Political Protest Songs and Actual Protest Values: Analysis of Fela’s “Sorrow, Tears & Blood” and Bob Marley’s “Stand up, Get up”

Abstract

Political protest and songs have had inseparable relationship from time immemorial, but the Actual Protest Value of songs, that is, the exact aspects where songs exert their greatest influence in protest, are yet to attract high scholarly attention. This is what the current paper tries to locate through Fela Anikulapo Kuti's Sorrow, Tears and Blood and Bob Marley’s Stand up, Get up, using in-depth analysis of the songs' lyrics plus opinion survey of their listeners. Finding is that the actual protest values of the two songs are high in meditation upon protest problem and sustenance of ongoing protests, but very low in igniting protests on their own. Most people who listen to the two musicians' songs are mere fans of their music, not adherents of their lyrics. The analysis is used to explain the inability of Fela and Marley to ignite mass uprising in Africa through their many protest songs. The conclusion is that song is a weak trigger of protest, but it plays a very big role in sustaining resistance. Key words: Songs, Music, Protest, Actual Protest Value, Politics, Protest Songs.

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