There are songs that not only excite, but also inspire and transform people's lives. Here is OutsiderPost's Top List, to be "listened to, especially in times of individual and global Emergency.
There are love songs, nostalgic songs, and light-hearted songs that simply aim to distract us from our everyday lives.
Similarly, there is also a different and very 'special' genre, consisting of timeless pieces of music, which not only excite but also lead people to deep reflection on global events.
From Bob Dylan to John Lennon, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Jim Morrison and Bob Marley to the present day with U2, Green Day and many more, music has always been the hidden voice of the people yearning for a safe haven from which to escape global pettiness. That at the same time it is a magical place from which to draw inspiration to find hope and strength for action in overcoming today's difficult times. Music, then, as an effective tool to provide a greater awareness of our desired place in the world.
While music in general can therefore be considered a therapy for the soul and a healer of the broken heart, protest music has an extra task: to clarify any disorientation of the spirit and mind caused by a summarily hedonistic society, in the direction of truth and inner discussion and the consequent transformation of people.
In such uncertain and dangerous times, let us pay full attention to those so-called 'Revolutionary' and 'Counter-culture' lyrics of world music that have inspired entire generations since the 1960s, in order to:
understand where we are going now
who we are;
and what it takes to change our individual lives for the better at such an important time.
The Times they are Changing
"This land is your land, this land is my land, sure, but so much of the world is run by those who never listen to Music."
- Bob Dylan -
The artists who have been active in favor of social, political and purely systemic issues are actually very many. But the purpose of this in-depth study is not to make a simple list of names (although all of them are of considerable note) but is above all to frame some common points about at least three artists who in particular have directed crowds to alternately contemplate the world in which they themselves lived.
The three most representative icons (according to OutsiderPost) are:
Bob Dylan, John Lennon e Bob Marley.
Bob Dylan, arguably the greatest living poet and undisputed voice of his generation, was the first musician ever to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2016. A sublime popularizer of music poetry, he has succeeded in inspiring millions of young people towards a music of greater political awareness and reflection.
In accepting the coveted prize three months late, he himself wanted to respond with a note of clarification on his role as a 'storyteller and storyteller': 'our songs are alive in the land of the living. But songs are different from literature. They are meant to be sung, not read. The words of Shakespeare's plays were meant to be recited on stage. Just as the lyrics of songs are meant to be sung, not read on a page. And I hope that some of you will have the chance to hear these lyrics the way they were meant to be heard: in concert or on record or however people listen to songs nowadays. I return once again to Homer, who says: 'Sing in me, O Muse, and through me tell the story'.
(Re) Evolutionary: anyone who has listened at least once to a song by the minstrel from Duluth is catapulted into the emotions of the entire '60s and '70s, which are still alive and well in today's world. Charismatic, elusive and sometimes very unsympathetic, he is above all an Anticipator of his times, who, as musicologist Alessandro Carrera has stated, "the intensity with which he made very different languages clash is unique and unrepeatable"; the use of the linguistic melting pot of such rare beauty, is found in all the ballads with allusive narratives, between metaphors and evocative stories, within which are hidden further suggestions and suggestions that always invite a second listening.
Furthermore, Bob Dylan was the voice of dissent and alternative culture, which we try to summarize here with his three most famous songs:
"Blowing' in the wind": that is, youthful disillusionment with politics.
"How many roads must a man walk down before he is called a man?"...
"Like a Rolling Stone": the story of the perennial emotional state of "a rolling stone", as a manifesto of the restless beat generation in search of happiness through a crude existential path studded with continuous failures and redemptions.
"How does it feel to be alone without a way to lead you home as a complete stranger, as a wanderer?"...
"The Times They Are Changing": In 1964, he wrote this song with the precise aim of recounting the disenchantment of young people with the system, and the birth of the civil rights movement in the United States.
"There's a battle raging outside and soon it will shake your windows and rattle your walls because times are changing"...
About the Revolution and Social Rights
"If everyone asked for peace instead of another television, then there would be peace."
