Music and Social Change: A Study of Artists and Impact

This essay explores the significant role of music in driving social change, highlighting the works of two influential artists: Fela Kuti and Joan Baez. The essay begins by emphasizing the historical use of music as a medium for expressing social and political themes. It then delves into the contributions of Fela Kuti, a Nigerian musical composer known for his Afrobeat genre, and Joan Baez, an American folk singer. The essay analyzes how both artists used their music to address societal issues, promote spirituality, and advocate for change. Fela Kuti's songs are discussed in the context of the struggles of the African people, while Joan Baez's compositions reflect the hardships faced by various communities. The essay concludes by underscoring the enduring impact of these artists and their ability to use music as a powerful tool for social commentary and transformation. The essay uses references to support its arguments.

Running head: MUSIC AND SOCIAL CHANGE
Music and Social change
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

1MUSIC AND SOCIAL CHANGE
“Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and that which cannot remain silent.”
The above quoted lines of Victor Hugo, the French poet clearly indicate the important
of music on the framework of our modern society (Weber, 2017). It is to be noted that since
the traditional times music has been used by the various artists to give voice to the themes
which cannot be expressed simply in words. Music has been used since the traditional times
as a medium through which social change can be brought about (Weber, 2017). Two such
artists whose works can be examined in this particular context are Joan Baez and Fela Kuti. It
is to be noted that both the artists used the medium of music to give voice to the disturbing
facts of modern society and at the same time to ring in social change.
Fela Kuti aka Fela Anikulapo Kuti (1938- 1997), was a renowned musical composer
of Nigerian origin (Jaboro, 2012). He has often been hailed as the "challenging and
charismatic music performers” of the “Afrobeat music genre” (Weber, 2017). In his musical
works, he emphasizes on spirituality and uses music as a vessel to ring in social change. He
provides the entire gamut of his musical compositions in the words, “To think how many
Africans suffer in oblivion. That makes me sad….So really I am using my music as a
weapon” (Eesuola, 2015). His emphasis on the vessel of spirituality as the medium through
which people can come out of the ugly muddle in which they were back in the 1960s and
1980s in lines like “To be spiritual is not by praying and going to church. Spiritualism is the
understanding of the universe so that it can be a better place to live in” (Jaboro, 2012). His
songs like “Coffin for head of state” (1981), “Yellow Fever” (1971), “Authority Stealing”
(1980), “Shuffering and Shmiling” (1977) and various others try to portray the actual
condition of the African people and bring about a change in their condition (Eesuola, 2015).
Joan Baez aka Joan Chandos Baez (1941-present), on the other hand, is an American
folk singer whose musical compositions sought to achieve the same goal what Fela Kuti was

2MUSIC AND SOCIAL CHANGE
trying to achieve for Africa (Szatmary & Garofalo, 2014). He idea of music is clearly
outlined in her sayings like “I would say that I’m a nonviolent soldier. In place of weapons of
violence, you have to use your mind, your heart….the life of another human being”
(Szatmary & Garofalo, 2014). The inclination of the musical compositions of Baez to ring in
social change is evident in her conversation with Bob Dylan, where he says “I asked him
what made us different, and he said it was simple, that I thought I could change things, and he
knew that no one could” (Dylan, 2012). Her songs like "There but for Fortune", "A Satisfied
Mind", "Three Horses", her own version of Peter Seeger’s “We shall overcome” are some of
the examples of musical compositions through which she tried to portray the hardships faced
by the people and also to ring in the social change (Szatmary & Garofalo, 2014).
Therefore, from the above discussion it becomes clear that in the recent times many
artists like Fela Kuti, Joan Baez and others have tried to bring about social change through
the apparatus of music. Gone are the days when the artists used to compose music just to
satisfy the whims of the aristocrats and to satisfy the musical appetites of the laymens. These
artists used music as a device of propaganda and to show people the ugliness of the society in
which they live. The social change brought about by their work is a reflection of the success
of their musical compositions.

3MUSIC AND SOCIAL CHANGE
References
Dylan, B. (2012). Forever Young: with audio recording. Simon and Schuster.
Eesuola, O. S. (2015). Political Protest Songs and Actual Protest Values: Analysis of Fela’s
“Sorrow, Tears & Blood” and Bob Marley’s “Stand Up, Get Up”. AFRREV IJAH: An
International Journal of Arts and Humanities, 4(2), 82-96.
Jaboro, M. (2012). The Ikoyi Prison narratives: The spiritualism and political philosophy of
Fela Kuti. Lulu. com.
Szatmary, D. P., & Garofalo, R. (2014). Rockin'in Time. Pearson.
Weber, W. (2017). Music and the Middle Class:" The Social Structure of Concert Life in
London, Paris and Vienna between 1830 and 1848". Routledge.