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songs about prejudice


lonelyday

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"Oxford Town", Bob Dylan, the first to come to my mind. There must be plenty of them...

Oxford Town, Oxford Town

Ev'rybody's got their heads bowed down

The sun don't shine above the ground

Ain't a-goin' down to Oxford Town

He went down to Oxford Town

Guns and clubs followed him down

All because his face was brown

Better get away from Oxford Town

Oxford Town around the bend

He come in to the door, he couldn't get in

All because of the color of his skin

What do you think about that, my frien'?

Me and my gal, my gal's son

We got met with a tear gas bomb

I don't even know why we come

Goin' back where we come from

Oxford Town in the afternoon

Ev'rybody singin' a sorrowful tune

Two men died 'neath the Mississippi moon

Somebody better investigate soon

Oxford Town, Oxford Town

Ev'rybody's got their heads bowed down

The sun don't shine above the ground

Ain't a-goin' down to Oxford Town

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i've never been quite sure as to whether this song is for or against prejudice, it usees some strong language

"change the world"-10 years after

Everywhere is

freaks & haries

dykes & fairies

tell me where is

sanity? ....

Tax the rich

feed the poor

till there are no

rich no more

I'd love to change the world

but I don't know what to do

So I'll leave it up to you

Population

keeps on breeding

nation bleeding

Stiil no feeding

Now, come with me

Life is funny

skies are sunny

bees make honey

who needs money?

No not for me.

I'd love to change the world

but I don't know what to do

So I'll leave it up to you

?! ...

World Pollution

There's no solution

institution

electrocution

Just black & white

rich or poor

them and us

we'll stop the war

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This is one of my favorite reggae songs. They perform this on the video gem "Urgh - A Music War". I've been a fan of Steel Pulse for a long long time. I apologize if anyone is offended by the inclusion of the racial epithets included herein, they aren't mine. That's the way the song is written.

Ku Klux Klan

Steel Pulse

Walking along just kicking stones

M-Minding my own business

I come, face to face, with my foe

Disguised in violence, from head to toe.

I holla and I bawl (Ku Klux Klan)

Dem naw let me go now

To let me go was not dem intention

Dem seh, one ******* the less

The better for the show

Stand strong black skin and, take your blow

It's the Ku, the Ku Klux Klan

Here to stamp out blackman yeh

The Ku, the Ku Klux Klan heh!

To be taught a lesson not to walk alone

I was waiting for the Good, Samaritan

But waiting was hopeless

It was all in vain

The Ku Klux Klan - back again!

I holla and I bawl (Ku Klux Klan)

Dem naw let me go now

Dem seh, one ******* the less

The better the show

Stand strong blackskin and, take your blow

The Ku, Ku Klux Klan

Rape, lynch, kill and maim

Things can't remain the same yeh no!

Blackman do unto the Klan

As they would do to you

In this case, hate thy neighbour

Those cowards only kill who they fear

That's why they hide behind

The hoods and cloaks they wear

I holla and I bawl, Ku Klux Klan

Dem naw let me go no, Ku Klux Klan

Oh no, oh no...

Here to stamp out black man yeh

Rape, lynch, kill and maim

Things can't remain the same yeh

No, no, no, no.....

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You never mentioned that the song had to be negative in nature, so I'll include this one as well. At least there is hope.

The Youngbloods.

Get Together

Love is but the song we sing,

And fear's the way we die

You can make the mountains ring

Or make the angels cry

Know the dove is on the wing

And you need not know why

C'mon people now,

Smile on your brother

Ev'rybody get together

Try and love one another right now

Some will come and some will go

We shall surely pass

When the one that left us here

Returns for us at last

We are but a moments sunlight

Fading in the grass

C'mon people now,

Smile on your brother

Ev'rybody get together

Try and love one another right now

If you hear the song I sing,

You must understand

You hold the key to love and fear

All in your trembling hand

Just one key unlocks them both

It's there at your command

C'mon people now,

Smile on your brother

Ev'rybody get together

Try and love one another right now

Right now

Right now!

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Creed's "One" is about 'reverse racism' (I personally don't think there is such a thing. Racism is racism).

What's interesting about the song is that both side's feelings are represented. I am assuming this is about white and African American, although it never really says.

