Melissa Champney P.S. 375 7-29-2010

Protest Songs

Music records history. Listening to music from a different time period and

imagining the meaning and significance the songs had on the people who lived through

those experiences is inspiring . Music was a vital part of the Civil Rights Movement.

Music unites people, comforts and strengthens people. For these reasons, the participation

of song writers and musicians during the Civil Rights Movement, made a significant

impact on society and culture. Songs of the movement were thought provoking and

brought attention to the meaning of freedom and to important issues concerning civil

rights. Musicians from all backgrounds and genres including; blues, rock, jazz, gospel,

and folk, came together to ignite change. Together they were effective in creating insurgent consciousness.

1. “Freedom Suite” by Sonny Rollins, a jazz tenor saxophonist, is jazz music’s first

extended instrumental protest song. As Murray Horwitz, from the American Film

Institute, in response to “Freedom Suite” writes, “Jazz is music that celebrates freedom

and that is a jazz piece that celebrates freedom as well as any ever has.”

Despite Rollins popularity in the New York music scene, he was frequently faced

with explicit racism. It was after an attempt to rent a New York City apartment and being

denied due to his race, that he realized, “Here I had all these reviews, newspaper articles

and pictures, but what did it all mean if you were still a nigger?” It was that incident and

final realization that inspired him to write “Freedom Suite.”

It was written four years after the Brown v. Board of Education decision, at the onset of the civil rights movement. He contributed to the movement in the only way he knew how, with the freedom of artistic expression through music. “Freedom Suite,” compels audiences both emotionally and intellectually, throughout the nearly twenty

minute instrumental. It is clear that Rollins was trying to make a statement about the

freedom of his people and about his own musical freedom. “Freedom Suite” is a protest

piece that exemplifies, not only his life of foul treatment based on the color of his skin,

but against the poor treatment of African Americans throughout history. In the original

liner notes of the album, Rollins wrote,

“America is deeply rooted in Negro culture: its colloquialisms; its humor; its music. How ironic that the Negro, who more than any other people can claim America's culture as his own, is being persecuted and repressed; that the Negro, who has exemplified the humanities in his very existence, is being rewarded with inhumanity."

2. “Fables of Faubus” by is a jazz piece released in 1959. The song was written in a direct protest against Arkansas governor Orval Faubus, who in 1957 sent the National Guard to prevent nine African American teenagers from attending Central

High School, in Little Rock Arkansas, instigating a riot. President Eisenhower sent in federal troops to enforce the Brown ruling and desegregate Central High School. As a

response, Governor Faubus closed all Little Rock schools for nearly a year before the

supreme court ordered them to re-open in August of 1959.

The lyrics of “Fables of Faubus” were understandable controversial at the time.

Therefore, the song was recorded as an instrumental piece, after Columbia records

refused to allow the lyrics of the song to be included.

The vocals are in a “call and response” form between Mingus and his drummer

Richmond. Mingus asks, “Name me someone who is ridiculous.“ and Richmond replies,

“Governor Faubus.” Mingus then asks, “Why is he so sick and ridiculous?” Richmond replies, “He won’t permit integrated schools.” In 1960, the song was recorded with lyrics, on the album, “Charles Mingus Presents Charles Mingus,” produced by an independent record label. In a 1962 review, Don Heckman commented, “… Faubus emerges in a glare of ridicule as a mock villain whom no-one really takes seriously. This kind of commentary, brimful of feeling, bitingly direct and harshly satiric, appears far too rarely in jazz."

3. “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” was released in 1969. It was written by

Levon Helm and Robbie Robertson and performed by The Band and Joan Baez. The

lyrics tell of the last days of the and its aftermath. References to

Robert E. Lee, Danville train, and Stoneman’s Calvary adds realism to the fictional story.

Some argue that the song is historically inaccurate, but it never-the-less, creates an

impression of a true story. Ralph Gleason in a review in Rolling Stone stated,

“It seems impossible that this isn’t some traditional material handed down from

father to son straight from the winter of 1865 to today. It has that ring of truth and the

whole aura of authenticity.”

The song brings out an emotional response, for me, despite being a pro-

Confederate song. I can not help but feel sympathy for the rebel Virgil. His way of life, as he knows it, has ended. It creates a bleak and saddened mood for the listener. It

exemplifies defeat and the shattering of tradition in the South. The chorus, however, refers to the North rejoicing after the victory, “the bells were ringing,” and “the people were singing.” It is a reminder that one man’s victory, is another man’s defeat.

4. “For What it’s Worth” was written in 1966 by Stephen Stills and performed by

Buffalo Springfield. The song has come to be associated with the strong objection to the

Vietnam War. During the 1970s, the song was believed to be written in response to the

Kent State shootings, in which four unarmed college students, who were protesting the

American invasion of Cambodia, were shot to death by the Ohio National Guard. Despite the fact that the song predates the event by four years. However, Stephen Stills reportedly wrote the song in response to the closing of a popular club in Hollywood and the rising turbulence that pursued between law enforcement and young club goers. Regardless of the songs original intent, it became one of the most popular protest songs of the 1960s and beyond. The song embodies everything a protest song should, from invoking thought, to speculation and encouragement of change. The beginning line, “There’s something happening here,” gives listeners insight into the reality that something really big was about to happen, something that would change American history forever.

The song has been covered and sampled many times by varying artists, including

Public Enemy. It also appropriately appears on the Forest Gump Soundtrack.

Questions:

1. What are the functions of music and what does music mean to you? 2. In what ways did music impact the Civil Rights Movement and do you think it contributed to the overall outcome? 3. Is it the musical composition of a song or it’s lyrics that contribute most to the meaning, popularity and impact of a song?

Fables of Faubus

by Charles Mingus

Oh, Lord, don't let 'em shoot us! Oh, Lord, don't let 'em stab us! Oh, Lord, don't let 'em tar and feather us! Oh, Lord, no more swastikas! Oh, Lord, no more ! Name me someone who's ridiculous, Dannie. Governor Faubus! Why is he so sick and ridiculous? He won't permit integrated schools. Then he's a fool! Boo! Nazi Fascist supremists! Boo! Ku Klux Klan (with your Jim Crow plan) Name me a handful that's ridiculous, . Faubus, Rockefeller, Eisenhower Why are they so sick and ridiculous? Two, four, six, eight: They brainwash and teach you hate. H-E-L-L-O, Hello.

Definition of tar-and-feather: In a typical tar-and-feathers attack, the subject of a crowd's anger would be stripped to his waist. Hot tar was either poured or painted onto the person while he was immobilized. Then the victim either had feathers thrown on him or was rolled around on a pile of feathers so that they stuck to the tar. Often the victim was then paraded around town on a cart or a rail. The aim was to hurt and humiliate a person enough to leave town and not cause any more mischief. This was a relatively rare form of mob punishment for African Americans in the post-bellum U.S. South as its goal is typically pain and humiliation rather than death (as in the more common lynching and burning alive).[2] There were several examples of tar and feathering of African Americans in the lead up to World War I in Vicksburg, Mississippi.[2]