Sonic Revolutions

The Wound and the Wave: How Political Violence Catalyzes Musical Movements

Published on the ArtDontSleep Newsletter on 11/13/2025 - Subscribe here

Friends,

In music history, we trace lineages of sound. But beneath these sonic rivers runs a darker current: the shockwaves of violent political history. These events rupture the timeline, forcing art to answer, to process, and to scream back.

Kent State Massacre, May 1970 - Photo by Howard Ruffner

The spark for this reflection is the poignant story of Devo. None of its members were physically harmed at the Kent State massacre on May 4, 1970, but co-founder Gerald Casale witnessed the death of his friend, Jeffrey Miller, at the hands of the National Guard. From that trauma, Devo’s entire philosophy of "de-evolution" was forged. An abstract concept became a visceral truth: humanity wasn't evolving toward enlightenment; it was regressing into chaos and authoritarianism. The result? The brittle, robotic, and brilliantly paranoid sound of a band trying to build a sonic bunker against the absurdity of the modern world. Their music wasn't just commentary; it was a direct aesthetic consequence of a bullet.

This is a recurring rhythm in 20th and 21st-century music.

"After Kent State, happy, organic, blues-based rock and roll felt like a lie. It was obscene. So we created a sound that was tense, robotic, and stylized. (…) The music had to be as cold and as tense as we felt." – Gerald Casale

DEVO

Protest Song & Jazz for the People

The Cold War's nuclear anxiety and the violence of the McCarthy era fueled the folk revival, with artists like Pete Seeger and Bob Dylan giving fear a vocabulary. Simultaneously, the Black Panther Party’s fight for survival was sound-tracked by the radical free jazz of Max Roach ("Freedom Now Suite") and Archie Shepp, music that was as complex and unapologetic as the movement itself.

Liberation & Rhythm: The Sound of African Independence

Across the African continent, the brutal struggles for independence from colonial rule and the subsequent civil wars directly shaped new musical forms. As nations like Nigeria, Congo, and Angola fought for freedom, music became a weapon of unity and a chronicle of the struggle. Fela Kuti’s Afrobeat emerged as a direct confrontation with Nigeria’s corrupt military regimes; his long, hypnotic rhythms and scathing lyrics in songs like "Zombie" mocked the mindless obedience of soldiers. In South Africa, the anti-Apartheid movement was powered by the vibrant resilience of Miriam Makeba’s Mbaqanga and the powerful harmonies of Ladysmith Black Mambazo. Their music was not merely entertainment; it was an act of defiance and a soundtrack for a nation’s fight for its soul.

South African singer and activist Miriam Makeba, July 1967

Punk’s No Future: A Cynical Empire

In mid-70s Britain, economic decay and the violence of "The Troubles" in Northern Ireland fueled national disillusionment. The conflict, a legacy of English colonialism, was seared into memory on Bloody Sunday (1972). This event inspired and fueled the rage of Belfast punks Stiff Little Fingers. In mainland Britain, it fed the cynical energy of Punk. The Sex Pistols' "God Save the Queen" was a diagnosis of a corrupt, violent establishment, its DIY aesthetic a mirror for a society ripped apart.

Hip-Hop: The Bronx on Fire

The birth of Hip-Hop is perhaps the most potent example. The South Bronx, ravaged by systemic neglect and landlord arson, became a crucible for invention. Pioneers like Kool Herc built a new culture from rubble: turntables became instruments, spray cans became galleries. The music was a chronicle of the environment: the sound of creating something from nothing.

Jamaican DJ Kool Herc, one of the originators of modern turntablism and DJing

The pattern is clear. Political violence creates a vacuum where old forms of expression feel dishonest. Artists then build new sonic worlds that embody the psychological response to the trauma. The art that defines our own turbulent times is being shaped by these same forces. A necessary, chaotic, and beautiful act of sonic survival.

Stay conscious,

The ArtDontSleep Team