In the spirit of revolutions across the world, from Tahrir Square to Syria to UC Davis, let's take this opportunity to listen to a popular sub-genre of music; the protest song. I'd like you to listen to any of the following songs and attempt to compare their lyrics/message to any current revolution in the news or to our book, 1984. Please be sure to clarify the song and the revolution of your interest in your post.
Song List
It's a Hard Rain Gonna Fall by Bob Dylan
Revolution by the Beatles
Zombie by The Cranberries
We Need a War by Fischerspooner
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised by Gil Scott Heron
Aalu Anday by Beygairat Boys
When the President Talks to God by Bright Eyes
Fight the Power by Public Enemy
Killing in the Name Of by Rage Against the Machine
My first song choice was Killing in the Name Of by Rage Against the Machine. Although throughout the song its just basically 5 sets of lyrics that are repeated over and over again they have strong meaning. One of these sets that says something on the lines of " Those that work forces are those that burn crosses." just shows that even police and military officials can be violent and all you know about them doing the right thing can be wrong. This connects to how police beat people in the occupy wallstreet riots and how they also resorted to pepper spray in the UC Davis incident. I also listened to Revolution by the Beatles. A lot of the lyrics in this song express how protesters and generally society want change in a peaceful manner in a 'peaceful revolution'. Once again this relates to the protesters in occupy wallstreet and in UC Davis, they were having a peaceful protest and they were still treated with violence.
ReplyDeleteErik Liu My choice of song was Fight the Power by Public Enemy. The song basically encourages people to fight against the power that is controlling you. The lyrics "Got to give us what we want" and "Gotta give us what we need" expresses the thought that the authority should be listening to what everyday people need and want instead of just what they want for us. These ideas relates to what we have now in the Occupy Wall street movement. The protesters set out a list of demands that they want to be satisfy and they are fighting for these demands at the protest. The lyrics, "Fight the power" encourages the idea of not being afraid to fight the power no matter the odds. This also connects to how the people of Egypt are fought against the dictatorship of Mubarak never giving up.
ReplyDeleteMy song choice was "Revolution" by the Beatles. This song means that there can be revolution without using violence. For example, the Beatles agree with the "you" during the lyrics:
ReplyDeleteYou say you got a real solution
Well, you know
We'd all love to see the plan
You ask me for a contribution
Well, you know
We're doing what we can
But when "you" ask for actions that cause violence, the Beatles say that "you" have to wait.
"But when you want money
for people with minds that hate
All I can tell is brother you have to wait
Don't you know it's gonna be all right
all right, all right "
This is similar to the Montgomery Bus Boycott during the 1950s in the southern US. When African Americans were not allowed to sit up front when white people boarded the bus, people started to boycott. The boycott was not violent at all. People started avoiding the bus and walked to work. No violence was used, and the boycott worked.
Emlyn Knox, I listened to We Need a War by Fischerspooner. It connects to 1984 by the war that never ends. In 1984, Oceania is constantly at war with "Eurasia or Eastasia, ...[because when] Oceania was at war with one of these powers, it was generally at peace with the other" (13). In the song, We Need a War, It says that they need "A war to make us feel safe, a war to make them feel sorry, whoever they are." There is a great sense of nationality when at war with another country. It allows the people to take their anger out on The Enemy rather than their government, even if they don't really know who or why they are fighting. This is perfect for the Party to control their people.
ReplyDeleteI listened to the Revolution by the Beatles. It relates to the OWS because of how it entails many of the things that they are missing. The song goes, "You say you've got a real solution, well you know, we'd all love to see the plan" The Occupy movement is protesting several different things, ranging from taxes on the rich to the distribution of wealth, and what I haven't seen from them is a solid solution as to how we are going to fix the economic situation they are currently protesting. It not only relates to the OWS movement, but protests in general. In fact, I find the song to be somewhat of a guideline to protests, that one should have a plan before one complains, that one should not be destructive and violent in their protest, for that may draw supporters away, and that one should not be hypocritical or protest the "wrong" ideals.
