Theme: Protest music
Af: Niels Bonde Jensen
02.05. 2023
Crossoverfrequencies.com
Et samarbejde mellem:
DJ Spincycle, Second To the Left, WORT 89.9 FM, Odense Musikbibliotek & Resonator.
*Podcasten er på engelsk*
The second episode of Resonator's new podcast, Crossover Frequencies, starts with Tom Waits' raspy voice interpreting the legendary Italian protest song, Bella Ciao - originally a lament from the late 1800s about the harsh working conditions in the northern Italian countryside, but immortalized as the partisan resistance anthem against the occupation during World War II.
Turning our ears to Denmark in 2021, the protest movement Men In Black gave their own bass-amplified, autotuned and in every way updated version of the same song with Mette Ciao as a call to action against the country's prime minister and the government's extensive Corona restrictions. The lyrics and melody can be tweaked, translated, and adapted to different social and political contexts, but as a basic formula, Bella Ciao has the same function in contemporary uprisings as it did in the 1800s: to inspire mobilization.
The musical framework - both melancholic and uptempo, with cyclic lyrics and intensifying rhythms - is tailor-made to be performed in groups, on the streets. It points back to hymnic traditions and forward to the chants at the football arena. In other words, Bella Ciao is an archetypal protest song and one of the most widespread and well-known of its kind. But what does it have in common with, for example, Sega music from Mauritius and protest music from the Algerian revolution in 1954-1962?
That's my first question to the man behind Crossover Frequencies, Ankur Malhotra AKA Dj SpinCycle:
"The unifying theme behind all this protest music must be the injustice that exists in the world. This injustice exists across cultures, which shows that there is still no utopia as such. It is also a theme that remains relevant - it's not like this music was only made in the 1700s and 1800s and then slavery ceased. In the 21st century, protest music has simply taken on new forms, including as a rebellion against modern fascism," he explains and continues.
"In that sense, it's an evergreen-theme, because there will always be artists who feel an obligation to interpret the injustice in their surroundings through music."
In the podcast, Malhorta illustrates how such an interpretation materializes very literally in Sega music from Mauritius. Here, special instruments were built to mimic the sound of the slaves' chains, while the dance mimics the slaves' struggling footsteps. In other words, a concrete and unique musical innovation born directly out of suffering and oppression. And what to make of that?
Do we as listeners and curators of this protest music also glorify the real injustice that is the foundation of the music? Malhorta answers:
"It's always a balancing act. In the podcast, I play music from revolutions and wars in places like Palestine and Algeria, where there is a direct connection to violence and bloodshed - which I personally, of course, would not advocate in any way. But fundamentally, one must see this type of music as a tool for mobilization, but also as a collective voice for populations that have otherwise been silenced. In many cases, they have not been in a position to get up on a podium and speak out, but they have always been able to sing."
And it is precisely the singing - voices that unite in harmonic sounds or marching chants - that is pervasive in the podcast's examples of protest music. The instrumentation is a pulse, a particular mood that lifts the vocals, but the voices must also be able to stand, in unison, on their own. For what is a protest without its voices?
