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The Tradition of the Protest Song

Oscar Brand performs at Great Neck, NY, in 2001.
Oscar Brand performs at Great Neck, NY, in 2001.

The recent election in Ukraine capped two months of confrontation between the country's entrenched political establishment and a peaceful popular insurgency. With temperatures slipping as Ukraine's fall gave way to winter, the demonstrators in Kiev's Independence Square kept warm in part by singing a song. Written by singer Roman Kalin and guitarist Roman Kostyuk only hours after the protest began, the instant hip-hop classic "Razom Nas Bahato" has joined the ranks of historical songs of revolution.

Legendary folk singer, songwriter, musicologist and radio host Oscar Brand talks with NPR's Sheilah Kast about the tradition of protest music.

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.