Overview: The Harmonious Interplay of Music and Human Rights
In this deeply personal and thought-provoking blog, the author reminisces about the transformative 1960s era, where music and social activism intertwined. The blog paints a vivid picture of how protest songs and folk music echoed the societal changes and political unrest of the time.
The assassination of President John F. Kennenokia 225dy, a momentous event that resonated throughout the author’s life, is reflected upon through Phil Ochs’ mournful tribute, “That was the President”. The struggle against racial segregation in the southern United States is also explored, with music like Paul Simon’s “A Church is Burning” and “He was my Brother” serving as poignant reminders of the courage and resilience shown during these times.
The blog delves into the gritty realism of working-class lives as depicted by Bruce Springsteen’s music, highlighting his outspoken stance against the growing inequality in America. Springsteen’s words echo the sentiments of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, emphasizing that the promise of these rights is being broken as wealth disparities increase.
This heartfelt piece concludes with a call to action: Together, we can create a better world. As you journey through this blog, you’ll experience the power of music as a medium for social commentary and its enduring impact on human rights advocacy.
The 1960’s
Music has a lot to say about human rights. I was young in the 1960s, the era of protest songs, new folk music and Martin Luther King Jnr. We knew that Times they are a-changing, that the answer was Blowing in the Wind (Bob Dylan), and, with the huge protests against the Vietnam War, we certainly knew the answer to Where have all the Flowers gone? The assassination of US President Jack Kennedy in November 1963 was the most searing event of my young life, and others followed. That betrayal has continued to reverberate in the public consciousness down to the present day and there is strong hope that the truth will finally be revealed. That was the President by Phil Ochs celebrates the man and mourns the President.
The college kids who battled with the black white segregation in the southern United States in the 1960s worked alongside local people and brought us A Church is Burning and He was my Brother (Paul Simon). Phil Ochs sang
“Oh, here’s to the land you’ve torn out the heart of
Mississippi, find yourself another country to be part of…”
But there was another genre of folk music, the gritty realism of working class lives, recorded by Bruce Springsteen in The River, Your Home Town, Jersey Girl and other songs.
In a comment on Genius Lyrics I found: ‘Like Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger before him, Springsteen has often spoken out against inequality in the U.S. At a 1984 concert in Pittsburgh he said:’
“There’s something really dangerous happening to us out there. We’re slowly getting split up into two different Americas. Things are getting taken away from people that need them and given to people that don’t need them, and there’s a promise getting broken.”
Those words are proven by the picture of life experience in the 1950s and 1960s in working class America painted by Bob Dylan’s North Country Blues. Throughout history, as the rich get richer, as wealth is inherited not earned, and the poor get poorer, the ‘haves’ come to think of themselves as better than the ‘have nots’. From there is a short step to thinking ‘It’s their own fault they are poor’ and regarding the have nots as expendable. Tracy Chapman ‘celebrated’ the hopelessness of inner-city black Americans.
World Leaders 1948
Springsteen hit the nail on the head, there is a promise being broken. That promise is clear in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights agreed by world leaders in 1948 when the United Nations was first founded. The 30 human rights of the Universal Declaration all link together. The personal safety rights (Articles 1 to 5) are the fundamental precepts.
They need the legal protection or rule of law rights (Articles 6 to 11) to keep them in place and the social needs and development rights (Articles 22 to 27) are needed to keep the structures in place that make life livable.
Thank you for reading; I wept as I wrote this, tears for crushed hopes and lost innocence. Together we will make a better world. Lord Duncan McNair – Founder of Peaceful Planet
This is the first time I have been introduced to your work Lord Duncan and I am mightily impressed with everything you have achieved and are achieving.
This piece re music really pulled at my ‘heart strings’ as my family have been so involved with music and my Mother’s brother was Sir Malcolm Arnold – one of Britain’s greatest composers. (Peterloo Overture and scores for more than 130 films….)
Reading the information on your magical web site has been very emotive for me as my journey through life (born in 1944 – a third wave indigo rebel LOL) has not been easy, but so fulfilling when I look back.
I joined the YCND when I was 16 years old as me and my family could not abide war of any kind. We all loved animals and I am more drawn to dogs now (since the ‘scamdemic’) than ever before. The word ‘dog’ is ‘god’ in reverse and they give unconditional love and loyalty (when they are treated well) to humans and other dogs. I often say to dog owners – ‘Did you know that your lovely dog is your teacher as how can he (or she) share anything he (or she) doesn’t have themselves. They are teaching us to love ourselves unconditionally and are worth their weight in gold (as we are too.)
A friend told me recently :- This is why us humans live longer than our companion animals…….. We have more to learn – they know it all. LOL
We are all beings of frequency and when the Rockefeller family ordered Western instrumentalists to change their scale from the one that resonated with the sacred geometry of the universe (528, 432 etc.) to a scale of dissonance (440 hertz) this was done on purpose to mind control the masses. Now, I am so happy to tell you that this dissonance has been lessened (if not taken away) by the huge, rising power of our hearts – which is 528 frequency.
This frequency drives the universe and it is the ‘Power of Love.’ (Cue for song eh?) Words also carry energy and the songs you have described above ring even more bells for me. I loved John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’ and it was recorded in the old scale – which could have been one of the reasons he was taken out. (When anyone passes out of their body and dies, I call that ‘GOING HOME,’ as we are multi-dimensional beings who have chosen planet ‘EARTHEART’ for this life time as She needed our help.)
I used to live in Northampton (not far from Althorp where Princess Diana lived) and taught art for 27 years in a big comprehensive school. Art, music, dance, drama (creative right brained subjects) have been played down by state schools in many areas and schools often push forward left brained maths/science etc.
Music is certainly food for the soul and when I attended an event at the Royal College of Music a few months ago, when my uncle Malcolm’s music was played by students, it was a most memorable day. I sat near Julian Lloyd Webber, who conducted a cello master class on the stage and when the 2 students began to play their instrument, their eyes looked upward and they seemed to be in another dimension.
This was very different to the previous year when I attended a live performance of my uncle’s music, (first one for 2 years) in St. Barnabas Church, London where the conductor was very abrupt with the orchestra and soloists, plus not telling everyone that Sir Malcolm’s daughter (my cousin) Katherine was in the audience. I spent the whole concert with my fingers in my ears, as I couldn’t cope with the dissonant sounds of the instruments – which of course was amplified by the church building.
Rolling forward a year to the Royal College of Music event – I was so pleased not to hear the dissonance and to add some ‘spice’ to this account, I looked up to the big dome of the room where the event was held and I could sense angels circling over our heads and they had come in with the music. (Harps are often portrayed in paintings and sculptures with angels.)
I am convinced that the huge rise in the collective frequency of our hearts (528 hertz) has enabled this dissonance to be cancelled.
Our voices are windows to our hearts and what we say, or write – we help manifest in this physical reality. (We are that powerful.) So I am very pleased that I have found your work and will share it with my e-mail groups. The booklets to download are brilliant and I love the cartoons ….. Accessing your site has made my day ..
Keep up the good work and all power to your elbow. As the Hopi Indians have said :- “We are the ones we have been waiting for.’ xx ???