(one side's feelings)

Affermative may be justified

Take from one give to another

The goal is to be unified

Take my hand be my brother

The payment silenced the masses

Sanctified by oppression

Unity took a backseat

Sliding further in regression

One (oh one)

The only way is one

(the other side's feelings)

I feel angry I feel helpless

Want to change the world

I feel violent I feel alone

Don't try to change my mind

(and back again)

Society blind by color

Why hold down one to raise another

Discrimination now on both sides

Seeds of hate blossom further

The world is heading for mutiny

When all we want it unity

We may rise and fall, but in the end

We meet our faith together

One (oh one)

The only way is one

I feel angry I feel helpless

Want to change the world

I feel violent I feel alone

Don't try to change my mind

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Lyrics for: Southern Man

Southern man

better keep your head

Don't forget

what your good book said

Southern change

gonna come at last

Now your crosses

are burning fast

Southern man

I saw cotton

and I saw black

Tall white mansions

and little shacks.

Southern man

when will you

pay them back?

I heard screamin'

and bullwhips cracking

How long? How long?

Southern man

better keep your head

Don't forget

what your good book said

Southern change

gonna come at last

Now your crosses

are burning fast

Southern man

Lily Belle,

your hair is golden brown

I've seen your black man

comin' round

Swear by God

I'm gonna cut him down!

I heard screamin'

and bullwhips cracking

How long? How long?

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"Love child" The Supremes

Tenement slum

Ooh, ooh, ooh....aaaahhh

You think that I don't feel love

What I feel for you is real love

In other's eyes I see reflected

A hurt, scorned, rejected

Love child

Never meant to be

Love Child

Born in poverty

Love Child

Never meant to be

Love Child

Take a look at me

Started my life

In a old, cold, run-down tenement slum (tenement slum)

My father left he never even married mama

I shared the guilt my mama knew

So afraid that others knew I had no name

This love we're contemplatin'

Is worth the pain of waitin'

We'll only end up hatin'

The child we may be creatin'

Love Child

Never meant to be

Love Child

(Scorned by) Society

Love Child

Always second best

Love Child

(Different from) Different from the rest

(Hold on hold on just a little bit longer) Mmmmm baby

(Hold on hold on just a little bit longer) Mmmmm baby

I started school

In a worn, torn dress that somebody threw out

(Somebody threw out)

I knew the way it felt to always live in doubt

To be without the simple things

So afraid my friends would see the guilt in me

Don't think that I don't need ya

Don't think I don't want to please ya

But no child of mine will be bearing

The name of shame I've been wearing

Love Child

Love Child

Never quite as good

Afraid, ashamed

Misunderstood

But I'll always love you

Always love you

I'll always love you

Always love you

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The social climate of the mid 60's thru the early '70s produced a few songs that touched on prejudice.

Curtis Mayfield -

first, with the Impressions

Keep on Pushing ('64)

and

People Get Ready ('65)

then

His Brilliant early '70s albums (up thru '72s Superfly ) all touched on society ills.

+

Gil Scott-Heron's

the Revolution Will Not be Televised

:afro: and

Whitey on the Moon

Stevie Wonder -

Living for the City ('73) and Village Ghetto Land ('76)

and

Marvin Gaye's - What's Going On

musical interlude

the Temptations - I Could Never Love Another (After Loving You)

Girl, I can't believe my ears.

Are you really telling my goodbye?

See, you've taken away my reason for livin'

And you won't even tell me why.

Before you walk out the door

There's something I want you to know.

That I could never, ever love another, after loving you.

Ooo-hoo

No other love will I share 'cause none could compare

After loving you.

It was only yesterday.

Your words are still fresh in my mind.

Baby, you said,

Long as rivers flow

Each day you'd love me more.

Now you wanna leave me behind.

Listen baby, I don't know what it's gonna take to make you stay.

I just know I've got to find a way.

'Cause I could never, never, never ever love another, after loving you.

Ooo-hoo

No other love will I share 'cause none, none could compare

After loving you.

So baby, please stay beside me.

I need your sweet love to guide me.

Oh, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby, baby

Ooo, after loving you.

(I could never love another, after loving you)

Baby, baby, baby

It was only, only, only, only yesterday.

Your words are still fresh in my mind.

I remember you said,

Long as rivers flow.

Each day you'd love me more.

Now you wanna leave, leave me behind.

Listen baby, I don't know what it's gonna take to make you stay.

I just know I've got to find a way.

'Cause I could never...

Never, never, never, ever love another, after loving you.

Ooo-hoo

No other love will I share 'cause none, none could compare

After loving you.

Ooo, baby.

