Show #53 - Protest Songs for the Revolution

I second that, the trio was wonderful!! :)

Great show! I feel like my 15 year old self would never forgive me if I didn't mention a band that had a huge influence on me when I was growing up - Public Enemy. Pretty much their entire catalogue (which is very large) is all protest songs.

Here's a taste (warning, this video contains hip hop ):

Lovely show, thanks everyone! Wonderful way to end the weekend
Very enjoyable and loaded with factual history on protests. Tim, Chu and Jason made an awesome trio

For weeks on end I had "Makin' Bacon" stuck in my head. I never knew it was Tim and his band Relic behind such a masterpiece

Kudos

Playlist [including some outtakes we didn't got around to playing]

Relic songs played by Tim Trepanier are available here and here.

Pete Seeger

'Where Have All The Flowers Gone?'


'We Shall Overcome'


Woody Guthrie

'This Land Is Your Land'


'I Aint Got No Home In This World Anymore'


'All you fascists bound to lose'


The Almanac Singers (Millard Lampell, Lee Hays, Pete Seeger & Woody Guthrie)

'Washington Breakdown'


'Billy Boy'


'We Shall Not Be Moved'


'Viva La Quince Brigada'


Dan Bern

'Talkin Al Kida Blues'


The Austerity Allstars

'Bugger The Bankers'


Dixie Chicks

'Not Ready To Make Nice'


The Blind Boys of Fullerton

'Ballad of Kelly Thomas'


Crosby, Stills & Nash, with Neil Young

'Ohio'


Mercedes Sosa

'Todavía Cantamos'


Christy Moore

'Viva la Quinta Brigada'


John Lennon

'Sunday Bloody Sunday'


'Working Class Hero'


'Give Peace A Chance'


'Woman Is The N*gger Of The World'


Creedence Clearwater Revival

'Fortunate Son'


Barry McGuire

'Eve of Destruction'


Country Joe & the Fish

'Fixin to die rag'


REM

'Orange Crush'


Tracy Chapman

'Talkin bout a revolution'


Faithless

'Weapons of Mass Destruction'


Muse

‘Uprising’


NOFX

'Idiot Son of an a$$hole'


Dieudonné

'Un Vent Nouveau'


Lauryn Hill

‘I Get Out’


Tupac

'Changes'


Immortal Technique & Mos Def, produced by Eminem

‘Bin Laden’


Wise Intelligent

‘Illuminati’


Lowkey (Kareem Dennis)

‘Long Live Palestine’


‘TERRORIST?’


'Obama Nation' (Ft. Malcolm X, 2pac, Lupe Fiasco, M1 & Black the Ripper)

Thanks for the great show! Didn't have a chance to listen to it live, but it really was fun to listen to :)
I'm familiar with some of the songs you mentioned on the show, and the funny thing is that, prior to the show, one of the songs was somehow kind of stuck in my head for a couple of days even though I hadn't listened to it for a very long time, so yea, I was surprised in a way to hear that song on your show :D Looking forward to next week's show!

Thanks for posting all those music videos, Kniall. I just love that Muse song, Uprising and hadn't heard it in a long time.

Another great singer songwriter we didn't get a chance to cover is Buffy Saint Marie, a Canadian activist who writes many songs about the plight of indigenous peoples in North America. She is probably best known for writing the song "Up Where We Belong" from the movie Officer and a Gentleman.

She also wrote the antiwar classic Universal Soldier - made famous by Donovan...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A50lVLtSQik

Here is youtube video of a young Buffy singing "My Country Tis of Thy People You're Dying" on Pete Seeger's Rainbow Quest TV show...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKKX-H3NMNI

And a more recent one - "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" is a particular favourite of mine...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rK83Pl8NZOA

Here is a song that was recently pretty high in the music charts (2011) all around the world, also in the US.
It is from Lupe Fiasco and is called "Words I Never Said". It questions 9/11, Israel and our system.

