie Home Invasion.  Nixon and Biafra put a distinctive 90s uptempo/rockabilly edge on all the issues while remaining 110% faithful to the original songwriters' intent.  Sweet stuff.

if I am wrong about the pink floyd song let me know... like I said I haven't listened to it in 20 years and I vaguely remember the video showing kids breaking from that "communist-like" big brother is watching atmosphere but were they rebelling against anything but conformity in search of free will?




"The Wall" I would say is more about teen age angst than about protest.  Much of the protest was changed for angst in the seventies, Alice Cooper, and most of punk is more "me" than the world around.

I would be remiss if I didn't give a shout out for perhaps my favorite band of the 70's the Clash. Joe Strummer, no sweat  ;)