FLUCE www.flucemag.tumblr.com
EARGASM Issue #01
Photo MELANIE TJOENG
Picture MELANIE TJOENG
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welcome
Happy new magazine! Welcome to the first issue of Fluce Magazine. All issues will be published online for anyone to read, at any time. We will try our best to collect the best of the best and put it together in this magazine. This first issue will mostly be about music, as this is the issue’s theme. Not every issue will have a theme, but as the first one has to be special, it does.
Daily you come across a lot of inspirational things; is it a song that is playing on the radio or a photograph that passes by. I always try to collect everything that inspires me so that I can always look (or listen) back at it. I now have such an amazing collection of all the things that inspire me, that I had to share it with you all. The Scrapbook part in this magazine (you will find it on page 42) is a collection of some photo’s I stored on my computer. Putting them together gives an amzing result! The protest music file took me ages to write, as it also was a school project. I figuered it kinda fits into this issue’s theme, so I decided to share it with you all. Maybe you have noticed I am not that good in expressing myself. I know how I feel and what I want to say, but I suck at putting it into words. You get me, right? Okay, so I no longer will hold you from reading this amazing (my opinion, I hope yours too) magazine. Enjoy!
As we appriciate feedback, ideas on the next issue or anything else, you can send us a message on our tumblr page → flucemag.tumblr.com. We love to hear from you, so don’t be shy!
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Protest music p. 18
index Scrapbok p. 50
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Drugs in the Music Industry p. 110
Highlighted p. 6
Music in today’s Music World p. 10
Playlists p. 40
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COVERED SONG
→ Call Me Maybe - Ben Howard There is no person on this earth that doesn’t know the song Call Me Maybe. None. Just not possible. The amazing Ben Howard covered the song, a big risk. But he did amazingly well.
QUOTE
→ Fall in love when you are ready, not when you’re lonely Simon Nessman
BLOGGER
→ Oracle Fox “Mandy Shadforth lives in Queensland. Fashion Blogger, photographer and visual artist. Be inspired by her free spirited style and inspirations,” says her blog description. A mix of outfit posts, fashion, photography and inspirational photo’s; definitely worth checking out!
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→ @behatiiprinsloo Who doens’t know this beautiful Angel? She is super hot and funny too. What more do you want?!
These pages show you what is the best of the best, the things you should know.
HIGHLIGHTED
APP
→ Whitagram Free Instagram is something big now. Real big. Sharing great pictures you took with your friends is amazing. But what when you want to share a masterpiece, that doesn’t fit into the square? Just use Whitagram and you will be able to share the whole picture, with a white (or other color) frame!
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Music is a safe kind of high. — Jimi Hendrix
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Adult life is dealing with an enormous amount of questions that don’t have answers. So I let the mystery settle into my music. I don’t deny anything, I don’t advocate anything, I just live with it. — Bruce Springsteen
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file / PROTEST SONGS
Words SHANNEN
Protest music
Ever since I was I child, I have loved listening to music. I loved to dance to the tunes and sing along. Growing older, I started to pay more attention to the lyrics of a song. I came to the conclusion that lyrics could be full of messages the artists wanted to scatter. Protest songs contain hidden messages and often loaded with historical references. But what really is protest music? Continue reading and find out.
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The history of protest songs
goes way back. There have always been struggles and there have always been those who didn’t agree with a certain issue. Slavery In the 17th century, black slaves sang religious songs and how they have lost their freedom when becoming a slave. The songs were strongly influenced by biblical themes. When the songs merged with the work the slaves had to do, the influence of politics and rebellion acts became more important. They sang about how they were going to escape and to protest against slavery. Sometimes with coded words, which only the slaves could understand. The rhythm of the songs was determined by the movements of the body while working. Whether the slaves had to work on a plantation (plantation songs) or had to work on (rail)road construction (railroad songs), songs were always sung.
protest songs are also called work songs. A good example of a protest song sang by slaves is Wade in the Water . The song contained instructions about what the slaves should do on their way to freedom and it reminded the slaves that if they wanted to escape, they should go from the dry land into the water. When in the water, it wouldn’t have been likely that they would be captured again because they managed to throw the pursuing bloodhounds off one’s trail.
slaves on their way to freedom and inspired women to fight for their rights. The family often revered patriotic tunes into protest songs, a tradition that continues to this day.
The workers In the first half of the 20th century, a lot of protest songs were based on the struggle for fair wages and working hours. Workers used their songs as a powerful form of protest. One of the groups who did a lot of protest was The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), also known as the ‘Wobblies’. One of the most famous Wobblies was Joe The Hutchinson Family Singers Hill. He wrote and sang political During the 1840s, The Hutchinson songs. He set new lyrics of proFamily Singers were one of the test songs to well-known tunes, best-known musical groups. They so everyone could sing along. His toured the United States singing revolutionary song The Preacher sentimental ballads and protest and the Slave is a parody of In the The powerful white people were songs in favour of the abolition Sweet Bye and Bye, a religious annoyed by the songs. They want- of slavery and women suffrage. song about the rewards of heaven ed the slaves to work hard instead The group was famous for their after the life on earth. of ‘having fun’. They often didn’t four-part harmony and made their know that the songs were an act of mark in the European American The Great War rebellion and weren’t aware of the tradition. The Hutchinsons were a One of the most discussed items in deeper meaning of the songs. The hit with both audience and critics. protest songs is war. So also The protest songs gave a lot of slaves Because of subjects the group Great War resulted in a number the courage to escape the slavery. included in their songs, they had of songs concerning war. Most of They also made the slaves feel many fans. Among those fans were these songs came from Americans more united and gave them the several important people, Abraham who didn’t support the US’s deciknowledge they were not alone in Lincoln was one of them. The sion to enter the war. An example the battle against slavery. These white family supported the black of such song is I Didn’t Raise →
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file / PROTEST SONGS My Boy to Be a Soldier by Alfred Bryan. Most of the protest songs at that time took the point of view of the family at home that worried about their father, husband or son fighting overseas.
protest song traditions began to come together for the first time in songs like Strange Fruit by Billie Holiday. Strange Fruit exposed the American racism and the lynching of African Americans. Strange Fruit would later be an inspiration for many civil right protesters, like Bob Dylan.
An example for an anti-nuclear protest song is Old Man Atom by Vern Patrlow.
We Shall Overcome: maybe the greatest protest song ever made. It was the anthem of civil right The Great Depression and Ramovements and was sung during cial Discrimination almost every strike, march, festival On October 29th 1929, there came or concert. Many great artists sang an end to the Roaring Twenties. War and race it; Joan Baez, Pete Seeger, Bob The stock market in New York Before World War II The Almanac Dylan and so on. Though it is one crashed and that was a beginning Singers, which included Woody of the most popular protest songs, to the deepest depression of all Guthrie, Josh White, Pete Seeger, still nobody has a clue who actualtime. As many people became Lee Hays and many others, toured ly wrote the original. Pete Seeger workless and there was wideAmerica singing to support strug- in an interview: “Nobody knows spread poverty, it was an inspiragling workers everywhere. They exactly who wrote the original. tion to write songs about. Protest- later would be seen as great protest The original was faster.” [Sings] ers wanted to sketch an image of singers. Woody Guthrie was one “I’ll be alright, I’ll be alright, I’ll how bad the situation was. of the most notable pro-union be alright, someday….deep in my singers in the 1940s and 1950s. heart I do not weep, I’ll be alright Although many people suffered This is Your Land is one of his someday.” Or “deep in my heart I from The Great Depression, the best known songs. World War do believe.” And other verses are black people in America had to II was an inspiration to many to “I’ll wear the crown, I’ll wear the deal with racial discrimination. write protest songs but the atomcrown,” and “I’ll be like Him, I’ll The African Americans tradition ic bombings on Hiroshima and be like Him” or “I’ll overcome, had changed music forever with Nagasaki to caused people to write I’ll overcome.” their jazz music. With the influeven more protest songs. Many ence of jazz on popular music, people feared a nuclear warfare.
