Music has intertwined with politics for as long as both have existed.

The arts in general have always been a medium for different levels of political discourse in virtually every culture. Be it Banksy’s street art or N.W.A.’s FTP, society has used art as a means to fight back and voice their opinions on their times current politics. We are going to specifically look into music and it’s effects on politics over the years, as well as politics effect on music. This is not a bias piece or a partisan opinion, rather it is an account of history in America thus far.
We are going to break this up into 4 major sections, as I was writing this I realized more and more how deep this goes.
Section One: Early American History though the early 1900’s.
Section Two: Mid to late 1900’s
Section Three: The 2000’s
Section Four: Music to Celebrate Politics

Early American History

One of the first songs that can be considered a protest song was Joseph Warrens “Free America”. This was sung by the Continental Army during the Revolutionary war. Following this the British Army sang a now popular children’s song, Yankee Doodle. This was an attempt to mock the Continental army, however it was adopted by the American army to throw it back at the British.

After the end of the revolutionary war, the next big political, economic, and social war was the Civil War. This war as many of you know mostly came about due to tensions building in the south with talks of freeing slaves. The secessionists attacked Fort Sumter just after Lincoln Took office.
American Black Slaves have an extensive musical history all their own, some of which is protest song as well as cultural music that finds it’s roots in their ancestors.

American Black Slaves have an extensive musical history all their own, some of which is protest song as well as cultural music that finds it’s roots in their ancestors.

One of the most well known protest songs from the civil war era was “Oh Freedom”, while I could not find the true origin of the song, it is often associated with Odetta who was the first to record it in 1931, and was also used during the Civil Rights Movement.

Oh freedom, oh freedom, oh freedom over me
And before I’d be a slave I’ll be buried in my grave
And go home to my Lord and be free

No more weepin’,no more weepin’,no more weepin’over me
And before I’d be a slave I’ll be buried in my grave
And go home to my Lord and be free

Wikipedia

The Industrial Revolution and Music

With the civil war having ended and the Industrial Revolution coming about, came a new protest. The Industrial Revolution was a blessing and a curse in it’s infancy. New jobs were available and due to mass production in the factories many luxuries became affordable. Cars are a prime example. With new power and technology came an ugly side as well. Child labor, unsafe work environments, long hours, payment in the form of company store credit. Some of the first, at least better known songs about this particular revolution were “Give the Working Man a Chance,” “Money is Power,” and “The Anti-Monopoly War Song,”.

Another large political movement happening after the turn of the century was the the Suffragettes fighting for the Women’s Right To Vote. Many of which did engage in actual fighting, they prevailed in 1920 with the addition of the 19th Amendment

Many states, particularly in the West, began granting women full or limited rights to vote in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. This progress gave the movement for nation-wide women’s suffrage renewed vigor. An example of a supportive song about the suffrage movement from a Jewish point of view is provided by Yiddish sheet music published in 1911 for “Damen Rechte” (“Women’s Rights,” translated as “Suffragettes” on the sheet music) by Joseph Rumshinsky and Anshel Shor. The song not only advocates for women’s right to vote, but for equal opportunities in many roles.

Library of Congress

In the early 1900’s music was starting to be electronically recorded, as well as broadcast over radio’s that were in almost every house hold. This was a new era for protest music, it could be listened to by the masses. This gave artists a much larger stage and more power to effect change. This becomes more and more apparent in the later eras as covered in Section 2, 3, and 4.

Stay tuned for the Second section of our Politics in Music mini series to read about the later 1900’s.

In the mean time, check out some our science and sound articles
How Speakers Work
Why Music Makes Us Happy