When I first started this course I wasn’t sure what songs “Protest and Social Justice” would entail. I never realized how many songs have messages about various social injustices and how people listen to them. When I was younger my mom used to play Springsteen’s “Born in the USA” all the time, I didn’t pay much attention to the lyrics but I knew when to yell out the chorus, and I did so as proudly as a 5 year old can. 15 years later I would never have guessed that the lyrics were speaking about such major problems that were going on in our country. When we were instructed to choose a song for our podcasts I had a really difficult time choosing what two songs I would use. I find myself paying more attention to the lyrics of a song after starting this course.  

 

I went through half of my iTunes library, which took me almost three hours, and tried to listen for songs that spoke to me and drew me in to their message. I found a lot more songs then I had thought I would, all covering topics such as race, women & LGBTQ rights, and much more. The twos songs that really stuck out to me were “Born this Way” by Lady Gaga and “Paper Planes” by M.I.A. Theses songs tackle stereotypes and society’s views on the LGBTQ community and illegal immigrant communities.

 

“Born this way” by Lady Gaga is an iconic anthem for LGBTQ communities. It’s message is truly inspiring for listeners to be comfortable with who they are because it doesn’t matter what other people think, the only opinion that matters is yours.  

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wV1FrqwZyKw

 

The song’s lyrics speak a powerful message about loving yourself and the importance of “God makes no Mistakes”, which is always spoken about in reguards to LGBTQ rights. I think that this song is truly one of the most popular anthems of our generation.

 

“Paper Planes” is one of those songs I used to hear on the radio as a kid and only know the chorus but the beat is iconic. To this day I don’t know all of the lyrics but I know more then I used to and I know that the message is very important. The song talks about what everyone thinks of illegal immigrants coming to their country; what they’re going to do and what might happen to people.  

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewRjZoRtu0Y

The music video is ironic because it shows stereotypes of immigrants but the song is trying to combat these stereotypes in an almost ironic way.  

 

I think this project is going to be really amazing and it is going to help us bring to light more of the issues these songs are talking about in such a short period of time.

 

-Maura