Class 4 Cont': English Conversation Protest Songs

Protest Songs are songs that inspire change, talk about issues, and bring to light an issue using songs as a medium of change.  We studied 4 songs in order to see how even popular music can be considered protest music.

Before studying protest music, we said that not all songs that talk about problems are protest songs.  Here is an example:

"I Hate" by Passenger

Then we listened to "Same Love" by Macklemore + Ryan Lewis and talked about gay rights

When I was in the 3rd grade
I thought that I was gay
Cause I could draw, my uncle was
And I kept my room straight
I told my mom, tears rushing down my face
She's like, "Ben you've loved girls since before pre-K"
Trippin', yeah, I guess she had a point, didn't she
A bunch of stereotypes all in my head
I remember doing the math like
"Yeah, I'm good in little league"

A pre-conceived idea of what it all meant
For those who like the same sex had the characteristics
The right-wing conservatives think it's a decision
And you can be cured with some treatment and religion
Man-made, rewiring of a pre-disposition
Playing God
Ahh nah, here we go
America the brave
Still fears what we don't know
And God loves all His children
And somehow forgotten
But we paraphrase a book written
3,500 hundred years ago
I don't know

And I can't change
Even if I tried
Even if I wanted to
And I can't change
Even if I tried
Even if I wanted to
My love, my love, my love
She keeps me warm [x4]

If I was gay
I would think hip-hop hates me
Have you read the YouTube comments lately
"Man that's gay"
Gets dropped on the daily
We've become so numb to what we're sayin'
Our culture founded from oppression
Yet we don't have acceptance for 'em
Call each other faggots
Behind the keys of a message board
A word rooted in hate
Yet our genre still ignores it
Gay is synonymous with the lesser
It's the same hate that's caused wars from religion
Gender to skin color
Complexion of your pigment
The same fight that lead people to walk-outs and sit-ins
Human rights for everybody
There is no difference
Live on! And be yourself!
When I was in church
They taught me something else
If you preach hate at the service
Those words aren't anointed
And that Holy Water
That you soak in
Has been poisoned
When everyone else
Is more comfortable
Remaining voiceless
Rather than fighting for humans
That have had their rights stolen
I might not be the same
But that's not important
No freedom 'til we're equal
Damn right I support it

I don't know

We press play
Don't press pause
Progress, march on!
With a veil over our eyes
We turn our back on the cause
'Till the day
That my uncles can be united by law
Kids are walkin' around the hallway
Plagued by pain in their heart
A world so hateful
Someone would rather die
Than be who they are
And a certificate on paper
Isn't gonna solve it all
But it's a damn good place to start
No law's gonna change us
We have to change us
Whatever god you believe in
We come from the same one
Strip away the fear
Underneath it's all the same love
About time that we raised up

Love is patient, love is kind
Love is patient (not cryin' on Sundays)
Love is kind (not cryin' on Sundays) [x5]

We then moved onto the Black Eyed Peas' "Where is the Love" 2003 which talks about problems in the USA at this time.

War and Terrorism

“overseas yeah we tryin’ to stop terrorism, but we still got terrorists here livin’”

-          Talks about how we are focusing on a war to stop terrorism and to help others and we are ignoring the problems that we already have in America.

“in the USA the big CIA the Bloodz and Crips and the KKK”

-          There are terrorist groups in the United States already that are cause damage and discrimination to American people and we just let them slide under the radar.

“nations dropping bombs,” “as the youth dies young”

-          We are sacrificing the lives of our youth to go and kill the youth of another country.

Racism and Discrimination

“only leave space to discriminate, and to discriminate only generates hate”

-          There is still a lot of racism in America today and it is all based around hate.  We can look at how far we have come but at the same time how far we have to go.  There are still groups such as the skin heads or the KKK, people who hate on the basis of religion etc.

-          People need to stop hating and love instead.

Greed and Selfishness

“most of us only care about money makin’,” “selfishness got us followin’ the wrong direction”

-          Today people are selfish and greedy.  No one wants to help their neighbors or friends.  People are less willing to give money or help and it is making the United States become a mean country.

Media

“the war’s going on be the reasons’ undercover”

-          There was a belief that was widely held in 2003 and was somewhat proved later that the government was not always being honest about its intentions during the war.  We were only given some of the information;

“wrong information always shown in the media”

-          Privately owned media such as FOXNews is known now to be very biased and one sided but at the time it was a new idea.  In the media during the war we were only shown one side of the story like propaganda to convince us that the war was a good idea.

“negative images is the main criteria,” “kids want to act like what they see in the cinema”

-          Everything is violent and sexual on tv and in movies or video games.  Kids want to embody that so we are seeing children becoming sexually active and violent at a quicker and quicker pace.  Who can blame them at this point?

Compassion

“not respecting each other,” “ as I’m getting older y’all people get colder”

“whatever happened to the values of humanity,” “whatever happened to fairness and equality”

“instead of spreading love we are spreading animosity”

“would you turn the other cheek”

-          Overall the main message of the song is that we need to remember to care for our fellow man and not just let things go if they don’t directly involve us. 

-          Today our society likes to complain and to blame others for their problems instead of having the compassion that used to be so normal.

-          We need to remember our values and spread peace.

Next we looked at P!nk's "Dear Mr. President" 

 This is an example of an Open letter protest song that addresses someone directly about a problem.  Here she is addressing the issues she has with former President George W. Bush

The song criticizes several areas of Bush’s administration and terms in office, including the Iraq War, No Child Left Behind Act, disapproval of equal rights for homosexuals, lack of empathy for poor and middle class citizens, Bush’s strong religious beliefs, and Bush’s drinking and drug usage in college. 

Dear Mr. President,
Come take a walk with me.
Let's pretend we're just two people and
You're not better than me.
I'd like to ask you some questions if we can speak honestly.

What do you feel when you see all the homeless on the street?
Who do you pray for at night before you go to sleep?
What do you feel when you look in the mirror?
Are you proud?

How do you sleep while the rest of us cry?
How do you dream when a mother has no chance to say goodbye?
How do you walk with your head held high?
Can you even look me in the eye
And tell me why?

Dear Mr. President,
Were you a lonely boy?
Are you a lonely boy?
Are you a lonely boy?
How can you say
No child is left behind?
We're not dumb and we're not blind.
They're all sitting in your cells
While you pave the road to hell.

What kind of father would take his own daughter's rights away?
And what kind of father might hate his own daughter if she were gay?
I can only imagine what the first lady has to say
You've come a long way from whiskey and cocaine.

How do you sleep while the rest of us cry?
How do you dream when a mother has no chance to say goodbye?
How do you walk with your head held high?
Can you even look me in the eye?

Let me tell you 'bout hard work
Minimum wage with a baby on the way
Let me tell you 'bout hard work
Rebuilding your house after the bombs took them away
Let me tell you 'bout hard work
Building a bed out of a cardboard box
Let me tell you 'bout hard work
Hard work
Hard work
You don't know nothing 'bout hard work
Hard work
Hard work
Oh

How do you sleep at night?
How do you walk with your head held high?
Dear Mr. President,
You'd never take a walk with me.
Would you?