"Vietnam" Jimmy Cliff

Peace against war

Hey Vietnam, Vietnam, Vietnam, Vietnam

Vietnam, Vietnam, Vietnam

Yesterday I got a letter from my friend fighting in Vietnam

An this is what he had to say:

'Tell all my friends that I'll be coming home soon

My time'll be up some time in June

Don't forget', he said, 'to tell my sweet Mary

Her golden lips are sweet as cherry'

And it came from Vietnam, Vietnam, Vietnam, Vietnam

Vietnam, Vietnam, Vietnam

It was just the next day his mother got a telegram

It was addressed from Vietnam

Now mistress Brown, she lives in the USA

And this is what she rode and said:

'Don't be alarmed', she told me the telegram said

'But mistress Brown your son is dead'

And it came from Vietnam, Vietnam, Vietnam, Vietnam

Vietnam, Vietnam - hey - Vietnam

Somebody please stop that war now!

Vietnam, Vietnam, Vietnam, Vietnam - oh

Vietnam, Vietnam - oh - Vietnam, oh oh oh oh - somebody please stop it

Vietnam, Vietnam - oh - Vietnam, Vietnam, oh oh oh oh

Vietnam - hey - Vietnam - aha - Vietnam - oh oh yeah

I wanna say now somebody stop that war - Vietnam .... - oh yeah, aha ...

"Vietnam" song appeared in the first album of Jimmy Cliff in 1969.

It is a typical protest song, like Cliff said, "I felt I could make a change through music". Jimmy Cliff once said he entered the music business because "there was nothing else I really liked doing."



According to Bob Dylan, the most famous singer and song-writer, "Vietnam" is the "best protest song ever !". Indeed, this song stayed three weeks on charts at the 46^th place in great Britain.

When analysing the song itself, it first brings joy while listening to it because of its pace and melody, which are quite energetic and stirring. After listening to the lyrics, the song finally turns out melancolic because of the sadness of the story wich is told here.

Most of the persons who listened to the song agree very strongly with the message Jimmy wants to get across, because they realised how many deaths the Vietnam war caused and its effects on the society.

However, this song is not just an ordinary protest song, but differs from the others by the absence of description of the war itself. As a matter of fact, Jimmy didn't plan to describe the horror scenes during the war including blood and death, but chose to take a step back and analyse the effects of the loss of a close relative. The song is not made to blame the war directly but to inform us of its effects and consequences on the populations.

Therefore, the example taken by Jimmy turns out to be the true story of a friend he went to school with, whose mother and wife learn about the loss of their loved one at war.
Jimmy once told the Mojo Magazine about the return of his dear friend, who had been shaken by the war and didn't even recognize him, "as if he were dead" said Jimmy.
As the lyrics mention it in "Tell all my friends that I'll be coming home soon", this friend had to leave his family in order to go and fight at war in Vietnam. Jimmy wrote and imagined a letter he could have received from this friend, sharing his hopes of reunion with his wife Mary. Unfortunately, his mother named "mistress Brown" receives a telegram informing her about the loss of her son.
This example out of millions is taken by Jimmy Cliff because it can be generalized to every family during the Vietnam War and even during each war, and illustrates well the universality of its consequences.
This whole song could be summed up in a short sentence : Each time the soldiers think and hope that they will be able to be reunited with their loved ones after war, but it rarely turns out that way, showing the destructive impact of War. The song displays why war affects society : so many people were losing their loved ones that it was affecting all of society. The message Jimmy Cliff wanted to get across with his song "Vietnam" was that the Vietnam war had to stop because the families were losing all their men, but Jimmy Cliff also wrote this song as a support to the soldiers fighting at war. This song can be considered as a hymn against war because it makes people believe in hope.

SCHUBERT Claralynn

PARENT Seynour

"They don't really care about us" by Michael Jackson: a typical example of protest song, by Agnès Coutelle and Diontan Traoré

The song  They don't really care about us  by Michael Jackson was aired in 1995. It can be seen as a protest song, because through its lyrics (and also its videoclip), the song denounces some of the major problems and crisis of the American society, even though the main themes expressed there can be related to the most of the countries in this world : violence and indifference of the government, hate, racism, and intolerance in the society.

