Where I live some of the larger rallies have been organized by middle class mostly white folks for whom the system has pretty much worked. They are used to having it work for them. They see rallies as educational opportunities to explain issues. So music is not part of explaining. IMHO the main purpose of a rally is to practice collective action and make sure the next one is bigger. When viewed this way music becomes a key tool at rallies.People have, again IMHO, lost the organizing gene😢
When I remember of protest movements of the past is that they had folk songs that did not require some sort of band like you keep mentioning but just a couple of singers or trio and a guitar. The main thing was the audience often could sing this lyrics back. Or people can incorporate and a song that everybody knows into it. There should always be something of that going on at any rally and there were were songs of peace Incorporated into the JVP holiday events in the winter local to me.
Additionally VFP near me has a winter solstice event that is all about songs with a sing-along at the end.
At a serious protest there can be the whole group of people singing if people decide to incorporated into that. I really don't think having "bands" is necessary as much as getting a singer up there leading people or singing a few songs. If you want to have a band too that's fine. I never thought of the 1960s and 70s is not being serious. That was the most success that was ever accomplished in protests.
That was the era with the end of the Vietnam war and the work of the civil rights movement. Nobody can say those people weren't serious regardless of whether it included people of various types including some called "hippies," who were actually very dedicated to a better world.
The government tried to embed the media with armies in later years to try to control the media so that it wouldn't defeat their wars and they certainly didn't want musicians involved in anything because of the success of influencing people with songs like "Ohio," by Neil Young after the Kent State massacre.
Some used to wonder if there was a government plot involved in the death of John Lennon who was a musical peace activist.
I think back in the days of the Kingston Trio where mamas and papas and various songwriters where a rally you might have one to three people singing and a guitar but you really didn't need some sort of a band. I don't even remember bands being involved except if it's a big fundraiser in a arena or something. All people need is someone leading a song in the whole crowd can sing.
However I do think that singing is important and it can be something as simple as "we shall overcome." But it shouldn't be left out. These were certainly a part of some of the protest events that I have attended in years gone by including peace and justice events in the era of war after Vietnam.
Thank you for this reflection! It is striking to observe the disconnect between culture and whatever passes for resistance in this country.
Having launched poetry insurgencies mobilizing hip-hop and spoken word artists in multiple cities across the United States 20 years ago (each of which continues to remain active today), I’m grateful for this defense of music as a crucial component of the movement.
I’ve only put out one album, “Get Outta Your Chair” in 2008. https://open.spotify.com/album/3aD3wltoEKQkNZzxgGXIAM?si=RWsPgDtESjSbQnbJVF9wBQ It was basically a collection of protest music against the various abuses of the Bush era. I’ve been hoping to put out an EP with tracks including “Ferguson to Jerusalem” and “NSA vs USA,” as well as as a scathing track about the CIA’s legacy of ashes, and hope to prioritize that this year if I’m able to save enough money to get the tracks mastered.
Thanks for identifying common perspectives about organizers and expanding the context beyond them, not to mention your own music! It has been an honor to share the microphone with artists like you and Ryan Harvey over the years.
You're right that last weekend's "protests" were astroturfed. Just more #resistance from the Democratic party. Note the media coverage of those vs. the Gaza protests, which the government and the media want to pretend are about antisemitism so they can use the hammer of the State to shut them down.
Go David!! I agree. I’m shocked that music is not in the lead for protest today. Except for you! Keep playing!!
Where I live some of the larger rallies have been organized by middle class mostly white folks for whom the system has pretty much worked. They are used to having it work for them. They see rallies as educational opportunities to explain issues. So music is not part of explaining. IMHO the main purpose of a rally is to practice collective action and make sure the next one is bigger. When viewed this way music becomes a key tool at rallies.People have, again IMHO, lost the organizing gene😢
When I remember of protest movements of the past is that they had folk songs that did not require some sort of band like you keep mentioning but just a couple of singers or trio and a guitar. The main thing was the audience often could sing this lyrics back. Or people can incorporate and a song that everybody knows into it. There should always be something of that going on at any rally and there were were songs of peace Incorporated into the JVP holiday events in the winter local to me.
Additionally VFP near me has a winter solstice event that is all about songs with a sing-along at the end.
At a serious protest there can be the whole group of people singing if people decide to incorporated into that. I really don't think having "bands" is necessary as much as getting a singer up there leading people or singing a few songs. If you want to have a band too that's fine. I never thought of the 1960s and 70s is not being serious. That was the most success that was ever accomplished in protests.
That was the era with the end of the Vietnam war and the work of the civil rights movement. Nobody can say those people weren't serious regardless of whether it included people of various types including some called "hippies," who were actually very dedicated to a better world.
The government tried to embed the media with armies in later years to try to control the media so that it wouldn't defeat their wars and they certainly didn't want musicians involved in anything because of the success of influencing people with songs like "Ohio," by Neil Young after the Kent State massacre.
Some used to wonder if there was a government plot involved in the death of John Lennon who was a musical peace activist.
I think back in the days of the Kingston Trio where mamas and papas and various songwriters where a rally you might have one to three people singing and a guitar but you really didn't need some sort of a band. I don't even remember bands being involved except if it's a big fundraiser in a arena or something. All people need is someone leading a song in the whole crowd can sing.
However I do think that singing is important and it can be something as simple as "we shall overcome." But it shouldn't be left out. These were certainly a part of some of the protest events that I have attended in years gone by including peace and justice events in the era of war after Vietnam.
Thank you for this reflection! It is striking to observe the disconnect between culture and whatever passes for resistance in this country.
Having launched poetry insurgencies mobilizing hip-hop and spoken word artists in multiple cities across the United States 20 years ago (each of which continues to remain active today), I’m grateful for this defense of music as a crucial component of the movement.
I’ve only put out one album, “Get Outta Your Chair” in 2008. https://open.spotify.com/album/3aD3wltoEKQkNZzxgGXIAM?si=RWsPgDtESjSbQnbJVF9wBQ It was basically a collection of protest music against the various abuses of the Bush era. I’ve been hoping to put out an EP with tracks including “Ferguson to Jerusalem” and “NSA vs USA,” as well as as a scathing track about the CIA’s legacy of ashes, and hope to prioritize that this year if I’m able to save enough money to get the tracks mastered.
Thanks for identifying common perspectives about organizers and expanding the context beyond them, not to mention your own music! It has been an honor to share the microphone with artists like you and Ryan Harvey over the years.
You're right that last weekend's "protests" were astroturfed. Just more #resistance from the Democratic party. Note the media coverage of those vs. the Gaza protests, which the government and the media want to pretend are about antisemitism so they can use the hammer of the State to shut them down.