Protest song
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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A protest song is a song which protests perceived problems in society and with world conflicts. Every major movement in Western history has been accompanied by its own collection of protest songs, from slave emancipation to women's suffrage, the labor movement, civil rights, the anti-war movement, the feminist movement, the environmental movement. Over time, the songs have come to protest more abstract, moral issues, such as injustice, racial discrimination, the morality of war in general (as opposed to purely protesting individual wars), globalization, inflation, social inequalities, and incarceration. Such songs generally become more popular during times of social disruption among social groups. The oldest European protest song on record is "The Cutty Wren" from the English peasants' revolt of 1381 against feudal oppression.
See also
- Civil Rights anthem
- List of anti-war songs
- Nonviolent resistance
- Music and politics
- Topical song
- Wobblies
- Folk music
- Folk punk
- Political/Conscious hip hop