Focus
The tradition of protest songs in the United States dates back to the 18th century, the colonial period, the American Revolutionary War and its aftermath. In the 19th century topical subjects for protest in song included abolition, slavery, poverty, and the Civil War. In the 20th century civil liberties, civil rights, women’s rights, economic injustice, politics and war were among the popular subjects for protest in song. At the beginning of the 21st century, President George W. Bush faced the majority of the criticism. Since Donald Trump announced his candidacy for President, artists from every background and genre have released songs and videos tackling the emotional atmosphere of the 2016 election. to date back to remonter à / century siècle / aftermath conséquences, répercussions / topical d’actualité / slavery esclavage / among(st) parmi, entre / civil rights droits civiques / to be among(st) faire partie de / to face être confronté/faire face à / background origines, milieu socio-culturel, horizon (fig.) / to release sortir / to tackle traiter de, aborder / atmosphere ambiance, état d’esprit. FAMOUS US PROTEST SONGS famous célèbre, (bien) connu.
Strange Fruit (1939)
Earlier songs had hinted at the horrors of the lynching of Blacks in America’s Southern states. Abel Meeropol’s song, immortalised by Billie Holiday, stated them out loud. to hint at faire allusion à / lynching lynchage / to state ici, dénoncer / out loud haut et fort, explicitement.
We Shall Overcome (1948)
This song became the unofficial anthem of the Civil Rights movement in the US in the 1950s and 1960s. Joan Baez was its most famous interpreter. to overcome, overcame, overcome surmonter, vaincre / anthem hymne, chanson phare.
This Land is Your Land (1949)
Woody Guthrie’s great song praises the natural bounty of America, and contrasts it with the keep out signs, and the queues at soupkitchens. to praise faire l’éloge de / bounty générosité, abondance / keep out défense d’entrer / sign panneau, pancarte, écriteau / queue file (d’attente) / soup-kitchen soupe populaire.
For What It’s Worth (1966)
The song is inextricably linked to the Vietnam War era, but Steven Stills actually wrote it in 1966 to support Sunset Strip hippies fighting cops over a curfew. to be worth valoir / to link lier / era époque, période / actually en réalité, réellement / to support soutenir, défendre / Sunset Strip section du Sunset Boulevard qui traverse le quartier de West Hollywood à Los Angeles en Californie / cop flic / over ici, au sujet/en raison de / curfew couvre-feu.
Hurricane (1975)
Bob Dylan was a decade past his protest song phase when he became aware of Rubin «Hurricane» Carter, a professional boxer in jail for a murder he claimed he didn’t commit. hurricane ouragan, cyclone / decade décennie / past ici, après / to become, became, become aware of prendre connaissance de / jail prison / to claim affirmer, déclarer.
Born in the USA (1984)
Bruce Springsteen pays tribute to the hardship of the soldier serving in the Vietnam War, and his plight on his return, with “nothing left to tie him into society anymore.“to pay, paid, paid tribute to rendre hommage à / hardship difficultés, épreuves / plight situation critique, difficultés / nothing left plus rien / to tie lier, connecter; ici, rattacher, raccrocher.
Fight the Power (1989)
All hip-hop is protest, but this excoriating howl of anger from Public Enemy stands out from the crowd. It unnerved many at the time because it explicity rejected racial integration. It’s still unnerving now. to excoriate condamner / howl hurlement / anger colère, rage / to stand, stood, stood out from the crowd sortir du lot / to unnerve déconcerter, dérouter, troubler / time ici, époque.
American Idiot (2004)
This Green Day song contends that mass media has orchestrated paranoia and idiocy among the public.The singer wrote the song to declare his opinion on the George W. Bush administration. to contend affirmer, soutenir.
Tiny Hands (2017)
Fiona Apple’s chant goes like this: “We don’t want your tiny hands / anywhere near our underpants,” and it quotes Donald Trump. tiny minuscule, (tout) petit / chant cri, slogan, revendication scandée (lors d’une manifestation) / [it] goes like this [il/elle] est le/la suivant(e), voici / underpants sousvêtements (slip, petite culotte) / to quote citer; ici, faire référence à.
1. engineer ingénieur / computer scientist informaticien (computer science informatique). 2. to chaperon accompagner tout en surveillant (habituellement une jeune femme) / store magasin / master maître / database base de données / crusade croisade, initiative / to be about ici, consister en/à / to spark déclencher, susciter. 3. severely ici, particulièrement / ahead ici, à l'avenir / area région, secteur / business entreprise / to be weary of être las de / to recruit recruter / away from en dehors de / to lure attirer, séduire / enough suffisamment / skilled compétent, qualifié / in short en résumé. 4. trend tendance / according to selon, d'après / information technology = IT informatique / to carry through poursuivre / to make, made, made up constituer, représenter / Advanced Placement programme aux États-Unis et au Canada donnant accès à des cours et examens de niveau universitaire à des lycéens / test-taker candidat (examen) / to earn obtenir, posséder, détenir / undergraduate de premier cycle (universitaire) / degree diplôme / activist militant / robust important / to signal indiquer, laisser présager / turning of the tide revirement de situation.
5. volunteer bénévole / to sell, sold, sold out se vendre en totalité, être complet / into ici, jusqu'à une date indéfinie au cours de / spring printemps / founder fondateur / to expect s’attendre à, prévoir de / to accumulate comptabiliser / to wonder se demander / to get, got, got ici, devenir / across the board à tous les niveaux, dans tous les domaines; ici, pour tous les programmes. 6. chapter branche, antenne / daughter fille / to get, got, got a start débuter / tech = technology. 7. career path plan de carrière / to pursue poursuivre, aspirer à / to relish apprécier / purposefully intentionnellement, délibérément / to stumble into se retrouver par hasard dans / way manière, façon / to scramble to peiner à / just as au moment où / chance opportunité / to teach, taught, taught apprendre à / software (inv.) logiciel(s). 8. set série, ensemble, jeu / school ici, université. 9. to look across at jeter un regard en direction de / to grab on and run with saisir et évoluer rapidement dans / to translate (se) traduire/transposer / anime dessins animés et films d'animation japonais / track morceau, chanson. 10. bishop évêque / high school (équivalent du) lycée / own propre / health care santé / recognition reconnaissance /
1. middle-aged âgé d'une cinquantaine d'années / to be found guilty of être reconnu coupable de / to sentence condamner / jail prison / conservationist défenseur de l’environnement / kingpin ici, baron (fig.) /
to receive one's comeuppance n'avoir que ce que l'on mérite / to deal, dealt, dealt a blow to porter un coup à / scourge fléau, source de destruction / to threaten menacer. 2. yet cependant / wildlife (de protection de la) faune (et flore) / smuggling trafic, contrebande / merely simplement / as well as ainsi que / horn corne. 3. to run, ran, run ici, organiser / significant important /