“Music in the soul can be heard by the universe”
Lao Tzu
SONG INTERPRETATIONS
What's it really about?
BLUE LIGHTS
Song: Blue Lights
Original Artist: Jorja Smith
Release Year: 2018
Meaning: Donning many interpretations, “Blue Lights” was written by pop and R&B singer Jorja Smith to highlight police brutality and racial profiling towards people of color in the U.K., especially in her hometown of Walsall, England. In her interview with Brut., “Behind Jorja Smith’s ‘Blue Lights’”, she explains, “These young boys, young black boys, shouldn’t have to have a guilty conscience and fear the police if they’ve done nothing wrong but they do because the police are always after them.” Moreover, she mentions, “I wanted to capture men/boys of Walsall and Birmingham from all different walks of life doing everyday activities to show that the stereotypes we are bombarded with are misleading and, ultimately, harmful.” Sampling Dizzee Rascal’s “Sirens” that say, “Blud I can hear the sirens coming. Can you hear the sirens coming?”, the song is complemented by Smith singing “If you’ve done nothing wrong, blue lights should just pass you by.”
Although specifically written about the U.K., “Blue Lights” has significant relevance to the topic of race in the U.S. as well. So often, civilians and police officers assume that black people are the perpetrators of crimes or more prone to violence simply because of the color of their skin, leading them to be sometimes antagonistic toward them as shown in the deaths of George Floyd, Stephon Clark, Philando Castille, and so many more. This type of racial profiling is unacceptable, and all of us have a responsibility to educate ourselves on the plight of black Americans and to strive to eliminate these harmful assumptions so that the precious lives of our black brothers and sisters are protected.
Lyrics: https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/jorjasmith/bluelights.html
MASTERS OF WAR
Song: Masters of War
Original Artist: Bob Dylan
Release Year: 1963
Meaning: Part of his album The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, Bob Dylan’s “Masters of War” is a pacifistic protest against the aggression of the Cold War and, more specifically, the Vietnam War. Borrowing the arrangement for this song from “Nottamun Town” by folk singer Jean Ritchie, Dylan changed the lyrics to convey his message, reprimanding heartless American leaders and officials: the “masters” who organize and facilitate wars in the safety of their homes for their own profit and gain at the expense of young boys who must assume the role as American soldiers and fear for their lives.
[Verse 2]
You that never done nothin’
But build to destroy
You play with my world
Like it’s your little toy
You put a gun in my hand
And you hide from my eyes
And you turn and run farther
When the fast bullets fly
[Verse 4]
For the others to fire
While the death count gets higher
You hide in your mansion
While the young people’s blood
Flows out of their bodies
And is buried in the mud
In 2001, Dylan declared to USA Today that this song “is not an anti-war song [but rather] speaking against what Eisenhower was calling a military-industrial complex as he was making his exit from the presidency. That spirit was in the air, and [Dylan] picked it up."
Lyrics: https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/bobdylan/mastersofwar.html
HOW MANY (BLACK LIVES)
Song: How Many (Black Lives)
Original Artist: Miguel
Release Year: 2016
Meaning: “How Many (Black Lives)” is a Black Lives Matter anthem released by R&B singer Miguel on SoundCloud in the aftermath of the police shootings of black men Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and Philando Castile outside the Twin Cities, Minnesota. In this heart-wrenching demo, Miguel cries out and wonders how many more black lives need to be spared and how many more heartbeats will be turned into flatlines before change is finally implemented into American society and law enforcement. Miguel doesn’t attempt to hide the harshness of the subject matter. He expresses how much turbulence the violence has caused his soul and that he can no longer stay silent. Miguel announces how tired he is of black people dying, tired of all the injustices, and that we must wake up.
NINA CRIED POWER
Song: Nina Cried Power
Original Artist: Hozier feat. Mavis Staples
Release Year: 2018
Meaning:
In “Nina Cried Power”, Irish-born and indie-folk singer Hozier commemorates the legacy of activist musicians that made their mark through protest songs on equality, peace, and more throughout history, such as Nina Simone, Mavis Staples (who is featured on the track), Pete Seeger, James Brown, John Lennon, Woody Guthrie, B.B. King, and more. He emphasizes the power of protest songs when they are accompanied by actions when he sings, “It’s not the waking, it’s the rising/It is the grounding of a foot uncompromising/It’s not forgoing of the lie/It’s not the opening of eyes/It’s not the waking, it’s the rising.” Although this song does not discuss a specific injustice, it declares a protest against inaction and empowers people to mobilize, speak up, and take action, creating a space for conversation about injustices and activism.
Lyrics: https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/hozier/ninacriedpower.html
STRANGE FRUIT
Song: Strange Fruit
Original Artist: Billie Holiday
Release Year: 1939
Meaning: Although it never explicitly mentions lynching, “Strange Fruit” was written by Abel Meeropol decades before the Civil Rights Movement as his outraged response to seeing a 1930 photograph of the lynching of two black men in Indiana. After writing a poem about the photograph, Meeropol turned it into a song and played it for New York club owner, who eventually gave it to Billie Holiday. Holiday was strongly moved by the lyrics and the song’s haunting ambience because they reminded her of her father, who died at age 39 after being turned away from a hospital for being black. She said, “It reminds me of how Pop died. But I have to keep singing it, not only because people ask for it, but because 20 years after Pop died, the things that killed him are still happening in the South.” Although the protest song may have caused Holiday’s demise as racist Federal Bureau of Narcotics commissioner Harry Anslinger was bent on destroying her life and career, Holiday will always be remembered for performing “Strange Fruit” so artistically in the fight for civil rights.
Lyrics: https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/billieholiday/strangefruit.html
WHERE IS THE LOVE?
Song: Where Is the Love?
Original Artist: Black Eyed Peas
Release Year: 2003
Meaning: After the terrorist attacks on 9/11, members of the Black Eyed Peas started composing this song to promote love and peace. Member will.i.am claims that the inspiration for the song came from living in post-9/11 America in his 2016 interview with The Telegraph. However, “Where Is the Love?” also touches upon a wide variety of societal issues such as terrorism, U.S. govt hypocrisy, racism, gang crime, pollution, war, and ultimately calls upon people to love rather than fueling hate.
The song reappeared in the form of a new version in 2016 when more global tragedies emerged. Will.i.am says, “I remember when the attack in Paris happened, people would say ‘We need ‘Where Is The Love? Again.’ And then Belgium happened, and then Turkey, and then Orlando, and then Philando, and then Alton before him, and then Dallas. Everyone was calling on us, like, we need that song again.” Later on, the male members of the Black Eyed Peas performed the song again at the One Love Manchester concert in June 2017 with Ariana Grande to raise $3 million for the victims of the suicide bombing at Grande’s concert earlier in May of that year.
Lyrics: https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/blackeyedpeas/whereisthelove.html