- John Lennon -
The news is only three days old. It concerns the discovery of a rare 33-minute cassette recording of John Lennon and Yoko Ono that sold for $58,300 (£43,000) at an auction in the Danish capital Copenhagen.
It is clear that any reference to John Lennon becomes immediately iconic and immensely valuable, given the immense echo behind such a musical legend. He has been named by many as the champion of 'peaceful revolution' and 'anti-system' par excellence and recognized by the BBC as one of the 100 most influential British celebrities of all time.
(Re) Evolutionary: The most interesting definition of him is found in the words of American journalist Rob Sheffield: 'He was the most caustic, sarcastic and biting spirit in the music world. So it belittles him if you paint him as a simple-minded optimist." It is, of course, impossible to include all his songs although it must be emphasized that each one is a true timeless masterpiece, to be listened again and again, to contemplate its powerful meaning, sound and word. John Lennon is above all a free thinker of modern times, whose power of his music is immortal and transcendentally artistic in every way.
"Imagine that there are no homelands, nothing to kill or die for and also no religion. Imagine all the people, living life in peace."
Isolation: In being ahead of his time, John Lennon already talks about isolation and climate without ever having experienced either the lockdown or the Pandemic, in a truly prophetic text, made as an amateur video by himself, in which he shows his living quarters, but with no human presence except that hinted at by a mirror image while he shoots the video.
"We are afraid of being alone...isolation...We are afraid of everyone, we are afraid of the sun"...The sun will never disappear, but the world may not be many years old".
Revolution: is a song written in India by John as the protests in Paris were coming to the brink of civil war, and which tells of the artist's troubled state of mind, poised between direct action and non-violent civil disobedience. There are two versions: a commercial one and a controversial long version, with Revolution #9, which John Lennon himself sees as, 'It was a picture I painted in the sound of the revolution, which was complete murder and killing and people screaming and children crying and all the rest of it, which is what I really thought it would be.'
"You say you want a revolution, Well, you know, we all want to change the world. You tell me it's evolution, Well, you know, we all want to change the world. But when you talk about destruction. You don't know that you can count on me."
Between Redemptions, Falls and Positive Vibrations
In the 1960s-70s, many counter-cultural movements developed in dissent from wars (Vietnam, among others) but also from devastating economic crises and the unheeded civil rights of young people disillusioned with the system, women and all those marginalized by galloping capitalism.
Such dissenting groups, such as the US Hippies who descended from the Beat Generation and who in the late 1960s extolled free utopian love as the only way to redemption in opposition to all the constitutive principles of traditional modern society, are in fact the perfect example of the famous 'fall and redemption' of Bob Dylan's ballads, in which two substantial limitations that led to the demise of the Hippies are outlined:
the Excessive use of new drugs such as LSD, with the consequent increase of local-national crime on American soil;
the over-commercialization of the hippies' spontaneous culture.
Therefore, the best intentions of the "generation of love" perished in the following decades, reappearing recently in an artificial and translatable form to the last born, i.e. the "Instagram generation" (see also the Spirit Weavers) who, as the journalist of "The Guardian" Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett points out, have only 'applied retro filters to their photos with the I-Phone', to recreate that neo hippy atmosphere so trendy in recent years.
In the journey of redemption and 'positive vibration' conveyed by the Hippies, a few years later we find a third emblematic figure on the world music scene of enormous influence; a true pioneer of the new musical genre called 'Reggae' who immediately became the global symbol of Jamaican music, culture and identity.
This is, of course, Bob Marley, who managed to work actively for democratic social reforms in his country, combining a strong spiritual awareness in his musical career.
(Re) Evolutionary: spiritual leader of 'Rastafarianism' (which considers God as a man and a woman). (which considers God as a man and not a deity), Bob Marley was a romantic revolutionary, which Jamaican musician Jim Cliff summarizes as 'a poet more than a musician'.
Redemption song: the psychological and physical suffering (due to the discovery of a cancer that would defeat him in 1980) is perceptible in this eternal song and hymn to the freedom that humanity must aspire to for the final liberation.
"Emancipate yourself from mental slavery. Only we ourselves can free our minds. Do not be afraid of atomic energy, because none of them can stop time."
