Songs Of The Summer In A Time Of Protest

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🗓️ 4 July 2022

⏱️ 10 minutes

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Summary

It may be too soon to crown the "song of the summer". NPR Music's Stephen Thompson says there's no one quality that the songs that carry that title have... it's a collective feeling, a shared vibe.

For so many Americans on this July 4th, songs of the summer and songs of protest feel one and the same.

NPR's Ann Powers is a music critic, and Shana Redmond is a professor at Columbia University, and the author of "Anthem: Social Movements And The Sound Of Solidarity In The African Diaspora." They explain the role of protest music in this moment.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	July 4th might be too early to crown a song of the summer, but there are some contenders already.
0:07.0	Beyonce just dropped a new song called Break My Soul, which is this big, danceable, defiant
0:14.8	number.
0:15.8	It's a song of defiance for a cultural moment that I think matches the spirit of that song.
0:20.8	You won't break my soul, you won't break my soul, you won't break my soul, you won't
0:27.4	break my soul.
0:28.4	NPR music Stephen Thompson says, when you're trying to name a song of the summer, there's
0:35.2	not just one quality that does it.
0:38.0	Sometimes it's a collective feeling.
0:40.7	A sense of joy or release or nostalgia.
0:44.8	I think a soaring quality helps, but it's a little bit hard sometimes to put your finger
0:50.2	on it.
0:51.2	Sometimes it's just a vibe.
0:52.2	So what if that shared vibe, that quality, that sentiment that's bringing so many people
0:57.2	together right now?
0:58.2	What if it's one of defiance?
1:01.2	We've really are in a renaissance of protest music.
1:04.6	Consider this, for so many Americans on this July 4th, songs of the summer and songs of
1:09.9	protest feel one and the same.
1:12.7	Coming up, a conversation about the role of protest songs and what makes them powerful.
1:17.6	I think it has to be connected to people's experiences.
1:20.6	You have to be pulling your information, your sentiments, but also your sound from the
	...

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