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Esther Clarke

Sing me a song with social significance

For me at least, music is all about emotion; there’s just something about the combination of certain words - sometimes phrases that express something I didn’t even realise I was feeling - with certain notes that inevitably leads me to contemplate quietly, smile stupidly, or (most commonly) enjoy singing along at the top of my lungs while knowing the entire lyrics word for word. Each Spotify playlist (other music streaming services are available - we all know this, I probably don’t need to say it) or CD, when I give it my full attention, is an exploration of the intersections between memories and beliefs, highs and lows, past, present and future.


Some songs, inexplicably, pull from within the depths of me a sort of righteous anger that I was, up until that moment, completely unaware was simmering right below the surface. I’m never quite sure what it is about these songs that makes this happen - someone more familiar with music psychology could probably tell you - but I find myself inexorably drawn in to share in the singer’s indignation. The most peculiar thing about these songs is that it doesn’t tend to matter what exactly the singer is outraged about; whether it’s a social or political issue I was previously aware of or concerned about somehow ceases to be relevant. Accordingly I have, among other issues, found myself mildly angry about capitalism, the historical plight of the rural poor, racism, sexism, the loss of English folk music and it’s associated identity, immoral bankers, the outcome of the Battle of Hastings, the wronged lower classes, colonialism and Margaret Thatcher. I will leave it up to you as the reader to decide which of these issues are ones I hadn’t previously considered being outraged about: I’m sure anyone who knows me well could easily point to what topics are likely to make me a bit cross.


Therefore, in the spirit of getting a little bit outraged about some (mostly) worthy causes, I’m going to take a few lines (quite a few, let’s be honest here) to summarise some of my favourite anger-provoking songs, and give honourable mentions to those that didn’t quite make the cut.


First, though, let’s set the scene: the kind of songs I’ve been talking about are usually known as ‘protest songs’ i.e. songs associated with movements for social change, whether that be through pointing to a specific movement (known as ‘magnetic’) or expressing a more general political opinion (known as ‘rhetorical’). Songs of this nature have a rich and extensive history from all over the globe, popular in countries such as India, South Korea, South Africa, the U.S., Ireland and England in line with movements such as anti-apartheid, independence, feminism, anti-war and the American Civil Rights Movement. I’m going to stop here, for fear of this turning into a Wikipedia article, but if you want to know more the internet is full to bursting with this kind of information (and I’m sure libraries and bookshops are too).


To finally bring an end to my waffling - and as a nice little segway into my short list of songs - I thought I’d share a few lines from Sing Me a Song With Social Significance, a song originally from the musical revue known as Pins and Needles, which was written by Harold Rome and originally performed by the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union:


Sing me a song with social significance,

All other tunes are taboo.

I want a ditty with heat in it,

Appealing with feeling and meat in it...

Sing me of wars, sing me of breadlines,

Tell me of front page news,

Sing me of strikes and last minute headlines,

Dress your observations in syncopation.


1. What About Us? - P!nk


We are billions of beautiful hearts

And you sold us down the river too far

What about us?

What about all the times you said you had the answers?

What about us?

What about all the broken happy ever afters?


This song, intended as a political protest song, has always felt incredibly powerful to me: giving words to the voices of those forgotten by governments and by society, and demanding that they are finally given consideration. In view of this song being released in 2017, it’s very hard not to see it as deliberately directed at a certain then-occupant of the White House, but even now, after the political situation has changed, the questions remain pertinent. The lyrics, however, feel like more than just a request for answers from the powers that be; to me they sound like a heart-cry from the downtrodden and overlooked, personal to the point that this song could almost be mistaken for anger at the end of a relationship, rather than political neglect. Safe to say that if I’m not feeling outraged about how the government treats the left-behind in society when this song starts to play, I certainly am by the end of it.


Anger rating: 7/10 aka pretty aggrieved


2. Stand Down - Merry Hell


We are freedom, we are mercy, we are justice: On the tide of truth, we will rise and rise

‘Til the greedy feed the needy, ‘til the clever become wise

‘Til we find a way to teach, Mother Nature’s wayward son

To stop poisoning the well we draw our precious water from!

And oh, oh, oh a change is coming…

If you can’t see us, stand down! If you don’t believe in us, stand down!

If our names do not belong on the very tip of your tongue

Pack your bags and move along,

Stand down, stand down, stand down!


