The Healing Power of Protest Songs— Spotlight on Naomi Westwater

Protest songs help us manage the flood of emotion

By Martha Merson

Grassroots Connector readers know how important it is to keep moving, to stay focused. We have Jess Craven and Simon Rosenberg to give us pep talks and Heather Cox Richardson, Micah Sifrey, and Robert Hubbell to remind us of the broader context for our actions. But for the emotional work of being human through this dark chapter I turn to songwriters. Music helps me find answers to other nagging questions about the destructive splintering, internal fights, disputes, and disagreements that stand in the way of solidarity.

Massachusetts-based songwriter Naomi Westwater steps up to do this emotional work for and with her audience. Some of us need a time-out between rallies and the next zoom call. Grassroots activists can benefit from the emotionally savvy and thoughtful way Westwater offers songs.

Westwater says, “When it comes to protest music, it helps channel emotions. Each protest song has a different emotion. Sometimes it’s motivating and the purpose is activation.” Immediately I thought of an example, Holly Near’s “Singing for Our Lives.” One verse commemorates the courage of the students of Kent State who called for an end to the Vietnam War. Another reminds listeners of the travesty of the murder of poet and cultural ambassador Victor Jara. There is no sugar-coating what happened.

STUDENTS IN OHIO AT KENT AND JACKSON STATE
SHOT DOWN BY A NAMELESS FIRE ONE EARLY DAY IN MAY
SOME PEOPLE CRIED OUT ANGRY
YOU SHOULD HAVE SHOT MORE OF THEM DOWN
BUT YOU CAN'T BURY YOUTH MY FRIEND
YOUTH GROWS THE WHOLE WORLD ROUND

THE JUNTA BROKE THE FINGERS ON VICTOR JARA'S HANDS
THEY SAID TO THE GENTLE POET "PLAY YOUR GUITAR NOW IF YOU CAN"
VICTOR STARTED SINGING BUT THEY BROUGHT HIS BODY DOWN
YOU CAN KILL THAT MAN BUT NOT HIS SONG
WHEN IT'S SUNG THE WHOLE WORLD ROUND

The song gives me resolve. Recent graduates identified songs for this moment too. Among others, they mentioned:

Stand Up Cynthia Erivo

Respect Aretha Franklin

Bruce Springsteen’s Land of Hope and Dreams

I asked Naomi Westwater about the songs keeping her spirits up.

In terms of emotion, she says, “I have an anti-capitalist dance song. "All Money is Dirty”. The energy is anger. The song is upbeat with a fast tempo. It’s almost silly. Satire. We played it live with drums and dance around.” A likely influence–Naomi’s dad loved reggae music and Bob Marley. She told me, “The songs feel so relevant. They could have been written yesterday or in the future. I’m amazed at how he makes protest music into dance music.”

Westwater acknowledges that there has to be space for sadness. “At times we have to sit with grief. A song only lasts a few minutes. Music is a container where I can feel held while I experience that grief. During a song, I allow myself to go deep and be sad.

In her song, “All Billionaires”, the emotion is sadness. “I’m sad about the greed in our country, in our system. But if we just try to push through, we’re missing an important part in the healing. One of the things we can do is to witness the harm and acknowledge the sadness. If we skip that, then we’re missing a really crucial part of our humanity.”

Commenting on the connection between emotion and motivation, Naomi said, “Every time I hear “Fast Car” (by Tracy Chapman), I tear up. There is so much about the cycle of poverty and how she can’t escape it. It’s so real for some people. Not everybody gets out of poverty in their lifetime. If we can’t look at that and how sad that is, then we’re not equipped to go do something about it. If we go straight to action, we are missing the point. We are in this mess because we have not done the work of building community.”

So we’re singing to bring our emotional life into the open. At the same time, singing together helps build community. We know this intuitively–how powerful it is to be surrounded by people singing the same thing. Interestingly, researchers thought to compare the effects of singing together in a small choir (20-80 people) versus a larger choir (232 people). They took measures of closeness and on pain thresholds (a proxy for increased endorphin release in the brain). The researchers found that “both choir groups increased their pain threshold levels after singing; however, the larger group experienced bigger changes in social closeness after singing than the smaller group.” A lesson from this study is that singing can draw large groups together quickly.

In a different study, researchers found that performing music—through singing, drumming, and dancing—all resulted in participants having higher pain thresholds in comparison to listening to music alone.

I hadn’t expected this as an outcome, but a high pain threshold will be helpful to get through this period. Westwater says, “What is happening is really scary. Yes, your fear is valid. I’ve heard people say, ‘You’re fear mongering.’ No, this fear is incredibly justified.” While we go on with life, we are not obligated to pretend everything is okay. The act of making space for each other to say the truth and bearing witness, whether in song or in conversation, is a tool for pushing against fascism, which thrives on lies and denial. We can be there for each other.

Musicians are there for us. Some recommendations from Naomi

• Check out Bob Marley’s album Survival

• Bob Marley and The Wailers, Get Up, Stand Up

• Marvin Gaye’s album, What’s Going On and especially the song, “Inner City”

• Talkin’ ‘Bout a Revolution by Tracy Chapman

• Changes by 2PAC, especially War and Survival

And we asked some recent college grads for idea too. Here are a few:

• For My People by Joey Bada$$

• Real situation, Rebel Music

• If I ruled the world (imagine that) by Nas

• Neighbors by J. Cole

Martha Merson is active with Swing Blue Alliance.

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The Grassroots Connector welcomes articles on topics related to the grassroots and our role in advancing democracy in this dark time. Email ideas or drafts to thegrassrootsconnector@gmail.com