Skin head Dead head Everybody Gone bad Situation Aggravation Everybody Allegation In the suite On the news Everybody Dog food Bang bang Shock dead Everybody's Gone mad Chorus : All I wanna say is that They don't really care about us All I wanna say is that They don't really care about us Beat me Hate me You can never Break me Will me Thrill me You can never Kill me Jew me Sue me Everybody Do me Kick me Kike me Don't you Black or white me Chorus Tell me what has become of my life I have a wife and two children who love me I'm a victim of police brutality, now I'm tired of bein' the victim of hate, Your rapin' me of my pride Oh for God's sake I look to heaven to fulfill its prophecy... Set me free Skin head Dead head Everybody Gone bad Trepidation Speculation Everybody Allegation In the suite On the news Everybody Dog food Black man Black mail Throw the brother In jail Chorus Tell me what has become of my rights Am I invisible 'cause you ignore me? Your proclamation promised me free liberty, now. I'm tired of bein' the victim of shame They're throwin' me in a class with a bad name I can't believe this is the land from which I came You know I really do hate to say it The government don't wanna see But it Roosevelt was livin', he wouldn't let this be, no no. Skinhead Deadhead Everybody Gone bad Situation Speculation Everybody Litigation Beat me Bash me You can never Trash me Hit me Kick me You can never Get me Chorus Some things in life they just don't wanna see But if Martin Luther was livin' He wouldn't let this be Skinhead Deadhead Everybody's Gone bad Situation Segregation Everybody Allegation In the suite On the news Everybody Dog food Kick me Kike me Don't you Wrong or right me Chorus

Racism, intolerance and prejudices

MJ first talks about skinheads, who are a group of violent, hateful, intolerant, racist, white supremacists , and associates it with death :"Dead head" the next line.

«  Don't you black or white me » means that some persons usually put people in categories in function of their skin colour which is a form of racism.

The allusions to racism, especially against black people (which is still very present in the USA) are numerous :

« Black Man » or more simply « Segregation », which is linked to his wish that Martin Luther King ( one of the main icon of the Civil Rights movement in the US from 1951 to 1971, which became a symbol of the fight against racism) would still be alive, a few lines before : "But if Martin Luther was livin' ; He wouldn't let this be"

The video does also show, among the men in the prison, a majority of black people : this lets think that in reality, a lot of colored people are victims of racism, intolerance, and prejudice in the domain of justice  and are put to jail wrongly

Musically, the effects of rythm of the lyrics (short pieces of information, words repeated, stressed), added to the fact that Michael Jackson does not use poetry at all, but in the contrary uses words (and also pictures in the videoclip) as violent as possible to shock people, increase the violent aspect of the song.

MJ also talks about religious intolerance : for example, when he says «  Jew me » ( which shocked people so much, especially in the Jew community, that they brought the case to court and that Michael Jackson had to change those words into « Kick me »), he refeers to some violences the Jews went through (during World War II probably) and to antisemitism.

When he says « for God's sake ; I look to heaven to fulfill its prophecy... » MJ makes allusion to one of the most fundamental rules in the Christian religion : « love God with all your heart and love your neighbour as yourself » which advocates tolerance, and so the "prophecy" is here logically the reign of peace on earth.

Indifference and violence of the authorities

When he says « They don't really care about us », Michael Jackson indicates the American government, who shows a lot of indifference for his citizens, or more generally the society. They are also others lyrics about the government : « The government don't wanna see » : here MJ points at the volontary lack of interest of the government.

Moreover, those lyrics are inside the chorus, so it is an important thing which is denounced in this song because it is said several times. The images at the beginning of the video show it too : we can see two little black boys abandoned. Others lyrics critizise this indifference : « Tell me what has become of my rights / Am I invisible 'cause you ignore me? ». Captives are also ignored as their rights that every citizen or human must have.