On my bended knees

I'm begging you to stay here with me.

Oh, oh, baby, baby, baby, baby

I could never, never, never, never love another, after loving you.

Ooo-hoo

No other love will I share 'cause none could compare

After loving you.

Baby, baby, baby, baby.

(Never love another, after loving you)

::

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RonJonSurfer.....I do not see nor have I ever thought Love Child to be a song about racism. Nowhere in the verses do you find any mention and it does not imply it. If anything, the song has to do with oppression.

A song that came to my mind immediately regarding racism is Bob Dylan's "Hurricane".

Also, in the Temptations "Ball of Confusion" there is a verse that says, "People moving out, people moving in, why?, because of the color of their skin".

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The first song that popped into my mind was "Strange Fruit" by Billie Holiday.

Southern trees bear a strange fruit,

Blood on the leaves and blood at the root,

Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze,

Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.

Pastoral scene of the gallant south,

The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth,

Scent of magnolias, sweet and fresh,

Then the sudden smell of burning flesh.

Here is fruit for the crows to pluck,

For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck,

For the sun to rot, for the trees to drop,

Here is a strange and bitter crop.

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RonJonSurfer.....I do not see nor have I ever thought Love Child to be a song about racism. Nowhere in the verses do you find any mention and it does not imply it. If anything, the song has to do with oppression.

A song that came to my mind immediately regarding racism is Bob Dylan's "Hurricane".

Also, in the Temptations "Ball of Confusion" there is a verse that says, "People moving out, people moving in, why?, because of the color of their skin".

I thought that being scorned by society for being born out of wedlock and being poor....Judging somebody by their clothes...was prejudice... oppression too I guess.

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Quote:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

RonJonSurfer.....I do not see nor have I ever thought Love Child to be a song about racism. Nowhere in the verses do you find any mention and it does not imply it. If anything, the song has to do with oppression.

A song that came to my mind immediately regarding racism is Bob Dylan's "Hurricane".

Also, in the Temptations "Ball of Confusion" there is a verse that says, "People moving out, people moving in, why?, because of the color of their skin".

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I thought that being scorned by society for being born out of wedlock and being poor....Judging somebody by their clothes...was prejudice... oppression too I guess.

RonJon, since you put it that way I guess you are right. I got caught up in the racism side of prejudice but yes, oppression is another type of prejudice. Kudos to you for the insight! :bow:

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Not a song about prejudice as such, but a song around it you could say, so very sad yet touching:

Blessed Union of Souls - I believe

Walk blindly to the light and reach out for his hand

Don?t ask any questions and don?t try to understand

Open up your mind and then open up your heart

And you will see that you and me aren?t very far apart

?cause I believe that love is the answer

I believe that love will find the way

Violence is spread worldwide and there are families on the street

And we sell drugs to children now oh why can?t we just see

That all we do is eliminate our future with the things we do today

Money is our incentive now so that makes it okay

But I believe that love is the answer

I believe that love will find the way

I believe that love is the answer

I believe that love will find the way

I?ve been seeing Lisa now for a little over a year

She said she?s never been so happy but lisa lives in fear

That one day daddy?s gonna find out she?s in love

With a n*gger from the streets

Oh how he would lose it then but she?s still here with me

?cause she believes that love will see it through

And one day he?ll understand

And he?ll see me as a person not just a black man

?cause I believe that love is the answer

I believe that love will find the way

I believe I believe I believe I believe that love is the answer

I believe that love will find the way

Love will find the way

Love will find the way

Love will find the way

Please love find the way

Please love find the way

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I need help finding songs describing any type of prejudice.

Beds are Burning

performed by Midnight Oil

Black or White

performed by Michael Jackson

Buffalo Soldier

performed by Bob Marley

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee

performed by the Indigo Girls

Cortez the Killer

performed by Neil Young

Indian Reservation

performed by Paul Revere and the Raiders

Why Can't We Be Friends

performed by War (also remade by Smash Mouth)

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marc i was gonna post strange fruit, what a powerful song.

also there are some songs by the manic street preachers with the theme of predjudice of different kinds. some of them have quite strong and explicit lyrics though so be warned!!:

