Singing for a new life

I choose the song sung by Tracy Chapman entitled “Born to fight”. This protest song is in the album “Crossroads” realised in 1989 (nineteen eighty-nine) more precisely the 3rd (third) October 1989.

This album is a folk rock one and has been produced by Tracy Chapman herself with David Kershenbaum. This production is taking part in a context of racism, all kind of inequalities toward black people; like blaming black people for everything or to be injured when they are victims.

Tracy Chapman is an Afro American singer-songwriter born in 1964 (nineteen sixty-four) in Cleveland. Today, she is a 54 (fifty-four) and won prices like the Grammy Award for the best new artist. This woman is writing and singing many protests songs.

She denounces in her song “Born to Fight” inequalities and divided American society with Blacks on a hand and whites on the other.

We can associate “Born to Fight” with other songs from the same artist: “Across the line” or “Talkin’ Bout a Revolution”. (Indeed, we can see in those three songs the same fight against racism, inequalities between black and white people). “Born to Fight” can be compare with “Get up, stand up” by Bob Marley because these two songs deal with(= parle de pour un doc, une musique, une image) the same topics. Never the less, there are differences: Tracy Chapman speaks more precisely about a daily struggle and the fact that we have to always getting up while Mr. Marley talks about being already up, ready for a revolt and fighting for their rights. Musically speaking, blues was a renowned style.

My favourite’s lines are “And I was born to Fight. I ain’t been knocked down yet. I was born to fight I’m the surest bet”. I choose these lines because this lyrics show unwavering determination. I think this determination has become their strength to assert themselves in society, to claim the rights they deserve as much as the white people. Inequalities and racism were very present, but thanks to this permanent struggle for to call for more social justice, inequalities were decreased (= diminuée). The words also express the mental strength that is translated (=traduit) by a refusal to give up.

In my opinion, the song “Born to Fight” is a protest song which illustrates the power of music. In fact, this song has given hope and strength to a lot of (black) people. This music allows to spread the message, to continue to fight. Tracy Chapman is a very important artist for the black community; she protested and made it clear in her several songs.

She’s amazing! She helped so many people. We need more artists like her to reach a wide audience and send messages.

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