« But it Roosevelt was livin', he wouldn't let this be » The singer makes a contrast with this actual government who acts wrong, by comparing to the years when Franklin D. Roosevelt was president of the United States. His progam New Deal (from 1933 to 1938) helped American citizens find work after the financial crisis (from 1930 to 1940) .

He denounces the violence of the police when he says « I'm a victim of police brutality, now ». The images showed in the video sustain those lyrics because there are some people who are beaten up. «  I'm tired of bein' the victim of hate » significates that those violences are not new.

« On the news » : Here Michael Jackson refers to daily events, like murders, violent demonstrations, terrorist attacks which are reported on the news, on TV and represents also the powerlessness of the society : we watch horrible things but we can't act.

The themes expressed in They don't really care about us can still be related to today, even if society and people are becoming more open-minded and tolerant. Nowadays, the whole world must for example fight against Islamic state, which does not tolerate others religions than islam. We also must fight for freedom of speech, of idea and of opinion. Songs are an efficient way to be free and share an opinion. It is the case of books, paintings too for example, and more generally of any kind of committed art .

Link of the videoclip:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=97nAvTVeR6o

Bob Marley - War (1976)

Bob Marley - War (1976)

Bob Marley and the Wailers

Bob Marley was a famous Jamaican singer-songwriter and guitarist, born in 1945 and dead in 1981. He is still an emblem of the reggae, a music genre originated in Jamaica in the late 1960's. The song “War” was recorded with the Wailers and it appeared in the album Rastaman Vibration in 1976. We are going to explain you in which way it is a protest song. Firstly, we will analyze the lyrics and their meaning. Then, we will associate them with historical and cultural contextual elements.

Haile Selassie

The lyrics of the song are part of or inspired by the speech of the Ethiopian emperor before the United-Nations in 1963. Haile Selassie condemn the Italian aggression against his people. Bob Marley really appreciate this speech and put it up in the rehearsal's local of the Wailers. A few years later he decided to use the speech for the lyrics of his song.

In the first and second paragraphs, Bob Marley is denouncing discrimination in the world and in the countries. The beginning of the lyrics are a direct quote of Selassie's speech. He explains that today there are different categories of citizen and different races which are not equal. He also says that in any nations the color of the skin is more significative than the color of the eyes, he fights against those discrimination and declare a pacific war on this philosophy.

In the third paragraph he declares that for him the basic humans rights must be “guaranteed to all without regard of race”. It is another reference to Selassie who reproach to Mussolini not to respect the international rights with the colonization of Ethiopia. Once more, and as in the other paragraphs, he says war.

Apartheid in South-Africa

In the fifth paragraph he directly denounce the political regimes in Angola, Mozambique and South-Africa. In fact, in 1963 Mozambique and Angola were under Portuguese dictatorial governments. When Bob Marley write the song, they were free but there still were internal conflicts. At that time the apartheid is striking in South-Africa. This part of the song reflects international tensions, racism and slavery.

In the fourth and in the last paragraphs, Bob Marley alludes to his dreams of peace in the world. He wants a “world citizenship” and a “rule of international morality” but he also knows it is just an illusion. In the last paragraph, he promise that African people will fight and will be victorious against evil.

In the sixth paragraph, the lyrics are generalizing the war to the entire world : “east”, “west”, “north” and “south”. Bob Marley maybe wanted to say that racism is everywhere and that we have to fight against discrimination in every parts of the world.

In conclusion, this protest song is an anthem against racism, a symbol of fight against oppressions and an ode to peace. There was many covers of this song from artists from differents countries. It was also adapted to other forms of oppression like the cover of Sinnead O'Connor who denounces sexual violences on children.

Lyrics of the song 

Until the philosophy, I will like to divide it with those which want to learn...