Positive vibration: Within the album 'Rastaman Vibration', in which there are many social songs such as 'War' and 'Rat Race', the lyrics highlight the struggle between light and darkness, between positivity and negativity in an almost biblical and inspirational sense for all the oppressed of the world.
"If you get down and fight every day, you're saying prayers to the Devil, I say. Make way for the good day because it's a new day, new time, new feeling, Yeah!"
Get up, stand up: the universal language of peaceful action and courage in the words of this text, sums up exactly the souls of the millions of oppressed and sacrificed people even in 2021, while the authenticity and the combination of sound and word, opens the heart and the deep emotion of everyone who listens to such a magical musical gem.
"You can fool some people sometimes, but you can't fool all the people all the time. So now we see the light. We will stand up for our rights."
Is Evolution a child of the Revolution?
“Evolution is a destiny.”
- Thomas Mann -
The three musical and revolutionary souls of Bob Dylan, John Lennon and Bob Marley are but faces of the same (three-dimensional) cube, operating on the evolutionary level in a transversal way, in which each of them has shown us a personal window on the world to reflect on in order to evolve as 'humans'.
In particular, reviewing their path today and what they have left us, we appreciate some common traits, such as:
their active role in the social sphere with the music of a 'new vision' on human rights, which emerges as an effective tool for civil action in the events of the world;
that these charismatic and inspiring figures did not follow the false idealisms of the time but rather themselves, always maintaining an extraordinary courage and non-conformism, even in speaking out of turn;
with their determination and healthy impudence conveyed in Music, they demonstrated the importance of the natural value of freedom as an inalienable right for all human beings, none excluded. To this principle, which is still struggling to be understood, their lives, amidst excesses and redemptions, appear as living demonstrations of possible alternative existences to the so-called dominant single thought.
On the contrary, today, talking about Revolution, Freedom and Rights becomes an Off-limit topic. The apparent Sociality spread digitally with the new technologies, also limits possible arguments on uncomfortable topics such as "resist", "disappointment" and "alternative vision", considered in itself dangerous a priori. But while on the one hand the new politically correct paradigm supports the generalized indifference of events with "tacit" general consent, on the other hand the winds of change are beginning to blow, with some non-aligned musicians who clearly disagree "in music" on the Covid issue19. Among them:
Eric Clapton: Already the star of the 1960s/70s 'Summer of Love', the artist is proof that music can still speak its truth on unwelcome topics, such as the ongoing Pandemic. In making his voice and his extraordinary guitar heard, the piece is typical of the 'slow hand'. He manages to use words brilliantly with a powerful moral sense and directed at the global system. His is an important musical undertaking that makes him a true spokesman for the current times; it is a passionate lyric and a true call for 'spiritual awakening' and mass 'active resistance'.
Here the core of the song:
'This has to stop, enough is enough. I can't take this stro****e anymore. It's gone on long enough and if you want to take my soul, you have to come and break down this door. I knew something was wrong when you started laying down the law. I can't move my hands, I feel like sweating; I want to cry. I can't take it anymore. This has to stop....I've been around the world for a long, long time, and I've seen it all. I'm used to being free. I know who I am...thinking about my children, what is left for them. If you want to come and take my soul, you have to come and break this door down.'
- Eric Clapton -
Alongside Eric Clapton, mention should also be made of Queen drummer Roger Taylor, who has just released his sixth solo album, entitled OUTSIDER. (sorry for the reminder!).
Written during the Lockdown, his voice elegant in keeping with the autumn season that has just begun, it is an introspective journey into the moods experienced during pandemic isolation and which Roger Taylor himself narrates as follows: "It's a reflective project, from which emerges a palpable sense of isolation, dedicated to all outsiders, those who feel left behind, but also of revenge. And let's add, also for all those who feel out of place, but who ultimately follow their own path rather than the main road, as everyone else does.
