Where have all the protest songs gone?

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.

This is specifically for gs 5556...do your history and leave your cynicism at the gate.The civil rights movement which was very much on everyones mind all the time in no small part because the music of the time reflected it has a lineage right up to the removal of that a...hole Trent Lott for making inferences to all us white folks being better off if the sixties never happened.By the way protest songs have a unique way of getting people off their arses and into the street replacing the mindless pap that passes for news these days.It arguably is the most powerful musicopolitical force extant.Ralph Nader said it best in an interview on the new pbs news journal hosted by Bill Moyers

Moyers asked Nader "How is it possible that you have kept going for so many years when so many have tired?" and Naders reply was "It just comes down to self respect...I cant get up in the morning and look at myself in the mirror and not do what little I can to help make things better.That my friends may be the bottom line in the final analysis...What happened to our sense of self repect...has our generation become so cynical about it's ability to change things that we are willing to hide behind the consumerism machinery and define ourselves by what audio equipment or size of house or car or even job we do? I feel a protest song coming on!I will let all those world weary cynics have their say now.