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Songs of Social significance

The Radical Songbook is guaranteed to entertain and inform you with great songs of social significance by outstanding singer-songwriters.

Episodes

May 2022

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The Radical Songbook

May 2022 Playlist

  1. Sing Me a Song with Social Significance/ Rebel Voices/ www.rebelvoices.com

  2. The Wobbly Doxology/ General Strike

  3. Joe Hill/ Earl Robinson/ https://folkways.si.edu/earl-robinson/a-walk-in-the-sun-and-other-songs-and-ballads/american-folk-struggle-protest/music/album/smithsonian

  4. Where the Fraser River Flows/ Michael and Nell/ https://michaelandnell.com/

  5. What We Want/ Michael and Nell/ https://michaelandnell.com/

  6. The Rebel Girl/ Michael and Nell/ https://michaelandnell.com/

  7. The Preacher and the Slave/ Michael and Nell/ https://michaelandnell.com/

  8. The Tramp/ Bucky Halker/ http://www.buckyhalker.com/

  9. Ta Ra Ra Boom De Ya/ Bucky Halker/ http://www.buckyhalker.com/

  10. It’s a Long Way Down to the Soupline/ Bucky Halker/ http://www.buckyhalker.com/

  11. There is Power in aa Union/ Bucky Halker/ http://www.buckyhalker.com/

  12. Joe Hill’s Last Will/ Michael and Nell/ https://michaelandnell.com/

  13. Commonwealth of Toil/ Rebel Voices/ http://www.rebelvoices.com/

The Original Radical Songbook

Woody Guthrie gets covered...

By Odetta, the Klezmatics, the Byrds, Trini Lopez, Ani DiFranco, Swamp Dogg, Las Cafeteras, the Dropkick Murphys, Sarah Lee Guthrie, & more.

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https://www.mixcloud.com/MichaelFunke/the-original-radical-songbook_may-2022_woody-gets-covered/

Celebrate AAPI Heritage Month with Stephanie Chou

 

I learned about Stephanie Chou earlier this year when her song “Millennial Woman” made her a finalist in the 2021 Songs for Social Change contest organized by RAWA, the Renaissance Artists and Writers Association.

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Stephanie Chou’s music combines classical and Chinese influences with Western jazz and pop to create an entirely original, unique musical world. She is a composer, saxophonist, and singer whose music is all about connecting with the audience and sharing her experience as a Chinese-American growing up in NYC through her music.

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“Millennial Woman" is a call to unify women and men around gender-blind equality of opportunity. It celebrates the emergence of women in positions of visibility and influence, despite the visible and invisible deterrents to be overcome. 

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Her composition “Comfort Girl” is a musical exploration in song and story of the lives of Chinese “comfort women”—a cruel euphemism for the women who were abducted into sexual slavery by the Japanese army during WWII.

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Here’s five minutes from the 2019 world premiere of Comfort Girl: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzvl8DWie68&t=29s

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And here’s “Stand By Me” from the 42nd AAPI Heritage Festival in 2021:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5dP6-NOgBU&t=28s

 

Go to http://www.stephaniechoumusic.com/ to learn more and to purchase her music.

"I'm a Friend of the Fetus," Rebel Voices satirical and serious take on the rightwing extremists who want to control women's bodies. Go to https://www.rebelvoices.com/ to find more songs by this great duo.