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Bob Dylan - Blowin’ in the Wind - 1963
“They tell me that every period, every time, has its heroes. Every need has a solution and an answer. Some people-the press, magazines-sometimes think that the heroes that young people choose lead the way. I tend to think that they happen because they grow out of a need. This is a young man who grew out of a need. He came here, he came to be as he is, because things needed saying and the young people were the ones who wanted to say them, and they wanted to say them in their own way. He somehow had an ear on his generation. (…) I don’t have to tell you-you know him, he’s yours: Bob Dylan!” It was the 26th of July, 1963, Freebody Park, Newport, Rhode Island. Ronnie Gilbert of the Weavers introduced the twenty-two-year-old Bob Dylan to forty thousand folk fans. That same year, one of the greatest (protest) songs in history was released. Blowin’ in the Wind is probably Dylan’s most covered song, but still everyone knows the song belongs to the man who ruled New York’s folk scene. Although his own version of the song was never a hit, the cover of Peter, Paul & Mary made #2 in the United States in 1963. Bob Dylan was born as Robert Allen Zimmerman in Duluth, Minnesota. In high school, he played in his first band called The Golden Chords. In 1959 Dylan studied literature at the University of Minnesota. There he introduced himself as Bob Dylan. But, at the end of his first year, he dropped out of school. In January 1961, Dylan arrived in New York. There he hoped he could perform for his musical idol, Woody Guthrie, who was seriously ill. He played in various clubs in Greenwich Village and once introduced himself to the center of the folk music world with these words: “I’ve been travelin’ around the country. Followin’ in Woody Guthrie’s footsteps. Goin’ to the places he went to. All I got is my guitar and that little knapsack. That’s all I need.“ In September 1961, Dylan got some positive criticism in the New York Times from a folk critic named Robert Shelton. Due to this, Dylan attracted the attention of Columbia Records’ John Hammond and he signed Dylan a contract at the label. But not only John Hammond was an important person in Dylan’s life at that time.
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“This here ain’t no protest song or anything like that, ‘cause I don’t write no protest songs” – Bob Dylan
In July 1961 Suze Rotolo and Bob Dylan were introduced and fell in love almost immediately. Rotolo awoke the political conscience of Dylan as she was working as a secretary for CORE (Congress of Racial Equality ) and so had a lot of stories about the civil rights struggle. In January, 1962, Dylan composed The Balled of Emmet Till for a CORE benefit show. The song is about a black boy at the age of 14 who had been beaten and shot to death in Mississippi in 1955 because he whistled at a white woman. From that moment on, Bob Dylan the protest singer was born. Even though Dylan is seen as one of the greatest protest singers, he denies he was ever a protest singer. And he made himself very clear before performing his then unreleased song Blowin’ in the Wind at Gerde’s Folk City in April 1962: “This here ain’t a protest song or anything like that, ‘cause I don’t write protest songs…. I’m just writing it as something to be said, for somebody, by somebody.” Just earlier that month, Dylan wrote the song that would transform his life. He claimed to have written the song in just 10 minutes after a discussion about civil rights in a coffeehouse in Greenwich Village, where he craved the line “your silence betrays you” in a table. He went home to write the rest of the lyrics. The melody of Blowin’ in the Wind is partly derived from the old slave song No More Auction Block for Me. Blowin’ in the Wind questioned the same aspects that many Americans were questioning: How many times? How many deaths? How many years? Not only the song described opinions of many Americans, at the same time the vagueness of it arose many questions. But how could this song, written in just a few minutes, become one of the best known protest songs? The protest songs Dylan wrote outlined different topics. In Blowin’ in the Wind, many questions about peace, war and freedom are asked in the lyric. These topics were linked to the Vietnam War that took place from 1955 till 1975. Anti-war songs were very common in the 1960s, as many people were against the Vietnam War and protested for peace. And so were Dylan’s songs. Mike →
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PROTEST SONGS / Marqusee, a journalist and political activist said: “The protest songs that made Dylan famous and with which he continues to be associated were written in a brief period of some 20 months – from January 1962 to November 1963. Influenced by American radical traditions (the Wobblies, the Popular Front of the thirties and forties, the Beat anarchists of the fifties) and above all by the political ferment touched off among young people by the civil rights and ban the bomb movements, he engaged in his songs with the terror of the nuclear arms race, with poverty, racism and prison, jingoism and war.”
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simply try to look for the answers, they are easy to find. The song starts off with the first question: “How many roads must a man walk down before you call him a man?” How much experience does it take before a boy becomes a man and after how many roads of injustice, oppression, violence and tolerating everything that comes in the way, will a man be recognized as a man indeed? And how much does a man have to do before he deserves some respect? “How many seas must a white dove sail before she sleeps in the sand?” Here the white dove is a symbol of peace. In this phrase, Dylan also used the metaphorical device. The seas must be the lands of war while the In total, Dylan asks nine questions. But he doesn’t sand must be the lands untouched by the war. How give a clear answer to all of these questions. He only many lands of war must peace go by before there says that the answer is ‘blowin’ in the wind’. In June finally is a land that is in peace and how far must 1962, the song was published in Sing Out!, along peace be pursued around the globe before it is realwith a comment of Dylan himself: “There ain’t too ized? “Yes, how many times must the cannon balls much I can say about this song except that the anfly before they’re forever banned?” Here is asked swer is blowing in the wind. It ain’t in no book or how many times these bombs have to drop down to movie or TV show or discussion group. Man, it’s in claim lives of innocent people before they will be the wind – and it’s blowing in the wind. Too many of banned by the authorities. Dylan also used a device these hip people are telling me where the answer is called anaphora, the repetition of several words. but oh I won’t believe that. I still say it’s in the wind Through the whole song, each question begins with and just like a restless piece of paper it’s got to come the words ‘how many’ (or ‘yes, how many’). But also down some…. But the only trouble is that no one the repetition of ‘before’ can be called anaphora. picks up the answer when it comes down so not too many people get to see and know…and then it flies The next stanza begins with the question: “Yes, how away. I still say that some of the biggest criminals are many years can a mountain exist before it’s washed those that turn their heads away when they see wrong to the sea?” Here, again, the sea can be referred to and know it’s wrong. I’m only 21 years old and I (the lands that are in) war. The mountain would be know that there’s been too many…. You people over the land that is still untouched by war. So, Dylan asks 21, you’re older and smarter.” With all this mysteri- how many years it takes for the untouched lands to ousness, Dylan makes sure that people automatically be taken by war. “Yes, how many years can some think of the problems in the world by trying to figure people exist before they’re allowed to be free?” This out the answers to all of these questions. phrase doesn’t contain a stylistic device like a metaphor. It actually is very clear, but there also is a deepHearing or seeing the lyrics at first, the song doesn’t er meaning. This could refer to slavery but also to the show it off as a protest song. For example, there are people who live in warzones. “Yes, how many times no words like war or protest. Dylan speaks to the can a man turn his head pretending he just doesn’t people indirectly and without saying what he really see?” Here Dylan questions for how long people like means. Dylan uses rhetorical and literary devices you and me pretend that there is ‘nothing wrong’ to to convey his message. One of the devices he uses all what is happening in the world. And yet again, the is figurative speech; he doesn’t literally say what answer to these questions, my friend, is ‘blowin’ in he means. The song consists of three stanzas that the wind’. contain three rhetorical questions each. Al these questions are answered with the same phrase; “The The structure of the song is the so-called AAA form, answer my friend is blowin’ in the wind. The answer also known as the strophic form. The form was very is blowin’ in the wind.” Here Dylan makes use of popular among folk singers in the 1960s (which Bob a metaphorical device. He means that the answers Dylan is, of course). There are only verses and no to all of these rhetorical questions are right in front choruses. Instead, the hook, a catchy phrase, is sung of us and all around us, just like the wind. Most of at the beginning or the end of each verse. This “reus are too ignorant to notice the answers, but if we frain” usually serves the title. It is very clear →