Which hold one race

Superior and another, inferior

Is finally, and permanently

Discredited and abandoned

Everywhere is war

Me say war

That until there're no longer

First class and second class

Citizens of any nation

Until the colour of a man's skin

Is of no more significance

Than the colours of his eyes

Me say war

That until the basic human rights

Are equally guaranteed to all

Without regard to race

Dis a war

That until that day

The dream of lasting peace

World citizenship

Rule of international morality

Willl remain in but a fleeting illlusion

To be pursued

But never attained

Now everywhere is war, war

And until the ignoble and unhapppy regimes

That hold our brothers in Angola, in Mozambic,

South Africa, sub-human bondage

Have been toppled

Utterly destroyed

Well everywhere is war

Me say war

War in the east

War in the west

War up north

War down south

War, war

Rumours of war

And until that day

The African continent

Will not know peace

We africans will fight it

We find if necessary

And we know we shall win

As we are confidents

In the victory

Of good over evil, good over evil

Good over evil, good over evil...

Estelle DATTIN et Lucie ROUSSEAU

Only a pawn in their game - Bob Dylan an important Protest Song fighting against the segregation, JACOB & PIAU

 Introduction:

In 1963 the murder of Medgar Evers, black leaderchip of the NAAC.P was a shok for the nation. In fact nearly one century after the Civil War, the segregation were still very present in the USA and the president in this time, promised a desegregation. That murder show that were not the case. Bob Dylan used this muder to show the roots of racial  segregation, the dark side of the US. He did In his song "Only a pawn in their game" appeared in his third album "The Times They Are A Changing" in 1964.

Watch the Bob dylan singing!!!

Historical and cultural context:  

  Medgar Ever (1925-1963)  was Mississippi's first Affricain-American field secretary of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAAC.P). Evers was murdered just hours after President JohnF. Kennedy's speech on national television in support of civilrights.
Bob Dylan sang for the first time "Only the pawn in their game" the 28 August 1963 the day where Martin Luther King made the disour I have a dream infront of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington.
  Bob Dylan before to sing take part in the historic march to show the importance of solving the United States racial problems.
  In 1963 Martin Luther King preach the no violence but he was not an consensus man. He is very criticize by an part of the activist that fight against the segregation. In this epoque John Fitzgerald Kennedy was since three years the president of the United States and has promised the desegregation, but this promess were not held. He was not again the emblematic figure, he is an leaderchip like another.

Martin Luther King (1929-1968)

Medgar Ever (1925-1963)

Lyrics:

A bullet from the back of a bush took Medgar Evers' blood
A finger fired the trigger to his name
A handle hid out in the dark
A hand set the spark
Two eyes took the aim
Behind a man's brain
But he can't be blamed
He's only a pawn in their game.

A South politician preaches to the poor white man
"You got more than blacks, don't complain
You're better than them, you been born with white skin" they explain
And the Negro's name
Is used it is plain
For the politician's gain
As he rises to fame
And the poor white remains
On the caboose of the train
But it ain't him to blame
He's only a pawn in their game.

The deputy sheriffs, the soldiers, the governors get paid
And the marshals and cops get the same
But the poor white man's used in the hands of them all like a tool
He's taught in his school
From the start by the rule
That the laws are with him
To protect his white skin
To keep up his hate
So he never thinks straight
'Bout the shape that he's in
But it ain't him to blame
He's only a pawn in their game.

From the powerty shacks, he looks from the cracks to the tracks
And the hoof beats pound in his brain
And he's taught how to walk in a pack
Shoot in the back
With his fist in a clinch
To hang and to lynch
To hide 'neath the hood
To kill with no pain
Like a dog on a chain
He ain't got no name
But it ain't him to blame
He's only a pawn in their game.

Today, Medgar Evers was buried from the bullet he caught
They lowered him down as a king
But when the shadowy sun sets on the one
That fired the gun
He'll see by his grave
On the stone that remains
Carved next to his name
His epitaph plain:
Only a pawn in their game.

Interpretation:

We split and named each stanza because they tell a part of a story.

Stanza 1: Remind the event and dehumanize the murder

« A bullet from the back of a bush took Medgar Evers' blood »:
Bob Dylan dennounce the murder, he is furtive but the killer don't fail the target as it happens Medgar Evers.

« A finger fired the trigger to his name »
We can understand of two manner. The first is taht it is an reference of the shoot (tigger) that was the tigger of the protest. The seconds is that is the "soldier" that kill Medgar Evers but we saw after that he is « only a pawn in their game ».

