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Sharon - 2008-05-02 21:15:43
great link, Paula.
protest song is such a tricky genre. they can be too earnest and icky. a Saturday Night Live character comes to mind.. Cinder Calhoun, annoying radical and protest singer. But I do have some favorites "Wasn't That a Time?" by Lee Hayes of the Weavers, 1957, "B-Movie" by Gil Scott-Heron, 1981 (it's a kind of proto-rap about the Reagan years, it doesn't hold up that well-- a lot of "inside baseball", but I still love it except for the ending), "I Used to be a Radical" by Rootboy Slim and the Sexchange Band 1978 (not technically a protest song, but a wry comment on how movements peter out). "Ohio" has really stood the time for me...maybe that NeilYoung 18thcentury quality to it. It could be Paris 1848 or Czechoslovakia 1989 or Burma 2008. Oh, yeah, maybe the best one "Which Side are You On? words by Florence Reece in the 1930s (wife of a miner. You can see her as an old woman sing it during a strike in the 70s in Barbara Koppel's "harlan County, USA".) The tune, like a lot of great ur-tunes is an old Irish one, "Lay the Lily Low".
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2fs - 2008-05-02 23:20:15
I'm partial to TV on the Radio's "Dry Drunk Emperor."
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MacGregor - 2008-05-05 14:49:40
U2's Sunday Bloody Sunday, as well as a few others. The Stand, by The Alarm, Ball of Confusion by The Temptations, White Riot by the Clash, Little Boy Soldiers by The Jam, It Says Here by Billy Bragg, Oh Bondage Up Yours by Xray Spex, Time Has Come Today by The Chambers Brothers... I love protest songs.
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anne - 2008-05-06 22:45:29
Little Boy Soldiers mention reminded me that I had an early-80's compilation album with a lot of great political songs on it...I am Your Flag by the English Beat was my favorite at the time, but when I look at the track list now I wish I knew what became of that LP. http://eil.com/shop/moreinfo.asp?catalogid=282442
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Paula - 2008-05-07 02:16:10
I love "I'm Your Flag"...
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MacGregor - 2008-05-07 15:53:41
I'd forgotten about that song entirely! Very cool.
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anne - 2008-05-08 07:36:31
googling IAYF yielded this live version which is fun to watch:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZug3js75gg
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