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file / PROTEST SONGS that Blowin’ in the Wind has an AAA structure. He knows what he wants and what should be done. There are 3 verses in total and they all end with the same refrain: “The answer my friend is blowin’ in the But maybe the largest audience that Blowin’ in the wind, the answer is blowin’ in the wind”. Wind had, was the group of protesters. As it was written during the many civil right protests, it beIt is amazing how Dylan wrote these lyrics and took came an anthem of the civil right movements. So you so many things in consideration. Apart from that he could say Blowin’ in the Wind had a major impact, used anaphora; he also used another stylistic device especially on the people who agreed with Dylan. He called assonance. Assonance is the repetition of vow- motivated an entire generation to become socially el sounds within stressed syllables of neighboring aware and to protest for what they believed in. In words. It is used to create internal rhyming within 2004, Blowing in the Wind was placed at number 14 phrases or paragraphs. In the first stanza, Dylan lets of the ‘Top 500 Songs of All Time’ in Rolling Stone the a(æ) return at the end of the questions he asks. Magazine. The also does that with the ee sound(iː) in the second stanza and with the ai sound(aɪ) in the third stanza. Blowin’ in the Wind fits best in 1960s, but still some of the song’s meaning can be related to (political) “Yes, how many times must a man problems that occur nowadays. Has “The poetic aspects that made it one of the best known look up, before he can see the sky?” Here, Dylan asks how many times the Dylan implement- protest songs? Maybe. But one thing world has to look at war, through all ed in the song are I know for sure, the poetic aspects the dark smoke of the ‘cannon balls’, out of this world” Dylan implemented in the song are before they see what’s wrong with out of this world. the world and the wars that are going on. In the next phrase, “Yes, how many ears must one man have, be- Lyrics Blowin’ in the Wind fore he can hear people cry?”, Dylan show us again How many roads must a man walk down that many people are too ignorant to realize that so Before you call him a man? many brutal things are going on in this world. We be- How many seas must a white dove sail come deaf because of our selfishness and are too busy Before she sleeps in the sand? with wanting to have everything ‘our way’. Then he Yes, how many times must the cannon balls fly asks the ninth, and last, question of this song: “Yes, Before they’re forever banned? how many deaths will it take till he knows that too The answer my friend is blowin’ in the wind many people have died?” Here, the question is actual- The answer is blowin’ in the wind. ly as simple as it sounds. How many people must die in order to discover that war is useless? Yes, how many years can a mountain exist Before it’s washed to the sea? Because of the use of figurative speech, it is possible Yes, how many years can some people exist that Dylan’s message doesn’t come across immediBefore they’re allowed to be free? ately to all of them who listen to it. But what was Yes, how many times can a man turn his head the purpose of this song? Why did Dylan write it? It Pretending he just doesn’t see? becomes very clear, after digging deeper into the real The answer my friend is blowin’ in the wind meaning of the lyrics. The 1960s was an era full of The answer is blowin’ in the wind. civil right movements and protest against the government, war, hunger and conflicts. These topics beYes, how many times must a man look up came motifs to write songs like Blowin’ in the Wind. Before he can see the sky? Dylan creates different audiences for his song; first, Yes, how many ears must one man have he speaks to the governments that keep fighting wars. Before he can hear people cry? Second, he speaks to all of the people who don’t real- Yes, how many deaths will it take till he knows ly know what to think of all the things that are wrong That too many people have died? in this world. Dylan wants them to form an opinion The answer my friend is blowin’ in the wind and maybe protest with him. This, also, could be The answer is blowin’ in the wind. the purpose of the song. Dylan wanted people to be aware of the problems, and most likely war. He sounds desperate but at the same time unhesitating.
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1970s
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“My role in society, or any artist’s or poet’s role, is to try and express what we all feel. Not to tell people how to feel. Not as a preacher, not as a leader, but as a reflection of us all.” – John Lennon
John Lennon - Imagine - 1971
1950’s, ‘skiffle’ music became popular among British teenagers and a lot of small bands were formed who all played ‘skiffle’, including the Quarrymen. The played at parties, school dances and other occasions. In 1958, Paul McCartney was introduced as a new member of the band and one year later, George Harrison also joined the group. After using different names like Beatals, Silver Beetles and Silver Beatles, in August 1960, they changed their name to The Beatles. In 1962 Ringo Starr joined the group and that formation, together with Lennon, McCartney and Harrison, is the best know formation of the group. “[Imagine] is anti-religious, anti-nationalistic, anti-conventional, anti-capitalistic... but because it is sugar-coated, it is accepted.” This is what John Lennon said about the most successful song of his solo career; Imagine. The song was placed #3 in Rolling Stone Magazine’s ‘500 Greatest Songs of All Times’ and actually was based on Lennon wife’s book; Grapefruit by Yoko Ono. As Lennon already was well known for this time with The Beatles, everyone around the world knew him. But how did it all begin? John Lennon, only few don’t know him; one of the many legends in music’s history. This legend was born on October 9th, 1940 to Julia and Freddie Lennon in Liverpool, UK. He had a tough youth, his parents separated and he eventually went to live with his aunt, Mimi, the sister of Julia. But then John’s father took him away to leave for New Zealand, but Julia came to get John back. He was forced to choose between his mom and dad, but chose to go with his mom. Julia failed to take care of John again and so he was going to live with his aunt Mimi again for the rest of his childhood and adolescence. When John grew older, he often visited his mom who thought him how to play the banjo and listened to Elvis Presley with him. Eventually, John and his mother became very close. But that suddenly came to an end on July 15, 1958 when Julia was hit by a car and died. John was devastated and drank a lot in the period after Julia’s death. In 1956, John formed a band named the Quarrymen what later would evolve into the Beatles. In the
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The break-through of The Beatles was in 1963 when the British press had used the term Beatlemania. But the ‘real’ British Invasion began when took over the world and the charts. Their popularity was immense and in April 1964, The Beatles took over the US Billboard Hot 100 when they held 12 positions, including the top five. In 1965 they no longer played at parties but they played gigs in stadiums overloaded with teenagers all over the world. The Beatles stopped playing gigs in 1966 and starting recording albums. Their last album, Abbey Road, was released in 1969. In September that same year, John left The Beatles and wanted to go solo. And that’s what he did. In his debut solo album John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band in 1970 he was looking for his inner self. In Mother John is grieving the loss of his mother and in God he eventually declares: ‘I don’t believe in Beatles/I just believe in me/Yoko and me/And that’s reality/The dream is over.” His next album would be Imagine in 1971. Lennon produced the album together with Yoko Ono. He was inspired by Ono’s book, Grapefruit, though she didn’t get a lot of credit for it. “The song was originally inspired by Yoko’s book Grapefruit. In it are a lot of pieces saying, Imagine this, imagine that. Yoko actually helped a lot with the lyrics, but I wasn’t man enough to let her have credit for it. I was still selfish enough and unaware enough to sort of take her contribution without acknowledging it. I was still full of wanting my own space after being in a room with the guys all the time, having to share everything.” Lennon said. “His wife, Yoko Ono, watched as Lennon sat at the→
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file / PROTEST SONGS white grand piano now known around the world from films and photographs of the sessions for his Imagine album and virtually completed the song: the serene melody; the pillowy chord progression; that beckoning, four-note figure; and nearly all of the lyrics, twenty-two lines of graceful, plain-spoken faith in the power of a world, united in imagination and purpose, to repair and change itself.” Rolling Stone placed Imagine in the top 3 of their ‘500 Greatest Songs of All Time’ list. But why? What made Imagine such a great song? Could it be poetic lyrics, Lennon’s voice or the great white piano from the music video?
imagines a lot because he is ‘a dreamer’. He hopes everyone will become a dreamer and that, eventually, the world will be full of dreamers. He knows that not many people have considered questioning war or religion, but he knows that, at the same time, a lot have.
