I broke my gospel Music diary with an autoplay embed in a comment. This made it difficult to hear all the great music other commenters posted. So I have archived the songs here.
Here's a link to the original diary in case you want to read it. Play the music here and add new songs that changed the world to this diary.
I was fifteen years old. I had my first guitar. I was learning some folk songs. And I was listening to Pete Seeger.
How many thousands of musicians were inspired by Pete Seeger? How many millions have sung his songs?
My favorite Pete Seeger song is "Where Have All The Flowers Gone". I still play it today. In a sense it's a perfect model for music that changed the world because it's a pretty little ditty with a strong antiwar twist at the end. You love it as a pretty song and then you learn from it. Because to change the world you have to change people.
Pete Seeger said it this way.
Some may find them [songs] merely diverting melodies. Others may find them incitements to Red revolution. And who will say if either or both is wrong? Not I.
What on earth does that mean? Free as in libre radio for free as a bird music. And what does it have to do with KGPL?
Free as in libre is a phrase describing open source software, also called free software. The meaning is free as in liberty or freedom as opposed to free as in beer. When someone gives you a free beer that means you don't have to pay for it. Free software means you are free to use it and modify it and even redistribute your modified version as long as you follow the rules laid out in the free software license. For KGPL I use the GPL or General Public License. More info on that here.
Over the last week I have read several diaries about the cold war, and I even wrote a diary about the cold war...in my diary some of the comments centered around the music of the cold war...
I thought it would be fun...and would take our minds off the serious issues of the day and chat about the music of the cold war...this diary will center on the 80's music of the cold war...mainly because that is the music I know well...if you know of music from other eras, please jump in with them...now, please jump into the cold war music pool with me...
I made a mistake and broke this diary. My embed of How Great Thou Art auto plays and screws up all the other songs. Please do not play any media here. It messes up bad.
I am moving all the media links to another diary. Please follow this link to play the music.
When Woody Guthrie wrote "This Land Is Your Land" the sentiments expressed weren't mainstream. In fact the lyric was considered to be communist. Now the song is sung in every grade school classroom in the nation.
When Arlo Guthrie had his hit, "Alice's Restaurant", it made everybody laugh. But it was more than a funny song. It spoke truths about the draft that could not be conveyed except through music.
There are plenty of good protest songs being written and sung today. But you aren't hearing them on the radio. And they aren't singing them in the schools.
So now we have internet radio. A chance for all voices to be heard even if it's out at the end of the long tail. Add your favorite songs that changed the world in the comments. Please include links or embeds if they are available on the internet. Help me change the world with music.
While we sit around dithering, moaning, and outraged in the face of a corrupt and insane political class, and a Democratic leadership that betrays us at every turn, perhaps some spirit might be drawn from the example of Nigeria's "Uncompromising Sacred Monster."
Fela Anikulapo Kuti died from AIDS in 1997, but his music is still as fantastic, his sympathy for the poor still as moving, and his fierce and relentless speaking of truth to corrupted power still as necessary as it was during his life.
The show is, besides the incredible music and dancing, a dazzling portrait of the man's life and contributions. I can't say enough about the quality of the cast, the band, the direction, the story. For your own sake, please go see it.
Here's Fela's "Zombie" (long music intro, as always, then the meat, though only half the song is here)
Not only can you listen to KGPL you can add songs and program your own playlists. Right now most of the songs are from the Live Music Archive, Jamendo, ccmixter, and Delta Boogie Radio.
The Delta Boogie Radio link above is the dialup version for those like me who are bandwidth deprived. There is also a hifi version.
Anyone can add songs as long as they are available on the internet as mp3 files. Then you can program your own playlists for anyone to enjoy. Widgets and embeds allow you to post these songs and playlists on your websites or myspace.
Please add your favorite music and use the comments to discuss great music on the internet.
Singer, songwriter, liberal activist and now John McCain scourge Jackson Browne filed a lawsuit today against the presumptive Republican nominee for failing to obtain a license to use one of his songs in a television commercial.
I have written a tune, "Come On Dream," and had it recorded by a group we are calling "Democrats Of Soul." If there's a catchier song that embraces the general over-all dreams about what may come this fall, I haven't heard it (if there is, please point me to it, so I'll know what sort of company my song will be keeping).
A lot of you remember rpritchard's post from April, highlighting the genius of Central PA musician Earl Pickens and his song "Obama Everywhere (in Pennsylvania)." Watch that gem again below the fold.
But in the meantime, enjoy this new video from Earl and his new band the Sweetbriars. They're tackling climate change now, and the song is clever and catchy and IT ROCKS.
Sometimes if we are paying attention there are little ripples or tiny glimmers of beauty for us to find. There might only be a handful who see them as they are or could be. I found this article last spring. It was one of those peculiar events that makes me grin and wonder at the random chaos of beauty that I might find on any given day.
As I commented on Matt's post at New Mexico FBIHOP about the Steve Pearce hippie attack ad on Tom Udall, Grace Slick used to sing "One pill makes you larger. And one pill makes you small." GOP Senate candidate Steve Pearce must have gotten the one that makes you small -- and that causes flashbacks for 40 years. Steve isn't looking for somebody to love -- he's trying to get people to dredge up old grudges from decades past. He must still carry that baggage from all those years ago. Stuck in the past like an angrily buzzing fly in a time-warp web.
DFH....... DFH. I've been one since I discovered a personal affection for thinking for myself. I suspect many Kossacks reading this fit the same description. We carry it as a badge of honor.
We have been right about a myriad of issues.
From matters of dissent, and religious freedom, to public education and healthcare for all, to the the most important issues that humankind faces the world over: peace and our survival as a species on this fragile jewel we inhabit that hangs so perilously in the vastness of space.
We were always the one demographic that has been right from the start about every issue we cared about. Every. Single One.
Follow me below for a reminder of what it is we care about and our quest to make this a "more perfect union" and a better world....... all set to the music of my time. And probably your music too.
Alright, I know I lapsed for a couple of weeks, and I'm pretty much posting this at the ass-end of a Monday, but I really couldn't decide on which songs to post!
I thought it would be a good idea this month to concentrate on topics centering on dignity, especially considering our approach of the 3rd anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.
I'm not usually a hip-hop/ rap fan but I give rappers their props when they make a video/cd that carries a strong message.
"Sumthin' Gotta Give", the new video by Big Boi with Mary J Blige, which supports the Obama campaign, deals with the current state of the economy, health care, blacks in jail, gas prices, single mom's, bringing soldiers home.
