What's Going On?

Music is a powerful mechanism when addressing any wide spread issue. It can speak to an entire nation and give the people a common anthem to rally behind. Many artists have written political songs advocating for the American public to give them a voice in the world and to represent their opinions. When talking to my parents about songs that inspired their generation, they immediately thought of “Man in the Mirror” by Michael Jackson, and “Revolution” by The Beatles. I also came up with some others that had an impact on later generations.

“We Didn’t Start the Fire” – Billy Joel, 1989

“We Didn’t Start the Fire” was written by Billy Joel. The lyrics are comprised of headlining events that occurred between 1949 and 1989. The song was written as an anthem for the baby boomer generation. The song is made up of short references to major events, people, and politics that were so embedded in culture during that time period, people understood every line. The song also refers to problems of the world that Joel claimed were “fires” that his generation did not start.

“Born in the U.S.A”- Bruce Springsteen, 1984

“Born in the U.S.A” is a patriotic song written as a reaction to the Vietnam War and the effects it had on the American people. The lyrics talk about the military draft during that time and how it was a young man’s duty to go off to war, only to return home to a dead end job and struggling economy.

“What’s Going On”- Variety of artists, 2001

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_MwTNHaH68

“What’s Going On” is a song written by Marvin Gaye and was a response to the issues and problems of the 1960s. On the September 5, 2001, less than a week before 9/11, 44 artists met in New York to re-record Marvin Gaye’s song. They wanted to address the problems of the world and promote peace and love just like Marvin Gaye had done. A week late it also became a reactionary anthem to 9/11.

The first song that came to mind was “Do the Evolution” by Pearl Jam. This song was released in 1998. “Do the Evolution” covers issues of global warming, pollution, rape, and corruption of religious instutions. “I can kill cause in god i trust.” “2010 watch it go to fire.” Eddie Vedder said it himself twelve years ago. The music video to this is mind-blowing, and I would suggest watching it in class.Pearl Jam- Do the Evolution

do the evolution lyrics

The next song I chose is called Southern Man by Neil Young. This song was released in 1970. This song has to do racism and slavery in the South. “I saw cotton…I saw black. Southern man when will you pay him back.” He’s asking Southerners to make amends for the fortunes built through slavery. After this song came out, as a response Lynyrd Skynyrd came out with “Sweet Home Alabama.”

Neil Young- Southern Man

Southern Man lyrics

When interviewing my mon, the first song that she could think of was For What It’s Worth by Buffalo Springfield. This song came out in 1967. Growing up in the 60’s, it’s tough to not think about the Vietnam War. This song plays and she thinks about wanting to get out of the war due to the large number of kids getting killed. This song almost worked as a way to hope for peace when they didn’t have any.

Buffalo Springfield- For What It’s Worth

For What It’s Worth Lyrics

JW

Stand By Me | Playing For Change | Song Around the World

I immediately thought of this song when we were told about this assignment in class. I first heard this song around the time of my high school graduation in 2008. This song was created by a multimedia movement. With the goal of inspiring people as well as connecting people worldwide. This song was constructed with the belief that music is capable of chiseling away boundaries. This song has the power of bring people together, with the goal of uniting people as one human race through music.

We are the World

When i asked my mom what songs to her envision a better world, a transformed, the first song that she said was, “We are the World”. It Written in 1985, by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie. It was written for American benefit for African famine relief. It sold 20 million copies. There was a remake in 2010 for Haiti.

We Are The World 25 For Haiti – Official Video

Stand By Me | Playing For Change | Song Around the World

Music sends messages to its audiences through its lyrics. Much of todays music sends messages about how incredible it is to be rich, how women can be treated as objects, or the joys and sorrows of falling in or out of love. In the 60’s and 70’s however, a lot of music sent messages about artists view on social issues of the decades, like war. It is much more uncommon to see messages of social change in todays music.

