When I came of age, I listened to Joan Baez, Holly Near anti-war songs during the late 1970s and 1980s. Sure, there are singer/songwriters who you would expect to have anti-war/political songs -- Ani Difranco, Holly Near.
Chuck Brodsky's Dangerous Times lyrics catch me every time
These are dangerous times
And so we lose our rights
While these terrorists among us
Do their dirty work at night
There isn't time to read
The contents of the bills
That Congress votes for anyway
Up there on The Hill
There's terror in our midst
It wears the good disguise
Fools alot of people
They seem like such regular guys
Rewriting all the rules
You don't have any say
In fact they even count on you
To look the other way
There's terror in our midst
All over the tv
It's what's behind the words
That scares the daylights out of me
The twisting of the facts
The stretching of the truth
The terrorists among us
They manipulate the news
But....don't count out the other singer/songwriters...hip hop. The Hip Hop community is stepping up to write anti-war/political songs. Take a look at HipHopSlam. Direct, no messing around lyrics that tell the urban African American take on the war, politics. DJs of Mass Destruction are pretty blunt: "What Weapons Of Mass Destruction" and "Nobody Cares (Die for oil sucker)" are two songs.
What they say about how the music is created -- The website calls it "cut and paste music"...
The political cut-and-paste production style that dominants the War (If It Feels Good, Do It) compilation is inspired by Steinski, who pioneered this genre back in the early 1980's along with other artists such as Keith La Blanc, who in 1984 produced for Tommy Boy No Sellout/Malcolm X which drew from Malcolm X speeches over hip hop beats, and Bonzo Goes To Washington whose 1984 single Five Minutes was built around Ronald Reagan's infamous "We begin bombing in five minutes" quote. At this same time Steinski, along with partner Double Dee, was in the midst of recording the classic Lessons trilogy, the first Lesson "The Payback Mix" being released in 1983. But it was after he went solo in 1985 that Steinski (along with his fictional band "Mass Media") began recording the groundbreaking song The Motorcade Sped On which would define the genre of "political cut-and-paste" music. Instead of using just one sample repeatedly to create an abstract message "Motorcade" took the concept of a hip hop driven, sample-based, political/historical commentary to a whole new level with its abundant use of various samples-mostly cut-up TV/radio news reports-all cohesively weaved together over hypnotic beats and breaks to eloquently retell the tragic story of the assassination of JFK. Unfortunately, due to some of the samples, this masterpiece would never be commercially released in the US. It was released eventually in the UK in January '87 on a free 7" EP with NME magazine.Consequently this political cut-and-paste genre, which sometimes employs electronic music as its backdrop, has become increasingly prolific especially in the USA where sampling political figures is copyright free. Hence countless
American politicians have become recording artists without ever setting foot in a studio: the biggest stars of this sample-based genre being presidents. From Reagan, whose aforementioned "Five Minutes" sound bite has
fueled many songs (and even makes a cameo on this Hip Hop Slam compilation), to George Bush senior who pops up on several tracks on the same compilation, to Bill Clinton, and of course Dubya (the backbone of this CD), US leaders have supplied cut-and-paste artists with much material. For some reason Republican presidents tend to be the most popular to sample with State of the Union (S.O.T.U.) addresses and wartime presidential TV news bites ranking as the most recorded sources.[from HipHopSlam War]
Today, in honor of the US Democrat nominee for President:
Mark Erelli sings Blue-eyed Boston Boy:
He was just a blue eyed Boston boy
His voice was low with pain
I'll do your bidding comrade mine
If I ride back again
But if you ride on and I should fall
You'll do as much for me
Mother at home is awaiting the news
So write her tenderly
.....Straight way was the course to the top of the hill
The rebels they shot with shot and shell
Ploughed furrows of death through the toiling ranks
And guarded them as the fell
There soon came a horrible dying sound
From the heights they could not gain
And those that doom and death had spared
Rose slowly back again[Blue-Eyed Boston Boy, from Memorial Hall Recordings, 2002]
While Blue-Eyed Boston Boy is a traditional tune that reminds me of one of themes of the Convention in Boston: Revolution, in fact, Blue-Eyed Boston Boy is a Civil War song that has its origins in Kentucky and Arkansas.
Other folks who have recorded this song include Mike Seeger, Hazel Dickens and Alice Gerard, Jerry Garcia and David Grisman,and Bob Dylan.
Based in Western Australia, tho they get to North America pretty often, the Waifs have a bright singer/songwriter sound. Clear vocals and words, very pleasant voices and guitars. They are very popular in Australia.
Yes, her phrasing and guitar sounds a little like Dar Williams, but Edie Carey's her song "Compromise: Be a Poet About It" is beautiful, evocative. She's already got 4 CDs, the newest is When I was Made
Not a Klezmer maven, but the Sephardic/Eastern European sounds of a song by Pharoah's Daughter made me think maybe I should listen more often.
Definitely check out the Klezmer Shack for much more thorough coverage of Klezmer music.
When I stumbled across the link during my Po' Girl foray, I could tell by the name, Little Red Hen Music Collective was gonna be good. Based in Brooklyn, NY, Little Red Hen looks like focuses on support, a record label, and concert production of singer/songwriters in the collective, such as the Be Good Tanyas, Libby Kirkpatrick, and Kristin Sweetland. Not familiar with any of them, though I have heard of the Be Good Tanyas.
Plenty of new music to taste this weekend.!
Not a big po boy fan, but I sat up and listened to this relatively new Canadian trio's serving of acoustic blues they write themselves. Sound is authentic and radical at the same time.
Their first cd was released last year and they plan another one for this summer.
What is in that Northern water, I want to know?
I was introduced to nueva cancion , Inti Illimani's music, through Holly Near's music. In the mid-1980s, she recorded and toured with Inti Illimani. The record Sing to Me the Dream, on Redwood Records, now out of print, was one of my favorites of hers. Throughout her career, and especially in the 80s and 90s, Near spoke about the music , wrote songs about women's and men's lives Central and South America, about the US political legacy in those countries. The flutes and other Chilean instruments authenticate her songs on this record, though, draw one towards the Southern Hemisphere, to the mountains, to the language, to the people.
Green Linnet sells Inti's music in the US.
Nueva Cancion tradition/legacy:
In addition to Inti Illamani, Nueva Cancion came through the music of Victor Jara. He was tortured and murdered during Pinochet's coup in Chile 31 years ago.
Arlo Guthrie co-wrote a song about Jara. Violetta Parra is another artist to check out.
[nb: Nueva cancion is a big topic and I know just small pieces, music I like. I include links to more extensive sites, written by those more knowledeable.]
Strong voice, strong lyrics, vibrant guitar, Brigitte DeMeyer's songs are like a strong original coffee blend coming through the speakers. Looks like she plays Northern California, San Francisco area, mostly, but I hope she makes her way East. Original voice echoing the threads of American folk: bluegrass, country, blues...
Buy Nothing Comes Free and Another Thousand Miles at CD Baby
Folk Alley is an online radio show that plays, amazingly enough, only Folk music! It was created by WKSU, which plays a lot of folk music on the radio. You have to register to listen, but that's it.
More fresh singer/songwriters from Canada: Amy Campbell
I hear influences of Joni Mitchell and Ani DiFranco -- but like so many new singers I've heard lately, very much her own woman, her own songs, singing new melodies and lyrics for the new century in the same old world.
Listen to songs at New Music Canada.
Buy her CD Architecture: Live at the Opera House on CD Baby.
Read a resounding review at the Estrogen Zone of her music and CD.