Protest songs

Tracy Chapman ‘Talkin’about revolution'


Don't you know
They're talkin' 'bout a revolution
It sounds like a whisper
Don't you know
They're talkin' about a revolution
It sounds like a whisper

While they're standing in the welfare lines
Crying at the doorsteps of those armies of salvation
Wasting time in the unemployment lines
Sitting around waiting for a promotion

Don't you know
Talkin' 'bout a revolution
It sounds like a whisper
Poor people gonna rise up
And get their share
Poor people gonna rise up
And take what's theirs

Don't you know
You better run, run, run, run, run, run, run, run, run, run, run, run
Oh I said you better
Run, run, run, run, run, run, run, run, run, run, run, run

'Cause finally the tables are starting to turn
Talkin' bout a revolution
Yes, finally the tables are starting to turn
Talkin' bout a revolution, oh no
Talkin' bout a revolution, oh

While they're standing in the welfare lines
Crying at the doorsteps of those armies of salvation
Wasting time in the unemployment lines
Sitting around waiting for a promotion.


I choose this song, because I thing it's a good one, I like this one more than the others, and I think that what talks about it's interesting. 

In this song Tracy Chapman I think is talking about of an idea to a revolution to win corrupt governments, is protesting about the diferences that are with the rich people ( politicians) and the poor people. He is trying to reflect the society in the song, and propose a revolution (a change).

This song was released in 1988 in the Reagan/Bush era.

Proposal of a protest song

How many roads must a man walk down
Before you call him a man?
How many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?
Yes, and how many times must the cannonballs fly
Before they're forever banned?
The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind
The answer is blowing in the wind

[Verse 2]
Yes, How many years can a mountain exist
Before it is washed to the sea?
Yes, and how many years can some people exist
Before they're allowed to be free?
Yes, and how many times can a man turn his head
And pretend that he just doesn't see?
The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind
The answer is blowing in the wind

[Verse 3]
Yes, How many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky?
Yes, and how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
Yes, and how many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died?
The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind
The answer is blowing in the wind

I choose this song because talks about many things, It's a protest song with questions that people may say cannot be answered, and comparing them to the Civil Rights Struggle. And every question is based in a diferent concept.


“Blowin' In The Wind” is Bob Dylan’s first single of his second album The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan.

In the 60s this song was like an anthem for black people.