Social commentary

As long as there has been social injustice in the world, there have been artists expressing their protest through music. Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” was based on a Friedrich Schiller poem that was in opposition to the slavery that existed around the world.

While the golden age of protest music is associated with the folk music of the 1950s and 60s, from artists like Woodie Guthrie, Pete Seeger and Bob Dylan, there were parallel movements with music from Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald that inspired Civil Rights protest music. Punk rock bands took up the protest flag in the 1970s, and rap artists furthered the protest in the 1980s and 90s. Protest movements have spurred many albums with songs documenting oppression, subjugation, political unrest, racism and more. These albums can be visually underscored with artwork that also conveys this message of protest.