Politics and music have always mixed. Ever since Beethoven dethroned Napoleon in his third symphony – and quite probably even before that – musicians have used art to express their political points of view.
In just over a century later, descendants of African immigrants across America would use song to covertly communicate a sense of solidarity between them as they picked cotton and slaved kitchens.
Throughout the 1940’s and into the fifties folk artists such as Woody Guthrie and the interminable Pete Seeger penned and performed songs for the working- and under-classes alike.
This tradition was picked up by Bob Dylan, who then passed it onto John Lennon (top), and before long the youth of the day were wearing flowers in their hair and painting placards in support of civil rights and in protest of war.
In just over a century later, descendants of African immigrants across America would use song to covertly communicate a sense of solidarity between them as they picked cotton and slaved kitchens.
Throughout the 1940’s and into the fifties folk artists such as Woody Guthrie and the interminable Pete Seeger penned and performed songs for the working- and under-classes alike.
This tradition was picked up by Bob Dylan, who then passed it onto John Lennon (top), and before long the youth of the day were wearing flowers in their hair and painting placards in support of civil rights and in protest of war.