Jack Johnson’s song “Cookie Jar” is about playing the blame game. He sings about how no one takes responsibility for their action, and about how there is always someone else to blame.  Johnson sings about how we don’t take responsibility for our actions because we can blame the images we see, and that the media won’t take responsibility for the images, because he wasn’t the one who “came up with the plan”.  Johnson points out this cycle that is so common in society today, that nothing is my fault.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66jpwLSxZrw

When I asked my father about a song he listened to about social change when he was young he immediately replied with “For What it’s Worth” by Buffalo Springfield.

This song is about being aware of what is happening around you, and being critical of what we see, and speaking our minds despite resistance from authority. I think its extremely important for music to send messages like this. Spreading awareness that not everything we see or hear is correct, and the importance of being critical of the messages we receive daily.

-EM

 

When I imagine protest songs of my generation, it is often hard to find in the mainstream. Unfortunately, even when it is found in the mainstream the lyrics are often ignored, misunderstood, or misinterpreted. One song that immediately came to mind was ‘American Idiot’ by Green Day. Written by the band’s lead singer Billy Joel Armstrong, he said it was a written response to Lynyrd Skynyrd’s That’s How I Like It which emphasized pride in being a ‘redneck’. Billy said that this was everything he stood against, and thus he was inspired to write American Idiot. The song, released in 2004, topped charts and was greatly known for its time, and yet most kids just did not get it. Despite being fifteen and not very media literate, I understood that this song was clearly antagonizing mainstream America. Looking now I see that this is exactly what it does, and while it does not envision a more utopian society, it is a satire of American paranoia, media illiteracy, and false promises. After my education in the Communication department I have seen their message through the concept of propaganda, mean world syndrome, and the falsity behind the mainstream America’s ideology of the meritocracy.

 

 

A more recent song given by a fairly new artist was the song Uprising by The Muse. The Muse in fact just won a Grammy Award and the song was played live at the Grammy’s, yet it would appear the lyrics remain either unnoticed or unappreciated. This song rather blatantly expresses that it is the people against the ‘fat cats’ and that the people will not allow the oppression to go on, with the chorus even saying ‘They will not control us’ among other things. Lead singer Matthew Bellamy wrote the song and it was released in 2009 to rave reviews. Yet the reception appears to think that the song in no way derives from a truth now occuring, but rather an apocalyptic conspiracy theory that was made simply for artistic reasons. However, if one pays attention to the lyrics it is clear, specifically when it mentions that the ‘PR transmissions will resume’ that this is a reflection of the aristocrats influence on the people through mass media.

 

John Lennon- Imagine

John Lennon’s Imagine was a song that, while originating around my parents’ time, lives on through generations. When I asked my mother to recommend a song of her time that she believed envisioned a more perfect society this was the first she mentioned. Being a song that I also enjoy, I decided to analyze the lyrics. Unlike the modern songs I have mentioned, I believe that this song truly was understood by audiences as what it meant, and that was a movement outside of the evils of this world. In the song Lennon takes on several of these societal poisons including religion, materialism, and war. Lennon wrote the song himself and it was released in October of 1971 in the US, and four years later in the UK.

 

 

The song “Ohio” was written by Neil Young in 1970 after the Kent State shooting during a student protest that ended in 4 students being killed and 9 injured. The song bravely calls out  President Richard Nixon and speaks for a majority of the nation at that time of the Vietnam War.

The Beatles “Revolution” was primarily written by John Lennon and in the lyrics, Lennon was responding to the Vietnam War. However, this song doesn’t suppose to rabid protesters or hippies or anything of the like. This song is a shot taken at protesters who wanted the destruction of the US Government and the creation of a new country. In essence, this was advocating a mental revolution for the American people.

“If you go carrying pictures of Chairman Mao, you ain’t gonna make it with anyone anyhow.”

My step father said that this line particularly explains the protesters in the late 1960s who were blowing up buildings in order to start a US Civil War.  I feel that Lennon didn’t like what groups like the Weather Underground were doing to the idea of what radicalism should be. The song is also a symbol of Lennon’s distaste for revolutionaries who pressured others to declare their allegiance to a particular cause, whether it be communism or socialism or what have you.

