Hecate's posting of Donovan's "Universal Soldier" in the republished essay Too Many Dogs put this topic in mind.
I'm not thinking of your standard battle songs here -- no "Over There", no "Battle Hymn of the Republic", no "Star Spangled Banner". I'm thinking more of songs from an anti-war, or at least anti-glorification of war perspective.
When Summer Luk was a student at Biola University , she was forced to sign a contract promising not to drink, party, or have sex...and of course, definitely not to be transgender. The Hong Kong native has now transferred to NYU, has been able to come out to her professors as who she is, has interned for GLAAD, and the music major has written and recorded an original song, now made into a video directed by Laura Camarena and featuring a diverse group of transgender people.
The lyric video explores the performative nature of gender, the difficulties of navigating the legal system and finding a place where transgender people are protected as citizens against prejudice, discrimination and hate-motivated violence. By including transgender people who are of different races, ages, faiths, and stages in their transition this video showcases the huge spectrum that exists within the community.
--Summer Luk
| Happy 4/11/16 |
~Emma Goldman
Sigh. Often I get to feelin' overwhelmed and dismayed when I think of the battles that we, and our younger comrades at arms, face. One of the best elixers for me is music.
I so enjoyed the comments and great music that c99 folks posted on last weekend's Bread and Roses article. This weekend, let's have some fun with religion parody songs. It's been a helluva week and we could use a bit of a giggle. First off, Phil Ochs' classic definition of protest music. See below.
This is a long video, "Lost in Translation: Audio Quality in Streaming Media" and it stars Andrew Scheps. You may know some of his recordings:
...all Grammy winners.
By Bisbonian , adapted, from That Orange Place
Tuesday May 29, 2012 · 4:07 AM PDT
I first heard the song as a young boy, recorded by Arlo Guthrie on the album One Night. Arlo, of course, learned it from his father, (though there are slight differences between their versions). Woody and Arlo both called the song "Buffalo Skinners". Here is Woody:
I love protest songs, of all kinds, all eras, all genres, pretty much all the time. Like many here, I'm particularly fond of protest songs from the 60s & 70s; I'm such a folkie, it's embarrassing. I have no expertise but lots of enthusiasm, and I so hope you'd contribute some of your knowledge and experiences of the songs. First, what is a protest song? Phil Ochs has the best definition of them all. Please see below.
Too much talk of war, yesterday.
