You're listening to sound opinions and later in the show we're going to review rough and rowdy ways the latest from Bob Dylan

But first we want to dig into what we're calling instant commentaries

Yeah, that's right Greg you know throughout the duration of doing this show, 15 years on public radio,

we get these emails. How come there are no great protest songs like there were in the 60s,

whether it was Ohio, Crosby Stills Nash and Young, within weeks of the shootings

at Kent State reacting to that.

Ten soldiers and Nixon's coming.

We're finally on our own.

This summer I hear the drumming

for dead in Ohio.

Or, you know, hey, go back to for what it's worth by Stephen Stills, Buffalo Springfield.

You know, there was a riot on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles, and literally days later, they played that song and then recorded it and then it was a hit.

And then we stop.

Hey what's that sound?

Everybody look what's growing down. You know we've seen pop music react very quickly to tragic events in the news.

We're going to talk about a bunch of songs that were instant commentary

on events from 9-11 to Hurricane Katrina to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan but we've got

to start by talking about the songs right now.

I counted 16 or 17, I think it was, as of this morning,

songs by artists who already had a fairly high profile who have put out quickly

songs about what happened in Minneapolis the police killing of George Floyd

that has resulted in protests across the country around the world.

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