Remember when artists made political statements? Or went even further and wrote political songs?

Tin soldiers and Nixon coming,
We’re finally on our own.
This summer I hear the drumming,
Four dead in Ohio.

-CSNY

Occupy Wallstreet is happening. This is a time of social change. Artists are KEY to social change. Music is hyper important to all social change. Songs of solidarity, union songs, songs to strengthen the will of the protesters are all needed in times like these.

I did a quick YouTube search, there are very few Occupy Wallstreet songs. I’m not talking exploiting the occupations, I’m talking about using your talents to create music that will lift and unite people like Neil Young did on Ohio.

With YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter you have all the tools needed to get a true song out to the masses. If it has truth, heart, and melody you might even have a hit. You can be sure corporate tools like Bruno Mars and Kings Of Leon aren’t going to be making any political statements. The stage is open, and some have begun to join in…

Saxophonist and Wall Street occupier Gavi Shapiro…..“Music can keep things positive, but it can also be a wonderful method of critique,” he said. “Protest songs really get people in the spirit.”

The never-ending drum circles in Zuccotti Park haven’t gone unnoticed. Gio Andollo, a singer songwriter camped out in the park on Monday (and dressed up as a zombie along with other protestors), pointed to a recent segment on The Daily Show, in which Jon Stewart compared the Occupy Wall Street protest to the Tennessee music festival Bonnaroo.

“For some reason, that’s been what has been getting a lot of media attention,” said Andollo. “I think it’s because it’s an easy way for them to discredit what we are doing. But if it wasn’t drumming it would be something else. They’d still be calling us hippies and trying to discredit us in any way that they can.”  (More here)

Music Consciousness
Voyno