Sounds of the Opposition - Music and Politics in Poland 1970-1989

Songs concerning political issues or having political background are important part of pop culture history during People’s Republic of Poland (PRL)1. In this article only selected songs that were written as protestsongs or were considered as protest-songs will be analyzed. A song of each music genre/subgenre was chosen (patriotic ballad/hymn, pop rock, rock, punk rock, heavy metal). Due to limited volume of the article some songs are only listed. It is quite difficult to evaluate the PRL period – it is a historical era on one hand and a personal story for majority of adults on the other. Some people idealize their youth, others want to underline their contribution during the transition. Hence, myths are created and mixed with facts. In this article analysis of social phenomenon of the music and its impact on daily life is limited. Majority of analysis concerns textual context of songs or their reception by society from the political point of view2.