Below you can see the official music video:

[embed]<iframe frameborder="0" width="480" height="270" src="http://www.dailymotion.com/embed/video/xigbqa" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xigbqa_lupe-fiasco-words-i-never-said-feat-skylar-grey_music" target="_blank">Lupe Fiasco - Words I Never Said (Feat...</a> <i>von <a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/BlakMusicFirst" target="_blank">BlakMusicFirst</a></i>[/embed]
Somewhere down the line (pretty quickly in fact) the major music channels on TV, like MTV, dicided to simply ignore it and not air it anymore.

Wonder why?

Here is another pretty good one about 9/11 and Israel:


And here is a pretty well made Bee Gees cover called "9/11's a Lie (Stayin' Alive)":

Another great show, thanks lads! Great to hear Tim too, supported so well by Julianna and Jason! :)

So many powerful songs, so many different styles - many expressions of Truth.

I had never heard the Lupe Fiasco song before, but really enjoyed it. I think my girls would too.

I was listening to my Irish rebel CD last Sunday night, as you were broadcasting. Music seems like another form of holding information; recording and keeping history alive by the creative acts of writing, playing, singing, listening. I often wonder that when played in a communal setting especially, whether some sort of healing takes place in a sense - releasing and expressing the cultural injustices from the past. Some 'protest songs' have more weight/truth than others, just as articles/books about any given topic do also. So in contrast to the Cranberries song Zombie, a more truthful depiction of the 'troubles' in Northern Ireland could be, Men behind the Wire for example. Zombie is a pretty catchy song but with a new agey/YCYOR flavour imo.


"The Men Behind The Wire" is a song written and composed by Paddy McGuigan of the Barleycorn folk group in the aftermath of internment.

The song was recorded by the Barleycorn in Belfast (produced by Billy McBurney) and pressed in Dublin by Release Records in December 1971. After its release on 14 December the song shot into the Irish charts, selling far more copies than any other single until then released in Ireland, and remained in the charts for months. It reached #1 position in the Irish charts on 22 January 1972, where it remained for three weeks. After a gap of one week it returned to #1 for two weeks on 15 February. Royalties from the recording were donated to families of the internees.

The song was subsequently recorded by many singers and bands in Ireland and abroad, including the Wolfe Tones, Liam Clancy and the Flying Column. British singer/songwriter Dido in her song "Let's Do the Things We Normally Do" from the album Safe Trip Home used a few lines from this song. This included the lyrics "Armoured cars and tanks and guns, came to take away our sons. But every man must stand behind, the men behind the wire."

The song describes raids by British soldiers, and the "men behind the wire" refers to those held without charge or trial at Long Kesh prison camp, Magilligan prison camp and on board the Maidstone Prison Ship.

McGuigan himself was picked up in a later round of internment, which some saw as the British state's revenge for writing the song.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Men_Behind_the_Wire

Here it is sang by the Wolfe Tones

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXzhEokVn0s



Although written on the same subject matter, I always felt the following had a real global feel to it. Equally truthful, but more gentle and poetic.


Only Our Rivers Run Free

Michael McConnell

When apples still grow in November
When Blossoms still bloom from each tree
When leaves are still green in December
It's then that our land will be free
I wander her hills and her valleys
And still through my sorrow I see
A land that has never known freedom
And only her rivers run free

I drink to the death of her manhood
Those men who'd rather have died
Than to live in the cold chains of bondage
To bring back their rights were denied
Oh where are you now when we need you
What burns where the flame used to be
Are ye gone like the snows of last winter
And will only our rivers run free?