R.Ramos (Jay-R)

The first song that comes to mind for me is a song from half way around the world hailing from the Taiwanese music industry. The song is translated into Change Me (or ???? in Chinese). This song is sung by the American born and raised musical multi-talent Leehom Wang and was released in 2007. It is about how everyone, if they make little changes to themselves, can change the world to be a better place.

The second song that comes to mind is Man in the Mirror released in 1988 and sung by the late great Michael Jackson. This song is also about changing yourself if you want to make a better world. This so is actually very similar in terms of message to Leehom Wang’s Change Me. This is probably due to Michael Jackson’s influence on Mr. Wang’s life as he was growing up. When Michael Jackson passed, Wang actually covered Man in the Mirror with his own style and sung it in his concerts as a tribute to Jackson.

The song that my mother feels best represents changing of the world and unity is a song that was released in China right before the Beijing Olympics in 2008 translated into Beijing Welcomes You (??????. This song was written by a famous Hong Kong lyricist named Albert Leung and performed together by an unprecedented number of famous Chinese stars including Leehom Wang and Jackie Chan. This song is about China, or more specifically Beijing, opening its doors and welcoming the whole world with open arms.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbiVoSYeKc4

For myself, the songs by Wang and Jackson both have had a great affect on me and describe how I personally always try to change for the better (and they are very musically appealing of course). I think these songs can convey very good messages to youth and if they all can make little changes in their lives, the world can change for the better. This is different from my mom. She connects with Beijing Welcomes You, a song which I like very much as well, because it is about the country where she grew up and loves, finally opening its doors to change. This gives her great hope that the country is finally changing to hopefully benefit future generations.

– Damon Chen

Samantha Poveromo

The first song that came to mind regarding a better world was the song Hope by Twista which was featured in the movie Coach Carter.  It was released on September 8, 2005.  This song talks about difficult times that many people go through (specifically urban youth), whether it be death, incarceration or other issues many people face every day.  It is about being hopeful when life gets difficult and making it through these hard times by being hopeful.

The next song that came to mind was Michael Jackson’s Heal The World.  This song was released on November 19, 1991and is about making an effort to make the world a better place.  It says that if you care enough you can make a difference in the world.  Along with this song he created a Heal the World Foundation which was designed to improve the lives of children.  His main focus at this time was betterment for all.

When I spoke to my mom about this theme, she immediately thought of the musical Hair from 1969.  She felt that this musical in general was a good generalization of this time period. The song Aquarius was released as a single in March of 1969.  The lyrics were written by James Rado, Gerome Ragni, and Galt MacDermot.  The lyrics of this song were based on the astrological belief that the world would soon be entering the “Age of Aquarius”, an age of love, light, and humanity.  This show was all about the hippies in the 60’s where their main goal was “make love, not war” and this song portrays this time period and it’s goals especially well.

The first song that comes to mind when I think about influential pop songs of my time is Where Is the Love, by the Black Eyed Peas, released in 2003. The song discusses many social, worldwide issues. They sing about terrorism, gangs, discrimination, youth vulnerability, war and hate all in one song. The song won a Grammy award in 2004 for Best Rap Song.

Another song is not so popular, but definitely shares an important message. It’s called Gift of Acceptance, and is sung by India Arie and Idan Raichel. The song was created for the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in December of 2010. They sing about accepting each other differences, and respecting fellow humans even if we don’t necessarily agree with them. The song expresses hope for a future of peace, love and acceptance.

When I asked my Dad which songs from his past expressed a desire for change or critique of society, he had a whole list. The first he chose was Joe Hill, by Joan Baez. She performed the song at Woodstock in 1969. Joe Hill was a songwriter and labor activist. He organized workers in anti-union regions of the world and participated in the protest music tradition of that time. He was executed in 1915 after being framed for a murder. Joan Baez’s song is about him coming back, and continuing his work of standing up for workers rights.

The second song my Dad talked about was Oh Freedom, recorded by Odetta. It was first performed by Joan Baez in the 1963 March on Washington. It is about blacks becoming free from slavery. It has been sung by many different artists over the years, and the lyrics have been changed slightly too. The original lyrics are hard to find, but they all carry the same message.

N.A.G