On Easter Sunday 2014, The Daily Telegraph hosted a cryptic crossword puzzle featuring the clue, “Irritating proverb we’re told (4)”. This wordplay relied upon reversing “Baron” to yield BORE and then using initial or final letters in combination to form NORAB as part of its answer.
Halpern has written numerous music-inspired puzzle books. Additionally, he teaches wordplay courses and provided a TEDxTalk in 2013 on how puzzles bring people together.
Protest songs
Protest songs are a genre of folk music that depicts social or political movements through song. Their purpose is to energize a movement and rally its supporters together, so the genre itself is quite broad; musicians may explore various musical styles and emotions when writing protest songs; however, most protest songs tend toward liberalism and fall into two major categories: politically charged songs that criticize government action or injustice against marginalized groups.
Early American protest songs were heavily influenced by both the Revolutionary War and slavery. Their compositions often featured hymns with themes of freedom or escape, while slaves also wrote their own negro spirituals as forms of protest against its injustice.
In the 1960s, protest songs became increasingly prominent and widespread among working class individuals. Prominent artists like Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger played key roles in the Civil Rights movement by writing and recording protest songs that called attention to government-induced racism as well as labor union struggles; these artists would go on to influence future singer-songwriters such as Bob Dylan and Paul Simon among many others.
Though protest songs are typically not written to entertain, they can still be enjoyable listening. Their simple text and melody makes it easy to sing along – making these tunes ideal for group performances at rallies, marches or other community events.
Today, protest songs are increasingly used to support environmental and social causes. For instance, the country trio previously known as Dixie Chicks released this call-to-action at the peak of 2018’s March for Our Lives protests against gun violence and women’s rights.
Folk songs addressing ecological issues are another form of protest songs. Black Francis’ song titled “Monkeys” warns against global warming and an impending ozone depletion, while Malvina Reynolds’ “What Have They Done to the Rain?” and Peter La Farge’s “As Long as the Grass Shall Grow” by Malvina Reynolds and Peter La Farge also highlight these dangers.
Folk music
Folk music is a genre that originates in a specific region or culture and has been handed down from generation to generation, often performed a cappella or with simple instruments like guitars or banjos. The lyrics often speak about experiences shared among members of that community as well as reflect beliefs or values unique to that group.
Folk songs provide historians with invaluable information on past cultures, beliefs, and values. Unfortunately, however, defining folk music can be challenging as its existence is often undocumented and maintained through oral traditions rather than written records. Due to this practice by folk musicians who often improvised on tunes while performing them – often making slight modifications as they went along – which explains why music from different regions often sounds similar.
Folk songs are an enduring cultural tradition that have been passed down from generation to generation within a cultural community, typically unaccompanied and without professional musical accompaniment. Their music often travels by word-of-mouth transmission; hence there is no original version; only variations exist of its tune.
Though many may assume that today’s folk music was made famous by artists like Bob Dylan, Woody Guthrie and Joan Baez, it actually represents a revival of an older tradition. Composers like Gustav Mahler included folk songs into his compositions during the twentieth century while collectors like Ralph Vaughan Williams and Cecil Sharp traveled around collecting folk tunes.
Folk music can often be difficult to define; the easiest way is to think of it as music that belongs to the people and includes all musical traditions not associated with royal courts, churches or Western classical music. It has been applied to diverse traditions from all around the world such as pipe and tabor playing, signing choirs singing samba music or handbell ringing.
Folk music was traditionally performed as part of rituals and celebrations. On certain dates of the year, songs might commemorate historical events while others marked occasions like birthdays or weddings with songs that commemorated them. Some of these songs still continue to be performed today with adaptations reflecting contemporary events and themes.
Woody Guthrie
Woody Guthrie was a revered folk singer-songwriter renowned for using music to advocate for the poor and disenfranchised. Widely considered one of the founders of folk music, his song, “This Land Is Your Land,” remains popular today as an anti-war protest song. Although Guthrie experienced tragedy and hardship throughout his life, he never abandoned his dream for a better tomorrow despite experiencing hardship personally.
At nineteen, his family’s lives were upended by a devastating series of events: a farm accident in Okemah, Oklahoma left his father dead and the rest of the family destitute, leading to their destitution and ultimately leading to his mother’s passing shortly thereafter. Many of his early songs reflect this time in his life.
On his arrival to New York City in 1940, Guthrie quickly found himself welcomed by leftist groups and artists for his Steinbeckian folk wisdom, recording for Moses Asch’s influential Folkways Records label. However, Guthrie’s constant travelling, performing, and lack of regular employment took its toll on his family; combined with his growing passion for progressive “radical” politics led him down the path toward dissolving his first marriage.
In 1938, the Dust Bowl ravaged western United States. Amid severe drought and dust storms that altered ecology and agriculture in America’s prairie region, Woody Guthrie wrote songs about this issue as well as touring migrant worker camps singing for those living under extreme poverty conditions; writing of Californian’s contemptuous views towards them as migrants.
After moving to New York, Guthrie met fellow singer-songwriter Pete Seeger and formed the Almanac Singers together. These singers would become pivotal members of the folk revival in the 1950s, inspiring other groups like the Weavers and Bob Dylan to pursue careers as singer-songwriters themselves and help establish that folk music could be commercially viable genre. Furthermore, the Almanacs pioneered using folk protest styles into their music which later became an essential aspect of this genre.
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is one of our culture’s most significant and ground-breaking artists. Emerging on the scene in Greenwich Village’s folk music scene in 1961, he quickly established a cult following as a folk singer-songwriter. Over his long career he wrote more than 600 songs including some of history’s most beloved protest tunes such as “Blowin’ in the Wind” and “Like a Rolling Stone.” Additionally he created classics like “All Along the Watchtower,” Knockin on Heaven’s Door,” and “Make You Feel My Love”. In 2016 Dylan received the Nobel Prize in Literature award for pioneering new poetic expressions within American song tradition.
Work from Frank has been covered by many artists, ranging from Duke Ellington and Jimi Hendrix to Staple Singers and Rod Stewart, covering subjects ranging from social issues such as poverty to love and religion. Frank remains a powerful presence in pop culture today and tours extensively worldwide.
Dylan has received numerous honors and awards, such as the Presidential Medal of Freedom (2012) and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Recording Academy (2000). Beyond his musical career, he is known for writing books as well as advocating for human and civil rights – his advocacy has even inspired the creation of the Bob Dylan Center in Minneapolis.
In the 1970s, Dylan became a devout Christian and released albums inspired by biblical themes. These records proved popular with fans but less well received by critics; later works from Dylan saw a return to acoustic folk sound which were more highly regarded by critics.
Recently released as a box set are Bob Dylan’s 1974 live recordings featuring The Band. Each surviving soundboard recording from that tour has been included and this release should form an essential part of any Dylan fan’s collection.
A new distillery has partnered with Dylan to craft an exclusive selection of whiskeys. Their offerings include Tennessee Straight Bourbon Whiskey, Double Barrel Whiskey and Straight Rye Whiskey; each made in small batches using Vosges oak barrels from France for ageing; their bottles feature his iconic welded iron gates from his metalworking studio for display; these products can be purchased both online and at select retailers.