« A handle hid out in the dark »
Bob Dylan criticize the manner which Medgar isassassinated, in a cowardly manner.

« A hand set the spark »,« Two eyes took the aim », « Behind a man's brain »
We understand that it is an man « in the dark ».
The writer show that the crime were not epic but dirty.

« But he can't be blamed »
The autor say that it is not is entire fault, it is the fault of the message given by his instruction and media.

« He's only a pawn in theirgame. »
It is the title of the song as well as therefrain. He denounce the inegality and the diffrence of power.

This sentence suggest that the life is an game for the south politician.

Stanza 2: denounce the racial hate

« A South politician preaches to the poor white man »
From the beginning Bob Dylan oppose the south politician and the poor white man (the murderer).

« You got more than blacks, don't complain »There is an confusion betwen the victim and the murderer « the poor white man's used in the hands of them alllike a tool ».

« You're better than them, youbeen born with white skin" they explain »
The south politician try to manipulate the "soldier", he says that he made was good.

« And the Negro's name »,« Is used it is plain », « For the politician's gain », « As he rises to fame », « And thepoor white remains », « On the caboose of the train »
Bob Dylan explain that this event was an gain for the south politician while this event is an racism act and abominable.

« But it ain't him to blame » and « He's only a pawn in their game » again the refrain. 

In the south racism of this time, the "divide for conquer" has maintain the White and the Black in the same destitution.

Stanza 3: indoctrination of the murderer

« The deputy sheriffs,the soldiers, the governors get paid
And the marshals and cops get the same »
 Show that he could trust anyone and you would not have any help, people are ruled by power and power is money.

« But the poor whiteman's used in the hands of them all like a tool »
The murderer, a "poor whiteman", is used by all of them without any consent.

« He's taught in his school
From the start by the rule
That the laws are with him
To protect his white skin
To keep up his hate »
Point that his instruction decided by the elites manupulates him and his way of think.

« So he never thinks straight »
That links to the last affirmation, elites forge a new way of think for him, a wrong way.

« 'Bout the shape that he's in »
This is another link to the manipulation showed before, she is so much powerfull that he can't escape his conditioning.

« But it ain't him to blame

He's only a pawn int heir game. » Again the refrain.

Stanza 4: His training

«From the powerty shacks, he looks from the cracks to the tracks »
That denounces the poverty, that increase segregations

«And the hoof beats pound in his brain
And he's taught how to walk in a pack
Shoot in the back
With his fist in a clinch
To hang and to lynch
To hide 'neath the hood
To kill with no pain »
That tell us that he becomes a bad guy without honor and condolence. The man is like an pupet influences by the south politicians.

« Like a dog on a chain »
Remains that he has no liberty and is inflenced by the powerfulls.

« He ain't got no name »
The murderer is one more time dehumanize, to show his inhumanity or to show that there were all the same, therefore he could be anyone.

« But it ain't him to blame
He's only a pawn int heir game. »

Stanza 5: Now and after 

« Today, Medgar Everswas buried from the bullet he caught
They lowered him down as a king »
He remains us again, that terrible act, the murderer of Medgar, the subject of the song.

« But when the shadowy sun sets on the one
That fired the gun »
This is a metaphor for the death of the murderer.

« He'll see by his grave
On the stone that remains
Carved next to hisname
His epitaph plain:
Only a pawn in theirgame »
This the fall of this song, the death of the murder show that he were just a tool in hands of powerfull, that is write on "his grave".

Conclusion

In his song Bob Dylan encourage us to think about the event, on the assassination of Medgar Evers. He denounces racial segregation and real violence in the USA. His aim is to show up the real killer of Medgar and stop the segregation. In order to, the people must think, and it is that this song try to do.

You too fight against segregation !

Biko from Peter Gabriel

Biko from Peter Gabriel

by Adélaïde Carsin and Charlotte Gillet

Context :

Since 1948 has South Africa apply the policy of racial separation (appartheid). The social status of the people and their territorial link depend of the racial status.