The second verse of the song is even more challenging than the first one. In the first verse John said that it’s easy if you try but in the second verse he says it isn’t hard to do. And in the third verse it will be even more challenging when he wonders if we can. Though Lennon doesn’t agree with a lot of things, there is no anger nor frustration throughout the lyrWhile writing the lyrics of Imagine, John had just ics. He only hopes and is being very patient. Lennon moved away from his ‘Beatle period’ and had finspeaks to us very directly; he says what he wants so ished primal scream therapy, in which he was forced say. But yet, these direct lyrics have also a deeper to truly feel the pain he had buried since childhood meaning. “Imagine there’s no countries/It isn’t hard and had to strip away his defenses. He could speak to do/Nothing to kill or die for/And no religion too/ Imagine all the people living life in peace”, is the “The second verse about his past and of the song is even express how he felt. second verse. He tells us about his dreams where He had entered a there are no countries and that all the people would more challenging new era of his life live in peace. That on its own makes a lot of sense, than the first one.” by that time and the but digging deeper there is a much clearer meaning lyrics of Imagine to these lyrics. “Imagine there’s no countries” could can prove that. While digging deeper into the lyrics, also mean: imagine there are no different governit comes clear that John questions religion and war. ments, nationalities, cultures and religions, everyone In the first verse he is questioning religion, especially is the same. “Nothing to kill or die for”: there’s no Christianity. Christians belief there is a heaven above need to be in war and to kill innocent people and and a hell beneath us. “Imagine there’s no heaven/ when there are no governments, there is no need to It’s easy if you try/No hell below us/Above us only ‘be the strongest’. ”And no religion too”, this refers sky/Imagine all the people living for today”. This to the first phrase; there’s no need to all the differdirectly tells us that we have to imagine that there is ent religions. “Imagine all the people living life in no heaven above, only sky and no hell below us. He peace” is the last phrase of the verse and also starts tells us that it is very simple to live without religion; with Imagine and outlines the phrases earlier phras“It’s easy if you try”, if we only try. “Imagine all the es; we could all live in peace if there wouldn’t be people living for today”: Christians live their whole ‘countries’. life to eventually end up in heaven, but Lennon says that we have to imagine that all the people will live “Imagine no possessions/I wonder if you can/No for today, and by this he means that people not have need for greed or hunger/A brotherhood of men/ to live in such a way that they have to think about the Imagine all the people sharing all the world” Again, future and ending up in heaven or hell. The sky in Lennon speaks to us very directly in the third verse this verse refers to a life without religion, and could but yet again there is a deeper meaning to it all. therefore be a symbol for it. “Imagine no possessions” It kind of refers to communistic beliefs; imagine that nobody owned anything In the 3 verses, Lennon lets the last word of the and that we shared everything. And by that, there is second and fourth line rhyme. Also, the verses start no need for greed or hunger. With sharing everything and end with ‘imagine’. This is called anaphora. and owning nothing, everyone is at the same (social) The structure of the song is a AABAB structure. level and are all connected; “A brotherhood of man”. Verse, verse, chorus, verse and chorus. “You, you “Imagine all the people sharing all the world”, this may say/I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one/I phrase condenses the phrases before it. hope some day you’ll join us/And the world will be as one”. This is the chorus. Lennon tells us that he All the things Lennon took in consideration while →
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PROTEST SONGS / writing the song is amazing, so it’s no wonder that it’s the best sold song of Lennon’s solo career. Imagine was one of the 100 most-performed songs of the 20th century according to BMI, it ranked number 30 on the ‘365 Songs of the Century’ by the Recording Industry Association of America, it is part of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame’s ‘500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll’ and ranked number 3 on Rolling Stone’s list of ‘The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time’. It was also covered many times by dozens of artists. Knowing this, it’s fair enough to say that Imagine had an huge impact on the music industry. Madonna once said: “I think he was a real rebel and I respect and admire that he was outspoken against the [Vietnam] war and that he seemed like someone who was searching for the truth.” She added, “I think he was a real poet...I think it was a great tragedy when he left this world.”
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plain-spoken faith in the power of a world, united in purpose, to repair and change itself.” But the far most factor that made Imagine as it is, are the lyrics… Lyrics Imagine “Imagine there’s no heaven It’s easy if you try No hell below us Above us only sky Imagine all the people living for today Imagine there’s no countries It isn’t hard to do Nothing to kill or die for And no religion too Imagine all the people living life in peace
You, you may say Though Imagine was a hit among the ‘protesters’, I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one the song was also detested by a lot of people because I hope some day you’ll join us of the very first line of it; “Imagine there’s no heav- And the world will be as one en”. Lennon remarked that the song was accepted by many people because it was ‘sugar-coated’; he didn’t Imagine no possessions directly say that he was against religion. Next to the I wonder if you can negative comments on his song, he still became an No need for greed or hunger influential symbol through his music and peace activ- A brotherhood of men ism. His song became one of the unofficial anti-war Imagine all the people sharing all the world anthems and could still be seen as one today. You, you may say Rolling Stone Magazine knows that made Imagine I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one such a loved song: “The serene melody; the pillowy I hope some day you’ll join us chord progression; that beckoning, four-note figAnd the world will live as one” ure; and nearly all of the lyrics, 22 lines of graceful,
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1980s
U2 - Pride (In The Name of Love) - 1984
“I think by that point we’d figured out that it’s sometimes enough to ask the right question. You don’t necessarily have to come up with an answer. Just to open yourself up to the possibility of being able to change doesn’t necessarily mean you have to live up to some impossible ideal. We just went, ‘Y’know what? Fuckt it. We are bunch of contradictions and we’re fine with that.” – The Edge. In the 1980s, many great (protest) songs were born. Bruce Springsteen’s Born in the USA, Band Aid’s Do They Know it’s Christmas?, Is This the World We Created by Queen, Public Enemy’s Fight the Power and, last but certainly not least, Pride (In the Name of Love) by the still famous U2. The song was released in 1984, a month before the album it would appear on; The Unforgettable Fire. Pride would become the first Top 40 hit in the US of U2. “I was looking for a balance to this operatic chorus and I wanted to write some dark verses. It was originally meant as the sort of pride that won’t back down, that wants to build nuclear arsenals. But that wasn’t working. I remembered a wise old man who said to me, don’t try and fight darkness with light, just make the lights shine brighter. I was giving Reagan too much importance. Then I thought Martin Luther King, there’s a man. We built the positive rather than fighting with the finger. In the end this slain preacher from Atlanta, that dark note, was the way I found the balance. So I was able to keep that song in an ecstatic place” Bono had been recently giving a copy of Let the Trumpet Sound, a biography of King written by Stephen Oates. It was November 1983, in Honolulu, Hawaii where U2 was playing a show after being on tour for almost a year. During a sound check before the show, they got the idea for Pride.
Feedback, but that name was quickly changed to The Hype. After 18 months rehearsing, in March 1979, the band’s big breakthrough came at a talent show in Limerick, Ireland. They won the contest as U2 since they changed their name again just before the talent show. They won a £500 prize and studio time to record their first demo. Shortly after the contest, U2 convinces Paul McGuinness to manage them. They now rehearsed every spare minute they had and played as many shows as possible to build up a fan base. In 1979 they released their first single and traveled to London for their first show outside Ireland. In 1980 Island Records signed U2 to their first international contract, which was followed by the first album to come out from that contract; Boy.
