Protest Song: Never Quench the Flame

Posted by: Thexalon 9 hours, 41 minutes ago

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Normally around this time of year, I talk about the celebration of the holiday of Imbolg, which honors hearth and home as especially embodied by the Irish goddess Brighid. In my group's Imbolg ritual, we take that power of the hearth-fire that Brighid gives us to keep warm, develop the tools we need, and keep our inspiration and hope for a better future, and ritually take it into ourselves so it can become part of our own power. Which seemed to match the themes we needed this year: Not only is it extremely cold right now, but there are people who need the warmth of the good fire more than ever, those who are braving the cold and facing down bullies armed with the power of the state. And that all meant we need a protest song.

To me, attempting a protest song brings with it a few rules:

1. It's not just for one person or a band to sing to an audience. Protests that work involve lots of people, all working together. This isn't about impressing an audience with your artistry, this is about getting everyone to add to the sound until there are so many it can't be ignored.
2. It should be simple enough and repetitive enough that everyone can manage the chorus at least after hearing it a bit.
3. Instruments are at best optional. First off, it's too cold outside to really play them, but also this is about people, not machines, even the famous ones that killed fascists or surrounded hate and forced it surrender.

Unlike most of the songs on this blog, this is fully gifted to the public domain, free of any copyright restrictions whatsoever. If you are reading this, you are free to sing it, remix it, record your own version of it, do whatever you are inspired to do with it. I don't even care if I'm credited for it: I would be absolutely delighted if this song spread far and wide to the point where what I wrote got written down somewhere as "Traditional" or "Anonymous".

Sheet Music

Never Quench the Flame

Recording

Never Quench the Flame

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