Where have all the protest songs gone?

I know it is pretty pitiful to be citing to single songs, but check out Arlo Guthrie's *Patriot's Dream* cut on Jennifer Warnes's *The Well*. Or try Carrie Newcomer's *I Heard an Owl* off *The Gathering of Spirits*, written just after 9/11/2001. *You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive* on Patty Loveless's Mountain Soul CD is not a protest, but reminds me of one. Nice thread idea.
jeff stake

I suppose the same place where all the flowers have gone.
Dylan's songs maybe 30 years old and then some. They are as relevant today as yesterday. Kind of like remaking gone with the wind. Why bother?

Come senators, congressmen please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway
Don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be who has stalled
There's a battle outside and it's ragin'.
It'll soon shake your windows
and rattle your walls
For the times have not really been a-changing.

And it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard,
It's a hard rain's a-gonna fall.

gs5556 - Had a bad day? Sheesh!

Brucegel - There are topical folk singers out there, but I'm afraid that the younger folks today don't seem nearly as interested in them as they do the latest teen pop king/queen. Right now, it doesn't appear that anyone is leading the chorus for social consciousness, and as such the voices of protest are somewhat quieter then they used to be, and require a bit of effort to seek out. To a great degree, rap music has become the modern vehicle for topical expression, but sadly a lot of it is rather narrowly focused and doesn't address the global concerns that would give the messages a wider appeal. Like you, I'm hoping for another Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs, Gil Scott-Heron, or Joan Baez to come to the forefront and give us some music that really does address the bigger issues we face today.

Until then, there are a few still out there actively producing topical music. Search the newsgroups using Google for ‘protest folk music’ and you’ll find a number of threads listing modern topical folk singers. Admittedly they’re not exactly household names, but its clear that the movement never really died. It just became a bit less popular. If you want a good example of some current protest folk music, take a listen to some of the music by Si Kahn. His songs are excellent, and they all have a great deal of social relevance.

Ken

There's a difference b/ween then & now. Then, such songs were mainstream, hits. Now they're niche...
After all, what IS there to complain about? OUR world is now perfect -- right?

The protest SONGS? Where has all the protest gone?

Since the day Bush was elected, we have been in a countdown to a war with Iraq, a war only temporarily put on hold by the terrorist attacks. That war is now imminent, and can anybody say, specifically, why? Can you say "oil grab"?

In the meantime, Bush and Ashcroft have made a mockery of the Constitution. American citizens are being locked up for months at a time without being charged and without a clear explanation to them and no accountability to the public. The "Patriot" Act has all but gutted the Fourth Amendment.

All of this, with barely a whimper of protest. Speaking out is seen as giving aid to the enemy (Ashcroft), or as Gs556 suggests above, narcissistic.

Ths songs will come back when the people come back to hear them, when people begin to care again, when people begin to pay attention.