The tradition of protest songs all over the world is a long one that dates back to the colonial period when countries were just starting to form, and most of them were fighting for their independence. These songs substantially expressed people’s grievances and their feelings towards certain issues that affected them, especially due to political disturbances and war. Some of them were sung to give hope to the people involved (Drewett, Hill & Kärki, 2010). Hence, they played a huge role in the lives of many. Most of these songs were felt even before they were heard. Protest songs are different in various countries and only possess some minor similarities as the different societies from which the songs come from having different cultures and geographical setting.

In South America, countries like Chile went through a messy coup d’état which led to the most transformative and long presidency in the modern Chile. During the last months of socialist Salvador Allende’s government, different sounds echoed in Chile where various chart toppers were broadcasted in radio stations (Drewett, Hill & Kärki, 2010). Even though in 1973, which was apparently a politically unstable year in Chile, the music which held mass appeal did not bear much of apparent relation to contemporary political events, the five years leading to the coup creating the golden age of the Chile political songs. To this day, we are reminded of its significant role during the riotous period.

During the second half of the twentieth century, popular Chilean music studies have focused exclusively on musica comprometida which in English, it is described as music that is politically conscious, and it is born of resistance, protest, and decent. The most famous Chilean music is Nueva Cancion, which is a protest song movement that is powerfully linked with the socialist project of President Salvador Allede (1970-1973) (Drewett, Hill & Kärki, 2010). Some Nueva Cancion artists in the late 1960s included Chilean musicians such as; Patricio Manns, Victor Jara, and bands such as Aparco, Cucumen, and Inti-Illimani (Drewett, Hill & Kärki, 2010). These artists developed an urban style that unified socially dedicated lyrics with music motivated by the Latin America and Chilean folk traditions. For example, folklorist Margot Loyla has the strongest imprint on Nueva Cansion regarding performing and style.

On the other hand, the majority of African political music was mainly to protest music where black people were stripped of their rights and citizenship in their country. As Africans were forced to move into townships and industrial centers, they sang songs about leaving their homes and the hardships in the mines where they worked as slaves, especially in South Africa where they worked in coal mines and working as domestic servants. For example, the songs, “This Land is Mine” were first composed in the 1950s and recorded by South African refugees, meant to unite all races in the struggle to free from apartheid in South Africa (Peddie, 2011). The songs expressed Africans’ aspirations and South Africa’s fighting spirit of the freedom fighters.

Music is a powerful force anywhere, but somehow in South Africa, it has more potency, maybe due to weak political institutions caused by the mixed races in the country. Most African countries experienced slavery in the past (Peddie, 2011). Hence, these countries had their songs which they sang to express their dismay. In most cases, the songs had no instruments used. This means that some songs only had a melody and a rhythm to which the songs were sung. The music is the tribute to African Congress members and freedom fighters who were among the first to undergo execution under the apartheid system in South Africa (Peddie, 2011). Clearly, these songs greatly expressed the hard times that South Africa went through this period while trying to fight for their freedom.

The protest from the two continents; Africa and South America may have similarities mostly in their context of use. Since most of the songs were meant to express certain issues that affected the people involved, they both aimed to portray certain emotions felt by the people, mainly the oppressed. For example, “This Land is Mine” songs were aimed at fighting for equal rights for the people of South Africa, where they expressed their grievances and the difficulties they went through during the apartheid.   Likewise, the songs from the two continents differ in the context of culture (Harris, Goldin & Sneddon, 2015). Both South Africa and Chile have different cultures due to the different social and political setting. Despite both countries using political songs to experience a particular kind of change, reasons for the upheavals and fights are not the same.

The connection between music and politics is significant and has been eminent in many cultures around the world. Besides music having influences on political movements, it is not clear to what degree the audiences relate to music on a political level. The messages spread through such music characterize the needs of the society and offer a way through which people can work in one spirit to address the issues affecting them. Music and politics will always go together as a way of expressing certain situations affecting the different parties involved.

References

Drewett, M., Hill, S., & Kärki, K. (2010). Peter Gabriel, from Genesis to growing up. Farnham, Surrey, England: Ashgate.

Harris, L. M., Goldin, J. A., & Sneddon, C. (2015). Contemporary water governance in the global South: scarcity, marketization and participation. Routledge.

Peddie, I. (2011). Popular Music and Human Rights: (Two-volume set). Farnham: Ashgate Pub.

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