Music has been used as a form of protest for centuries. Protest music is a media made to bring attention to social and political issues and call for changes to fix them. This is a phenomenon seen throughout American history and is still seen in today’s day and age. The diversity within the category of protest music is mind blowing, with many of the pieces under its classification coming from a plethora of different genres. Many of the pieces included in the category are also from multiple eras of American history. The examples featured in this paper span from simple tunes sung in the Revolutionary Era, such as “Yankee Doodle”, to modern rap and R&B records by artists such as Kali Uchis, H.E.R., and Childish Gambino. All the works later mentioned
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The Revolutionary War saw an era of blossoming musical creativity, leading to many new innovations in the field of music and the styles of music that were popular at the time. “Yankee Doodle” is a highly notable song created during this age. Interestingly enough, the song that has echoed through the childhoods of generations of Americans is actually considered a protest song (Foner and Garraty). The “Yankee Doodle” is said to have been originally written by a British doctor named Richard Schuckburg in 1755 to make fun of American Colonists. He referred to Americans as “doodles,” meaning country hicks, and “dandies,” meaning cocky jerks. The song was later played by the British during the battles of Lexington and Concord to mock the American soldiers. While the battle initially looked bad for the Americans, things later took a turn with the Americans launching an effective counterattack, allegedly singing “Yankee Doodle” as a way to reclaim the song and use it to be proud of their …show more content…
gave his “I have a Dream” speech (Henwood). Most recently, Kali Uchis and Ozuna collaborated on a song titled “Another Day in America.” The song is an interpolation of the song “America” from the musical West Side Story, which was originally written to highlight the treatment of newcomers to America and non-white citizens. The song and the scene in the play that features it set up a division between the United States and Puerto Rico to show how many White Americans do not distinguish between Puerto Ricans and other Latin American immigrants despite Puerto Rico’s long-standing status as a U.S. territory (Helfand). The updated version of the song touches on the issues and disparities within American society, specifically honing in on the experiences of immigrants and impacts of capitalism. The pre-chorus spotlights the challenges of immigrants and how the sacrifices they make and the dreams they enter the country with are often overpowered by the harsh realities of actually living in
The Revolutionary War saw an era of blossoming musical creativity, leading to many new innovations in the field of music and the styles of music that were popular at the time. “Yankee Doodle” is a highly notable song created during this age. Interestingly enough, the song that has echoed through the childhoods of generations of Americans is actually considered a protest song (Foner and Garraty). The “Yankee Doodle” is said to have been originally written by a British doctor named Richard Schuckburg in 1755 to make fun of American Colonists. He referred to Americans as “doodles,” meaning country hicks, and “dandies,” meaning cocky jerks. The song was later played by the British during the battles of Lexington and Concord to mock the American soldiers. While the battle initially looked bad for the Americans, things later took a turn with the Americans launching an effective counterattack, allegedly singing “Yankee Doodle” as a way to reclaim the song and use it to be proud of their …show more content…
gave his “I have a Dream” speech (Henwood). Most recently, Kali Uchis and Ozuna collaborated on a song titled “Another Day in America.” The song is an interpolation of the song “America” from the musical West Side Story, which was originally written to highlight the treatment of newcomers to America and non-white citizens. The song and the scene in the play that features it set up a division between the United States and Puerto Rico to show how many White Americans do not distinguish between Puerto Ricans and other Latin American immigrants despite Puerto Rico’s long-standing status as a U.S. territory (Helfand). The updated version of the song touches on the issues and disparities within American society, specifically honing in on the experiences of immigrants and impacts of capitalism. The pre-chorus spotlights the challenges of immigrants and how the sacrifices they make and the dreams they enter the country with are often overpowered by the harsh realities of actually living in