Cultural Capital

Reflections on books and the arts from the New Statesman culture desk

Where have all the protest songs gone?

There was a time when we didn't recoil when the music got political.

By Eleanor Margolis Published 09 September 2011 17:26

I recently got back from End of the Road festival, a fairly small, boutique-y gathering of beardy Guardian readers down in Dorset. One night in the comedy tent, something quite surprising happened.

Comedian Robin Ince welcome on to the stage Grace Petrie, a guitar-wielding 20-something. I'm generally not a fan of musical comedy, but I decided to give her a chance. Only to be told, by the singer herself, "I'm not funny". Oh how right she was. Petrie launched into a succession of painfully earnest protest songs. Although not entirely devoid of humour (one song was dedicated to a loveable old banger she used to drive), most of her material was so sickeningly worthy that I nearly choked on my falafel burger.

The thing is, I agreed with pretty much everything she was singing. She sang about the harsh sentencing of student-protester-cum-fire-extinguisher-flinger Edward Woollard, and various other left-leaning causes-célèbres. So why did her warblings leaving me so cold?

Maybe it was the lack of humour. Maybe it was the fact that I happened not to like the sound of her voice. But my overwhelming feeling is that the whole performance seemed to cling for its life to another era - one in which we didn't recoil when the music got political.

Can you remember the last time a protest album, or even a protest song, went mainstream? The 80s were full of them: The Specials' "Ghost Town", I'm sure, provided a perfect soundtrack to Thatcherite desolation. It spent three weeks at number one in the UK charts. Then Bruce Springsteen sang about the suffering of Vietnam War veterans in "Born in the USA", another chart-topper.

Even in the early Nineties, protest songs were hot. Rage Against the Machine's eponymous 1992 album positively roared at the establishment. And can anything recent really match the power of Leonard Cohen's song "Democracy", from the same year? Cohen laments the political state of America: "From the wars against disorder/from the sirens night and day/ from the fires of the homeless/ from the ashes of the gay:/ Democracy is coming to the USA."

But then songs with a social conscience faded from the airwaves. Virgin desperately tried to sell the Spice Girls' 1996 debut single, "Wannabe" as some kind of neo-feminist battle cry. It sounded hollow compared to past girl power anthems, like Lesley Gore's 1963 hit "You Don't Own Me". While Gore sang, "don't tell me what to do/ and don't tell me what to say/ and please, when I go out with you/ don't put me on display", the Spice Girls merely demanded something called a "Zigazig ha".

Of course, protest songs didn't entirely disappear during the Bush-Blair years. Neil Young, Radiohead, Pearl Jam, REM., Pink, the Beastie Boys and many others released songs opposing the west's endless warmongering. But ask someone on the street today to hum one, and all you'll hear is silence.

Over the past year, political tracks have made a comeback of sorts. Lady Gaga's number one single "Born This Way" was a strident call for the acceptance of all sexualities: "No matter gay, straight, or bi, lesbian, transgendered life, I'm on the right track baby, I was born to survive." And PJ Harvey's Mercury Prize winning album Let England Shake offers up a brutal and unromantic take on the horrors of war. The fourth track on the album, "", contains these particularly brutal lyrics: "I've seen soldiers fall like lumps of meat/blown and shot out beyond belief/ Arms and legs were in the trees".

So will the popularity of PJ Harvey's latest album lead to a resurgence of protest songs? Or is it she a single (although loud) voice in the void?

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More from Eleanor Margolis

23 comments

Wed, 2011-09-14 21:33 — TonyM

Part 3

Finally, and returning to the subject of humour, your pithy profile on Twitter, "I am WOMAN" (your capitals), gives us an insight into what you believe constitutes wit. Happily, I wasn't chewing on a falafel burger when I first encountered your bon mot.

Sat, 2011-11-05 09:00 — Moe Shinola (not verified)

Here's a song I'm giving away in support of Occupy:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msM08SBrEPk

Sat, 2011-09-10 00:18 — swatantra nandanwar

.... gone to graveyards everyone. When will they ever learn ....

Sat, 2011-09-10 00:24 — Dickie1

Good point, but there is an awkwardness in overt protest. Maybe people just want to escape their political world into music for a while. They already know rubbish it all is.

Sat, 2011-09-10 00:27 — Dickie1

But that does not excuse the terrible music that gets foisted on people.

Sun, 2011-09-11 13:08 — Callum (not verified)

JohnP, you didn't read the article did you?

Thu, 2011-09-15 05:14 — Michael (not verified)

Hey TonyM... Do not use the word "Whilst" no one is impressed.

Sun, 2011-09-11 18:15 — georgep

Good article, I've often pondered this. And JohnP is right that outside of the mainstream is a different story.

I pick up on a kind of cringy-ness when people are outspoken in protest (I wince myself, not because I disagree, more on their behalf from everyone else's perception).

I believe the reason is modern news media. In particular the sophisticated 'balanced' presentation of information, makes you feel a bit simple when you argue outside the limits of normality. It takes a very smart and persuasive person to break through the mainstream view.

