From the days of the dustbowl blues, carried on through wars and waste, folk music has been the voice of the hard-working man and woman through the years.
Down the decades we’ve heard the rallying cries of the cotton-pickers, machine workers, farmhands, and the downtrodden. Some have been oppressed by religion, by sex, by race and while we can rejoice in the number of beautiful songs championing these causes we can only look back heavy-hearted that so many of those old battle cries are still relevant today.
With the position of what is possibly the most powerful role in global politics going to a money-grabbing, misogynistic, xenophobe backed up by bigots, homophobes and a whole pent-up world of hate, never has it been more important for these voices to be heard.
This is not just for America, but for Brexit Britain, for everyone in my country of Northern Ireland raging against their impotent government, and everyone across the world who might think that no one listens or cares.
Take a moment to remember what life was like in America when the first track here was recorded… Great things are possible and one day maybe, we all shall overcome.
- We Shall Overcome (Intro) – Martin Luther King Jr
- Paths Of Victory – Odetta
- Turn, Turn, Turn – Nina Simone
- Peace Train – Cat Stevens
- Can’t You Tell – Aimee Mann
- I Wonder When I’ll Get To Be Called A Man – Big Bill Broonzy
- Talking Union – The Almanac Singers
- The Times They Are A-Changin’ – Peter, Paul, and Mary
- Day After Tomorrow – Tom Waits
- I Had A Dream – Loudon Wainwright
- State Of The Union – David Ford
- Million Dollar Loan – Death Cab For Cutie
- Only A Pawn In Their Game – Bob Dylan
- The Great American Novel – Martyn Joseph
- Make America Great Again – The Long Winters
- Who’ll Stop The Rain – Creedence Clearwater Revival
- Let It All Fall Down – James Taylor
- Mr President – Randy Newman
- A Change Is Gonna Come – Sam Cooke
- We Shall Overcome – Mahalia Jackson