Thesis
Music inspires change and influences political stance in a variety of different ways.
Exploring Music
"This Land is your Land" By Woody Guthrie (1944)
This song is very world renowned song that most populations know this song or has heard of this song. It's considered to be an American Folk Song. It was written by Woody Guthrie as a stance on The United States regarding onwership on land and questions the notion of owning property. This song was originally called "God Blessed America for me" and would end with that verse instead of "This Land is Made for You and Me".
The song has a very strong impact with people who have a strong political stance for America and some just know the song as a catchy tune. People sing it at campfires or during Fourth of July Events since it is a strong political song about America. This song is originally played with a guitar and has a catchy tune through the song. The Melody to it is not super fast but enough to hear the lyric of the song. The Structure of the song has a catchy rhyme scheme that easily flows with the song that makes it easier to remember.
"Mississippi Goddam" By Nina Simone (1964)
This song was a big hit and it also destroyed the artist career. This song was a protest song from all the people that died from segregation and civil rights protest. Nina Simone wrote this song for them and specifically addressed it. The Artist decided to write and perform this song since she wasn't a physical fighter she was an Artist. This was written"in the wake of the murder of Emmett Till, Medgar Evers and the 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing Birmingham, Alabama." This song influenced and showed to a lot of people that even musical Artist would take a stance on the civil rights protest even if it was a risky thing to do at the time. Nina Simone was blackballed after this but continued to make music protesting against segregation.
The Structure of the song is not meant to fully flow with each word, it's made to tell a story of how anger she is. This song does has a fast tempo but I think it was done for the instruments to sound very beautiful like it's a pretty song but the lyrics show the true story of the music. The Dynamic of the song is soft and then loud when she goes back to the verse 'Mississippi Goddam' brings the attention and shows the emotion she is feeling towards that state more than the others.
'Fortunate Son' by Creedence Clearwater Revival (1969)
This song is also a political song that was fighting against the Draft that happen in the 60s for the Vietnam war. The song was written by Creedence Clearwater Revivals and performed by them, it is a very well known song. The reason for the title was because former President Nixon daughter was getting married to Former President Eisenhower son. The 'son' of Eisenhower was fortunate enough not have to go to War and was called upon but every man that was called for the war had to go. The band itself was very angry about this, and when they found out about this, it took Fogerty (member of the band) 20 minutes to write his anger out into this most infamous song.
This Lyrics of this song does express how the men that get drafted into war are not the fortunate ones like the son of Former President Eisenhower. The song genre is rock so it does sound very good and has a chaotic message to it but also a clear audience as well. Many Military folks do listen to the song and remember this moment in history that many people were not exempt from going to war and did end up dying in war.
The Tempo is not super fast but it has a catchy tune with it. It also has really cool melody that does repeat itself throughout the song as it goes into the guitar solo. I think this song was very bold and expressive very well the anger in the song and the emotional impact it has.
'This is America" by Donald Glover (AKA Childish Gambino)
This song was released on May 6, 2018. This song is not really known to be a protest song but is known to send a message of how America really is. This video portrays many meanings, in the beginning of the music video Donald Glover shoots a man in the back of the head. It depicts the Jim Crow Caricature. The lyrics states, 'Don't catch you slippin up' which would sends a reminder of the dangers that Black American face daily in the Modern Era. There are so much more in this video then meats the eyes and it really does great with symbolical meanings. The video is very raw and can be a lot for the audience but that is the message, it's not trying to glamor the ugliness that happens daily.
The Elements in this song starts with the Dynamics, of how much this song changes its rhythm by either gunfire shot or by the pause in music from the musical video. The pause in music emphasizes the video more and the lyrics each time there is a pause in change of emotions.
The Societal Role
When people think about Political Stance on music it's really a variety of different things. There are music about Politics and also about wanting change or taking a stance on music. There are songs written about Black power, and about the women suffrage, or about the Wars that happened in history. There are other songs about how America is amazing and the freedom that comes with it. There are many different stands against or with Politics and many people get inspired by this. Many people listen to the music that tells a story that can be super empowering and to their target audience to have people motivated on what their political stance is.
My Experience in the Class
I never had a class like this before with utilizing blogging. I think this tool really helped with getting into blogging and being able to share different ideas and public for everyone to see. I do think I learned a lot with music and the variety of music there is out there. I feel my music taste has widen and I got into many different types of genres that I was not expecting to enjoy. I also believe this was a great way to bring the class together to see how different each and everyone is with their taste in music.
References
Team, uDiscover. (2023, May 1). Best protest songs in history: 20 timeless political anthems. uDiscover Music. https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/best-protest-songs-history/
Fields, L. (2023, June 30). The story behind Nina Simone’s protest song, “mississippi goddam.” PBS. https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/the-story-behind-nina-simones-protest-song-mississippi-goddam/16651/
Subscribe to the Financial Times. (n.d.). https://ig.ft.com/life-of-a-song/fortunate-son.html
Wikimedia Foundation. (2024, March 16). This is America (song). Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_Is_America_(song)
This is America: A deep dive into childish Gambino’s political anthem. Neon Music - Digital Music Discovery & Showcase Platform. (n.d.). https://neonmusic.co.uk/this-is-america-a-deep-dive-into-childish-gambinos-political-anthem/
I feel that the way music can inspire change is mostly for them to stand up for what they believe in. If they see an artist speaking on a matter in a video that is seen by the world it really can push you to stand up for what you believe. It can be hard nowadays because of all the stigma that there can be towards different subjects. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion on matters and seeing an artist do it can really influence people to not be afraid.
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