Born A Girl

Do I look good for you tonight

Will you accuse me as I hide

Behind these layers of disguise

In the mirrors of my own happiness

I?ve loved the freedom of being inside

Need a new start and a different time

Something grows in the space between me

And it?s twisting and changing this fragile body

And I wish I had been born a girl instead of what I am

Yes I wish I had been born a girl and not this mess of a man

And not this mess of a man

And not this mess of a man

The censorship of my skin

Is screaming inside and from within

There?s no room in this world for a girl like me

And place around there where I fit in

And I wish I had been born a girl instead of what I am

Yes I wish I had been born a girl and not this mess of a man

And not this mess of a man

And not this mess of a man

And not this mess of a man

And not this mess of a man

IFWHITEAMERICATOLDTHETRUTHFORONEDAYITSWORLDWOULDFALLAPART

Images of perfection, suntan and napalm

Grenada - haiti - poland - nicaragua

Who shall we choose for out morality

I?m thinking right now of hollywood tragedy

Big mac: smack: phoenix r: please smile y?all

Cuba, mexico can?t cauterize our discipline

Your idols speak so much of the abyss

Yet your morals only run as deep as the surface

Cool - groovey - morning - fine

Tipper gore was a friend of mine

I love a free country

The stars and stripes and an apple for mommy

Conservatives say there ain?t no black in the Union Jack

Democrats say there ain?t enough white in the Stars and Stripes

Compton - Harlem - a pimp [bleep] a priest

The white man has just found a new moral saviour

Vital stats - how white was their skin

Unimportant - just another inner-city drive-by thing

Morning - fine - serve your first coffee of the day

Real privilege, it will take your problems all away

Number one - the best - no excuse from me

I am here to serve the moral majority

Cool - groovey - morning - fine

Tipper gore was a friend of mine

I love a free country

The stars and stripes and an apple for mommy

Zapruder the first to masturbate

The world?s first taste of crucified grace

And we say there?s not enough black in the Union Jack

And we say there?s too much white in the Stars and Stripes

[bleep] the Brady Bill

[bleep] the Brady Bill

If God made man they say

Sam Colt made him equal.

Mausoleum

Wherever you go I will be carcass

whatever you see will be rotting flesh

humanity recovered glittering etiquette

answers her crimes with Mausoleum rent

Regained your self-control

and regained your self-esteem

and blind your success inspires

and analyse, despise and scrutinise

never knowing what you hoped for

and safe and warm but life is so silent

for the victims who have no speech

in their shapeless guilty remorse

obliterates your meaning

obliterates your meaning

obliterates your meaning

your meaning, your meaning

no birds - no birds

the sky is swollen black

no birds - no birds

holy mass of dead insect

come and walk down memory lane

no one sees a thing but they can pretend

life eternal scorched grass and trees

for your love nature has haemorrhaged

regained your self-control

and regained your self-esteem

and blind your success inspires

and analyse, despise and scrutinise

never knowing what you hoped for

and safe and warm but life is so silent

for the victims who have no speech

in their shapeless guilty remorse

obliterates your meaning

obliterates your meaning

obliterates your meaning

your meaning, your meaning

no birds - no birds

the sky is swollen black

no birds - no birds

holy mass of dead insect

and life can be as important as death

but so mediocre when there's no air, no light and no hope

prejudice burns brighter when it's all we have to burn

the world lances youth's lamb-like winter, winter.

Archives Of Pain

If hospitals cure

then prisons must bring their pain

do not be ashamed to slaughter

the centre of humanity is cruelty

there is never redemption

any fool can regret yesterday

nail it to the House of Lords

You will be buried in the same box as a killer, as a killer, as a killer

a drained white body hanging from the gallows

is more righteous that Hindley's crotchet lectures

pain not penance, forget martyrs, remember victims

the weak die young and right now we crouch to make them strong

kill Yeltsin, who's saying? Zhirinovsky, Le Pen, Hindley and Brady, Ireland, Allit, Sutcliffe, Dahmer, Nielson, Yoshinori Ueda, Blanche and Pickles, Amin, Milosovic

Give them respect they deserve

give them the respect they deserve

execution needed

a bloody vessel for your peace

if man makes death then death makes man

tear the torso with horses and chains

killers view themselves like they view the world, they pick at the holes

not punish less, rise the pain

sterilise rapists, all I preach is extinction

kill Yeltsin, who's saying? Zhirinovsky, Le Pen, Hindley and Brady, Ireland, Allit, Sutcliffe, Dahmer, Nielson, Yoshinori Ueda, Blanche and Pickles, Amin, Milosovic

give them respect they deserve

give them the respect they deserve

give them the respect they deserve

give them the respect they deserve.

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