Social+Justice

=Social Justice - Protest & Passion Songs=

Protesting is not just for hippies! Anyone can protest about something they feel strongly about.

A lot of songs have been written as a protest about an issue.


 * I Was Only 19 (A Walk in the Light Green)**

This song was written and performed by an Australian band called **//Redgum//**. Get a copy of the lyrics here. It is a protest about Australia's involvement in the Vietnam War. In particular, it tells the story of wasted lives that are a result of war.

You can download the song from iTunes. Click here.

This is a song about the end of the Cold War and the celebrations that followed the breaking down of the Berlin Wall.
 * Wind of Change**

The cold war was basically between Russia & America - Russia believed in the Communist style of government; America believed in a democratic government and the concept of capitalism which is where people are allowed to run their own businesses and make lots of money.

Communism is based on everything being owned by the government. People work for the government then wealth and food are shared out fairly. In reality this did not happen. The leaders of the government stole and kept the country's wealth for themselves. People were left hungry, cold and scared.

The Berlin Wall was built by the Russians to keep the communist East Germans separated from the rest of the people of Germany. It started out as a barbed wire fence but eventually became a huge wall with armed soldiers on patrol. The East German people were 'locked in' and were shot by guards if they tried to escape. When the Soviet Union (Russia) collapsed, the East & West Germans were re-united and the wall was torn down. There were celebrations in the streets and families saw each other for the first time in about 40 years.

You can download Wind of Change from iTunes. Click here.

Writing Our Own Protest & Passion Songs
This was so much fun. We got to write and record our own songs!

First of all we learned about rhyming couplets. They are pairs of lines that rhyme at the end. Rhyming couplets usually have the same rhythm and a similar number of syllables.

I did a lot of research about Climate Change and the damage humans are doing to our planet. This is going to be my topic for my song. I wrote the song as a poem and then created the music.

Making the music was really fun. We used Acid Xpress and combined lots of loops to make music. Loops are short pieces of music or sounds that can be mixed together to make a song.

You can listen to my song which is called **Earth's Cry. media type="file" key="Earth's Cry.mp3"** My friend Jack helped me record the lyrics because I was really nervous.