Music has the power to heal, cross borders, spread ideas, inspire and yes bring the people together. Can it also help improve the environment? End wars? Create gender and racial equality?

I think that it can. Historically, emotive music with powerful lyrics has played a vital role in a wide range of causes. From the marching songs of the suffragettes, to anti-war protests – music has helped to unite people together and helped political campaigns.

Categorized by causes, here are a few songs containing powerful messages:

**ENVIRONMENT**

Joni Mitchell, Big Yellow Taxi (1970)
“Paved up paradise to put up a parking lot”

Marvin Gaye, Mercy Mercy Me (Ecology) (1971)
“Ah things ain’t what they used to be. What about this overcrowded land. How much more abuse from man can she stand?”

Ozzy Osbourne, The Almighty Dollar (2007)
“Burn into the air and atmosphere. Watching the rain come down. Turn your head away, ignore the fear. Watching the ice crash down.”

Feeder, Only you
“I started to think about becoming extinct by the way that we’re going. I started to think that we’re close to the brink if you don’t hurry.”

**GENDER EQUALITY AND SEXISM**

Ethel Smyth & Cicely Hamilton March of the Women (1911)
“Comrades — ye who have dared. First in the battle to strive and sorrow! Scorned, spurned — nought have ye cared. Raising your eyes to a wider morrow. Ways that are weary, days that are dreary. Toil and pain by faith ye have borne; Hail, hail — victors you stand. Wearing the wreath that the brave have worn!”

The suffragettes were the original girl power! Without their determination, women in ‘developed’ nations would not have the freedom that we do today. Unfortunately, women all over the world do not have the freedom that we benefit from, though sexism and persecution of women still takes place in developed nations.

Ani DiFranco, Not a pretty girl (1995)
“I am not a pretty girl, That is not what I do, I ain’t no damsel in distess, And I don’t need to be rescued, So put me down punk, Maybe you’d prefer a maiden fair Isn’t there a kitten stuck up a tree somewhere”

India Arie, Video (2001)
“I am not the average girl from your video and I aint built like a supermodel. But Ive learned to love myself unconditionally, because I am a queen. My worth is not determined by the price of my clothes.”

I have been listening a lot to India Arie and Ani DiFranco lately. I love their powerful music, celebrating the true strength of women – no fake ‘girl power’ like some mainstream female singers.

**ANIMAL WELFARE**

The Smiths, Meat Is Murder (1985)
“Do you know how animals die? Kitchen aromas aren’t very homely It’s not ‘comforting’, cheery or kind It’s sizzling blood and the unholy stench Of MURDER”

Earth Crisis, New ethic
“This is the new ethic, Animals’ lives are their own and must be given respect, Reject the anthropocentric falsehood that maintains the oppressive hierarchy of mankind over the animals, It’s time to set them free. Their lives reduced to biomachines in the factory, farm and laboratory, Dairy, eggs and meat, fur, suede, wool, leather are the end products of torture, confinement and murder, I abjure their use out of reverence for all innocent life”

Earth Crisis are a thrash metal band dedicated to raising awareness about animal rights and liberation.

**CIVIL RIGHTS AND ANTI RACISM**

Billie Holiday, Strange fruit (1939) (written by Abel Meeropol)

“Southern trees bear strange fruit, Blood on the leaves, Blood at the root, Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze, Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees”

Bob Dylan, Blowin in the wind (1963)

“Yes, n how many times can a man turn his head, Pretending he just doesnt see?”

James Weldon Johnson, Lift Every Voice and Sing (1900)
“We have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered, Out from the gloomy past. ‘Til now we stand at last”

**ANTI-WAR**

Levellers, Another mans cause (1991)
“Just in whose name do these brave young heroes fall, And how many more are going to answer that call, They’re going to fight and die in another country’s war, They’re going to die for a religion, they don’t believe in at all, They’re going to die in a place they should never’ve been at all“

Edwin Starr, War (1969)
“War, what is it good for? Absolutely nothin’!”

**ANTI CAPITALISM & POLITICAL CORRUPTION**

Janis Joplin, Mercedes Benz (1970)
“Oh Lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz? My friends all drive Porsches, I must make amends. Worked hard all my lifetime, no help from my friends, So Lord, won’t you buy me a Mercedes Benz?”

One of the last songs she ever recorded. It was a social criticism of the materialistic culture developing, especially the value people put on items like luxury cars. Tragically, Joplin’s sister who held the rights to Janis’ music allowed Mercedes Benz to use the music in an advert.

Lou Reed, Strawman (1989)
“We who have so much to you who have so little To you who don’t have anything at all We who have so much more than any one man does need And you who don’t have anything at all, ah Does anybody need another million dollar movie Does anybody need another million dollar star”

Rage Against the Machine, Take the Power Back (1992)
“We need a movement with a quickness, You are the witness of change, And to counteract, We gotta take the power back”

For me, Rage Against the Machine (RATM) are one of the best political / protest groups ever. Tom Morello, of RATM created his own non-profit organization to bring together musicians, fans of music, and grassroots political organizations to fight for social justice. Please click here for further info about Tom Morello’s ‘Axis of Justice’ organisation.

Nine Inch Nails, Letting you (2008)
“Upon our plates to feed, The dying left to bleed, How much we really need, Your politics of greed, The cancer takes ahold, The wolf is in the fold, Our destiny’s been sold, We do just what we’re told”

**ANTI-MATERIALISM**

John Lennon, Imagine (1971)
“Imagine no possessions, I wonder if you can, No need for greed or hunger, A brotherhood of man, Imagine all the people, Sharing all the world…”

**Next generation of political music**

When listening to the charts these days, it can be hard to hear unique, strong and political voices amongst the manufactured pop. However there are some exciting new bands emerging, which concentrate on environmental and other social issues. My favourite at the moment is a band featuring three sisters; Truth on Earth.

The band name, lyrical messages and powerful world-changing mission are based upon the work of Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi, one of the greatest spiritual leaders of all time and the basis of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jrs Civil Rights movement. The girl’s mission is to fix Earth’s problems, so future generations will have a planet worth inheriting.

I love their music, and their passion to improve the environment, protect animals and create social change.

For further information about Truth on Earth, please click here.

**LET’S START A POLITICAL MUSIC REVOLUTION**

Unfortunately I am tone deaf and I can only play a little bit of clarinet, so I don’t think that I can start a music revolution on my own. However if you are musically talented, then use your gift to heal, spread ideas and bring people together to improve the world –  you can even start a music revolution from your bed!