Folk Music and Politics: Rhythmic Resistance

This article was written in collaboration between me and my father, Jamil Aboulhosn. 

In the 1960s, folk music transformed itself from a quaint acoustic rural sound into a form of melodic resistance, cementing artists like Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Woody Gutherie, and Pete Seeger as faces of rhythmic protest. These artists’ work was a critical vehicle in the spread of anti-Vietnam War sentiments around the country in the 1960s and early 1970s, opening the door for popular music to take a decidedly more activist path. As our own country descends into bigotry and division, we are seeing the return of activism in art once again. In this article, I’d like to examine folk music’s interaction with politics, and its resurgence as, not only a popular style, but a mode of political protest. 

“Yes, and how many deaths will it take ’til he knows

That too many people have died?”

Dylan, Bob. Blowin’ in the Wind. 1967.

The anti-war and civil rights movements spurred a dissonant confluence that inspired artists for generations to come. Students, specifically, gravitated towards peaceful protest and music that spoke to a deeper truth and unabashedly criticized the establishment forces of the time. 

Today, I want to take a look at Bruce Springsteen’s latest anthem, “Streets of Minneapolis,” a song detailing and criticizing the brutality that we are seeing before our eyes in Minnesota. This song is actually a version of “Streets of Philadelphia,” written for and featured in the 1993 film, Philadelphia, starring Tom Hanks, an award winning portrayal of his struggle with AIDS at a time when popular music had been largely silent about the ravages of this deadly epidemic. I first heard of this song through my dad, who saw it on his Facebook page. The shaky hand held cell phone video depicted a pixelated and aged Bruce Springsteen on the stage of a smallish venue. It immediately reminded me of Bob Dylan’s intimate approach to his musicianship and his unapologetic attack on the inhumanity of those in power. One man with an acoustic guitar and a harmonica, no fancy stage lights, no electronic distortions, no dancers, no distractions. 

One man with a gravelly voice sets the scene with the opening lines:

“Through the winter’s ice and cold

Down Nicollet Avenue

A city aflame fought fire and ice”

Chills ran down my back as the words seared the scenes that I had just witnessed on my phone into my mind, I was hooked. He goes on to describe the bloody scenes that we have all been shocked by:

“Against smoke and rubber bullets

In the dawn’s early light

Citizens stood for justice

Their voices ringin’ through the night”

The folk music of the 1960’s called the common person to act against the forces of tyranny as does Springsteen today:

“Oh, our Minneapolis, I hear your voice

Singing through the bloody mist

We’ll take our stand for this land

And the stranger in our midst”

The difference today, however, is the amplifying presence of social media. Through social media, the expressive folk artist is not relying on record deals and corporate financing, allowing for a new age of unabashed truth telling through music. Springsteen has always been an avid advocate for civil and social rights, with his song “American Skin (41 Shots)” condemning racially charged police violence. Therefore, it is not surprising that he should be one of the first artists to raise his voice against perceived injustice, much like the great folk artists of the 1960’s did. 

Will we see the floodgates of protest music open again as they once did?  Will 2026 be the new 1966? My father and I certainly hope so.

• music
• politics