The Sound of Marching, Charging Feet: Music, Agitation and Civil Rights

1968 was a time when popular music and mass protest made a combined impact. The Rolling Stones released ‘Street Fighting Man’ as a homage to the Paris riots and the anti-Vietnam protests in London. The Beatles recorded conflicting, ambiguous versions of their song ‘Revolution’. Meantime in Derry, the civil rights movement borrowed from the activist songbook of the American South to articulate their own grievances, making anthems like ‘We Shall Overcome’ their own. Spliced with a musical performance by Fergus Woods, a veteran of the Belfast folk scene and a former People’s Democracy activist, Stuart Bailie, author of Trouble Songs: Music and Conflict in Northern Ireland, looks back to the ferment of the time and the music that sustained the marchers and their ideals.

This event is part of At the Crossroads: The Campaign for Civil Rights in Northern Ireland, a project developed by The Linen Hall and which runs at The Linen Hall from 18 March to 25 April. This project is supported by the Department of Foreign Affairs Reconciliation Fund and has also received financial support from the Northern Ireland Community Relations Council which aims to promote a pluralist society characterised by equity, respect for diversity and recognition of interdependence. The views expressed in the project do not necessarily reflect those of the Community Relations Council.

Part of Imagine Belfast Festival.