Browse Items (43 total)

Translated into English as "What Have We Done?," this song was very popular song at funerals and gained greater popularity due to its use by anti-apartheid activists. It is compared to the Civil Rights Movement song "We Shall Overcome."…

This song may be used in conjunction with the eponymous poem by Nicolás Guillén to show the ways that indigenous people and people of African descent became visible in "high" cultural representations throughout Latin America.

Originally written by Clegg for his 1982 album Scatterlings for his previous band, Juluka, it was re-recorded by his new group Savuka. The word, scattering, is defined as someone without a fixed or a permanent home. The usage of the word scattering…

Written by Johnny Clegg in memory of his former professor, friend and fellow academic, Dr. David Webster, the song's lyrics speak to the nation's frustration with its government. In addition to his work as a social anthropologist, Dr. Webster was…

"Ode to Billie Joe" is an account of how each of the members of a Mississippi family take the news of Billie Joe McAllister's suicide. A number of ambiguous details in the narrative, which emphasizes loss and was released in 1967, lend itself to a…

In addition to contributing to the 1985 dance track and protest song "Sun City," Peter Gabriel wrote a new song for the Artists United Against Apartheid's album Sun City. The protest group was founded by American musician Steven Van Zandt with the…

Translated as "Lord Bless Africa," "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika" served as South Africa's anthem alongside the apartheid-era "Die Stem van Suid-Afrika" during the years 1994-1997, to the anger of many. In 1996, excerpts from both songs were utilized to…

This song can be used to introduce students to the influence that Appalachian music had on modern country music. Many early country songs were based on British ballads and were combined with musical influences from African-American musical traditions…

Written in direct response to the 1963 Birmingham, Alabama Church bombing which killed 4 African American girls, this song can be used to instruct students on the shifting attitudes surrounding the conversation on race relations and the Civil Rights…

This minstrel song can be used to teach about minstrelsy and antebellum Southern attitudes towards slavery. It was such a popular genre that it effectively was a type of pop music. In the song, the enslaved are mourning the loss of a deceased slave…