N.C. Music Love Army
We Are Not For Sale
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Protest songs
In an angered response to legislation passed by North Carolina’s Republican-led government, several North Carolina musicians have joined together to create the N.C. Music Love Army. Calling for a war fighting for equality with weapons of love and hope, the group’s album We Are Not For Sale seeks to generate the passion needed to change the political and social problems present in our state — anthems for the Moral Monday movement.
In the summer of 2013, The Old Ceremony’s Django Haskins began the musical movement with “We Are Not For Sale.” A catchy song perfect for morale raising at demonstrations, Haskin’s folksy track contains a chorus sure to create feelings of hope.
Though tracks like “Get Free” lack the catchiness present in the majority of the rest of the album, songs like “Abraham Lincoln In His Grave” make up for it. Here, a goofy and folksy sound is mixed with feisty and humorous lyrics. Tying in the government’s preoccupation with children’s ability to write in cursive and disregard for voting accessibility for minorities and youth, lyrics of the song include, “Y’all must be high on Viagra, drunk off Fox News propaganda.”
In “Army of Love,” a chorus of voices sing, “we are surrounded by an army of love and the powers that be are not enough to stop us.”
A fitting summary of the N.C. Music Love Army, these songs promote change and reinforce a sense of togetherness among opponents of North Carolina’s conservative legislature.
— Tess Boyle
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