How sweet is life but we're crying
How mellow the wine but it's dry
How fragrant the rose but it's dying
How gentle the breeze but it sighs
What good is in youth when it's aging
What joy is in eyes that can't see
When there's sorrow in sunshine and flowers
And still only our rivers run free


Here it is sang by Christy Moore

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ln9QnLaWrY

The famous band "Korn" and their leadsinger Jonathan Davis have just finally broken their silence and released their new song "Spike In My Veins" with an accompanied hard hitting official music video:


Korn: Obama is a Dictator Who Uses Miley & Kanye To Destroy America:
_http://www.tmz.com/2014/02/19/jonathan-davis-korn-president-obama-miley-cyrus-kanye-west-spike-in-my-vein-music-video/

Korn Fight Media Manipulation With 'Spike in My Veins' - Premiere Watch the band's tension-filled new video:
_http://www.rollingstone.com/music/videos/korn-fight-media-manipulation-with-spike-in-my-veins-20140206

I guess it is now time for other famous people in music industry, to gather their courage and step up to the plate as well!

Anam Cara said:

I was listening to my Irish rebel CD last Sunday night, as you were broadcasting. Music seems like another form of holding information; recording and keeping history alive by the creative acts of writing, playing, singing, listening. I often wonder that when played in a communal setting especially, whether some sort of healing takes place in a sense - releasing and expressing the cultural injustices from the past. Some 'protest songs' have more weight/truth than others, just as articles/books about any given topic do also. So in contrast to the Cranberries song Zombie, a more truthful depiction of the 'troubles' in Northern Ireland could be, Men behind the Wire for example.

Click to expand...

I asked Joe before the show, "Will we cover rebel songs?" He said, "Too many to choose from", so we left out that whole genre!

Niall, there certainly is quite a collection to choose from, for sure! :)

One of them was even voted the greatest song in the world! The fact that it was from a poll by the BBC world Service, hence an audience mainly from the 'British Empire' or 'Commonwealth', suggests knowledge of a common foe - the oppressor, and is a unifying statement of discontent with status quo. As Martin Luther King said of freedom songs : "They invigorate the movement in a most significant way [...] these freedom songs serve to give unity to a movement."


"The Wolfe Tones have become legendary in Ireland for their contribution to the Irish rebel genre. The band has been recording since 1963 and has attracted worldwide fame and attention through their renditions of traditional Irish songs and originals, dealing with the former conflict in Northern Ireland. In 2002 the Wolfe Tones' version of A Nation Once Again, a nationalist song from the 19th century, was voted the greatest song in the world in a poll conducted by the BBC World Service."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protest_song


"The BBC World Service began as the BBC Empire Service in 1932 as a shortwave service aimed principally at English speakers in the outposts of the British Empire."

"The World Service aims to be "the world's best-known and most-respected voice in international broadcasting, thereby bringing benefit to the UK, the BBC and to audiences around the world"while retaining a "balanced British view" of international developments. Like the rest of the BBC, the World Service is a Crown Corporation of the UK Government. However unlike the rest of the corporation, which is funded through a television licence fee, the World Service is funded through a Parliamentary Grant-in-aid given by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBC_World_Service


"Since its launch in November the poll, which was part of BBC World Service's 70th anniversary celebrations, attracted the attention of listeners from all around the world.

From Botswana and Antarctica to the Caicos Islands, nearly 150,000 votes were received from 153 countries, nominating over 6,500 songs.

By inviting its 150 million listeners to vote either by post or online, organisers were surprised by the scale of the voting.

BBC World Service 70th anniversary project editor David Stead, said: "It's been a massive logistical challenge."

The poll had to deal with people trying to influence the vote through fan sites and spamming.

"Our New Media teams have been stretched to the limit and it has been extraordinary watching the votes drop in second by second into our mailbox."

He added: "This is a unique chart, for the first time we've been able to see how bands like the Beatles, which traditionally do well in these polls, measure up against other forms of world music."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/2591357.stm


A Nation Once Again
Thomas Osbourne Davis
When boyhood's fire was in my blood
I read of ancient freemen,
For Greece and Rome who bravely stood,
Three hundred men and three men;
And then I prayed I yet might see
Our fetters rent in twain,
And Ireland, long a province, be.
A Nation once again!

A Nation once again,
A Nation once again,
And lreland, long a province, be
A Nation once again!

And from that time, through wildest woe,
That hope has shone a far light,
Nor could love's brightest summer glow
Outshine that solemn starlight;
It seemed to watch above my head
In forum, field and fane,
Its angel voice sang round my bed,
A Nation once again!

