In the early 1960s, folk singers like Woodie Guthrie wrote popular songs about the social issues facing America, and today, there seems to be a revival of these social message songs, sometimes in the form of video parodies. They are a response to the many problems we face today — from drug overdoses, anxiety, and depression to homelessness, everyday violence, misinformation and mistrust, and war.
In that spirit, after writing a series of books about social issues and crime, I began writing some songs about the many social problems we are facing and what we might do about them. In one of these songs, inspired by The New American Middle Ages published by Waterside Productions, I wrote “Are We Back to the Middle Ages?’’
The book is based on the premise that today’s growing split between rich and poor is like the divide in the Middle Ages between royalty, nobles, and rich merchants versus the peasants and artisans. The book concludes with some recommendations on what to do about the problem.
In a similar vein, the song suggests life today is comparable to the Middle Ages since both are a time of a great economic divide. Also, the Black Death plague of the 1300s has parallels to the Covid pandemic and Mpox today. But as the song concludes, after the Middle Ages came the Renaissance, and we can likewise create a new better future if we learn from what happened back then.
As the song’s chorus goes:
“Are we back to the Middle Ages,
A time of a great economic divide?
The rich were nobles, the poor were peasants
Wars and oppression made it hard to survive”
Other songs in this social commentary series are “I Had a Dream,” which harks back to Martin Luther King’s hope for the future. In this case, the dream is that the earth will be peaceful again, wars will be over, and the poor will have money, so they don’t need to rob stores. Also, in the dream, the rich will share their wealth and celebs will help the homeless and broke, while politicians will help many other people and tell no lies. Upon waking the dream is gone, but maybe one day the wish for a better future will happen.
As the chorus goes.
“I had a dream that the earth was okay,
The ills of the planet were washed away.
And now the world was filled with light,
Cities were peaceful, stars lit up the night.
Yes, I had a dream. Yes, I had a dream.”
The other popular songs of social commentary are
“I’m a Country Man in a Digital Age”
and
“We’ll Be Okay”
For me, writing these songs of social commentary and hope for better times is an outgrowth of writing a series of books on social issues and criminal justice topics. Most recently I have been writing books about scams and about prison life, published by American Leadership Books, which specializes in criminal justice and social problems.
Becoming aware of different scams and avoiding becoming a victim is especially important today, because the digital revolution has provided even more opportunities for scammers to create innovative scams and get away with them. I wrote about the latest scams in a recent book Scams in the Digital Age, which has led to a documentary being produced next year.
Several other books on scams published by American Leadership Books and turned into documentaries include The Big Con, turned into “Conned: A True Story” and I Was Scammed, turned into “Con Artists Unveiled” with both films distributed by Gravitas Ventures.
Both the books and films are on Amazon Prime.
The books on prison life, also on Amazon, include Women in Prison: Getting Locked Up, Being a Mother or in a Minority Group, And Getting Out and Women in Prison: How Women Spend Their Time. They’re follow-up books to Women with Partners in Prison, and these books have led to a documentary about women who are in prison or have partners there. It was filmed in May in LA and Contra Costa County in California and will be launched at the American Film Market in November in Las Vegas.
For more information about these songs, books, and films and to schedule interviews, email or call:
Karen Andrews
Executive Assistant
Changemakers Publishing and Writing
San Ramon, CA 94583
(925) 804–6333