With Bono, The Edge and Larry as admitted Christians, attending meetings and part of a Irish Christian group called Shalom, U2 almost split. The Edge and Bono weren’t sure if “This is NOT a rebel they wanted to be in song.” a rock band as they questioned the relationship between Christian faith and the rock and roll lifestyle. They announced they were leaving the band. Their manager McGuinness tried to make them stay: “Do you really thing you’re going to be more effective by going back to your kind of normal lives? Or do you think taking this opportunity to be in a great rock ‘n roll band is, in the “Because of the situation in our country non-violent long term, going to have more value?” Bono and The struggle was such an inspiring concept. Even so Edge decided to distance themselves from Shalom, when Bono told me he wanted to write about King. and reconcile their faith with their music. Their secAt first I said, ‘Woah, that’s not what we’re about.’ ond album October was born. When they released Then he came in and sang the song and it felt right, their third album War in 1983, they enjoyed their first it was great. When that happens there’s no argument. international success. “I think that love stands out It just was.” This is what The Edge said in Decemwhen set against struggle,” Bono explained. “The ber 1998. It all started in 1976, when Larry Mullen album is about struggle and love”. In their song SunJr. posted a note on the bulletin board at his high day Bloody Sunday, they addressed the problems that school, looking for musicians to form a new band. were going on in Northern Ireland. Bono introduced Eventually Adam Clayton, Paul Hewson (later nick- that song saying “This is NOT a rebel song!” It was named ‘Bono’) and Dave Evans (later nicknamed a call for peace. To stress that fact, Bono wrapped ‘The Edge’) joined Mullen and formed a band called himself in a white flag while singing the song. →
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PROTEST SONGS / To stress that fact, Bono wrapped himself in a white flag while singing the song. Things went fast; MTV put videos of U2 in heavy rotation which introduced them to a new audience, tours were sold out and it seemed U2 had found their way to success. But, for their fourth album they took off in a new direction. The 1984’s album The Unforgettable Fire – named after a series of photographs drawn by survivors of the atomic bombs at Hiroshima and Nagasaki – was more experimental and the aggression of their previous album War was long gone. But still their political messages were part of the album, mainly because of Pride. U2 approached Brian Eno, a producer who had also worked with David Bowie and Talking Heads. “I thought it was a pretty strange idea to tell you the truth,” says Eno. “I remember having a phone call with Bono and I said, ‘If I come on board what I’m going to do is change a lot of what you’re doing. Is that what you mean?’ And he said, ‘That’s exactly what we want.’” The language used in the lyrics of Pride (In the Name of Love) isn’t very difficult to understand. The deeper meaning to the song, therefore, is something that is a bit harder to fully understand as the sentences are charged with historical references. What stands out immediately is the use of black creole English that is often spoken in the Caribbean. The grammar is not Standard English or Irish at all. The perfect example for this is “One man come”. In ‘correct’ English this would be one man comes. Also, “One man come he to justify” (one man comes to justify) and “One man he resist” (one man resists) are good examples. One man (or just One in the third line) is coming back several times in the first and second verse. This is a form of parallelism called anaphora; the repetition of several words. It makes the verses catchy and it attracts your attention. This “one man” could be just a random man, a person in general, but it could also refer to Jesus, as 3/4th of U2 is Christian. Also, it could refer to Martin Luther King Jr., but when discussing the third verse I’ll get back on that.
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that came here and did nothing. “One man come he to justify”. This line refers to Jesus; ‘justification’ is a Christian theological term that means something similar to salvation. Jesus came to this world to justify and save us. “One man to overthrow”. Again, this line is in contrast with the previous line, when they talked about justification, here U2 is talking about overthrowing. The song has ‘just a simple’ ABABAB-structure. So: verse, chorus, verse, chorus, verse, chorus. The chorus of Pride only has two different sentences. The first one is “In the name of Love!”. This expression is similar to ‘for God’s sake!’ and is often used to express that a situation has gone too far. It is also
used to emphasize the nest question; “What more in the name of Love?”. This is a rhetorical question that expresses the fact that they are shocked by the things people do in the name of ‘Love’ (read: God). This could be a clear reference to the IRA terrorism in the Republic of Ireland at that time. The question is about those who are willing to do everything in the name of God; even to go to war. It could also refer to Jesus again as he gave up everything in the name of Love and what more could a man do?! Right, nothing.
“One man caught on a barbed wire fence”. This, again, could refer to Jesus and this crown of thorns that is similar to a barbed wire fence. Also, the barbed wire fence could refer to violence. It is a characteristic for war and not being able to enjoy “One man come in the name of Love”. The Love your freedom. “One man he resist”. Again, there is refers to God, so it means that some people were sent a contrast to these sentences. In the first line they by God with a specific mission. This “one man” here spoke about the violent people, while in this line they could really just mean Jesus, but it also could mean are talking about the non-violent people that oppose ‘some people. “One man come and go”. This line the war. This also refers to Jesus, as he opposed to inmeans that some people (here it is not Jesus) came to justice. “One man washed on an empty beach”. This this world and died, without making a change. This probably refers to an Irish poet called Roger Caseline is in contrast with the line before, the heroes that ment. He was captured on a beach of Banna Strand were sent by God with a mission versus the people in 1916 (‘washed on an empty beacht’), arrested →
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file / PROTEST SONGS and executed because of his part in the Easter Rising, a revolt to free Ireland from Britain. Looking at the previous lines, you could draw the conclusion that in every verse there is a good-bad-good-bad (or the other way around) structure. For the second verse, it means that this line would be negative. This would be because Casement supported violence, which U2 strongly is against. “One man betrayed with a kiss”. When Jesus was betrayed by Judas, Judas kissed him as a signal to show the soldiers who they had to arrest. It could also mean that even though one gives a kiss, it hasn’t to be in the name of Love.
Even though Pride (In the Name of Love) isn’t a song you would think about when it goes about protest songs, it is a good piece of work. The (historical) references and deeper meanings to the lyrics are all overthought. “At a certain point, I just felt, you know, God is not looking for alms, God is looking for action.” The action God was looking for, that’s exactly what Bono executed while was writing Pride..
Lyrics Pride (In the Name of Love) “One man come in the name of Love One man come and go When writing the lyrics, Bono didn’t only use anaph- One come he to justify ora as a stylistic device, assonance was also used. In One man to overthrow the first verse the sound of the ow is repeated and in the third verse that would be the sound of the ai. In the name of Love! What more in the name of Love? “Nobody like you... There’s nobody like you…”. In the name of Love! This sentence could refer to Jesus, God or to MarWhat more in the name of Love? tin Luther King Jr., as they all are referred to in the song. There would be nobody like them in the world, One man caught on a barbed wire fence nobody who had done something so great. One man he resist One man washed on an empty beach. The third verse is definitely about Martin Luther One man betrayed with a kiss King Jr. (MLK) and his assassination. “Early morning, April 4”. This line refers to the day that In the name of Love! Martin Luther King Jr. was murdered, April 4 1968 What more in the name of Love? and is clearly a mistake. As MLK was killed at 6 In the name of Love! p.m. , ‘early morning’ should be changed to ‘early What more in the name of Love? evening’. “As a lyric, it’s daft! It’s a missed opportunity to.. to uh… I mean, I even get the time of Dr. (nobody like you... there’s nobody like you…) King’s assassination wrong! I say early morning, but it was early evening! It’s no description of him, Early morning, April 4 it’s more of a description of a feeling he unlocked in Shot rings out in the Memphis sky me.” That’s what Bono said about the fact he got the Free at last, they took your life time of the assassination wrong. “Shot rings out in They could not take your pride the Memphis sky”. King was killed in Memphis, so this again refers to the assassination. “Free at last, In the name of Love! they took your life”. For a Christian, death is not the What more in the name of Love? end, it is a liberation. We live in a world where peo- In the name of Love! ple suffer and where there is injustice. Also, “Free What more in the name of Love? at Last, Free at Last. Thank God Almighty we are In the name of Love! Free at Last” was part of his famous I have a Dream What more in the name of Love?” speech. “They could not take your pride”. ‘The ones that didn’t believe in you, the one that assassinated you, they couldn’t humiliate your memory and they couldn’t destroy people’s admiration for you. Martin Luther King Jr. was a man who fought for freedom and peace without using violence and a man who believed, just like U2. That is one of the reasons MLK is such a good reference and a why this is a protest song.
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Rage Against the Machine - Sleep Now in the Fire - 1999
1990s
“On of the questions I’d get asked is why we were the only protest band. We weren’t the only band like that –but we were probably the only one having hits.” – Tom Morello.
The 1990s didn’t really witness an explosion of protest songs, unlike other decades. Though, it did witness the birth of an American rap metal band called Rage Against the Machine, that are known as much for their politics as for their music. Sleep Now in the Fire is a track from their 1999 album The Battle of Los Angeles that in the first week already had been sold 450.000 times and so, went double platinum.
