We Want the Airwaves: Music for Human Rights (Part 1)

The Times They Are a Changin' (the song and the album of the same name) and Blowin' In the Wind pretty much speak for themselves here. They both became huge anti-war, civil rights ballads, even to this day. Dylan would go on to stray away from his more politicized music of the early 1960s, but make no doubt about it, Dylan is basically one of the founding fathers of the modern day protest song.

Neil Young

In 1970 Neil Young was in a little band called Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young. This also happens to be the same year that four students were murdered by the Ohio National Guard at Kent State University for protesting the Vietnam War. The amazing Ohio came after as a subsequent result and became one of the most famous anti-war, pro activist songs ever written. After CSNY disbanded, Young went on as a solo artist and penned the song Southern Man. Southern Man is a social commentary that vividly describes the racism that Southern whites had for blacks at the time. It was so poignant that Lynyrd Skynyrd wrote the song Sweet Home Alabama in response, included with the lyrics,


Neil Young went on to write many more socially conscious songs and still does to this day, inspiring modern day bands, one of which being the likes of Pearl Jam.


Another artist you may have heard of is former Beatle John Lennon. Imagine is a song that asks the world to think about what life would be like if there were no borders, no nations, but peaceful people living together in harmony. Not exactly the most attainable concept in reality, but aren't the ideas similar to what all activists work for in some way? I think so at least. Instant Karma, in the same vein as Imagine focuses on the idea of people living a better world. Lennon went on to write these and other amazing songs until his death in 1980.



The Clash
One of my personal favorite bands, The Clash, brings us into more into modern music. The Clash were probably one of the most socially conscious bands of all time, touching upon topics, both modern and historical, that
dealt with the plight of the common man trying to live in world dominated by greed and apathy. Spanish Bombs is a song that refers to the Spanish Civil War and praises the Nationalists who ended the dictatorial rule of Spain and its territories. The song also references Federico García Lorca, a poet who killed during the war for his revolutionary views. Know Your Rights is a scathing commentary about how often human rights are disrespected and violated around the world, exemplified here,


The entire Clash catalog is full of lyrics and songs that are extremely globally focused, as well Joe Strummer's solo work after The Clash disbanded. I certainly recommend it.


Another artist who was extremely aware of the reality of the world around him was Bob Marley. Bob Marley sang about what he saw happening around him, whether it was a Punky Reggae Party or just a jam session (Jammin') Marley portrayed the world as he saw it through his music. This is clearly exemplified in the song Get Up, Stand Up.


Marley didn't have any illusions about life, he knew that injustice and
hate existed in the world, but in Redemption Song he urged people to free their minds from mental slavery, saying they were the only who could do it.

U2

I know that this is probably pretty obvious due to the band's, and especially Bono's, involvement in humanitarian causes, aka the One Campaign. However, years before the One Campaign got under way U2 has been a very socially conscious group, hailing from Ireland especially where war and terror was an everyday occurrence. Sunday Bloody Sunday is a song that describes the events of the Bloody Sunday Massacre, where 14 unarmed civil rights protesters where shot and killed by members of the British Army in Northern Ireland. Mothers of the Disappeared is a song that describes the experience that numerous families went through in Latin America during the dictatorial rule of many countries during the 1980s, disappearances. Making people "disappear" was one of the tactics that many of these brutal dictators used to get rid of anyone they saw as harmful to their power structure. This tactic was especially prevalent in Nicaragua, Argentina, and El Salvador. For most of U2's career they have written about and participating in global awareness raising and continue to do so today. Their entire collection is littered with songs that address the numerous problems facing the world.

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Due to the fact that I have too much to say about these bands this post is starting to get quite lengthy. But don't fret if I have yet to discuss a group that you think should definitely be included in this list, I will be putting out Part 2 very soon, that will takes us out of the 1980's all the way up to the world today. Stay tuned to your favorite local human rights network for this and other great content!