It whisper'd too, that freedom's ark
And service high and holy,
Would be profaned by feelings dark
And passions vain or lowly;
For, Freedom comes from God's right hand,
And needs a Godly train;
And righteous men must make our land
A Nation once again!

So, as I grew from boy to man,
I bent me to that bidding
My spirit of each selfish plan
And cruel passion ridding;
For, thus I hoped some day to aid,
Oh, can such hope be vain ?
When my dear country shall be made
A Nation once again!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dU8mGjrjJk

Here's another rapped one along the theme.

Pashalis said:

The famous band "Korn" and their leadsinger Jonathan Davis have just finally broken their silence and released their new song "Spike In My Veins" with an accompanied hard hitting official music video:

http://<iframe width="560" height="...lA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Korn: Obama is a Dictator Who Uses Miley & Kanye To Destroy America:
_http://www.tmz.com/2014/02/19/jonathan-davis-korn-president-obama-miley-cyrus-kanye-west-spike-in-my-vein-music-video/

Korn Fight Media Manipulation With 'Spike in My Veins' - Premiere Watch the band's tension-filled new video:
_http://www.rollingstone.com/music/videos/korn-fight-media-manipulation-with-spike-in-my-veins-20140206

I guess it is now time for other famous people in music industry, to gather their courage and step up to the plate as well!

Click to expand...

Well it seems like something down that line will happen on 04.04.2014...

Apparently Eminen, Ice Cube and Korn are joining forces with Anonymous and will release stuff that will " BLOW YOUR MIND" in a "Wave Of Action" on 04.04.2014.

_http://disinfo.com/2014/02/eminem-ice-cube-korn-anonymous-blow-mind-waveofaction/
_https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyZ256S0Plg
_https://twitter.com/WaveOfAction
_https://waveofaction.org/
_https://www.facebook.com/pages/Worldwide-Wave-of-Action/176294759231015

Eminem, Ice Cube, Korn and Anonymous BLOW YOUR MIND (#WaveOfAction)

Check out Eminem, Ice Cube, Korn and Anonymous aligning forces to BLOW YOUR MIND and set off the #WaveOfAction scheduled for 4/4/14:

http://<iframe width="560" height="...lg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

First part of the lyrics:

Look, I was gonna go easy on you not to hurt your feelings
But I’m only going to get this ONE CHANCE
Something’s wrong, I can feel it
Just a feeling I’ve got, like something’s about to happen
But I don’t know what
If that means what I think it means, we’re in trouble, big trouble
And if he is as bananas as you say, I’m not taking any chances
YOU ARE just what the doc ordered

Like something’s about to…

~*~ B O O M ~*~

Everything’s CORRUPT
Everything’s fucked up
Everything’s about a buck, you’re shit out of luck

I’m sick of gettin’ IGNORED, this world I can’t afford
On my birthday, BUY me a POLITICAN
It’s a shame that you got to teach your children…

Click to expand...

From the info of the youtube video:

Omnipotent #WaveOfAction

New remixed music video features Eminem, Ice Cube, Korn and Anonymous aligning forces to set off the Worldwide Wave of Action ~ https://WaveOfAction.org/ ~ 4.4.14

https://twitter.com/WaveOfAction

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Worldw...

This video is made in accordance to Fair Use laws for non-profit, non-commercial, educational and socially beneficial use only. It is political speech, as protected by the 1st amendment of the US Constitution. This artist supported transformative video contains original and remixed material, with over 100 clips from many different videos. It is also protected by Anonymous and supported by the Digital Hip Hop Collective.

https://ilt.eff.org/index.php/Copyrig...

~ Video created by Jah Marley ~

Click to expand...

Well, those music artists are really very very popular around the mainstream world and especially Eminem...

Unfortunately it is already apparent that Korn (Jonathan Davis) is sucked in by Alex Jones.