Rich”, a satire of the television show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. Shooting the video, director Michael Moore told the band members: “No matter what happens don’t stop playing”. When the band refused to stop, the police arrested Moore. “Michael’s last challenge to the band as he was being dragged away was, ‘Take the New York Stock Exchange!’ So we’re like, OK.” Morello and Commerford got through the first set of double doors before security It all began in 1991, in Los Angeles; guitarist Tom guards brought steel gates clanging down in from the Morello had just left his old band and was looking to second. To the audience that watched the shooting start another one. He was in a club in LA where he of the video, it pretty much seemed as if Rage has watched Zack de la Rocha freestyle rapping. Moclosed Wall Street. rello asked him to join his band. After that, Morello drafted drummer Brad Wilk, who had previously Only hearing the song, without really listening to auditioned for Morello’s old band and de la Rocha the lyrics, the music itself comes across very rebelconvinced his childhood friend Tim Commerford to lious and angry, mainly because of the screaming join the band as a bassist. Rage Against the Machine vocals and the guitar riffs. The first vocal you hear had named themselves after a song de la Rocha had is the screaming of de la Rocha “YAAAAAAAAA”. written for his former band. The band made a blueThroughout the song the “I” or “Me” are repeated. print for their first major-label debut album Rage Probably, the narrator is the personification of the Against the Machine on a self-released cassette. American government and their foreign policy. “The Several record labels were interested, but Rage world is my expense/The cost of my desire”. In order eventually signed with Epic Records. “Epic agreed to for America to get what they want, the world must everything we asked and they’ve followed through… pay. “Jesus blessed me with its future. And I protect We never saw a conflict as long as we maintained it with fire”. Jesus, therefore Christianity, can be seen creative control,” is what Morello said about the as a justification for political decisions. “So raise contract. Their demo had now become an album and your fists/And march around/Just don’t take what Rage Against the Machine was released in 1992. you need”; ‘So go ahead, take whatever you want, Despite the rumors RATM was breaking up, they as long as you don’t take anything from me since released a second album in 1996; Evil Empire and my desire is to have things. Don’t get in my way or entered Billboard’s top 200 chart at number one and it won’t end well.’ “I’ll jail and bury those commitalso earned three Grammy nominations, winning for ted/And smother the rest in greed”; ‘If anyone takes Best Metal Performance for Tire Me. Rage’s music what they need, I’ll jail or murder those who did. To had a bigger audience now. In 1997, they opened for the rest I’ll give them what they have their eyes on U2, for which all RATM’s profits went to support and so turn their eyes away from me.’ “Crawl with social organizations. Subsequently they began an me into tomorrow/Or I’ll drag you to your grave”; US tour. The police wanted to cancel some concerts ‘If you don’t do what I say, you will be going down, because of Rage’s ‘violent and anti-law enforcement you will be killed.’ “I’m deep inside your children/ philosophies’. In 1999 their last studio album, The They’ll betray you in my name”; ‘Even then, if you Battle of Los Angeles was released and the position survive me and are not blinded with greed, you will protest-themed rap-rock became more important. die. Before you children have any chance to object, I will have them following me.’ This stanza really While watching the Sleep Now in the Fire music shows how Rage thinks of the American government video, you see Rage playing in front of the New York and their policies. They make clear that whatevStock Exchange, intercut with scenes from a televier America wants, happens, no matter what. Then sion show called “Who Wants to Be Filthy F#&%ing comes the chorus: “Hey, hey/Sleep now in the →
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PROTEST SONGS / fire”(2x); ‘Just relax, everything is OK. Ignore the fact that the world is burning.’
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“For it’s the end of history/It’s caged and frozen still/ There is no other pill to take/So swallow the one/ “The lie is my expense/The scope of my desire”; ‘I That made you ill”. Here the narrators voice has been will lie in order to get what I want.’ So, the Amerleft; ‘This end of history is unchangeable. You think ican government lies to all its citizens and the rest this is the only way, but yet there are so many other of the world in order to get what they want. “The ways to still change the end, only those ways are not party blessed me with its future/And I protect it with easy, so you probably do what everyone is doing and fire”. The party could refer to the party of the elected continue to do what they all want you to do, even president or the party that supports the US governthough this end of history isn’t right.’ After this, ‘the ment. So; ‘The people who support me, blessed me costs of America’s desire’ are repeated; “The Nina with the ability to do this, to get what I want. I will The Pinta The Santa Maria/The noose and the rapist/ not let you ruin that, so when you try, I will stop you The fields overseer/The agent of orange/The priests and kill you.’ “I am the Nina The Pinta The Santa of Hiroshima/The cost of my desire/To Sleep now in Maria”. This line refers to Columbus. The Nina, the fire”. This also is the end of the lyric. Pinta and Santa Maria are the names of the ships Columbus found America with. It now becomes very Knowing all this, it is very clear that Rage Against clear that this song is about imperialism. According the Machine is angry at the US government, but to anthropologist Jack Weatherford, Columbus took also at the people that continue acting like nothing 1200 Taino Indians back to Spain with him, and sold happened and nothing is happening. The line “Sleep them as slaves. A lot of those “slaves” have died on now in the fire” has a sarcastic tone that accuses the transport to Spain. Also, within four years, Columpeople of ignoring everything that is wrong with the bus tore families apart and killed 1/3 of the Indian American government. Rage gave the lyrics more population. By knowing this, the next line could also power using rhyme every now and then. Also with refer to Columbus: “The noose and the rapist”. He using enumeration when talking about the ‘costs of was a rapist of human life. Many people don’t know my desire’, the lyrics come across more powerful. this ‘dark side’ of Columbus. Rage wanted to make it The narrator, in this case the US government, speaks clear that this dark side of Columbus existed, without as he himself is the greatest and everyone must know directly tell them. “The fields overseer”. This refers that. It comes forward from the way he talks to the to the colonies overseas and to the African slaves in “you”, the tone is very inferior. The lyrics are very America. “The agent of orange”. Agent Orange was poetic; not only when singing them but also when a chemical defoliant that was developed and used just reading them, there is some sort of rhythm. by America during the Vietnam War. Agent Orange prevented the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army This song could be summarized in just a few words; from hiding in the jungle. Unfortunately, it was never the American imperialism is wrong, stand up to it. tested for any side effects. The areas Agent Orange But that doesn’t come across as vigorous as all the was used turned into ecological disaster zones and lines of Sleep Now in the Fire together. All the great the chemical caused serious illnesses and horrific historical references give power to the perspective of birth defects among Vietnamese villagers. “The RATM and really make you think of all the thing the priests of Hiroshima”. Hiroshima refers to the atom- American government did wrong. ic bombing attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, in 1945. These atomic bombs were conducted Lyrics Sleep Now in the Fire by the United States, and therefore another black “YAAAAAAAAA page in the history of the US. The priest could be a The world is my expense spiritual judge. A priest who judged the people of The cost of my desire Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and then killed them. “The Jesus blessed me with its future cost of my desire/Sleep now in the fire”. It refers And I protect it with fire to all of the lines above; Columbus, African slaves, So raise your fists Agent of Orange, Hiroshima and Nagasaki are all the And march around costs of America’s imperialistic desire. Followed by Just don’t take what you need “Sleep now in the fire”; ‘You see that America has I’ll jail and bury those committed done wrong so much, yet you still act like nothing And smother the rest in greed happened.’ Crawl with me into tomorrow →
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file / PROTEST SONGS Or I’ll drag you to your grave I’m deep inside your children They’ll betray you in my name
Hey, hey Sleep now in the fire
Hey, hey Sleep now in the fire
Hey, hey Sleep now in the fire
Hey, hey Sleep now in the fire
For it’s the end of history It’s caged and frozen still There is no other pill to take So swallow the one That made you ill The Nina The Pinta The Santa Maria The noose and the rapist The fields overseer The agent of orange The priests of Hiroshima The cost of my desire To Sleep now in the fire”
The lie is my expense The scope of my desire The party blessed me with its future And I protect it with fire I am the Nina The Pinta The Santa Maria The noose and the rapist The fields overseer The agent of orange The priests of Hiroshima The cost of my desire Sleep now in the fire
2000s
“To me, it doesn’t feel like it’s just another rock record that somebody put out. It feels like we taped into the culture a little bit” – Billie Joe Armstrong about American Idiot.
Green Day - American Idiot - 2004
One day in 2003, when Billie Joe Armstrong, front man of Green Day, had been driving to his studio when a jingoistic Lynryrd Skynyrd song came on the radio. “It was like, ‘I’m proud to be a redneck,’ and I was like, ‘Oh my God, why would you be proud of something like that? That’s exactly what I’m against.’” That day, the idea of American Idiot was born.
