Cultural encounters and the negotiations of meanings in select American Protest Songs 1960-2010

Abstract

The use of music and song as a medium of human expression has been prevalent throughout history. Music has been used to explore and to give vent to a whole range of emotions, feelings and concerns- from the joyful to the disheartening. Music is therefore, a revelatory medium of not just an individual concern, but that of society as well. Protest music, whether through lyrics, performance or context, gives us an insight into discontent, both personal and societal. Basically, a protest song is a song which is associated with a movement for social change. According to Elizabeth J.Kizer, ―to protest is to verbalize a dissatisfaction with the status quo‖, and as such, a protest song verbalizes discontent, either overtly or covertly and calls for a change or rectification.