ReplyDeleteDionis Wang 4th period. My song was The Revolution Will Not Be Televised by Gil Scott Heron. It was more like a poem then a song though because he was talking. The lyrics in this song talk about how important information is not always shown on television. Just like in 1984 where the government chooses to leave things that are against them out of the television our government does the same. This is because it is much easier to control masses of people if they weren't smart enough to disobey. If every important event was on television and it was negative against the government people might rebel because they have that knowledge. That is why in 1984 and in real life some information are not televised.
ReplyDelete"Zombie" by The Cranberries is like 1984 because it is explaining a war that continues on, although it seems like it ended. The song says "And the violence caused such silence" is like how the deep oppression of the Party towards the people (including the people who are part of the Party) silences everyone- where everyone has to seem happy or expressionless, where everyone is watched and thus cannot say anything without being silenced (meaning- Thoughtcrime= death).
ReplyDeleteWhen it states:
"But you see, it's not me, it's not my family.
In your head, in your head they are fighting,
With their tanks and their bombs,
And their bombs and their guns.
In your head, in your head, they are crying..."
It is like how the Party has the ThoughtPolice watching over everyone. Although everyone might seem happy (because its expected), some people, in their heads, like Winston, are fighting against or questioning the ideas that the Party makes them believes (or, in other words, the ideas that the Party puts into their heads). (Also, when it states "In your head, in your head, they are crying...", "they" might be the ideas that are being oppressed by the ideals and ideas of the Party or are the cries of people that are hanged or people who have become unpersons due to committing crimes against the Party or its policies in some way.)
The reason the song is called "Zombie" (in relation to 1984) might be because it is explaining an example similar to how the Party can make their people believe in their country and their policies so that they always seem right even when they're obviously wrong, thus making them not human, unhuman, soulless- a zombie (because the definition of a zombie is a soulless corpse).
Tiffany Ming | E1FC | 4th period
I had listened to We Need a War by Fischerspooner. I believe the song is portraying the need to rebel against a higher power if that higher power is ruling in a dictatorship and immoral manner. In the song, it states that "We need a war. A war to make us feel safe. A war to make them feel sorry". This depicts that a group of people would start a war in order to improve their own life because the government was most likely manipulative or communistic. In 1984, the government is highly controlling and restricts the pleasures and thoughts a person can express and the actions a person can take. Because of this, the society of 1984, similarly to the story the song portrays, rebels against the government (although indirectly stated). In one instant, the proles attempted to speak out against the killing of those people of the water (9) however they were ignored. Furthermore, people such as Syme disagreed with several of The Party's rules. However, Winston states that people such as Syme (intelligent) would be "vaporized" (53) because they are a potential threat to the government. Therefore, the song emphasizes the importance of rebellion and protesting, however, in 1984, most people are scared to do this because of the consequences they face from the government.
ReplyDeleteIn the song "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" by Gill Scott Heron, the last line says, "The revolution will be live." This means that the revolution will not be televised because everyone will be participating in it and there is no need for it to be broadcasted. This song can be linked to the revolutions in Egypt because an overwhelming portion of the population was involved in its uprising. Many protestors were injured and some killed in street battles. The Tahrir Square in Cairo had been occupied by demonstrators for a long period of time and the "March of a Milion" had protestors camping overnight. It even spread to five other cities across Egypt. The (former) president, Mubarak, has since stepped down from his post as president, which affects the whole of Egypt. Therefore, the song, "The Revolution Will not be Televised" and the series of revolutions in Egypt are similar in the way that everyone is participating.
ReplyDelete~Jessica Ma/E1FC Pd. 9
ReplyDeleteThe lyrics of "We Need A War" by Fischerspooner is similar to the situation in 1984. In this song, 2 of the lines say "A war to make us feel safe, a war to make them feel sorry, whoever they are." The lines portray war as a scapegoat for people's negative feelings. War gives people an opportunity to rid those feelings of hatred and vengeance by forcing their frustration on the enemy. The people blame things on the enemy rather than on the government, for instance. In 1984, Oceania is always fighting a constant war against either Eurasia or Eastasia. Through war, people unite together because of their sense of nationality. They only see the bad qualities of the country they are fighting and not Oceania itself. The people recognize the government of Oceania as righteous and correct. All other philosophies and beliefs are considered incorrect. The Party has the trust and loyalities of the people.Also, "if they mess with us...we need a war" shows that the people are always ready to defend their nation.