For example, in the past, when wars were communicated with cold, unrelenting authority - it almost begged for protest. Today on the other hand, we might see sky news presenters having a 'lite' debate about the story, with opposing viewpoints but giving an overwhelming sense of approval of the policy.

Sat, 2011-09-10 11:04 — Tom Paine (not verified)

Briefly, the protest songs that come to my mind date from the US Civil Rights and VietNam era.

Perhaps they need mass protest to thrive?

Fri, 2011-09-16 11:10 — Simon (not verified)

I wrote something with the same title, but rather different conclusions http://scarlettnation.co.uk/2011/08/where-are-all-the-protest-songs/

Thu, 2011-09-15 18:28 — TonyM

Thank you, Michael. No problem forsooth. (Just joking with the forsooth bit.)

Best wishes,

Tony

Thu, 2011-09-15 13:42 — TonyM

Hey Michael, Do not run two sentences into one. No one is impressed.

Being serious for a moment, I suspect we may be into cultural differences here. From the time of your post, I assume you're based in North America. I also assume you're accusing me of a certain floweriness of language in using what you perceive as an archaism. In fact, "whilst" is in everyday usage in the UK.

Sat, 2011-09-10 15:57 — Pete (not verified)

Consumerism and free market reforms have killed mainstream protest songs.
The mainstream charts are dominated by production-line boy bands, Pop Idol/X-Factor and bland 'R&B' acts with the sole purpose of making record companies money. The songs don't say anything and are easily forgetable and horribly generic.
It isn't in there interest to make protest songs. Why would it be?

There are plenty of protest songs in 'alternative' music, however. They've just gone 'underground' along with protest movements.

Thu, 2011-09-15 14:39 — Michael (not verified)

My apologies TonyM... Carry on!

Tue, 2011-09-13 14:18 — Mediocre Dave (not verified)

An article on modern protest music which doesn't mention dubstep or grime.

If you're interested in the music of protest, have a look at what's played ON PROTESTS and in occupations and made and listened to by protesters.

If you're interested in why the mainstream industry hasn't responded to the apparent rise in the popularity of protests, it has been slow but check the 'riot police and revolution' imagery in the videos for Take That's Kidz and Beyonce's Girls.

Tue, 2011-09-13 15:06 — Chris T-T (not verified)

I wrote a piece for Morning Star last month on this subject:
http://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/index.php/news/content/view/full/108368

Sat, 2011-09-10 21:23 — Freeman2

Pete writes, 'It isn't in there interest to make protest songs. Why would it be?'

To make money. It was in 'their' interest in the 1960s because there was a market for it. As there was a market for paperback Marx. Capitalism would sell itself to its granny if there was a profit in it. There was then; there isn't now. It's protest that's died.

Tue, 2011-09-13 16:49 — TonyM

I've been trying to post a fairly lengthy response to this without success and suspect I've it a character limit, so here it is in two parts.

Part 1

Your claim that Grace Petrie's work is largely devoid of humour is devoid of any basis in fact. When she announced "I'm not funny", I assume she was stating that her performance would not be overtly comedic. In reality, her songs, both political and non-political, are peppered with witty observations and lyrics, although I appreciate that the subtleties may be lost on some. Seeking to enlighten us on how protest song should be done, you offer us your paradigms of the golden ages of protest songs and their performers. Presumably humour remains an essential element in your criteria, as included in your list of performers is that well known master of mirth Leonard Cohen.

You also declare that Ms. Petrie is, in your words, earnest. Whilst the ineptitude of our current government is highly comic, sadly, its ideologically driven actions will prove to have tragic consequences for many people. I, and many others, welcome this fact being addressed seriously thorough any medium, including that of the protest song.

Tue, 2011-09-13 16:53 — TonyM

Part 2

Moving on, it seems to me that someone who employs such cliches as "beardy Guardian readers" and resorts to pejorative terms such as "warblings" in her writing (or, adopting your technique, perhaps I should say scribblings) is possibly not best placed to criticise the work of others.

As a beardless Guardian reader, I recall that several articles on the alleged dearth of protest singers have been published in that newspaper in the past. You can't be accused of plagiarism, however, as the Guardian pieces did not stoop to directing totally unjustified invective against any artist.

Tue, 2011-09-13 17:05 — Chris T-T (not verified)

Like Tony, I tried to respond properly to Eleanor's piece and fell foul of an unmentioned word limit (or something).

So I've responded on my blog here:
http://christt.com/words/ - five reasons why Eleanor Margolis is totally wrong. :)

Wed, 2011-09-14 21:12 — TonyM

Test comment

Wed, 2011-09-14 21:16 — TonyM

It required more than two parts apparently and I've been experiencing considerable difficulty in getting the remainder to be accepted, so much so that I gave up yesterday. The software governing comments appears to be almost as badly written as Ms. Margolis' article - no confirmation when accepted, no error message when not accepted. The "Test comment" above was an attempt to see if I can get anything accepted.