The power of protest songs in these 'Strangest Days'

We are excited to announce that the lyric visualiser video for "Strangest Days" is now available on our YouTube channel. You can also access it from the Videos section of our Homepage. In this post, we look at the power of protest songs in these 'Strangest Days'

'Strangest Days' delves into several themes that resonate deeply with recent global events:

When Eros started writing the lyrics, the Iran War had just begun, and it's the first reference in the song - "World on fire / Feels like the end of days / Black skies / Filled with burning rain". The lyrics were written straight after watching footage of oil-infused rain coming down in Iran after the initial round of bombings. I thought about adding in some lines about the school they bombed, but I decided against it. Nothing I could write matched that particularly awful act by a supposedly civilised country.

The lines "Religion based on fake piety / with no regard for humanity / You must see the hypocrisy" reflect my anger at the US Government's use of their warped nationalistic take on Christianity. This reflects their complete lack of actions that mirror the teachings of Jesus.

There are also more references later in the song to how we're being pitched against each other so we don't rise against the fuckers with all the money, whose only aim is to get more money, not use it to help others. These themes resonate with the ongoing struggles faced globally, from political unrest to the impact of climate change, making "Strangest Days" a timely reflection of our collective experience.

Protest songs have been a powerful form of expression throughout history, serving as a voice for social change and a rallying cry for movements. The earliest roots of protest songs can be traced back to folk songs and ballads that highlighted social injustices, often performed by travelling musicians. In the 20th century, protest songs started to permeate mainstream culture. Billie Holiday's take on 'Strange Fruit' (1939) exposed the horrors of racial lynching in America. Woody Guthrie inspired countless songwriters with his songs about socialism and anti-fascism; 'This Land Is Your Land' (1940) is probably his best-known song and is about unequal wealth and property ownership. 'We Shall Overcome" was adapted from gospel roots and eventually became the spiritual backbone of the Civil Rights Movement. Apart from the Civil Rights Movement, the war in Vietnam was another inspiration for songwriters. In the 60s, the likes of Bob Dylan and Joan Baez articulated the feelings of many liberals and showed the power of music to help galvanise people into action. As the century progressed, protest songs shone a spotlight on racism and apartheid, spoke of the anxieties around the nuclear arms race and continued to criticise the ruling classes' capitalist and colonial agendas. Protest music also diversified in its delivery with the punk movement, rap and alternative rock and metal offering up some of the most interesting and incisive examples of the power of music to spread messages of defiance. Although the genre of delivery may have diversified, the likes of Public Enemy and Rage Against The Machine proved that the protest torch was still being passed from generation to generation.

Today, protest songs continue to evolve, addressing contemporary issues such as climate change, racial injustice, and political corruption, with artists and socio-political movements using platforms like social media to amplify their messages. We've seen Kendrick Lamarr's work be used to spearhead the messages of the Black Lives Matter movement, while upcoming artists like Moon Walker and Earth To Eve expertly pick off the intolerance and paradoxes of the Trump/MAGA world view.

For us, 'Strangest Days' is not just a song; it is a reflection of the times we live in. It's our small but heartfelt contribution towards the lexicon of protest songs. Be sure to check out the lyric visualiser video and think about what you can do to affect the forward direction of your town, country and world.