Author : Hughes Nelson
Music is one of the most powerful tools to make an impact on society. It is said that music has more power compared to a book. Along with that, it has the potential to bring more audiences in a short time frame. Music can be distributed to more people than books. It is much easier to influence with a piece of good music. That is why, music can be used in every possible situation. It has not only been used in happy situations but it has also been used for protest or war situations. With the help of music, you can influence people to do protests too.
Until now a lot of protest music has been made according to the circumstances. By using protest songs, people have conveyed their feeling, message, and emotion. Music makes it much easier to handle a situation. People create protest songs, to make people understand what they are feeling and what change they want. It is a much more effective thing when it comes to changing something in society. Along with that, it is a non-violent way of dealing with things. It is a non-violence way where people get the opportunity to express their thoughts and beliefs to worldwide people. There are a lot of things that can be done with a protest song. But there are people who don’t completely understand the power of a protest song. Therefore let’s know about-
What is the power of protest music?
Protest music has the potential to send a social message and make changes in the systems of society. There is no other thing that has the capability to make a change in society on such a large scale. It has the potential to make people aware of certain things. With the help of a protest song, you can influence people to their core. Along with that, you can bring more attention to your work in a short time span. If you can make songs that are associated with some social movement then you can gain listeners from all around the world.
What is the power of collective singing?
A thing becomes even more impactful when a large audience comes together and sings along with a song. There is nothing more powerful than accumulating people and claiming one specific thing altogether. We have seen that a lot of times dancing was forbidden but there was no barrier to singing. That is why people have chosen this tool and used it to make bigger changes in the society and world. For example, songs like ‘We Shall Overcome’ and John Lennon’s ‘Give Peace A Chance’ has been sung by thousands of people at protest marches. When a large number of people come together for a certain event and sing altogether then it becomes impossible to avoid it. That is why, collective singing has a lot more potential to bring change.
How to make an impact on society?
It has been seen that a protest song makes a change by saying it out loud. Previously in the 60s people both black and white sang a lot of songs during racial prejudice and inequality. They came altogether to make an impact by singing songs. The song ‘Mississippi Goddam’ by Nina Simone created a huge buzz among everyone and succeeded to point out some serious problems in a Baptist church in Birmingham, Alabama. In that situation, four teenagers were killed due to the bombing. It became a Civil Rights movement and people came together to make protest such a big crisis. At that moment, everyone joined and tried to establish their perspective and make a change in society. Therefore, people made an impact by saying it out loud.
What was the power of pop songs in this matter?
In this period of time, we have all seen how pop songs made a difference. During the Civil Rights and anti-war movements there were a lot of pop songs that have been made and sung together to grab the attraction of the people who were in the higher authorities. The government also faced a lot of tough times in that situation. But all the songs were not always against the government and laws. Songs have also been made in their support too, which was quite necessary. In support of John F Kennedy, Frank Sinatra made a song against Richard Nixon. In support of Kennedy they made impactful songs that have lyrics like ‘Everyone wants to back Jack/Jack is on the right track/’Cause he’s got high hopes’. It was a successful creation in this movement, which has shaken everyone.
In every needed time, when it was required for everyone to come together and stand against something wrong, people have really done that. Everyone has shown the power of people and the importance of protest songs. It has always been one of the most necessary and impactful parts of our society.
