Hey, it's Alan, and I just wanted to let you know that you can now listen to the ongoing

history of new music early and ad-free on Amazon music, included with Prime.

This can be a weird, difficult world, filled with injustice, inequality, and bad people

doing bad things. We're always up against things like racism, women's rights, labor rights, the plights

of marginalized people, class struggle, the disenfranchised, various social movements.

The list of righteous causes and grievances is pretty much endless. And sometimes you just

got to fight back. But how? Not all occasions call for armed insurrections and assassinations.

One way, a peaceful way, is through music. Come up with something topical and specific,

put it all to music, and you have a chance of getting your message to a lot of people.

And because it's music, you might be able to reach those who might not otherwise be aware of the problem or

understand what the problem is. This music isn't confined to a specific people or group or genre or

era. You can be loud and angry and filled with the greatest moral virtues screamed at the top of your

lungs. But you don't have to be in your face about it.

Your messaging can be subtle

while still maintaining all the necessary effectiveness,

rage, messaging, and authenticity.

And these songs are everywhere today,

although you may not notice them.

This is part one of a brief history of the protest song.

This is the ongoing history of new music podcast with Alan Cross.

When people ask me, where are all the protest songs today?

And I get that question a lot.

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