What has the research led up to? What results can be drawn through the data? Why is it of interest?
Gender
Why was gender looked at for this project? Though seemingly disconnected, the thought process was to see if due to major events, would minorities in terms of gender become more present over time. Due to this the three gender categories for artists became male, female, female/male (for groups) to breakdown. If songs had been present that were created by individuals identifying as other genders, then they would have been added as well, but no individuals in this list identified otherwise.
What can be found in the data? The data reveals that males performed the highest amount of songs in this database, while female/male groups performed the least amount. Though not entirely a surprise due to record labels at the time and the nature behind the songs, the fact that there are no real progressions throughout this breakdown is peculiar. One would expect to see an increase in female artists, particularly surrounding the women’s movement, yet this could also be sampling error.
Genre
Genre was an easy selection to breakdown the songs chosen as it not only reflects the popular music of the time but also allows one to see that protest music can functionally be from any genre. A wide selection of genres has also allowed for artists from all backgrounds whether that be culturally, race, or any other form of diversity. Genres may seem similar at times, for example folk and folk rock, but each constituted their own field due to there being a substantial enough difference for it to count.
What does the data reveal? In total there were 33 genres, of which folk songs were the most common throughout the database. However, due to the amount of one-off genres, a least common genre cannot be found. Each of the decades also had a wide range of genres present. The 1950s had 7 genres, the 1960s had 23 genres, and the 1970s had 20 genres. Though the ’60s had more songs than the ’70s, the ’70s had the most amount of variety of genre present with just under half of the songs being a different genre.
Event
How were the events chosen? Events were selected by common threads that songs were tied to such as the Vietnam War. These were the overall groupings of events that songs could have been put into with smaller events directly tied to songs being considered a separate category that were not analysed in this way. The event categories also help to divide the timelines giving a further connection of songs to events. These bigger events are also usually directly linked to protest movements within the United States, such as the Civil Rights Movement.
What can be found from these events? The two most common events throughout the songs are the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War. Similarly to genre, there are too many one-off events to see which is the least common. The ’60s and ’70s each had a range of 7 events, while the ’50s had a range of 5 events. This means that the ’50s had widest range of events with a little under half of the songs being different events which is made greater due to three of these years not having songs attached to them. There are also 13 total events which shows the diversity of what occurred during this time.
Message
What is a message? For the terms of this project, think of the message as a theme. It is the overall conveyance of what the song is trying to say. The themes were selected by the editor in order to compare and contrast what messages were more prevalent throughout each decade and all together. Though attempted to be a true reflection of what the individual songs were trying to portray, there are some songs that have been left up to interpretation even to this day making these songs’ messages truly left up to the editor. The messages purveyed for these songs are not meant to offend, but are an attempt to conserve the artists’ original intentions.
What conclusions can be drawn about the messages? The overwhelmingly most common message, with 24 songs under it, was “Fight for equality; never stop fighting for what’s right.” There were also one-offs in this section, so no least common can be found. However, the majority of the songs’ messages were along the lines of equality, peace, and questioning what’s going on around oneself. This similarity makes sense due to what these songs were protesting in terms of war and injustice that were rampant throughout this period. Overall, these songs conveyed feelings of hope, anger, and acceptance in response to the hate, confusion, injustice, and blind obedience of the time.
The Music Itself
After looking at the database breakdowns, what does the music itself tell us in terms of protest music and how it shifted over these 30 years? With 128 songs and 90 events, the music has shifted and changed along with who has sang it, what it says, what it plays into, but it remains one thing: protest. These songs portray that though they may be unique or similar in regards to certain properties, that times help to shift what is popular or even what becomes lost to history, music prevails and remains; especially the music of the people.
Why study this music? Music remains to be one of the connecting forces of humanity. Every culture and people have their own version of music. Protest music remains at the core of America due to its ability to transcend bounds and bring voices together, especially those that go unheard. These 30 years remind people why there needs to be a a way for those who aren’t in power to get their voices and views out there, to show the common people that there are those who are willing to fight for what’s right. Some of these messages and songs apply to today, never take what’s been said in the past for granted.
Outliers
Like any research that takes place, there are bound to be outliers within the data. Though there was an attempt to stick with purely American artists, this was not the case. Certain artists, such as Buffy Sainte Marie and Holly Near, were born in one country but moved to America and became citizens. Other artists, like The Animals and Gordon Lightfoot, are from another country, but their music was so critical for this time period and was adopted by many Americans. In these cases, they were chosen because their music could not have been ignored for this project due to the impact they had.
Another outlier is that not every year had music that fit within the parameters of this project. These years were 1953, 1954, and 1957. As the 1950s were considered relatively calm in terms of protest due to the coming off of the patriotic feelings of the ending of World War II, the chances of finding music against events, even with the Korean War, are slim. Though there was an attempt to find music for these missing years, it was deemed permissible to continue without songs due to the 1950s having the least amount of songs anyway.
What conclusions have been drawn from this project?
Over the span of 30 years, the music greatly differed based on the events that occurred and with the mindset of the time.
