Protest Song: Difference between revisions

Compare [[Hail to the Thief]], which can sound similar but is used to emphasize setting instead of make a direct political point.

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* [[The French Revolution|La Marseillaise]] is probably the [[Ur Example]] for modern protest songs. Nowadays [[Inverted Trope|inverted]], since it is the French [[National Anthem]].

* "L'Internationale" is another very famous and iconic example—probably the most translated protest song of all time (and one of the most translated songs ever). Reached the level of [[Zig-Zagging Trope]] when it was sung by the students at Tiananmen square in 1989. They protested the socialist-in-name government by singing ''the'' socialist protest song, but in part because this was the one song they all knew.

* Several songs from Peter Tägtgren's Pain, especially on the last couple of albums. Examples include The Third Wave'', ''Not Your Kind'', and ''Feed Us'', which are about corruption, evangelicalism, and the medias coverage of celebrities, respectively.

* [[Metallica]]'s sadly-underplayed "Disposable Heroes". The following album, ''...And Justice for All'', was described by Lars Ulrich as their "CNN years" - he and James would watch CNN, see what displeased them, and write a song about it.

* Protest music is a staple of punk rock, and particularly of hardcore punk, to the extent that trying to build a comprehensive list of examples would be an exercise in futility. Such songs tend to be shorter, punchier, and noticeably less weepy than traditional protest songs, although they arguably lose some emotional impact in the transition; bands such as [[Propagandhi]] and the [[Dead Kennedys]], among many others, have built their entire careers around this trope.

** This has come full-circle in the form of Folk Punk, artists such as Evan Greer or Ghost Mice, who strip down punk rock as far as possible, and end up sounding like early Bob Dylan or Phil Ochs.

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* [[Monty Python|Eric Idle]]'s "I Bet You They Won't Play This Song On The Radio" was a mockery of censorship practices at radio stations, which inserted comical [[Sound Effect Bleep|sound effect bleeps]] in place of bad words. He also wrote ''The FCC Song'', which, naturally, is a [[Take That]] directed toward the Federal Communications Commission, with the rest of the government thrown in for good measure.

** The topic was later taken up by ''[[Family Guy]]'', via Peter's song "The Freakin' FCC".

He sang how the poor were much too poor and the rich too rich by far

Then he drove back to his penthouse in his brand new Rolls-Royce car. }}

** Considering the fact the songs where meant to get the view of Seth [[Mc Farland]] out, albeit with an exaggerated message, YMMV as to whether these are parodies or actual protest songs.

* ''[[SCTV]]'' had hardcore British punk band the Queen Haters on the "American Bandstand"-style "Mel's Rock Pile" to sing "I Hate the Bloody Queen", making no impression on the squarish North American audience.

** ''Fuck Tha Police'' is about racial profiling and police brutality

 

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[[Category:Music Tropes]]

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