1. Jazz Chow
1139031
MS2901
Advanced Topics in Media Studies

2. Political expressions in music:
Anti-establishment
Protest Themes
Anti-war Songs
Pro-establishment
Ideas National Anthems
Patriotic Songs
Political
campaigns

3. “The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of
Rock & Roll: the Definitive History of the
Most Important Artists and Their Music”
(DeCurtis, Anthony, James Henke, and Holly George-Warren, 1992)
Folk Rock by Paul Nelson
Bob Dylan by Alan Light

4. • Originated from American union
movement
• Popular music’s impact on
society
• Raising awareness of social
injustice, racism, sexism, antiwar
sentiments, Third World
suffering etc

5. • Folk / folk rock traditions
• Civil rights movement anthems
• “Multi-purpose”
• Protest song “canon”

6. • Not a slave song
• Originally derived from the hymn “I’ll
Overcome Some Day”
• Original written by Charles Albert Tindley
(black composer, born to slave parents in
Maryland)
• “I’ll Overcome Some Day” was published in
the first collection of African American holy
music

7. • Later adopted by labour movement activists
• Suits any kind of struggle
• Symbolizes unity and solidarity

8. • Traditionally political genre
• Often left-wing political stance
• People’s music, by the people, for the people
• Unpretentious, uncomplicated, direct music and
performing style
• 1940s - Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger and the
Weavers reached audiences around America

9. • By the mid 1950s, politically charged folk
music disappeared from pop landscape
• McCarthyism:
A campaign against alleged
communists in 1950- 1954

10. • Later 1950s, folk music became popular again
amongst college students
• “Serious” music
• Early 1960s, folk music became political again
• Pete Seeger, Joan Baez, Bob Dylan aligned
themselves with the civil rights movement

11. • Pop bands also popularized the genre
-> folk rock
• The British Invasion changed American pop
music
• Beat-driven, electrified folk music
e.g. Pete Seeger’s “Turn Turn Turn” became a
hit when covered by the Byrds (1965)

12. • Most famous and successful folk rock star
• Formed several rock’n’roll bands in high
school; became well-known as a folk singer
• 1963 - released “Blowin’ in the Wind”
• 1965 - “Like a Rolling Stone”

13. • The Vietnam War spawned many protest songs
• Originally only opposed by a small percentage
of Americans, anti-war sentiment grew

14. • Written by Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters
• Protesting against school systems (the
establishment), in particular boarding schools
(mind control)
• Banned in South Africa (during the Apartheid)
• Pink Floyd’s only No. 1 hit
• School choir
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8AKM0PYv
-k

15. DeCurtis, Anthony, James Henke, and Holly George-Warren. The
Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock & Roll: the
Definitive History of the Most Important Artists and Their
Music. New York: Random House, 1992. Print.
Shuker, Roy. Popular Music: the Key Concepts. New York:
Routledge, 2005. Print.
McKeen, William. “Bob Dylan.” World Book Multimedia
Encyclopedia. Version 15.0.1. Software MacKiev. 2011.
Software.