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Let's see what we can come up with concerning issues of the day.

Songs concerning Peace or Protest, Oppression, etc. There's some good stuff out there, I have found a lot. Riot Folk, Punk, folk, freak, and others. Please, try to limit rap to meaningful oppression, and no death metal, and all the screaming, unless it is lyrically strong and comprehensible. That's all I ask. Unless, it really socks its to the man. White man Lily white, like me.

Or, funny will work.

I'll start it with a couple.

Here's a cover.



Here's a serious one.



One more great song.



Vietnam Vet with a cardboard sign
Sitting there by the left turn line
Flag on the wheelchair flapping in the breeze
One leg missing, both hands free
No one's paying much mind to him
The V.A. budget's stretched so thin
And there's more comin' home from the Mideast war
We can't make it here anymore

That big ol' building was the textile mill
It fed our kids and it paid our bills
But they turned us out and they closed the doors
We can't make it here anymore

See all those pallets piled up on the loading dock
They're just gonna set there till they rot
'Cause there's nothing to ship, nothing to pack
Just busted concrete and rusted tracks
Empty storefronts around the square
There's a needle in the gutter and glass everywhere
You don't come down here 'less you're looking to score
We can't make it here anymore

The bar's still open but man it's slow
The tip jar's light and the register's low
The bartender don't have much to say
The regular crowd gets thinner each day

Some have maxed out all their credit cards
Some are working two jobs and living in cars
Minimum wage won't pay for a roof,
won't pay for a drink
If you gotta have proof
just try it yourself Mr. CEO
See how far 5.15 an hour will go
Take a part time job at one of your stores
Bet you can't make it here anymore

High school girl with a bourgeois dream
Just like the pictures in the magazine
She found on the floor of the laundromat
A woman with kids can forget all that
If she comes up pregnant what'll she do
Forget the career, forget about school
Can she live on faith? live on hope?
High on Jesus or hooked on dope
When it's way too late to just say no
You can't make it here anymore

Now I'm stocking shirts in the Wal-Mart store
Just like the ones we made before
'Cept this one came from Singapore
I guess we can't make it here anymore

Should I hate a people for the shade of their skin
Or the shape of their eyes or the shape I'm in
Should I hate 'em for having our jobs today
No I hate the men sent the jobs away
I can see them all now, they haunt my dreams
All lily white and squeaky clean
They've never known want, they'll never know need
Their sh@# don't stink and their kids won't bleed
Their kids won't bleed in the da$% little war
And we can't make it here anymore

Will work for food
Will die for oil
Will kill for power and to us the spoils
The billionaires get to pay less tax
The working poor get to fall through the cracks
Let 'em eat jellybeans let 'em eat cake
Let 'em eat sh$%, whatever it takes
They can join the Air Force, or join the Corps
If they can't make it here anymore

And that's how it is
That's what we got
If the president wants to admit it or not
You can read it in the paper
Read it on the wall
Hear it on the wind
If you're listening at all
Get out of that limo
Look us in the eye
Call us on the cell phone
Tell us all why

In Dayton, Ohio
Or Portland, Maine
Or a cotton gin out on the great high plains
That's done closed down along with the school
And the hospital and the swimming pool
Dust devils dance in the noonday heat
There's rats in the alley
And trash in the street
Gang graffiti on a boxcar door
We can't make it here anymore

I appreciate the participation. I'm always looking for bands who tell it like it is.

peace

steve

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The passing traveler stops for food and music.

Howard the Duck

youtube being what it is, there are no Dylan videos, so here's the next best thing:-



it's protesting against poverty:-

Hollis Brown
He lived on the outside of town
Hollis Brown
He lived on the outside of town
With his wife and five children
And his cabin brokin' down.

You looked for work and money
And you walked a rugged mile
You looked for work and money
And you walked a rugged mile
Your children are so hungry
That they don't know how to smile.

Your baby's eyes look crazy
They're a-tuggin' at your sleeve
Your baby's eyes look crazy
They're a-tuggin' at your sleeve
You walk the floor and wonder why
With every breath you breathe.

The rats have got your flour
Bad blood it got your mare
The rats have got your flour
Bad blood it got your mare
If there's anyone that knows
Is there anyone that cares ?

You prayed to the Lord above
Oh please send you a friend
You prayed to the Lord above
Oh please send you a friend
Your empty pocket tell you
That you ain't a-got no friend.

