Revolutionary Song - Musical Genres

Musical Genres

Some revolutionary songs intentionally mimic folk (children's) songs to make them palatable in non-political settings. An example of this type of song is a lullaby from Hungary (tentative translation follows), which starts off as a lullaby but shifts into more direct propaganda toward the end:

The bunch of little bears happily sleeping
And the pool sleeps on a soft pillow
The swing sleeps too, and the night will be their good blanket
Dream, my little one, soft dream flies
It flies to your eyes
Be silent, little baby
Our dreams were hushed away by the grim despotism
And only our hunger sung our song.

Another example is "Tomorrow Belongs to Me", which is performed by a young man in the movie Cabaret. It starts off as a sweet folk song about nature, and then it becomes apparent that the young man is a member of the Hitlerjugend. Soon the song changes into to a marching song, and the lyrics became a fascist propaganda about "rising up."

Another kind of revolutionary songs are folk songs that become popular or change lyrics during revolutions or civil wars. Typical examples, the Mexican song La Cucaracha and the Russian song Yablochko (Little Apple) have humorous (often darkly humorous) lyrics that come in easily remembered stanzas and vary highly from singer to singer.