Which Side Are You On?: 20th Century American History in 100 Protest Songs

by James Sullivan Oxford University Press 3/1/2021, paperback SKU: 9780197549452   When he emerged from the nightclubs of Greenwich Village, Bob Dylan was often identified as a protest singer. As early as 1962, however, Dylan was already protesting the label: I don't write no protest songs, he told his audience on the night he debuted Blowin' in the Wind.  Protest music is largely perceived as an unsubtle art form, a topical brand of songwriting that preaches to the converted. But popular music of all types has long given listeners food for thought. Fifty years before Vietnam, before the United States entered World War I, some of the most popular sheet music in the country featured anti-war tunes. The labor movement of the early decades of the century was fueled by its communal songbook. The Civil Rights movement was soundtracked not just by the gorgeous melodies of Strange Fruit and A Change Is Gonna Come, but hundreds of other gospel-tinged ballads and blues.  In Which Side Are You O