Vous trouverez ci-dessous quelques écrits réalisés par les élèves, autour de morceaux inspirés par le procès de Sacco et Vanzetti (The Red Scare : Sacco and Vanzetti’s trial) ou par la guerre du Vietnam et le mouvement pacifiste. Et pour voir et écouter l’intégralité des activités du projet, c’est par ici: https://padlet.com/Rorota/byqboh9t6yb8il1h

What’s a protest song ?

A protest song is a song that is part of a movement to change society. Many protest songs have lyrics that directly call for change, While others use humor, irony, or storytelling to make their point.

What’s the purpose of a protest song ?

The purpose of the protest song is to send social messages and make a change in the society (associated with a movement for social change or other current events).

Where do protest songs come from ?

The protest song comes from Folk music, the very first protest singer /songwriter was a Swedish immigrant : Joel Hagglund born in 1879.

Exemples of protest songs
John Lennon et Yoko One « Give peace a change »
Joan Baez « We shall overcome »
Bob Dylan « Masters of war »
The Clash « Charlie Don’t surf »
En France, Boris Vian « le Déserteur » contre Thatcher

Woody Gauthrie real name was Woodrow Wilson Gauthrie. He was the third of five children, he was born on 14 July 1912 in Okemah and died on October 3rd, 1967 in New York. This man was a singer-songwriter. The type of music he practiced was Folk. He was a protest singer. He played the guitar, the harmonica and the fiddle. Woody began his musical career in 1930 and ended it in 1956. He was in the “Folkways” label. Influenced by the anarchist Joe Hill, he composed songs expressing the struggles of the poor and oppressed, while celebrating their indomitable spirit of libertarian resistance.

His militant songs inspired the American folk revival of the 1960s, led by performers such as Bob Dylan, Joan Baez and Phil Ochs. He wrote a song : Two good men to protest against Sacco and Vanzetti’s execution.

Bob Dylan dedicated a song to him, Song for Woody, on his first album.

Folk is a music created by farmers and cow-boys. “Folks” in English represent ordinary people. Folk is a popular music that has lived throughout the times. The old Folk songs were adapted, upgraded and updated.Born in the USA, the Folk music then mixed with Celtic musics brought by the immigrants from Ireland, England and Scotland and from African music with black slaves. Troubadours and minstrels widespread Folk music by going from camp to camp. In the 60’s, Bob Dylan, great fan of Woody Guthrie met him in New York.

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At that time, the folk was played in the neighbourhood of Greenwich village in New York.

Dylan changed the game, he lanuched folk music and made it become popular. Influenced by the Beatles and the Rolling stones, Dylan was among those who made folk and rock popular.

Anarchy refers to the state of a society being without authorities or a governing body, and the general confusion and chaos resulting from that condition. It may also refer to a society or group of people that totally rejects hierarchy. Source : https://kids.kiddle.co/Anarchy

There were many anarchists in the United States in the 1920’s because of the immigrants from Eastern Europe. The American government were scared of them.

The Red Scare spread during two periods : the first period between 1917 and 1920 and the second period started in 1950 during the Cold War.

McCarthyism consisted of tracking down the communists. They were often denounced by paranoid people. The senator Mc Carthy was convinced that the American nation was infiltrated by communists. During the Cold War, some singers protested against that red scare. A song was released in 1985 by Sting. Its title was Russians. The song is a commentary and plea that criticises the then-dominant Cold War foreign policy and doctrine of mutual assured destruction (MAD) by the United States and the Soviet Union.

Here are the song lyrics :

In Europe and America there’s a growing feeling
of hysteria
Conditioned to respond to all the threats
In the rhetorical speeches of the Soviets
Mister Khrushchev said, ‘We will bury you’
I don’t subscribe to this point of view
It’d be such an ignorant thing to do
If the Russians love their children too

How can I save my little boy
From Oppenheimer’s deadly toy?
There is no monopoly of common sense
On either side of the political fence
We share the same biology
Regardless of ideology
Believe me when I say to you
I hope the Russians love their children too

There is no historical precedent to put
The words in the mouth of the president
There’s no such thing as a winnable war
It’s a lie we don’t believe anymore
Mister Reagan says ‘We will protect you’
I don’t subscribe to this point of view
Believe me when I say to you
I hope the Russians love their children too

We share the same biology
Regardless of ideology
What might save us, me and you
Is if the Russians love their children too

Nicolas Sacco (22 April 1891- 23 August 1927) and Bartolomeo Vanzetti (11 June 1888 – 23 August 1927) were two Italian men. They were involved in a judicial case but their guilt was never proved. Bartolomeo was a fish seller and Nicola Sacco worked in a leather factory which made shoes)

Source : https://www.lefigaro.fr/histoire/archives

The trial was very fast. The judge was convinced that they were guilty because :

• they were Italian anarchists

• they were Italian immigrants

• they didn’t speak English and couldn’t defend themselves

A movie was made after their story and the music was by Joan Baez.

Joan Baez is an author, songwriter and American interpreter of folk music. She was born in New York, on January 9th, 1941. She is a protest singer who started her career in 1950.

She is a protest singer, notably against war and social injustice. She is a friend and supporter of Martin Luther King. She made multiple appearances during demonstrations with social or pacifist demands. She marched for civil rights in Washington, for jobs and freedom, and she visited American prisoners of war under fire during the Vietnam War.

After her involvement in the Civil Rights Marches, Joan Baez showed her disagreement with the Vietnam War. The singer took part in many marches against the war and other protest actions. She was arrested twice in 1967 for blocking the entrance to the Armed Forces Induction Center in Oakland, California. She spent about a month in prison. She was also in trouble with the courts on several occasions for refusing to pay military taxes.

Joan Baez made 37 solo recordings from 1960 to 2018. She paid tribute to two Italian immigrants, Sacco and Vanzetti with the song : Here’s to you

The Sacco and Vanzetti case is the name of a judicial controversy that occurred in the 1920s in the United States, concerning the Italian anarchists Nicole Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, who were sentenced to death and executed. Their guilt was extremely controversial both at the time and afterwards, and several artistic works pay tribute to them. One of them is Joan Baez who composed music in their honor.

1920’S = The roaring twenties in the United States.

After the war 1914 to 1918 USA took a new departure : they became rich thanks to an arms trade from the allies. From 1891 to 1920 immigrants from northern and southern Europe came to the United States.

Tensions set in the country with the Ku Klux Klan groups who belonged to the right-wing extremist movement. The KKK had many followers : 50,000 in Chicago in 1920 against the blacks and the recently immigrated Jews who became a new target.

Italian immigration to the United States

From 1906 to 1915, 2 million immigrants arrived in the United States. The reasons for this mass immigration are numerous : Living conditions had become difficult in Italy between 1870 and 1900, especially in the countryside. Disease and famine were the main causes of immigration.