Let's be careful here. Many of the protest songs might be considered rule breakers.

Some mine already on BHO.

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Originally posted by banjobard

We are in a new era that calls for strength, intelligence, action, solidarity, collaboration, protest, connection and identity-building (recognizing that it’s not red v blue or black v white but the billionaires vs everyone else).

 

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I'm not sure why you call it a "new era"? History is littered with thousands of examples of folks being called to confront hypocrisy and injustice. Nothing new there....

There are some protest songs on YouTube...but very few that are accompanied by banjo.

I think that it is important to remember/consider/understand and discuss that the banjo as we know it, taking more or less final form in the late 1830s and up to the early 1900s Jim Crow era nostalgia music, was strongly associated with and featured by minstrelsy.

This popular entertainment celebrated enslaving humans, mocking immigrants, and after the American Civil War, supported the "happy slave" narrative.

While what is stated by the OP is true, it is only true for the post WW2 folk revival. Prior to the folk revival (creation), the banjo was used for political satire (as was other popular instruments). There was also a struggle by musicians, at least in print and theory, to distance themselves from minstrelsy. Yet, nearly to the very end of the classic era, new music was being composed and published with nods to minstrelsy and old standards continued to be made into new arrangements.

Recently I learned Deportee and If I Were Free but I generally don't care for most political songs, they usually have poor melodies or divisive, skewed/distorted lyrics. However anti-war songs remain pertinent, there are Eric Bogle's The Band Played Waltzing Matilda and William McBride. We'll see what comes up here as we ponder 'where have all the flowers gone.' banjered

I’ll go one step beyond protest. “Soldier’s Joy” deals with consequences.

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Originally posted by Texasbanjo

Let's be careful here. Many of the protest songs might be considered rule breakers.

Is one of the funniest bits of irony ever posted?

IF there's merit in wisdom (?) like "you can't be offended without giving permission" and "people are as happy as they choose to be," then I see no basis for dissatisfaction/protest/resistance.  *

To my discredit (?), I'm not familiar with current songs of resistance.

*    =  halfway between    and   .

Playing banjo for grandkids calls for singing, which I otherwise very rarely do. Woody's Do Re Mi and Pretty Boy Floyd are usually the first that come out of my mouth. The Fox (who went out on a chilly night) is another outlaw song favorite of mine. (I also sang these for my grandkids' parents when they were little.)

can't trust the weather man -- cadillac sky

...don't need him to know which way the wind blows

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Originally posted by NNYJoe

quote:

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Originally posted by Texasbanjo

Let's be careful here. Many of the protest songs might be considered rule breakers.

Is one of the funniest bits of irony ever posted?

 

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It may be ironic, but if the thread gets controversial and political, it'll be locked.  Let's keep it clean if we can.

Is there any particular downside to a thread being locked?

If a thread is locked that means someone gets the last word and it might be a person one disagrees with. Heaven forbid that happen.

Anyway, BHO skews old and conservative so just be careful what you say because the criteria for what is and isn't 'political' is both subjective and transient. Do not under any circumstances argue with the moderation team, USA may be a democracy but BHO is not. 

To the topic at hand: my favorite song of resistence is Peter Rowan's "Ruby Ridge", as performed by Clifton Hicks. This song speaks specifically on the topic of resistance to tyranny and how the federal government responds to it. 

Note to mods: this is a song about a historical event, written by Peter Rowan, and played on a banjo. This comment is meant as an informative response to the topic, and is not meant as a promotion or endorsement of any political view.  

Somebody disagree with ME?!?!?  I hadn't given it much thought  ............. but i guess it IS possible.   

Edit: Mr. Hicks is ^^ pretty good... I'd heard of him, but was unaware of the song .... will listen to it some more.  Thanks.

I don’t sing but I love to play songs on banjo…

John Henry protested machinery/technology replacing human jobs.

California Cottonfields protested the abuse of farm workers from the Dust Bowl

This Little Light of Mine was used in the Civil Rights Movement

Paradise protested the coal mining industry

quote:what rules are involved.  A big empty headed and increasingly senile.  Also believe  that drawing in politics would wreck Banjo Hangout, but know that you are a straight shooter, just curious about what explicit rules  are referenced in your post.   Thanks also for your service and fellowship and the generosity of your work with we crazies here.

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Originally posted by Texasbanjo

Let's be careful here. Many of the protest songs might be considered rule breakers.