The song:

This song is a protest song by Peter Gabriel and was inclued on his third album in 1980. It's about Steve Biko, a black South African anti-apartheid activist. 

Lyrics :

September '77

Port Elizabeth weather fine

It was business as usual

In police room 619

Oh Biko, Biko, because Biko

Oh Biko, Biko, because Biko

Yihla Moja, Yihla Moja

-The man is dead

When I try to sleep at night

I can only dream in red

The outside world is black and white

With only one colour dead

Oh Biko, Biko, because Biko

Oh Biko, Biko, because Biko

Yihla Moja, Yihla Moja

-The man is dead

You can blow out a candle

But you can't blow out a fire

Once the flames begin to catch

The wind will blow it higher

Oh Biko, Biko, because Biko

Yihla Moja, Yihla Moja

-The man is dead

And the eyes of the world are

watching now

watching now

Explanations :

September '77

Port Elizabeth weather fine

It was business as usual

In police room 619

Biko was arrested by the police in august 1977 and was interrogated in room 619 in Port Elizabeth.

Yihla Moja means "Come spirit" in Xhosa (a south african language).

When I try to sleep at night

I can only dream in red

The outside world is black and white

With only one colour dead

A world only in black a white is a dead world ; the apartheid corresponds to death.

The man is dead

Biko died in a prison in Pretoria because the policemen had hit him and he was transferred without medical care.

You can blow out a candle

But you can't blow out a fire

Once the flames begin to catch

The wind will blow it higher

Biko is dead but the rebellion can't be stopped.

And the eyes of the world are

watching now

watching now

The world knows him, because he is dead, but if he did not die, nobody would see the apartheid's problem.

"Uprising" Emma, Konstandina

“Uprising” is a song by the English alternative rock band Muse, featured on their fifth album The Resistance.

Context : 2009, two years after the subprime mortgage crisis in August 2007. The growth rate in England is negative : -4,9% and the jobless rate is 7,8%. The reflation policy led by the European Central Bank and the Bank of England is not conclusive.

The households are angry : they suffer the consequences of the risks the US commercial banks have taken.

The lead singer Matt Bellamy explained: “The lead single, ‘Uprising’, was kind of inspired by the G20 protests which took place last year. I was in London at the time and I saw it all going on outside where I live.”

(G20 or Group of Twenty is an international forum for the governments and central bank governors from 20 major economies:USA, UK, France, Germany...etc)

Indeed, in London hundreds of people came to protest against a financial system that they considered unfair.

Muse calls the people to revolt against this injustice “So come on !” , and against that liberal system based, according to them, on the greed. «  Another package lie to keep us trapped in greed»

System which controls the thought by its appearing right-thinking :  « With all the green belts wrapped around our minds ».

(The green belt is a green area around the city to prevent the development of urban sprawl).

The system stultifies us : “Keep us all dumbed down and hope that we will never see the truth around”, and Muse says that we must “flick the switch and open [our] third eye”

Let's « Interchange mind control » !

It is important to indicate that the album The Resistance is based on the dystopian novel 1984 written by George Orwell. This novel has popularized terms such as “big brother,” “doublespeak” or “thought police” to describe our governments and their policies.

The video clip

Colors are very dark, there are just the lights of the fire and the sparks. That is why the atmosphere is nightmarish, that emphasizes the difficult economic situation. The band plays music on the road in a car. They look superior face to the population that is represented in miniature. There are TV screens showing teddy bears with reptilian eyes and fangs. Matthew Bellamy smashes the screens with his guitar It can represent the power of music.

Then a big teddy bear get out of the ground with a threatening face. A group of teddy bears appear and start destroying the city.

The revolution is underway because the band is on the street, Teddy bears destroy all around them. They show the power of the rebellion and set an example to guide the people. They motivate people not only with the lyrics but thanks to the video clip too. Indeed the pictures are also significant and can complete the lyrics. 

 

Uprising, as the name suggests, is a call for revolt : “Come let the revolution take its toll”, “Rise up and take the power back”.

However, the lyrics are a bit simplist and Manichean. On the one hand, there are “The fat cats”, the bad side, and on the other hand“We”, the good side.