When does music become a form of protest? Is it about the lyrics or the musical style? There are no clear answers to these questions, which closely relate to the nature of protest itself. One thing is for certain: across all continents and throughout the ages, music has been and remains a vehicle for expressing criticism of authorities. It is used to speak up against current conditions, sometimes at great personal risk. Whether rock, pop or techno – across all musical genres, artists use their music to call for solidarity, to persevere, to enlighten, to inspire reflection. Music can cause strong emotions, build identity and create affinity. Grievances and crises often serve as inspiration.
Entire musical genres can trace their roots back to protest, such as punk or hip-hop. Some artists manage to create a certain mood, a sound that is in keeping with political demands and the criticism being articulated at the time. Their songs anchor themselves in people’s minds, becoming icons. By being reinterpreted again and again, they can last for decades. Individual songs even become the sound of a generation or a decade, while others are decoupled from the original theme and are sung at different protests. But what all protest songs have in common is their role as a sign of hope. That’s because whenever people get loud, and whenever they speak up, there can be change.
NOIZE MC – НА МАРСЕ КЛАССНО (2010)
When Vladimir Putin launched Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine in February 2022, many Russian musicians wanted to express their disgust publicly, despite the threat of repression and violence from the government. Rapper Noize MC republished his 2010 track На Марсе Классно (It’s great on Mars) on social media. Telling the story about a civilisation on Mars that was wiped out by a nuclear war, the song can be understood as a dedication to pacifism and as a clear message to the Russian president. Science fiction can be a refuge for narratives that would be inconceivable or even dangerous in the real world. The genre makes it possible to represent both utopias and the greatest fears and terrors – not only of their creators, but also of entire communities. By transferring real world scenarios into outer space, fiction becomes a shelter that saves artists from persecution and condemnation.
LESLEY GORE – YOU DON’T OWN ME (1963)
It may seem striking that one of the greatest feminist anthems of the 20th century was written by two men. But singer Lesley Gore, only seventeen years old at the time, made it completely her own when she interpreted the song in 1963 and put considerable emphasis on its message. At that time, the New York Times described her performance as “indelibly defiant”. Gore sings about her self-determination as a woman. This may seem like a topic from the early 1960s and second wave feminism, but the message of the song has never lost its urgency over the decades. Nowadays, as women’s rights once again come under attack all over the world, the message couldn’t be more topical: you don’t own me!
MON LAFERTE AND GUAYNAA – PLATA TA TÁ (2019)
With their song Plata Ta Tá, Chilean singer Mon Laferte and Puerto Rican rapper Guaynaa showed their support for the Chilean mass protests that began in 2019. The movement was directed against the government and growing social inequality. By uniting protest with pop culture, the song became extremely popular. While its highly professional music video even starred Mexican actress Yalitza Aparicio, the song title and the striking knocking sounds are a reference to the Latin American form of protest called Cacerolazos, where people bang on pots and pans to make noise and show that the pots are empty and food will be scarce. By combining these efforts with personal protest actions, such as showing the message “In Chile, they torture, rape and kill” on her uncovered breast at the Latin Grammy Awards, Mon Laferte brought great international attention to the whole movement.
PLANLOS – ÜBERALL (1983)
The history of many punk bands from the former East Germany, or German Democratic Republic (GDR), shows that musicians often take a great personal risk to speak up against an unjust state. Anyone who was nonconformist
in the GDR was very likely to face great personal disadvantages such as surveillance and repression. This meant that being a punk – which for many people was the ultimate form of rebellion in the late 1970s and early 1980s – was a very risky choice in the GDR. The Ministry for State Security called punks “filthy” and “antisocial” and made breaking down the scene its goal. Members of punk bands were repeatedly imprisoned or were forced to infiltrate the scene under question-able conditions. Against all odds, punk groups released uncompromising songs that described the situation in the unjust state in clear terms. They included the classic punk song Überall by the East Berlin band Planlos, which deals with permanent state surveillance.
JOAN BAEZ – WE SHALL OVERCOME (1963)
When civil rights activist Martin Luther King gave his famous “I have a dream” speech to 250,000 people at the March on Washington in 1963, 22-year-old Joan Baez sang the protest song. With her incomparable interpretation – and by tailoring the final verse for the event – Baez became an icon of the movement and the song itself became the protest song par excellence. Originally, the Afro-American gospel song had been sung by the workers’ movement around 1903, such as during strikes. It was then popularised in the 1950s by the activist and musician Peter Seeger. The song expresses solidarity, cohesion and the desire for freedom, as well as the hope for a better future. Baez’ work is often reinterpreted around the world in the struggle for equality, peace and freedom, such as in the Anti-Apartheid Movement in South Africa or the German peace movement in the 1990s and 1980s.
EL PROFESOR – BELLA CIAO (HUGEL REMIX) (2018)
Can the culture industry depoliticise a protest song? For El Profesor’s summer hit of 2018, the Hugel remix Bella Ciao, it might seem so. The song became popular again from its use in the successful Spanish drama television
series Money Heist. Suddenly, the anthem of Italian partisans in World War II was sung in clubs and on beaches – most likely without having the fight against Mussolini’s and Hitler’s fascism in mind. So, is Ciao Bella still a song about fighting and resistance? Yes, because to endure protest music must adapt and renew itself. Its message has remained the same; its simple and catchy melody is timeless and still able to enthuse people. Thanks to its
new fame, the song is now sung at protests around the world. But whether it is heard in Italy, Chile or Hong Kong, the music cannot be separated from its own history.
ASA – JAILER (2017)
In her 2007 song Jailer, Nigerian-born singer Asa not only addresses the philosophical and psychological question of the relationship between guards and prisoners, but also denounces the arbitrariness and brutality of the police in her home country. In Nigeria, music and protest are closely intertwined. In the country where history was removed from the school curricula for roughly ten years (2007-2019), music plays an important role in educating people about historical events. The artist became a driving force behind the #EndSARS protests ten years after the release of her song. The Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) was a special unit of the Nigerian police that was accused of kidnapping Nigerians and then extorting their families. The unit has now been officially disbanded – but Asa continues to sing against ignorance, indifference and modern slavery.
Author: Merle Strunk, M.A.
Education and Knowledge Transfer Officer
Merle Strunk, M.A., is a historian with a focus on knowledge transfer in museums. She has been involved in exhibition and publication projects at various institutions, including the Museum of Work. As a history educator, she is engaged in building bridges between historical events and the present at the Bundeskanzler-Helmut-Schmidt-Stiftung. In addition, she works on issues of visual and public history.
Author: Hendrik Heetlage, M.A.
Hendrik Heetlage is a historian and was research assistant of the programme "Global Markets and Social Justice" until March 2023 at the Bundeskanzler-Helmut-Schmidt-Stiftung. His focus is on (German) contemporary history and the history of modern China. In addition to historical exhibition projects, he works on history and the communication of history in digital space.