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Soldier's joy is essentially a song derived from celebrating the delights of the dossage of opium that was part of the rewards English soldiers and some sailors received for their service for the crown.  "Soldiers Joy" was the drugs they were rewarded with.    Most sets of words to it I have heard from 20th century old time performers dont refer to that except the fifteen cents for morphine verse continues that.

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Originally posted by Texasbanjo

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Originally posted by NNYJoe

quote:

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Originally posted by Texasbanjo

Let's be careful here. Many of the protest songs might be considered rule breakers.

Is one of the funniest bits of irony ever posted?

 

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It may be ironic, but if the thread gets controversial and political, it'll be locked.  Let's keep it clean if we can.

 

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Yes I'm not interested in creating yet another online flame war. Please let's treat each other with respect and let the songs do the work :)

 of course, any song that tells a story of people's lived experience can be said to be a political song. And even instrumental music can be controversial (like when ragtime was called "jungle music" because of its syncopation and ' ragged time', or when Stravinsky's rite of spring  was premiered and practically caused a riot)

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Originally posted by Joel Hooks

I think that it is important to remember/consider/understand and discuss that the banjo as we know it, taking more or less final form in the late 1830s and up to the early 1900s Jim Crow era nostalgia music, was strongly associated with and featured by minstrelsy.

This popular entertainment celebrated enslaving humans, mocking immigrants, and after the American Civil War, supported the "happy slave" narrative.

While what is stated by the OP is true, it is only true for the post WW2 folk revival. Prior to the folk revival (creation), the banjo was used for political satire (as was other popular instruments). There was also a struggle by musicians, at least in print and theory, to distance themselves from minstrelsy. Yet, nearly to the very end of the classic era, new music was being composed and published with nods to minstrelsy and old standards continued to be made into new arrangements.

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Yes, but of course, it was an instrument of the enslaved humans for a couple hundred years (and evolving during that time) before it was an instrument of a cariacture of the enslaved humans.

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Originally posted by Mark Douglas

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Originally posted by banjobard

We are in a new era that calls for strength, intelligence, action, solidarity, collaboration, protest, connection and identity-building (recognizing that it’s not red v blue or black v white but the billionaires vs everyone else).
 

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I'm not sure why you call it a "new era"? History is littered with thousands of examples of folks being called to confront hypocrisy and injustice. Nothing new there....

There are some protest songs on YouTube...but very few that are accompanied by banjo.

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Yes, I should have written "yet another era" or something like that. I guess what I was going for is that there are plenty of older songs like Which Side Are You On, We Shall Overcome, This Land is Your Land, etc that have been well-known for a few generations now. And they are no less relevant in the modern day then when they were written. A lot of the inequalities and conflicts and challenges persist through the eras. But there are also new songs being written in direct response to the current struggles that people face, and I'd like help unearthing more of them. 

And there are loads of protest songs, it's a big and deep genre, so hoping to get some more hand-selected favorites, and ones that lend themselves well to the banjo, since this is a banjo forum. 

The history of the banjo has been discussed and debated and revisited a significant number of times on this forum. I'm not sure how many minds were changed (or needed to be changed) by the history lesson. I've even observed some folks on here throwing around the word racism when they know nothing about the member! They grab onto a sentence or phrase and scream that it's racist talk. A frequent rush to judgment ensues....


I like the banjo and I like many of the people that play the banjo. I am no longer interested in anyone else's paradigm and interpretation of 18th and 19th century history connecting the banjo to despicable behavior from some white folks. The instrument has NO negative connotation for me.

When I start reading posts that start with "it's important to remember...." I'm already turning the page.

The history is there for anyone to read! Why do some folks feel compelled to teach it here and apologize for the past?

Would some of the purveyors of history have us walk around with a sign.....
"I play the banjo and I'm so sorry for it's association with a dark part of American musical history."

As Mike Gregory was famous for saying on the BHO: "It's your banjo, play it any way you want!"

I choose to play my banjo without carrying any burdens of the past!

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Originally posted by writerrad

quote:what rules are involved.  A big empty headed and increasingly senile.  Also believe  that drawing in politics would wreck Banjo Hangout, but know that you are a straight shooter, just curious about what explicit rules  are referenced in your post.   Thanks also for your service and fellowship and the generosity of your work with we crazies here.

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Originally posted by Texasbanjo

Let's be careful here. Many of the protest songs might be considered rule breakers.

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Rule #5:  

1. Political or Religious Topics: Posts which are political or religious in nature are generally prohibited, although non-argumentative posts are allowed at the moderators' discretion (ie, a "Please pray for so and so" topic is fine

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