Folk magazine about the present and the past, from freak folk to minstrels.
St(r)eet Terror
Last month, Folkit! brought you the first selection of songs about st(r)eet terror: violence, repression, oppression and attacks perpetrated by militant groups and state authorities alike. It wasn’t exactly a barrel of laughs, and this second instalment doesn’t shy away from the darker side of things either. Still, we’ll finish on a more humorous and hopeful note.
We kick off with a bona fide hit about discriminatory state oppression, a theme we revisit later with another song known around the world. Four more songs address terrorist mass attacks, including the destruction of the Twin Towers in New York and the massacre at the Bataclan, Paris’s celebrated music venue.
From there, we gradually turn towards a more positive take on freedom of expression. Words, wit and dark humour can all provide ways of voicing dissent and challenging the prevailing view of society. We’ll also hear some Dutch-language songs of resistance. A little grumbling, with a cheerful twist…
- Bob Dylan — Desire — Columbia 33893
Hurricane (Dylan) — 8:33 - June Tabor — Aleyn — Topic Records TSCD490
Bentley Craig (Ralph McTell) — 6:13 - Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young — Ohio — Atlantic 2740
Ohio (Neil Young) — 3:01 - Leon Rosselson & Roy Bailey — If I Knew Who the Enemy Was… — Fuse Records CF 284
The World Police (Rosselson) — 4:20 - Peter Doherty — Hamburg Demonstrations — BMG 538248822
Hell to Pay at the Gates of Heaven (Doherty) — 2:39 - Rival Sons — Feral Roots — Atlantic 0075678655548
Shooting Stars (Dave Cobb, Jay Buchanan) — 4:19 - Bert Jansch — Edge of a Dream — Sanctuary SMRCD270
Bright Sunny Morning (Jansch) — 4:08 - Richard Shindell — Vuelta — Koch Koc CD 9538
The Last Fare of the Day (Shindell) — 4:50 - Mary Coughlan — Sings Billie Holiday — Evangeline GELD4012
Strange Fruit (Abel Meeropol) — 2:07 - Liederjan — Live Festival des Politischen Liedes 1982
Die Gedanken sind frei (Lied des Verfassungsschutz) (Hoffmann von Fallersleben, traditional) — 2:18 - June Tabor & Oysterband — On Air — Strange Fruit SFRSCD074
White Rabbit (Grace Slick) — 3:05 - Woody Guthrie — This Land Is Your Land: The Asch Recordings, Vol. 1 — Smithsonian Folkways SF 40100
This Land Is Your Land (Woody Guthrie) — 2:44 - Jan de Wilde — Knikkerterrorist — Philips 6451 101
Knikkerterrorist (De Wilde) — 2:30 - Veulpoepers — Diarree — Fontana 6460 502
Terrorist (Gironfla) (traditional, R.K. Veulpoepers B.V., Z. Naaijkens) — 3:34 - Drs P. — Retrouvé — TopNotch TN1619CD
Demonstreren (Heinz Hermann Polzer) — 2:17
