By: Mason Mattu, Section Editor
From Mark Carney’s austerity measures, to a skyrocketing cost of living, and the potential for an East-West pipeline to go through stolen Indigenous land, we’ve got a lot to be angry about in this country. The number one perpetrator? The Man. The Man could be capital, the rich, those who profit off endless wars, colonial governments, or fascists like Donald Trump.
Traditionally, protest songs have been upbeat. But these aren’t average protest songs. I present you with some songs that can fuel your rage against The Man.
“I Pity the Country” by Willie Dunn
This track by the late Indigenous singer Willie Dunn addresses the struggle of being an Indigenous person in Canada. “Police they arrest me / Materialists detest me / Pollution it chokes me / Movies de-joke me.” This song is so sad — it’s as if the speaker has given up all hope of change as the guitar strums. That the impacts of colonialism are inevitable, cyclical, and permanent.
However, this changes towards the end when he tells us that “revolution is brewing,” bringing in a sense of hope and agency to the act of protest. Listen to this song and let’s get to work.
“Jack’s Dream” by James Gordon
Jack Layton inspired Canadians with his vision for Canada and was responsible for the New Democratic Party securing the status of official opposition after the 2011 federal election for the first time in Canadian history. He passed away that same year.
Politics aside, this song lays out Layton’s vision for a more humanistic Canada. One in which no person goes starving, and where we mobilize to create economic change. His masterful delivery combined with phrases that Layton used himself reminds us that his dream is not dead and it is our responsibility to keep it alive.
Gordon reminds us of Layton’s last line in his posthumous letter to Canadians — “Love is better than anger / Hope is better than fear.”
“There’s a Tumour in the White House” by Dan Mangan
Vancouver-based singer-songwriter Dan Mangan wrote this during Trump’s first administration, yet the message still rings true today. “There’s a tumour in the White House / There’s a blowhard at the gate / Choke-holders in the squad car / Bootlickers on parade,” he sings with a lingering sense of pain in his voice.
Mangan encourages Americans to take action by talking to one another, including talking to their Trump-supporting family to change their minds. What I think we can learn from this song is that deep within everyone lingers a sense of morality. As he says, “maybe it’s not too late,” if we reinvest in speaking out and up as a form of protest.
“Stephen Harper Hates Me” by Cathy Cook
Cathy Cook, an Indigenous woman, recorded this song on the brink of the 2015 federal election. She fused blues and Indigenous drumming while asking former prime minister Stephen Harper why he hates her. The “her” in question represents different marginalized Canadians — including a fired climate change researcher, a veteran on the brink of suicide due to chronic underfunding for Veterans Affairs Canada, and a seasonal worker.
This song was part of the Stop Harper movement that saw Trudeau — who we thought was a once in a lifetime leader (we were wrong) — elected. Replace Harper with Carney, and you’ve got a good summary of what’s going on in Canada right now.
