Protest Songs

Like many young people, I used to be really in to the folk music of the mid 60's and early 70's. Particularly the stuff centered around the Vietnam war. It just sounded so vital and empassioned. The sound of the singer's voice over the guitar was filled with urgency and emotion. It's something that you don't really hear from other time periods. And the small amount of protest music that has arisen from the war on terror just doesn't move me.

Now maybe that's because I'm actually alive for the war in Iraq. I am also old enough to see that there aren't bright lines or right and wrong. Everything seems grey, and sort of complicated, and that's not really something that translate into song. When people try, it comes off as pandering or intellectually dishonest.

But I just saw this. It's a music video by a guy named Robert Cray. The video itself is "lo-fi." Definitely not MTV studio work. Now, it may just be that it's kind of late and I'm tired from studying all day, or maybe the burbon, but I actually felt a little moved by it. That's not something that happens to me very often, so I thought I'd share. Anyway, like I said, it's not the most professionally done, and the lyrics at times are not as subtle as maybe they could be, but I really felt something when I heard (and saw) it. Maybe you will too. Maybe not. Aesthetics are inexplicable.