This reflects in everything from genre to event to message with the outlier being gender. The music has ultimately evolved to fit the times, to fit what is either popular or becoming more widespread. Sometimes, it even helps to start new ideas causing a further shift. This evolution may be imperfect, but it is there. It remains protest, but everything else shifts. Those who sang, the messages within the songs, the events that inspired the songs, these have all shifted. Visualizing this data only goes so far, as it is what one hears within the music to truly understand this evolution. Yet, with what can be visualized, it does show trends and drops that occur throughout these 30 years. The music evolved with the people, music is and of itself the essence of humanity. As people became more outraged and more outspoken, so to did the music. What started as relatively tame during the Korean War, by the end of the Vietnam War with all the violence that had occurred within America itself due to numerous events, the spark had grown into a raging fire. That is not to say that this music was widely accepted. In fact, many of these artists were considered outcasts and some even had watch files on them by various government agencies. Even still, it is their music that is remembered during this time, it is their messages that prevailed. This evolution reveals the music of the people and all that they stood for.
What can be done with this data?Hopefully, it will be added onto in the future, but with what is pictured here at this moment, further studies can be prompted into how this evolution also helped to have an effect on what was occurring at the time. The songs here were sung in the streets, they helped to raise the messages of the people to those in power, they did have an impact, no matter how large or small it may have been. The data then can be seen as a cultural analysis of the time, and with any cultural analysis, it brings about a new understanding to the topic. The new understanding presented here is that this music was and remains to be important. One can look at the evolution and make many conclusions, but something that must be remembered is that this music remains, throughout it all, it has continued, the voice of the people has continued. This is the true point of protest music, to persistently connect and give a voice to the common everyday individuals, especially those looked down upon. The evolution seen here shows that even though administrations changed, wars started and ended, decades came and went, the people rallied around those that would fight for their rights, for peace, for their voices to be heard. This remains to be the ultimate goal and evolution of this music, the ultimate conclusion: the people will be heard, and neither time nor power can silence them.
What is the interest and point of these results?
Even though these events and songs took place around or over 50 years ago now, the messages and meanings behind them still remain prevalent to today.
Within the past two decades, there have been an increasing amount of events in history that will be talked about similarly to the events that take place during the time period looked at here. Protest itself has become more vocalised and more polarising, especially with the rise of the Black Lives Matter protests and the events that have conspired since then. American protest has been a sign of who Americans are since the Boston Tea Party. It is a way for voices to be heard that traditionally are not. However, a question that needs to be asked and will hopefully be explored in the future is, does protest music still exist in the modern era? Many people would say yes, music is still a common connector and allows people to express their opinions and commonalities in a major way. Songs like Childish Gambino’s “This is America” comes to mind in this lens. There are also arguments for counterculture songs (as in used for this project) such as Kid Rock’s “We the People” that are in support of what those in power have done. Yet, this would need further study due to conflicting reports and the divisive nature of events that have occurred that have not been fully studied yet.
The reason to look at the results drawn here and the music present is to understand how Americans have dealt with similar events before and the history that is doomed to be repeated (Kent State Massacre) if people are not allowed to express their viewpoints against the popular culture at the time. This has even been present within the past year with the pro-Palestine camps taking place on campuses around the country and the dangerous similarities of police brutality against students. There will never be a fully peaceful time in America, there are too many opinions, viewpoints, and people present for complete unity, but there could be a time of understanding among individuals in terms of respecting and loving everyone. However, that is not to say that one should turn a blind eye to what is going on around them. Everyone is human, but as seen in this project, there are bigger pieces in play than just one’s individuals views. It is up to everyone to look beyond what is being said in the media or by those in power and to do their own research as to what they believe in. This time period remains a great example as to what can happen when this occurs, while also coming together in hope for unity and peace.
Editor’s Note
While I tried to remain unbiased when writing information about the events and choosing songs, this section has considerably more of my own input within. This is due to the conclusions I drew along with the politically charged nature of this project. There are also some events where it is hard to remain neutral and my language can reflect this. These decades remain to be some of the most fretful times during American history, and I suspect many people who come through this website either lived through these times or have relatives who lived through these times. My intent when my bias shows through is to not harm or upset anyone, but I recognise that my own views can vary much differ from others. Another item that should be addressed is the language present. I have opted to use more modern terminology when it comes to certain areas such as using Indigenous and Black rather than Native American or African American. This is again not meant to offend anyone, but in my experience is more widely accepted today even though it differs from what was used during the time period studied along with the fact that certain events, such as the Founding of the American Indian Movement, use other terminology.
This project is inherently human, and thus so, the human who is creating the project, me, has natural responses. Both the events and the music presented here spark many emotions, what I want people to remember and draw from this is that everyone involved throughout these decades are humans as well. They were living people who, for better or for worse, had an impact on the rest of humanity, no matter how small of a role they played. People can have differing accounts as to what happened during this time, but even if someone thinks that what another did was completely wrong, they are still human. We are who we are, but as many of this music states, we should accept everyone in order to gain peace. If there is a lesson from this time, it is that war is a great evil that causes those who are not in power to be harmed. Those in power are also human, but they do not feel their own direct effects as much causing those who are less affluent to bear the brunt. Take away that those who are different from you often have their own struggles that come from those in power and cannot necessarily control the circumstances they came to be in. The overall message of these songs is to question the system and respect those around you so that there may be peace.