NOTE: this post has a ton of embedded video, which makes it slow to load. It'll all be okay--just givvit a sec.
Just as I've wondered about where the stories of the over 5,000 Occupy arrestees are, I've wondered where the music for the movement is. I haven't heard anything close to, say, Buffalo Springfield's "For What It's Worth" yet, but I'm hopeful. In the meantime, here's what I've seen so far.
One thing that struck me when I was compiling this is in how many different musical idioms these Occupy songs are being composed. So many voices, dialects, rhythms, with one common theme: Occupy. I started this post thinking there weren't that many songs, but I found out I was wrong. What that says to me is that the songs, like what's really happening on the ground, aren't being media-ed. Music changes things, yanno.
I don't agree with the lyrical content of every song below, but I will defend to my death the right to say it as they see it, not as I might need them to see it in order to sustain my illusions of safety or security. I need voices I disagree with just as much as ones with which I find accord. We all nede memetic devices, like music, to challenge and support each ohter. Music connects people in ways the spoken and written word don't.
So, I started this post thinking I'd find a few, and post them. This one's my fave so far; I love the mix of tragedy & comedy:
Something about this one really charms me:
Ouch but yeah:
Teaches math at a Catholic school:
And I posted a few, which led me to a few more....
Punx RAWK!
They just kept coming....
I've seen this one around the most, probably because of the sitch it came out in:
This one makes me wanna bob my head and hold up a lighter:
...and I realized that there were so many of them that I would not be able to post them all here! Squee of musical joy!
Every movement needs a uke song!
Find more songs, write more songs, sing more songs. Music changes things, yanno. :)