There’s something about this song that always ropes me into singing along, declaring freedom, mercy, justice, and angrily insisting that those to whom it is addressed ‘stand down’. However, it wasn’t until I looked at the full lyrics (resorting to using the lyrics book from the CD case because, frustratingly, no-one has uploaded them online) that I realised how elusive the actual meaning behind the lyrics is. It took me far more play-throughs than I could count to finally see through the absence of a specific cause (or, rather, the touching upon at least three or four different causes) and the unspecified ‘you’ being addressed (which may or may not be the ‘leaders of the world’ referred to twice) to the real heart of this song. ‘And it is my belief that a change is coming’ is the opening (spoken) line which lets us in on the secret of what the song is about: all that is wrong with the world as it currently is, the desperate desire to change that for the better, and the angry rebuffing of anyone who might chose to stand against that. And really, who can argue with that?


Anger rating: 8/10 aka quite cross


3. Uprising - Muse


Rise up and take the power back

It's time the fat cats had a heart attack

You know that their time is coming to an end

We have to unify and watch our flag ascend

So come on

They will not force us

They will stop degrading us

They will not control us

We will be victorious, so come on


Any fan of Muse will know they have an absolute wealth of protest songs to choose from: Supremacy, Propaganda, Revolt, Exo-Politics - the list goes on. I’ve decided to focus on the, arguably rather predictable, song Uprising. Supposedly a protest song about the banking situation at the time (it was released in 2009), the lyrics themselves have always appeared to me to be a rejection of the current societal set up as a whole. Uniquely, out of the tunes on this list, the song Uprising takes outrage a step further; beyond accusations of the truth being hidden and the people being controlled, there is, in a sense, a call to arms, or rather to ‘rise up and take the power back’ (really, the clue was always in the name). Surely it’s not just me thinking of the French Revolution(s) (or, at the very least, Les Miserables) when I hear the line ‘we have to unify and watch our flag ascend’? For me, this protest song is of note not just because of the indignation, but because it encourages listeners to believe that this anger is not just futile and that, if people unite, it may be possible to make change happen.


Anger rating: 6/10 aka fairly annoyed


4. Arrogance, Ignorance & Greed - Show of Hands


So where's your thrift, and your caution

Your honest sound advice?

You know you dealt yourself a winning hand

And loaded every dice

At every trough you stopped to feed

With your arrogance, your ignorance and greed


If ever there was a song to make me angry, it’s this one. An extensive denunciation of the way bankers and politicians load the dice in their favour when it comes to money, this song compares the life of the everyday person (complete with the desire for a home, unpaid loans and complete dependence on the highs and lows of the job market) against the life of the dishonest banker (complete with bonuses, expenses, yachts and the abandonment of morals in exchange for more money). Throughout the song these corrupt professionals are accused of being arrogant, ignorant, greedy, betrayers of the people, without morals, paid twice for their work, absolutely indifferent, avaricious and incompetent, and by the end of the song it’s very hard to disagree with any of these. The line that gets me every time, though, is the offended-sounding posing of this question: ‘so where’s your thrift, and your caution, your honest sound advice?’ as it manages to pinpoint exactly what the responsibility of these money-grabbers should be, and what they so often (falsely) claim they demonstrate. By the end of this song I’m definitely ready to demand some answers, at least, I feel ready to demand some answers.


Anger rating: 9/10 aka reasonably irate aka probably shouldn’t shout-sing these lyrics quite so loud


Special Mentions:

  • Killing in the Name* by Rage Against the Machine - the only song I can think of that’s a protest song twice over: once through its intended meaning, and again through being the focus of the 2009 campaign to prevent that years X-Factor winner from claiming the Christmas number one

  • Walk with Me (When the Sun Goes Down) by Show of Hands - asked to write a song about a lighter topic than their usual songs, the band produced this song, which spends an entire verse listing all the things the song is not about (rural poor, greedy bankers etc). In essence, this unassuming song contains a gentle protest about being asked not to write a protest song, which is an irony I find quite amusing.


Honourable Mentions:

  • Come On, England by Merry Hell

  • Country Life by Show of Hands

  • Do You Hear The People Sing? from Les Miserables

  • ‘English Rebel Songs 1381-1984’ (full album) by Chumbawamba

  • Jam Tomorrow* by Oysterband

  • Let Me Out by Gorillaz

  • Roots by Show of Hands

  • Supremacy by Muse

  • The World Turned Upside Down by Oysterband


(*song contains swearing)



Spotify playlist containing songs mentioned: https://open.spotify.com/embed/playlist/7vLfSiKjuEINM1ectXe2pB


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