The lyrics of "Revolution" by The Beatles can be used as a to do list for protesters. The song encourages them to avoid violence as much as possible and try to know exactly what they are fighting for and how they think they will be able to make changes. This song can be used by the protesters of Occupy Wall Street because they are considered very violent and if they used more peaceful strategies their message may've been able to reach the goverment. Also, The Beatles tell protesters that " You got a solution... Well we'd really love to see the plan." If you aren't sure how you'll go about doing something you shouldn't do it. This relates to Wall Street because the protestors started protesting all of a sudden
ReplyDeleteI chose to listen to "Revolution" by the Beatles.
ReplyDeleteThe part that interested me was:
"But if you go carrying pictures of chairman Mao
You ain't going to make it with anyone anyhow"
This section of the song hints that if you openly support someone who is notorious for going against the goverment and all its policies, (represented as the Communist Mao, in this case) then you are bounded to be punished.
This relates to "1984", because if a citizen of Oceania was caught supporting Goldstein, then that person would, according to the dismal, prophetic accounts of Winston, "simply disappear ... your name was removed from the registers, every record of everything you had ever done was wiped out, your one-time existence was denied and then forgotten. You were abolished, annihilated:vaporized was the usual word."
-- Tiffani Ren (pd. 9)
In the song "Killing in the Name Of" by Rage Against the Machine, a line that stuck out to me was "And now you do what they told ya." This relates to 1984 because the people can be comparable to puppets. The government tells them what to do and they follow them without question. An example is when Big Brother lowered the chocolate ration even though he had previously promised not to. The people accepted (or pretended to) the new law and even "changed their mind" to think that the Big Brother had RAISED the ration rather than lowered it.
ReplyDeleteThe song I chose was "We Need a War" by Fischerspooner. It's lyrics are comparable to the book 1984 because Oceania is constantly at war with someone. Its always Eastasia, then suddenly Eurasia, then back to Eastasia, and the the cycle continues. No one even knows what the war is about except that the enemy is bad and treacherous, for all the people know there is no war and its just another plot at spreading propoganda. Also the lines "We need a war to show 'em" and "If we think they might mess with us" can be seen as America's perspective on war because America loves to invade countries it doesn't need to on the statement "They could have been a threat to us."
ReplyDeleteI did "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised". It reminds me of the Tienanmen Square protests. Not only was it not televised, it was not recorded at all. This results in the fact that almost nobody knows about it. A similar happening occurred at Wall Street this year. When the protestors were kicked out, news reporters were not allowed in.
ReplyDeleteI listened to Revolution by The Beatles.
ReplyDeleteIn the song, John Lennon is saying that revolution can be justified in the minds of the revolutionaries because "We all want to change the world", and that it's fine as long as they're non-violent - "But when you talk about destruction, don't you know that you can count me out." This is similar to what Occupy Wall Street protesters preach - that what they are doing is non-violent. However, this is not entirely true because some members of the movement chose to break this by attacking police officers. This damages the reputation of the protest and causes many would-be protesters to "count themselves out".
[Elvin Shoyfer, Period 9]
I listened to Revolution by The Beatles. In the song, they make a lot of references to historical events. One such reference is ,"But if you go carrying pictures of Chairman Mao." Lennon also sings "But when you talk about destruction, don't you know that you can count me out." This states that the Beatles are against violent revolution. Another key part of the song ,"We all want to change the world. You tell me that it's evolution." It shows their feelings for revolution and that protesting is okay. Likewise, The Wall Street Protests reflect this. Most protesters aren't violent.
ReplyDelete