Your babies are crying louder now
It's pounding on your brain
Your babies are crying louder now
It's pounding on your brain
Your wife's screams are stabbin' you
Like the dirty drivin' rain.

Your grass is turning black
There's no water in your well
Your grass is turning black
There's no water in your well
Your spent your last lone dollar
On seven shotgun shels.

Way out in the wilderness
A cold coyote calls
Way out in the wilderness
A cold coyote calls
Your eyes fix on the shortgun
That's hangin' on the wall.

Your brain is a-bleedin'
And your legs can't seem to stand
Your brain is a-bleedin'
And your legs can't seem to stand
Your eyes fix on the shortgun
That you're holdin' in your hand.

There's seven breezes a-blowin'
All around the cabin door
There's seven breezes a-blowin'
All around the cabin door
Seven shots ring out
Like the ocean's pounding roar.

There's seven people dead
On a south Dakota farm
There's seven people dead
On a south Dakota farm
Somewhere in the distance
There's seven new people born.

(the tune is ripped off from the folk standard Pretty Polly)

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Malaise is THE dominant human predilection.

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Poverty is an issue in this story. But, there's a lot going on in this story. It's classic Dylan that is for sure. Hollis had a lot of issues, and, it is kind of sad, It is more of a story of what resulted from several issues that evolved in a man's head that drove him crazy, which may have resulted from poverty. It's a great, sad, and poignant to the issue of poverty. We all know Dylan can pen, so thanks. I figured Dylan would be pouring in.

I figure to get a lot of 60's folk. I am actually looking for some recent stuff.

Ryan Harvey is this riot folk kid who fuc*ing slams everything. He makes Noam Chomsky look tame.

I'll post one. Check it out.

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The passing traveler stops for food and music.

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I don't know how old this kid is, but, he's young and he knows what's going on to be sure. Here's a little American History Lesson.





I horded all the fruits and all the vegetables and grains
Kept em for myself but made a price that you could pay
And from this early pattern a structure did become
And that's about the only that governments have done

I hired you to work for me so you could buy my food
Created an economy that barely gave a clue
That you did all the labor and I got all the funds
And that's about the only thing that governments have done

I built a giant fortress where my family could reside
Filled you workers up with myths of patriotic pride
Filled my life with luxury and politics and fun
And that's about the only that governments have done

I sent the children off to schools to be taught and trained
Into roles that benefit and keep the structure maintained
I kept them from their history and slowly made em' dumb
And that's about the only that governments have done

I built with brick a place for those who didn't play my game
Who wouldn't plow my fields for me or pay praise to my name
I built up giant prison walls so people couldn't run
And that's about the only that governments have done

I launched a million wars in the name of private greed
I killed off all the natives from the mountains to the sea
I murdered them with slavery, and small pox, and guns
And that's about the only thing that governments have done

I gave you back some freedom in that silly Bill of Rights
Used all the proper language so you wouldn't rise to fight
I fooled you all with imagery now look what I've become
And that's about the only thing that governments have done

Yes I fought long and hard to secure my place on top
Through bombs and tanks and crack cocaine and violence from the cops
I kept you apathetic and this is how I've won
And that's about the only thing that governments have done

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The passing traveler stops for food and music.

TheFolkslave

In my opinnion Phil Ochs was the greatest protest singer/songwriter. I'm a huge fan of his and it's so sad that he decided to take his own life. He was only 35-years old.

Here's a clip from the new Phil Ochs Biopic "There But For Fortune". If you haven't seen the movie yet I can warmly recommend it.

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captaincaptain

My favorite protest song ever.


The best protest song of the past 20 years.

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LAST.FM

RYM

prettymachine

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LFM. RYM.

Howard the Duck

succint stickin' it to da Man, and da Ku Klux Klan:-

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Malaise is THE dominant human predilection.

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great clip. he was a genius. and is still.

he will live in a blissful peace for ever i hope.

thank you so much. i as well, am not marching anymore. it is over for me as well as you now. we all did it. and you are no less important than phil, or anyone. i am less important, but, a necessary evil i suppose.
who more than the Voice of the Name gives us songs in the night/

phillip ox. Who also gave us milk of magnesia. that is some milk for you soothes the fire in the belly

take care

another one that is phenomenal.



but we cannot be tempted to win the future or we have lost it in the present. and phil wasn't.

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The passing traveler stops for food and music.

PoorOldPo

Woodstock 1969.

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https://www.instagram.com/hennas.lullaby/