Muted Chords: The Gap Between Past Protests and Gaza’s Plight…

“Give Peace a chance” John Lennon sang many years ago, Country Joe McDonald’s cry was “Whoopee we’re all gonna die”, and CSNY told us all about the four dead students in Ohio. Then in 1971 Marvin Gaye made his classic album inspired by the Vietnam war and the suffering of ordinary black Americans at that time. Where have all the great protest songs gone? Specifically, is there no one there who can crystallise the revulsion and despair people feel about the Gaza conflict?

Lennon’s song was recorded during his famous “bed-in” with Yoko Ono in a Montreal hotel. Looking back the whole “bed-in” thing seems a bit ludicrous but Give Peace a Chance became a staple at protests and demos for many years.

CSNY’s song Ohio referred to the Kent State shootings where unarmed students were fired on by the Ohio National Guard resulting in the death of four and the wounding of nine on the Kent State University campus. The shootings took place on May 4, 1970, during a rally opposing the expanding involvement of the Vietnam War into Cambodia by United States military forces. CSNY have never stopped protesting against injustice, in fact I remember Graham Nash telling the audience in Belfast’s Waterfront Hall a few years ago that they would continue to do so. “Somebody has to do it” he said!

The 1960’s and 1970’s were a cataclysmic time in American society due to the Vietnam war. One of the stars of 1969’s Woodstock festival was ex veteran Country Joe McDonald. His “Feel like I’m Fixin to Die Rag” is arguably the most iconic protest song of the sixties. (Shout out to our very own Vietnam veteran and Woodstock attendee – Wild Turkey!). His performance at Woodstock starts with the famous “Fish Cheer” named after his band:

Give me an F, give me a U, give me a C, give me a K

What’s that spell?

What’s that spell?

And the famous chorus:

And it’s 5, 6, 7, open up the pearly gates
well there ain’t no time to wonder why
whoopee! we’re all gonna die

For those of us with the mettle to deal with it the internet (X mainly) is full of horrific pictures and videos of the atrocities being perpetrated in Gaza. Innocents shot or blown up, at distance, mutilated bodies, bags full of stuff that were once human beings. It is all too much. My only point of reference is Oxford Street, Belfast 1972, a day I will never forget, but something which is miniscule compared to the suffering in Gaza. And little of this is reported on MSM. Reporters who venture into this hell hole theatre of war and report back about what is going on are now being rounded up by British anti terror police. The most recent, 61 year old veteran activist Sarah Wilkinson, arrested at 7.30 am by 12 armed policemen. Other respected journalists have been arrested simply for telling the truth about Gaza. This is a worrying sign of Britain’s deepening authoritarianism. It is all quite overwhelming. What’s going on?

We are a politically disengaged lot nowadays. I have seen it written, and I totally agree, that the majority of people are more interested in celebrity gossip, Strictly Come Dancing and the footy. And of course when they get tired of that then there are always asylum seekers hostels to be attacked and immigrants to be burned out of their homes. Yet here we are living in the shadow of WW3, the Russian bear being baited by plucky Ukraine and nasty old Iran being baited by plucky Israel. Ukraine and Israel of course uninterested in peace talks as long as Uncle Sam is at their side cheering them on. Country Joe had it sussed out:

Well come on Wall Street don’t be slow

Why this is a war a go go

There’s plenty good money to be made

By supplying the Army with the tools of the trade

MSM of course is a farce, its bias and duplicity being highlighted daily by activists and independent journalists on social media. Twitter (X) may be a cesspit but like all things in this digital age it has a good side as well as a bad side. For the time being the best we can do is comment on social media and attend protest marches where possible. As yet there is no great anthem for the broken people of Gaza. Coldplay and the Gallagher brothers are too busy in their counting houses counting out their money. The next great protest song will have to wait.

Mother mother

There’s too many of you crying

Brother brother brother

There’s far too many of you dying

(What’s Going On: Marvin Gaye)

Retired at last and living in Carrickfergus. Interests include sport, politics and popular culture.