Ah! those were the days! Passive resistance with singers'cooing'their protests to sweet,'how-can-one-object-to-that-sweet-music' music!Melanie,Dylan,Joan Baez,Joni Michell,Cat Stevens,Buffy St.Marie etc etc LOL!I still got a lot of those L.P.'S in my attic too,with the Beatles and The Stones and Led Zepplin,Queen etc lol!
I think the overall message of protest will always be the same,that's constant!
But the medium mood,the music,is always changing.To me,Rap is a creative mix of poetry and song,that often follows a kind of marching rhythm,but it can resemble a roted,indoctrinated,mechanical drum-beat.Which in itself is not bad,but put that together with really viscious,hateful,abusive lyrics and in-your-face gestures and expressions it,to me,turns then,into an extremely negative,aggressive and un-welcoming form of communication,that divides groups of people rather than unites them.Which is a shame because the words are the universal message of protest,the music is just the transport!
I guess,"the answer my friend,is blowing in the wind,the answer is blowing in the wind...." That's rappable! Just feel the rhythm!
The most important thing is hanging on to THE FREEDOM and RIGHT,to rally!
"How any time's must a cannon ball fly........." LOL!
Time to cut the grass....La LaLa La LaLa La Lalala.......
"We all live in a yellow submarine...."

Three days after 9/11 I attended a gathering in Union Square in New York City. I was saddened to find that among all the hundreds -- maybe thousands -- of young people gathered there, the songs they chose to sing, that all of them knew, were from a previous generation. Where is the "Blowing in the Wind" of a new day? Will we find ourselves chanting rap songs in unison at rallies? What do you think?

- Michal Shapiro
Associate Director of Music Programming, Link TV