Ive taken a lot of time lately to think about music and its powerful abilities to inspire courage, but first I think it’s important to look at that word, “courage”. What does it really mean? The first image I think of is the Cowardly Lion, known first and foremost for what? His lack of courage? So that’s not helpful. How about “encourage”? I’ll encourage you! Why? Because you lack courage. So that’s not helpful. We’re starting to feel discouraged now! It’s a difficult word to define, recognized more during its lack than its abundance.
We need courage during tough times, to get us through a tough job interview, a scary medical appointment, a fear like public speaking or visiting a very crowded movie theater. How do we do it? Often it is through music.
Music has always played a part in inspiring people to action. From the earliest days of the American Revolution, when protesting colonists strode through town with their fife and drum ensembles, there has been no better way to help mobilize a group. During the 19th century, music played an important role in the abolitionist movement, both from the inside and the outside. Hopeful slaves would trade directions on the Underground Railroad though coded verses of the spirituals they would sing, while anti-slavery political leaders rallied their factions with songs encouraging the union’s success in the Civil War, songs like “When Johnny Comes Marching Home”. These trends continued, supplying us today with iconic songs grounded in the social justice movements throughout the 20th century: women’s suffrage, the labor movement, race relations, and the threat of nuclear war.
Our anthem, “Turn! Turn! Turn!” takes its text from the book of Ecclesiastes, but achieved its lasting prominence through its association as with pleas for peace during the Vietnam conflict. “Lift Every Voice and Sing” was originally a poem in honor of Abraham Lincoln’s birthday but became connected with the NAACP and was soon dubbed the Black National Anthem.
But these sort of connected songs don’t end in an earlier era. These songs of courage continue to this day, and I will talk about three contemporary occasions in which music was impregnated into a social issue and elevated a group more than shouts and signs could.
In the summer of 2018 comedian and passionate musical theater fan Rosie O’Donnell had had enough of the Trump administration after its first 18 months. So she turned to song. Gathering a busload of friends from Broadway, she gathered outside the White House, as she told the crowd of curious onlookers, “to give you a little show and to remind you that your voices matter”. Hers was a positive, hopeful gathering, void of negative, biting lyrics that are available in strong supply these days. Instead, the performers, who spent the bus ride from New York rehearsing in their seats, sang “Do You Hear the People Sing”, the French Revolution rallying cry from Les Miserables, “Brand New Day” from The Wiz and “Let the Sun Shine In” from Hair. “We’re doing this for the people watching. We’re reminding people that the truth lies inside your heart, and we want to give people those goosebumps that you get when you hear people singing in unison and harmony.”
O’Donnell’s fellow speaker that day, Seth Rudetsky, said “I think the songs are meant to inspire people and put people in a good mood. Lots of people are depressed, thinking this is is the way things are now. But it’s not! ‘Let The Sunshine In!’ We can save the middle class and fix the immigration system,” he said. “‘Do You Hear the People Sing’ is meant to wake up the country, who wants what America stands for: peace, prosperity, and being kind to people.”
It shouldn’t be surprising, with tensions so high in America right now, that fans carried signs of anger and some speakers protested more vehemently than others, but still it was a group assembled to evoke positive change and their vehicle was song.
Music unites us.
When it came time for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign to brand itself both visually and audibly, it was no surprise that she would have a near complete availability of A-list performers at her disposal. Recent history is littered with stories of candidates who learned the hard way not to use material of performers who don’t share their political views. But in Clinton’s case, she had support of nearly every celebrity and therefore an almost unheard of catalog of songs to choose from. She made some great choices and each made a statement of its own. Categorically, I refer to these songs as Female Empowerment Anthems, and I have a playlist of many such songs which make me feel stronger too. I remember well watching a feed of her acceptance speech at the Democratic convention that summer, preceded and followed by a series of these recordings, all sung by some of the top musical women, and all of them about strength. The message was loud and clear, “Women are strong”. Clinton’s frequent campaign stops included positive, uplifting songs with lyrics carefully chosen to show her strength through adversity and to encourage her followers to speak up and speak out. Her musical choices underscored her message and said things she may not have been able to.
Music inspires us.
At the height of the Black Lives Matter movement, many popular songs became associated with the movement. Kendrick Lamar, one of the hottest rappers of his generation, had previously distanced himself from the politics of the situation and took a great deal of grief for it. But then, after a protest rally in Ohio when a teenager was harassed by police and later released to his mother, the crowd instantly began to sing the chorus of one of Lamar’s most popular tracks, “We gon’ be alright.”
Music guides us.
Why is it, then, that during times of personal struggle, many of us turn to songs of sadness? Why do we turn from music altogether? I’ve spoken right here before about a very difficult period for me several years ago when I felt like my life was slipping from me under the weight of multiple jobs and their associated stresses. I couldn’t figure out how to recapture that spark. I always use music at times like that, so turning off the stereo wasn’t an option for me. Instead I reclaimed my joy by focusing on symphonies, large scale works that were born of the passion of their composers, and some of that passion wore off on me in the process.
Keep hope in your heart, even when times get hard. Encourage yourself with a positive message.
A recent study of the “profile” of popular music tracks showed that today’s music is getting more homogenous and stale. It’s not entirely surprising given that many people likewise feel tired and stale right now.
If the words from Ecclesiastes are true, these things all came about at their chosen time. We may struggle for the night but joy comes in the morning.