In 1995 the album won a Grammy Award for Best Alternative Album and was nominated for nine MTV Video Music Awards. The following album that was released was Insomniac. Though the album didn’t approach the success of Dookie, it still sold 2 million copies in the US. When they recorded Nimrod in 1997, they agreed this album had to be different from the previous ones. It was a mix of pop-punk, surf rock and ska, to an acoustic ballad. Green Day Green Day was born as Sweet Children, in 1987. Bil- went touring in support of Nimrod in 1997 and 1998. lie Joe Armstrong and his friend Mike Drint, 15 years Guitarist Jason White began supporting the band on old at that time, formed a band together. In 1989 their concerts. While all their albums had reached a they got signed to Lookout! Records and recorded status of at least double platinum, their sixth studio their first EP 1,000 Hours. But before it was released album Warning only certified gold. Rolling Stone they dropped the name Sweet Children. The name gave the album 3 out of 5 points: “Warning… invites Green Day was adopted due to their fondness of the question: Who wants to listen to songs of faith, marijuana. Early in 1990, Green Day released their hope and social commentary from what used to be first studio album 39/Smooth. They would record snot-core’s biggest-selling band?” Though critics’ two EP’s later that year. Just after their nationwide reviews of the album were varied, Green Day won tour in 1990, drummer Tré Cool joined the band. all eight of the awards that they were nominated for They went on tour in 1992 and 1993, and played at the 2001 California Music Awards. In 2004, the shows in Europe. Green Day’s second studio album band released their first album to reach number one, Kerplunk sold 50,000 copies in the US, which let to American Idiot. The album’s first single: American their breakthrough success. The group left Lookout! Idiot. The song received mostly positive reviews and Records and signed to Reprise Records. The first was nominated for four Grammy Awards. → album to their new label, Dookie, became a success.
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PROTEST SONGS / American Idiot(song) was released during the presidential campaign in which George Bush was reelected. It was just three years after the September 11th terrorist attacks and only one year after Bush pushed forward with the invasion of Iraq, without approval of the United Nations. Bush and his administration were now open to criticism regarding how such disaster could happen and the solution to the problem America (read Bush) had. That solution was the socalled War on Terror which was, and still is, fuelled by a propaganda campaign on the home front. The song starts off with “Don’t want to be an American idiot”. This quite an important line; the whole song is about ‘an American idiot’ and the lyrics explain what an American idiot is, according to Green Day. A great example of an American idiot, according to Green Day, is George Bush. But, an American idiot could also be a US citizen that just ‘goes with the flow’; a zombie of the nation and its media. The concept of an American idiot will become much clearer when other lines have been explained. “Don’t want a nation under the new media”. ‘The new media’ refers to the forced change in society’s mood and views. After the 9/11 attacks, America wanted justice and most of them supported the War on Terror. The lyrics state that the narrative person, most likely to be Green Day or just a random person, doesn’t want a nation that is led under the new values. “And can you hear the sound of hysteria?/ The subliminal mind fuck America” The media and the US government have snuck their way into our brains, tell us what to do and what they are expecting from us. I think ‘the sound of hysteria’ is referring to the following sentence: ‘the subliminal mind fuck America’. Green Day wants us to hear the sound of hysteria that the media cause.
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cusing the (new) media; television for example. This phrase indicates how Americans have ‘television dreams’ which are derived from the media. A lot of these dreams are seen to be unachievable. Americans are really influenced by what they see on television and how their ideas of a perfect future can be formed by the media. “We’re not the ones meant to follow/ For that’s enough to argue”; ‘We are not supposed to just follow the media in what they think, we must have our own opinion and we must fight for that.’ The chorus comes back in the lyrics three times in total, every time after a verse. So then the structure of the song is ABABAB. “Well maybe I’m the faggot America”. Faggot is a negative synonym for homosexual. The fact that Green Day used the word faggot doesn’t mean they are against homosexuality. On the contrary; Green Day is using the word to stress the fact that most of the people in the United States have an out casting nature towards homosexuality. “I’m not a part of a redneck agenda”. A redneck is a Southern conservative that most likely will vote for a Republican, such as George Bush. Through this phrase it is clear that Green Day is really against Bush’s agenda and the way he controls America. “Now everybody do the propaganda”. The propaganda is a reference to the new media and its way to influence us. “And sing along to the age of paranoia”. Through the lies that the media present, America has become a country that is based on fear.
The third stanza begins with a line that we already heard in the song: “Don’t want to be an American idiot”. Knowing more about the lyrics now, the idea of an American idiot has become clearer. An American idiot is someone who allows the media to guide him through his life, someone who believes all the After the first stanza comes the chorus, starting with: lies the media spreads. “One nation controlled by the “Welcome to a new kind of tension”. This new kind media”; America is a nation that is controlled by the of tension also refers to the media that are giving us media. This phrase tells us directly what almost the an image of what our lives are supposed to look like; whole song is about; media that take over control. the American Dream. While the rest of the world is “Information age of hysteria/It’s calling out to idiot in war, America is fine and tries to act like nothing is America”. The time we live in, is better known as wrong. “All across the alien nation”. The ‘alien nathe Information Age; the digital industry creates a tion’ is America, where everyone is actually an alien. knowledge-based society. All that information that is “Where everything isn’t meant to be okay”. Though coming from the media makes us hysteric and makes it may seem so because of the media, everything in us an ‘American idiot’. America isn’t okay. With this line it becomes clear that America isn’t the ‘perfect’ country everyone A commonly used technique Green Day used in seems to think. Most of it is just an illusion created American Idiot is homoioptoton. In the chorus for by the media. “Television dreams of tomorrow”. example, that is tension and nation. These two words Here is really clear that American Idiot is really acdon’t rhyme, though they end with the same –ion. →
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file / PROTEST SONGS Also, within American Idiot, Green Day used metaphors. An example of that is alien nation in the chorus. The words have been used to describe America and emphasize the division that exists within the society of the US. Though it may seem that Green Day is anti-America, it is not. With American Idiot they want the world to know how disappointed they are in how the United States is ruled. Instead of being American idiots, Green Day is not accepting America the way it is now, but stands up and confronts it with its mistakes in order for America to better itself. Also, American Idiot shows how disappointed Green Day is with all the people who are controlled by the media and don’t stand up to it.
For that’s enough to argue Don’t want to be an American idiot One nation controlled by the media Information age of hysteria It’s calling out to idiot America Welcome to a new kind of tension All across the alien nation Where everything isn’t meant to be okay Television dreams of tomorrow We’re not the ones meant to follow For that’s enough to argue” ←
When Green Day was playing in Berlin in 2005, this is what Billie Joe Armstrong said: “You’re the fucking leaders, you have the power. Don’t let these bastards dictate the rest of the world, or dictate your fucking life!” This quote gives a perfect summary of what the message is of American Idiot; stand up, get up, don’t be controlled by all those lies! Now, that’s a good protest song, isn’t it?! Lyrics American Idiot “Don’t want to be an American idiot Don’t want a nation under the new media And can you hear the sound of hysteria? The subliminal mind fuck America Welcome to a new kind of tension All across the alien nation Where everything isn’t meant to be okay Television dreams of tomorrow We’re not the ones meant to follow For that’s enough to argue Well maybe I’m the faggot America I’m not a part of a redneck agenda Now everybody do the propaganda And sing along to the age of paranoia Welcome to a new kind of tension All across the alien nation Where everything isn’t meant to be okay Television dreams of tomorrow We’re not the ones meant to follow
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file
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Music makes us want to live. You don’t know how many times people have told me that they’d been down and depressed and just wanted to die. But then a special song caught their ear and that helped give them renewed strength. That’s the power music has. — Mary J. Blige
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Ultimate ultimate Playlists playlists By SHANNEN By SHANNEN
Whatever mood you’re in, listening music is good,anyhow. anyhow.I Iam am aa type type of Whatever mood you’re in, listening to to music is good, person could to any type genreatatany anytime. time.But ButI Ialso also have have person that that could listenlisten to any type of of genre playlists for different moods, emotions occasions.I’mI’msure sureyou youget get me, me, right? right? playlists for different moods, emotions or or occasions. To share of the songs I frequently listen I composedsome some playlists playlists for To share somesome of the songs I frequently listen to,to,I composed for you, whoever you are, however you are feeling or whatever you are liking.. you, whoever you are, however you are feeling or whatever you are liking.. +++ tth hee p ay rr eedaady pl laylist are f y o lu r ist tteon! t for yo o alis o! you s re to lis ten
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Reckless
For all them reckless kids out there, enjoy!