I think we should also remember that people that are that famous and popular, will certainly (or are) worked by forces to distract them or make them less impactful.

A few things that come to mind are: Mindcontrol, Cointelpro, Infiltration, Drugs and Pathology/Ponerology.

I'm almost certain that they are already infiltrated by at least some of those things...

Let's see...

Below are lyrics/links to a few of my favorite protest songs from 2 groups I discovered in recent years, Gotan Project and Thievery Corporation. The songwriters seem to grasp the psychopathic problem facing humanity as evidenced by such lines as, "We are eternal, made of the creator, won’t fall to the soul-less devastators". (I've underlined a few other favorites as well.)

Thievery Corporation
State of the Union
_http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chEkvpHj5ZU

People live in misery
Government at work
But government dem is a mockery
Respect to the youths
Whether in front and all dem a back a me
Why don't you treat them the way you should?

And I know all the things you hide
Even though it's a good disguise
And I see all the things you do
But what you do will comeback on you
You think we can't fight what the eyes can't see
Because we are blinded by poverty

People live in misery
Government at work
But government dem is a mockery
Respect to the youths
Whether in front and all dem a back a me
Why don't you treat them the way you should?

It's like the people you want them to rebel
And fire gunshots and burn buildings to hell
And after that you a go want treat me well
It's like you have the people under a spell
Talking to the people in a congress
A we vote you in, so you must put out your best
After all we no in a contest
It's the state of the union address

People live in misery
Government at work
But government dem is a mockery
Respect to the youths
Whether in front and all dem a back a me
Why don't you treat them the way you should?

Broadcasting lies on the television screen
Trying to get us hooked on your American dream
We up on your games if you know what me mean
When you cheated on your wife with your money and your schemes
People rule and that you follow
We and nuh no call me no nigga
Do a good term and you deserve another
Signed musically yours, the general sleepywonder

People live in misery
Government at work
But government dem is a mockery
Respect to the youths
Whether in front and all dem a back a me
Why don't you treat them the way you should?

Thievery Corporation
Amerimacka (a beautiful song about an ugly reality, with a great metaphor in the chorus)
_http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqzDuSstMS8

Miss Liberty turn inna Jezebel
All de dreams you go sell, de whole dem turn inna hell
Her bed of roses are filled with thorns
Her righteous robes are tattered and torn

If she had only stood for love
That would have been enough
She wouldn’t have to hide her shame
If she had only stood for love
That would have been enough

But now she burnt us all with her flames
Amerimacka
Oh, what a beautiful life
Amerimacka
Is like licking honey off a knife
Amerimacka
Oh, what a beautiful sight
Amerimacka
Oh, what a beautiful life

The land of the free built on slavery
Our consciousness in captivity
The promise land is in the liars den
Your culture of greed has got to end

Now were laying in the mud
Looking up above
Tear water just ah drop from the sky
They try to keep us in the mud
Separating us from love

But me nah go let dem conquer de I
Amerimacka
Oh, what a beautiful life
Amerimacka
Is like licking honey off a knife
Amerimacka
Oh, what a beautiful sight
Amerimacka
Oh, what a beautiful life


Gotan Project
El Capitalismo Foráneo (Antipop Consortium Remix) (I hate rap usually, but it works well with this message)
_http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdM-fP4GzKA

It’s come to this.
Focus.

Intricate patterns connecter—specter
Walk the walls undetected.
Though I spit angular
On flags rectangular.

Modern-day Caligulas
Live lavish in the hapless pursuit of freedom
Mechanisms—we need ‘em
Ratchets and practice
My people need access—yo!

To every soldier
with every pistol
in every holder
to ever throw a Molotov.

This rap resistance fighting to free minds
frightened in diamond minds,
frightened against time,
frightened internal struggles
We’re trying to smuggle.

Jews have crossed the border of sanity.
The plan is unfolding.
I see it written
as it was written in wax, shacks
~~?~~ to ax out
a century of subjugation

Worldwide ~~?~~
heavy-mythos-padded diplomacy
strategically seizing
the means of production
For my, for my…

Our freedom, we need it.
Don’t take it for granted.

