Covid protest songs have been released by high profile musos such as Van Morrison, Eric Clapton and Right Said Fred (see my post here). There’s a few others, such as Roger Waters, who have been outspoken, but other than that it’s been the sound of crickets at the top end of the music industry, which I’ve found both surprising and frightening. However, there has been a lot of protest songs from lesser known people, and I’m going to highlight some of them here. Ok, by definition the following tracks are going to be a bit samey, yet they do cover different musical genres, which you may or may not like.
Sara Gonzales is from Houston, Texas, and describes herself as a political commentator, mom, and karaoke expert. She recorded this track at the end of 2021 and it’s called ABCDEFU: An Ode to the Left…
Michael Chaves is a former paramedic who blogs and vlogs under the name Mad Mix Conspiracies. Chave’s language is often very, er, colourful (which I don’t think helps his cause). In January 2022 he recorded a track called Killer Killer Covid. The track got to No.1 on the Amazon charts and also attained a respectable position in the UK charts…
Ian Brown was the lead singer of the Stone Roses from 1983 until the band split in 1996, when he began a solo career. In September 2020 he released a track called Little Seed, Big Tree. I’m going to use this as an opportunity to show how absolutely awful Wikipedia is. The following is part of the Wikipedia entry on Ian Brown:
During the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, Brown promoted conspiracy theories[17] and misinformation about the pandemic,[18][19] and criticised lockdowns, the use of masks and the COVID-19 vaccine.[20] In July 2021, Brown received a 2 week Twitter ban for posting false claims that the vaccine was not effective. He pulled out of a festival headline slot as he disagreed with its vaccine passport for entry policy, calling it the “new nazi normal”.[18] His anti-lockdown song “Little Seed, Big Tree”, which featured lyrics alluding to conspiracy theories about the COVID-19 vaccine,[21] was taken down from Spotify.[22]
Brown is reported to be a long-term marijuana smoker. Comments on his state of mind have included: “When he was stoned, he was at best a tuneless knob and at worst a paranoid mess”
Blind Joe is a bit of a character. He was born in Fargo, North Dakota, in 1982. When asked about his handicap, Joe always says that he was born blind, and you can’t miss what you’ve never had. He achieved some fame when he got as far as the knock-out stage in the tv programme The Voice. Other than that he’s not widely known. In October 2021 Blind Joe released a song called I Will Not Comply…
Raúl Irabién is a Mexican artist and film maker. In March 2020, way ahead of the curve, he released a spoof of Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody. At the time of writing, this track has had five and a half million views on YouTube…
