Research of genre

Genre: Protest songs

What is a protest song?
"A protest song is a song that is associated with a movement for social change and hence part of the broader category of topical songs"

The history of protest songs

Protest songs have been around for centuries, particularly during times of war and social unrest.

The earliest protest songs and the tradition of using music in this way goes right back to the founding of America. Joseph Warren’s call to action song, 'Free America' was possibly the first protest song to have been sung out by American soldiers. 'Yankee Doodle', now a popular children’s song, also finds its roots in this era – originating as a song sung by British soldiers to mock the Americans but taken up by the ‘Yanks’ ironically to throw it back to the British.

As the American Civil War ended and America became divided by class and race, protest music evolved with the music of the early 20th century.

Electrical music recording was beginning to develop in the 1930s and more and more people owned record players and radios, this is when Billie Holiday’s 1939 song, ‘Strange Fruit’ became known, which is credited as being the first protest song to take an art form.

In the 1960s, the civil rights movement defined what was happening across most of the media. This is when Sam Cooke's 'A change is gonna come' came, he was a black man who was no stranger to racism and felt compelled to write about the struggles of African Americans.

The 1960s and 1970s saw the rise of folk music, and many artists used the predominantly acoustic form to share their political views, including Bob Dylan.

The 1980s and 1990s saw fewer protest songs, perhaps due to the end of the Vietnam War giving way to a relatively calmer political climate.