Our freedom, we need it.
Don’t take it for granted.

Our freedom, we need it.
Don’t take it for granted.

Our freedom, we need it.
Don’t take it for granted.

Back to the grind—uh huh—NY
Focus—once again.
OK let’s walk.
As I walk the New York streets
Where the predatory owls lurk—Merck
switch styles.
Every word across
their lips is camel—
tongues as the hammer,
We live with sickle cell
While triple slow ~~?~~ master mind

We’re massed in the hills.
Masked my skills, spills
And poisoned quills
In the tip of a flaming arrow—insert pause

Fidel Castro—World Bank conglomerates
try to seize cash-flow.
I move differently
on the periphery but still indiscreet
as a blip, as a spit—
its lip is licked
‘til it’s hit with a figurative bomb
on a bomb tracked
to combat this global convergence—re-emergence
—strange occurrence.

I spit detergents
for the tyrants to wash their blood-soaked linen

Our freedom, we need it.
Don’t take it for granted.

Our freedom, we need it.
Don’t take it for granted.

Back to the grind
Back to the grind


Thievery Corporation
The Numbers Game
_http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xAJVri2a1U

I'm talking people about the same old game
Their running them numbers and the winners never change
The dice is loaded, the deck is stacked
The game itself will hold you back

Check out your mind and don't be blind
To the numbers game
What I say

Don't be in the dark all by yourself
Don't play the hand that the dealer has dealt
We're cashing out 'cause it's time to sell
Taking back the power, gonna share that wealth
Come on now

Check out your mind and don't be blind
To the numbers game
What I say

I'm talking people about respect
Baby you can't win when you place that bet, come on now
The dice is loaded, the deck is stacked
The game itself will surely hold you back

Check out your mind and don't be blind
To the numbers game

Check out your mind and don't be blind
To the numbers game

Let's get hip on this
So you won't slip on this
See you gotta get hip on this
So you won't trip on this

To the numbers
To the numbers game

Check out your mind and don't be blind
To the numbers game

Check out your mind and don't be blind
To the numbers game


Thievery Corporation
Warning Shots
_http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBIjI6mchbk

They try their best just to mash up the resistance
Warning shots and sirens from a distance
Riot gear and barricade for an instance
And the words from my mouth, me no response

Hollywood sending signals of destruction
Stereotype the ghetto youths as the bad man
Overcome the rough times and we grow strong
Step up in a life, now them want to shake ya

We are eternal, made of the creator
Won’t fall to the soul-less devastators
Divide and conquer, and try to separate us
Up to this day, them still try to rape us


Thievery Corporation
Vampires
_http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jquscqfs-XE

They'll gain the world but lose their souls
They'll gain the world but lose their souls

Don't believe politicians and thieves
They want our people on their bended knees
Pirates and robbers, liars and thieves
You come like the wolf but dressed like the sheep

If you go to Lagos what you find, vampires
If you go to Kinshasa what you find, vampires
If you go to Darfur what you find, vampires
If you go to Malabo what you find, vampires
Lies and theft
Guns and debt
Life and death
IMF

When the bank man comes to your door
Better know you'll always be poor
Bank loans and policies
They can't make our people free
You live on the blood of my people
Everyone knows you've come to steal
You come like the thieves in the night
The whole world is ready to fight

If you go to Lagos what you find, vampires
If you go to Kinshasa what you find, vampires
If you go to Darfur what you find, vampires
If you go to Malabo what you find, vampires
Lies and theft
Guns and debt
Life and death
IMF

They'll gain the world but lose their souls
They'll gain the world but lose their souls

You live on the blood of my people
Everyone knows you've come to steal
You come like the thieves in the night
The whole world is ready to fight

If you go to Lagos what you find, vampires
If you go to Kinshasa what you find, vampires
If you go to Darfur what you find, vampires
If you go to Malabo what you find, vampires
Lies and theft
Guns and debt
Life and death
IMF