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Larry Bucy

Emily Litle

ENG 120-002

13 March 2022

Me Thinks Thou Doth Protest Too Much

I have been told many times, that every word that comes out of my mouth sounds like it

is a lyric from a song. My closest friend even went so far as to tell me that she believes that I

am somehow living each day and night according to 1960s or 70s protest songs. I believe that

she was only partially correct. For What It’s Worth, I happen to disagree with the timeframe of

her theory. I relate to almost every protest song ever written. I can only respond to that

accusation by attempting to clarify to her and everyone else, What’s Goin’ On inside this heart

and mind of mine. Imagine, how difficult it can be for someone like me, who struggles to Fight

The Power that resides inside of me that urges me to speak every sentence with a quote from,

or reference to, words that were put to music to sway others to Get Up Stand Up and Give

Peace A Chance. I have always been the person who tends to go against the grain and seems to

stick up for the underdog. I detest War, and as someone who considers himself a Fortunate

Son, who was Born In The USA, I have always felt like This Land Is Your Land as much as it is my

own. My feelings stretch wider than the borders or lines on a map. I consider Everyday People,

on this planet, to be important because we are all we got, and We Are The World.

I’ve been trying to have a little fun with this topic and explain my belief in the power of

words accompanied by a melody. A message can be conveyed through music and when a

protest song catches on and is sung by a group who are asking questions like, What Are We
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Fighting For?, or shouting an angry statement that can express a certain attitude toward

injustice, like Fuck The Police, it’s hard to ignore. It isn’t just a thought out there Blowin’ In The

Wind, it is an expression of feeling and emotion. Folks who band together for a common cause,

are much more powerful than one voice and can spark a Revolution. Robert Zimmerman is a

man from Duluth, Minnesota, and is one of my favorite singer-songwriters. He has been an

iconic figure in popular culture for my entire life. He is better known by his pseudonym Bob

Dylan, and he has played a huge role in my life. I identify with most of the music he has

produced over time, and I have learned several of his songs on the guitar. Bob Dylan wrote a

song called Hurricane to bring attention to the boxer named Rubin “Hurricane” Carter. Carter

spent 19 years in prison for a murder that Dylan felt he had not committed. Dylan visited Rubin

Carter in prison and the next day raised over $100,000 for Carter’s defense with a charity

concert at Madison Square Garden. It took until 1985 until Carter was exonerated and released

for good. He spent his last 29 years living as a free man and I believe that Bob Dylan was the

catalyst that changed Rubin’s life with a simple protest song. He wanted us all to believe that

The Times They Are A-Changin’ and a man that he admired, Pete Seeger, promised us all that

We Shall Overcome. Maybe there is something to what my best friend thinks about my wanting

to communicate through protest songs and identify with the songs that parallel my life. As a

result of my rebellious, defiant nature, and the values I hold to be true, I find myself pitted

against authority, laws, rules, regulations, injustice, prejudice, racism, and hatred. Some may

call me an American Idiot and shake their head when I smile and tell them that I Fought The

Law And The Law Won, it won’t bother me a bit and I still show them some Respect. I doubt

that I will be able to sit or stand there and keep my mouth shut if someone tells me that protest
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songs are a waste of time. I will argue my case by stating that many protest songs can be sung,

with or without instrumentation, and they cover many different styles and categories of music.

The fact that they have been created to be heard in the form of Gospel, Rhythm and Blues,

Folk, Rock, Rap, Country, Pop, and even acapella, shows their diversity and the broad ranges

and genres. I feel that I have stood up for what I believe in the arena of protest songs, and

hope that someday everyone gets a chance to sing Take This Job And Shove It, even if it is only

at a Karaoke bar. I guess I will daydream about heading down the road, past Maggie’s Farm, to

grab some food at Alice’s Restaurant and maybe discuss my thoughts, with The Hang-Out

Gang, regarding Jimmy Buffett’s saga about The Peanut Butter Conspiracy, while I reinforce the

fact that I am just an Old Hippie. Peace.