For my Podcast, I will be examining the social protest song Sheep by Mt Joy. I’ve always been a fan of this band, but this song stands out and is substantially different than the rest of their music. The song’s sound may coherently fit with their band, but the lyrics are politically charged and have a much different tone and message than the rest of their music. I’ve always listened to this song and knew it was about the violence in Baltimore and the death of Freddie Gray, but I’ve never dived in and really understood the song inside and out. Mt Joy has beautiful music as well as lyrics, so I’m excited to research and pick apart the meaning behind what’s written. Sheep is a song with layers, meaning that along with the obvious message about Baltimore, there is also a call to action in the song. Mt Joy addresses the social issue that is happening to this minority of people, and then makes the main focus of the song about how the majority of the people that are not affected need to be proactive and do something too, and that this is not okay and something needs to change. Since I’ve already heard this song so many times, I’m more than willing to dedicate 11 more weeks to studying and listening to it more, and on a deeper level. I personally hear their call to action and think that it’s amazing a relatively new band is already using their platform for this type of social justice. 

Sheep is a classic example of the indie rock genre. Musically, it sounds very smooth and calming. The guitars have an ambient feel and there’s an overall soft feeling to the song, which is a disposition to the message. The singer has a folk-like texture and rawness to his voice. The vocals are clearly spotlighted and emphasized, supporting the message he’s saying and making it even more clear to the listener. Normally, indie rock songs are about relationships and emotions and express general feelings to the listener, rather than a call to action. I’m excited to find other protest songs like this because the overall sound is the very opposite of what we typically deem to be protest music. 

My only concerns about this project would be the same for any song that I could have picked. My confidence is weary on being able to produce this much content and create a whole podcast on just a single song. Secondly, it has a music video that is so politically charged it’s becoming hard to find online now, and I really want to be able to still use it. Ultimately, this is still a powerful song packed with heavy lyrics with much to talk about. Despite these concerns, I should still be able to breakdown, analyze, and create a very interesting and informative podcast.