ThreeTuneTuesday - Jesse Welles: Protest Folk, Like it Never Went out of Style

Happy Wednesday to all #ThreeTuneTuesday fans! Today I want to share something really cool that came my way a while back, and I didn't even appreciate it for what it was. It's new music, or actually it's really old music made contemporary. It's those tunes and rhythms that have been passed down through the ages, of simple, everyday folk living their lives, singing tales about their troubles. It's the music of struggle, and of dealing with hardship. Standing up for oneself, even if the odds are stacked against one. It's the music of the people. It's folk, and by its nature it's protest folk. And one recent voice ringing out about today's troubles is that of Jesse Welles.

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Protest Songs on YouTube Shorts

Admittedly, I found Jesse Welles on YouTube. Among the Shorts there was this same guy that kept popping up, standing in the woods or a field, holding a guitar, with a title typically about some current issue having to do with the present situation in the United States. I'm not a big fan of Shorts, so it took me a while, but eventually I clicked on one. And I was treated to some raw, down-to-earth, guitar music, accompanying some very radical lyrics. They were simple, they had wits, and they were true. What a beautiful combination!

So once I got the taste for it, I started looking for more Jesse Welles. And sure enough, there was more than enough out there! So let me start sharing some of my favorite songs of his.

Walmart and other such stuff

This song was posted three years ago. So it has nothing to do with the current Trump regime... or does it? It's about a famous shopping phenomenon in the States, but it describes so much more. So many flaws of society that are somehow presently visible in connection to this apex retailer. But wait, there are other songs from a bit earlier back, such as College, and of course the Poor. All of which are spot on, when describing the experience of the present-day US. And I know, I haven't even gotten to mention United Health, which also predates anything Luigi related.

What's Important Today

To talk about all the trials and tribulations that everyday folks today have to face, we can't ignore the most recent developments that have shaped our reality over the past year and since. Not surprisingly, this is when Jesse Welles really started to shine. Clearly, what we have witnessed regarding the immigration enforcement getting out of hand is summed up really well in the song Join ICE ... and the most recent follow up, Good vs. ICE. And then there is Masks Off, which deals more with the blatancy of the right rather than with Covid masks or the ones ICE agents wear. But the one song whose lyrics I found more profound and interesting than others is this one:

The New Bob Dylan?

So here we have the quintessential boy with a guitar, speaking out what so many are feeling and thinking. Just like in the old days, when Bob Dylan harnessed the revival of folk music in the 1960's to speak his mind regarding the civil rights movement, the anti-war protest, and the culture of his young generation. But can we call Jesse Welles the new Bob Dylan? - Hahaha, I can only imagine what Dylan would think about it: He'd probably laugh, that finally the insane classification and categorization of the public would leave him alone at last. But even Jesse Welles himself is probably way beyond these monikers. Which doesn't mean that he's not ready to fall into the footsteps of great minds, as can be seen in his homages to Mark Twain and Bertholt Brecht. Talking about Dylan, though, I found this one live recording of him with Joan Baez, singing a song she once performed with Dylan. And she looks just as lovely here as she did 60 years ago, though she could be Jesse's grandmother, singing " ... I once loved a boy, a child I'm told ...". It brought tears to my eyes.

Way More Jesse Welles!

The rabbit hole gets deeper the more you explore it. What first seemed like a kid who had just gotten his first treat in the spotlight, turned out to be older and more experienced. With his 33 years he's actually not as young as I'd guessed. But he's been recording his music since 2012, and already has more albums out than what I consider worthy to listen by Dylan. (Sorry Bob, I like a lot of your stuff, but I ain't no fanatic.) So even though I've already covered the three tunes for this #TTT challenge, these are a couple of other songs by Jesse Welles I enjoyed. Not all of them are outright protesty, at least not to the fullest, like others. But it's music. In fact, it's good music. The stuff that is going to stick around even once the protests and whatever they're protesting are past and gone: A Pirate Looks at Oblivion , sounds more like a love song. Technopagans is about modern hi-tech culture. And The Kingdom is Within You, which incidentally was posted as I was writing this post, is a deeply philosophical ponderings of the world, possibly based on Leo Tolstoy's writing. So go ahead, and check him out for yourselves. I'm sure you'll find something interesting!

As always, this post is my entry to this week's #ThreeTuneTuesday challenge, created by @ablaze. If you want to see my other music related posts, please visit my Monday Music collection.