1. I Love It - Icona Pop 2. Teenage Crime - Adrian Lux 3. Get Free - Major Lazer 4. Pumped Up Kicks - Foster The People 5. Million Voices - Otto Knows 6. Young, Wild & Free - Snoop Dogg ft. Wiz Khalifa & Bruno Mars 7. Day ‘n Nite - Kid Cudi vs Crookers 8. Smoke Weed Everyday Snoop Dogg Remix 9. D.A.N.C.E - Justice 10. Seek Bromance - Tim Berg 11. Heads Will Roll - Yeah Yeah Yeahs 12. Unwritten - Natasha Bedingfield 13 Leave The World Behind - Axwell, Steve Angello, Sebastian Ingrosso & Laidback Luke ft. Deborah Cox 14. Pursuit of Happiness - Steve Aoki 15. Blue Jeans - Lana Del Rey
here! t i n e t s i L
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IN LOVE
For all the lovebirds
. Mayer 1 n h o J rland e d tion 2. n c o e W r i A D s e n dy I ay 3. ngs - O l i C h Your Bo T n a e h l Litt - Jonat e r dé 4. i n F a S n O i l t i m Hear h ft. E t n i rain 5. r T b a L r e ul Sist autiful o e S B once 6. , y r y e u e B o H Y h e n Lov Beneat on 7. s l i H Crazy I i er . ft. K I on 8. . i T t c e r k i c D r Ba e - One l b der 9. Got You a n t o s W i s e i i r v Ir y - Ste l e v o rows 10. L C e g h n S i t Isn’t - Coun e v on 5 11. o o L r a n M I y d tall en 12. Be Love g r l o Acciten l M i W a z She rl - La i G s i h T
Listen to it her e
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Listen Here 1. Thunderstruck - ACDC Guns N’ Roses 2. Sweet Child O’ Mine lling Stones 3. Satisfaction - The Ro - U2 4. Sunday Bloody Sunday 5. Mylo Xyloto - Coldplay atles 6. Come Together - The Be ndrix 7. Voodoo Child - Jimi He Leon 8. Sex On Fire - Kings Of d Hot Chili Pepers Re on ti ca ia rn fo li Ca 9. it - Nirvana 10. Smells Like Teen Spir yer 11. Bold As Love - John Ma een 12. We Will Rock You - Qu You - Kiss 13 I Was Made For Loving 14. Who Are You - The Who
ROCK
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ward 1. Call Me Maybe - Ben Ho e - Ed Sheeran 2. I Knew You Were Troubl ’Special 3. I Follow Rivers - Chef lbie Caillat 4. Breakeven/Fast Car - Co ic - Jessie J st ou Ac t ec rf Pe ’s dy bo No 5. 6. Levels - Skrillex 7. Casanova - Ben Saunders kyn Heperi 8. No Women Like This - La
LISTEN TO IT HERE!
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Chill 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12.
Sky & Sand - Paul & Fritz Kalkbrenner Free Fallin’ - John Mayer Teenage Crime - Adri an Lux Little Things (Chill Remix) - One Directio n Three Little Birds Bob Marley Leven - Bakermat The A Team Acoustic - Ed Sheeran Paradise City - Guns N’ Roses Big Jet Plane - Angu s & Julia Stone Always Like This - Bo mbay Bicylce Club In Your Atmosphere John Mayer Home - Edward Sharpe and The Magnatic Zero s
re
he t i o t n e t s i L
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Listen here!
How To Save A Life - The Fray 1. Slow Dancing In A Burning Room - John Mayer 2. Six Degrees Of Seperation - The Script 3. Someone Like You - Adele 4. Somebody That I Used To Know - Gotye ft. Kimbra 5. Skinny Love - Bon Iver 6. Breakeven - The Script 7. Bleeding Love - Leona Lewis 8. Stay - Rihanna 9. Fix You - Coldplay 10. Impossible - James Arthur 11. Back To December - Taylor Swift 12.
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One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain. — Bob Marley
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SCRAPBOOK #01 Photo’s
MELANIE TJOENG
OYSTER C-HEARTED TUMBLR RYAN KENNY SRC783
By SHANNEN
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come take a walk
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music is my religion
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Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life
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Music is love in search of a word. Music is the soul of the language. Music should be your escape. FLUcE / 70
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Most people live and die with their music still unplayed. They never dare to try. FLUcE / 74
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Love is a friendship set to music
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Talking about music is like dancing about architecture.
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Music is harmony, harmony is perfection, perfection is our dream, and our dream is heaven.
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Music has healing power. It has the ability to take people out of themselves for a few hours. — Elton John
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The sky is a deep purple, the color just before the night sets in. The musician is sitting outside at a table with a Heineken and a can of Coke. He rests his elbow on the surface, and his eyes are focused intently on something unknown. He looks solemn, utterly absorbed in thought. Wispy, ethereal smoke burns from the fiery lit end of a cigarette held delicately between his fingertips. The man is Kurt Cobain, the lead singer of the iconic band Nirvana. This photograph is so intriguing, and not just aesthetically. It encompasses all of the inner demons he battled in his young life; depression, alcohol, and drugs. The three were a lethal combination, and eventually led Cobain to commit suicide. He did not feel passionate about music anymore, about anything for that matter. Addiction destroyed his life, and depression was the fuel that caused his downfall. It is an indisputable fact that drugs are glorified in the music industry. Many popular singers and bands have been affiliated with some sort of drug usage, whether it be heroin or marijuana. These artists make it trendy to get high and drunk, and easily-influenced teenagers are taking after them. Today’s youth already emulates famous musicians, so what is stopping them from copying their drug habits as well? Kurt Cobain was immensely prominent in the music world in the 90s. Nirvana had legions of die-hard fans who wanted to be just like them. These fans saw Cobain doing drugs and mimicked his unfortunate habits. These days, artists like Whiz Khalifa constantly rap about getting high. Lyrics like “Like me be smoking while I’m driving/Getting higher than the Bee Gees” are played and teens do just the same.
show that 50% of twelfth graders have reportedly tried alcohol, and 22% have tried marijuana. Every year, the percentage grows higher and higher. It usually starts out soft drugs (tobacco, weed), and then the user moves on to harder drugs (cocaine, heroin, etc). As a teenager gets more and more addicted, bad side effects kick in. Grades begin to drop, fatigue sets in, withdrawal from family, and low self esteem is only this beginning. Since humans only fully develop at the age of 21, drug abuse can stunt growth in your body.Firstly, psychoactive substances often target and alter function of neurotransmitters, the chemical messengers that allow nerves to communicate at their junctions. Interference with neurotransmitters can directly damage fragile developing neural connections, therefore messing up the developing brain. The young user’s perception abilities begin to diminish before they are even done forming. Unless addiction is stopped early, an adolescent with a substance addiction may never be fully cured. The music industry is one of the most influential art forms of our society. Popular musicians are thrown into the public eye, and they are always under a microscope scrutinizing every move they make. Anything they eat, any place they visit, any product they buy- fans will mirror their actions. If a certain singer decides to smoke a blunt, then hundreds of fans will do the same. The hidden dangers in narcotics are often ignored, yet so many lives have been derailed because of it.
Unfortunately, teenagers do not see the link between their actions today and the consequences tomorrow. They do not understand that drugs are damaging to their physical and mental health, and can break down their whole lives. Statistics
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DRUGS in the Music Industry Words LIZ
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ByeBye Voila, this was the first issue of Fluce. We hope that you like(d) it! We will try our best to make the next issue even better and so we always appriciate feedback, ideas on the next issue or anything else. You can send us a message on our tumblr page → flucemag.tumblr.com. We love to hear from you, so don’t be shy!
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kisses from the crew FLUcE / 112
Issue #01 Crew:
Editor in Chief - Shannen Editor - Sarah Writer - Liz
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