Never stop talking about it
In addition to Bob Dylan, John Lennon, Bob Marley and Eric Clapton, there is another 'committed' artist by the name of Tracy Chapman. With her masterpiece song 'Talking about a Revolution', released back in 1988, she is also incredibly relevant for the times in which we live today. For those who don't know this talented artist from the 80s, her profound social commitment and revolutionary spirit encapsulate individual stories of ordinary people quietly raising their voices for rights and equality as one voice of a people called Humanity.
The song sends an important message that it is important to talk about it, to break the taboo in which the term 'Revolution' is enclosed. In addition, the discussion on the subject, can develop in a civil but passionate way, without necessarily being categorized as weird or conspiratorial, to be expressed with:
Friends: it is generally easier to deal with sensitive topics with those you know, where sincerity and loyalty are the highest forms of friendship, but also tolerance and listening. However, some factors should always be taken into account within the dialogue, namely: one's own and the other's individual values and ideologies; that dialogue and sharing are the concrete answer to the typical concepts of armed struggle and violence.
Strangers: one can use irony and humour with those one does not know at all, lightening the conversation on the various burning issues of the day, also to test the ground with the other where the problem seems insurmountable.
Imagining waking up on the other side of the Rainbow
'For me, the educated man is the one who knows where to look for information at the only time in his life when he needs it..'
- Umberto Eco -
Interestingly, a certain desire for counter-culture is making a strong comeback at the end of 2021.
Started as a fashion trend propagated in the 60s/70s, counter-culture is once again becoming the Manifesto of resistance and dissent against the establishment, for both old and new generations. Tangible proof of this are the myriad of protests all over the world against the Green Pass, which point to a new collective awakening of consciences, as in 1968. And while the conformism of today's music doesn't tell us much (see Eric Clapton and Roger Taylor, for example), the Music of the Aquarian Era resonates strongly, with wars and pacifist protests prophesying an uncertain future, but one full of emotion and human evolution, thanks to the very term Revolution.
The fundamental idea that a revolutionary song leads to evolution is therefore possible. Furthermore, it is plausible to think that the power of "contemplative music with a social background" is contagious and that, as the great Umberto Eco points out, it reaches all people, 'who know where to go to find information at the only time in life when it is needed.' So, that it work with Music.
In the struggle between the Cancel culture and the Counter-culture, between Conformism and Freedom of Thought, it is clear that it does not matter what one follows, whether a certain genre or period of music rather than another, but it is necessary to search for that hidden information, within the dream of the desired and present world 'beyond the rainbow'. (just like in Judy Garland's beautiful song from The Wizard of Oz).
Perhaps we can look for such answers through a painting, a film, a book, a sunset or a child's smile; by observing the world outside, to discover a universe within, to help us finally evolve to understand who we are and to exercise the talent we have been given as a contribution to the world today. This is certainly the truest and greatest Revolution. Ourselves.
(Re)Evolutionary SONGs - Top 10 -
Here are the Top 10 (Re) Evolutionary Songs compiled by OutsiderPost, which continue to inspire millions of people to counterculture, consumerist dissent, and praise a better possible world. It's up to you to choose a favorite or favorites. Happy listening!
#2"The times they are changing":"The line it is drawn, the curse it is cast, the slow one now will, later be fast..." (Bob Dylan)
#3"Revolution":"You say you want a revolution, well, you know, we all want to change the world.You tell me that it's evolution...But when you talk about destruction, don't you know that you can count me out..." (The Beatles)
#4"Get up Stand up":"Get up, stand up! (Get up, stand up!). Don't give up the fight! (Life is your right!)..." (Bob Marley)
#5"Talking about revolution":"Poor people gonna rise up, and take what's theirs..."(Tracy Chapman)
#6"Mandela Day":"It was 25 years they took that man away, and now the world come down say Nelson Mandela's free..." (Simple Minds)
#7"Gimme Shelter":"Oh, a storm is threat'ning, my very life today if I don't get some shelter..." (The Rolling Stones)
#9"Break on Through": "I found an island in your arms, country in your eyes.." (The Doors)
#10"Sunday Bloody Sunday": And the battle's just begun, there's many lost, but tell me who has won..." (U2)
OP: What is the song that changed your life in some way and made you get up from your chair and scream "FREEDOM"?
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