Song corner

• Strange Fruit, by Billie Holiday, 1939.
• With God on Our Side, by Bob Dylan, 1964.
• Say It Loud, I'm Back and I'm Proud, by James Brown, 1968.
• War, by Edwin Starr, 1970.
• Born in the USA, by Bruce Springsteen, 1984.
• Killing in the Name, by Rage Against The Machine, 1992.
• Rebel Girl, by Bikini Kill, 1993.
• Kyoto Now, by Bad Religion, 2002.
• Same Love, by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis ft. Mary Lambert, 2012.
• The Monsanto Years, album by Neil Young and Promise of the Real, 2015.
• Alright, by Kendrick Lamar, 2015.
• Quiet, by MILCK, 2015.

You are in charge of one song from the selection.

1

a. Search the internet to find more information about your song. Present it to the class (title, name of the artist and a short biography, release year, music style, historical and political context).

b. What is the message of the song? How is it conveyed (lyrics, music, stylistic devices…)?

2

Look at the following

infographic

:
What strikes you? How does your song relate to it?

3

a. Is the song efficient? How does it make you feel?

b. What do you think the artist is protesting against?

a. Which song has the strongest impact on you? Why?

b. Do you have any other examples of protest songs to share?

5

What other topical issues in America would be good material for a song?

Guess who

Select an artist or a band and his / her / their protest song. Prepare a short presentation and get your nearest classmate to guess who the artist or band is as well as the name of the song.

Write a protest song about an issue linked to America. Choose a cause close to your heart and write lyrics to denounce what is wrong (you can rewrite the lyrics of an existing song to use the melody).