After World War II, fear surrounding Soviets and communist ideas was ubiquitous in America. These ideas were seen as a threat to everyday American life, and this widespread suspicion was named the Red Scare. The face of the Red Scare was Senator Joseph R. McCarthy of Wisconsin, who greatly increased the preexisting fears of the Soviets by promoting that even just the idea of communism could infiltrate American life. McCarthy’s method to fight against this alleged communist infiltration was to identify and expose these supposed spies and traitors. McCarthyist propaganda thrived off of promoting a widespread fear that supporters of the Soviet Union were living among regular Americans and poisoning the public with their communist beliefs. Artists and musicians were not exempt from the rampant fearmongering of the era, and many were labeled as subversives and subsequently blacklisted, meaning they would be banned from working on radio and on television, often fatally damaging their careers..

In the late 1940s, the House Un-American Activities Committee was formed to investigate and uncover communists in America supposedly hiding in plain sight. The committee unjustly targeted many political activists and musicians with protest songs; any lyrics surrounding political activism could be banned from being aired on television, from being played in certain venues, or even being released on record labels. American singer-songwriter Peter Seeger was subpoenaed for his 1949 song “If I Had a Hammer,” which features lyrics surrounding blue-collar workers fighting for peace and justice:, “I’d hammer out love between my brothers and my sisters all over this land.” This song was extremely controversial, as during the time of its release “only Commies used words like ‘peace’ and ‘freedom,’ ” according to Seeger. Additionally, “If I Had a Hammer,” was first performed at a benefit for members of the Communist party who were on trial. This was a part of the Smith Act Trials, and the leaders were charged for advocating for the overthrow of the American government as well as for being a part of a party with that as their goal.  In response to Seeger’s alignment with the Communist party, Tennessee Governor Gordon Browning stated:

Folk singing, for hundreds of years, has been a highly respectable art, and a very wonderful form of entertainment, and now we are concerned that the Communists are moving into this field and that they are going to pervert this wonderful form of entertainment so it will satisfy their own needs.

This quote shows the extent of the fearmongering that was exacerbated by government officials during the Red Scare. Musicians promoting love, peace, and justice were twisted into enemies who attempted to manipulate their audiences with communist ideas. 

These anxieties surrounding communism carried into the 1960s, and folk musicians continued to be at the receiving end of the backlash towards artists. The folk revival of the era made way for artists like Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Crosby, Stills, and Nash, and Simon and Garfunkel to rise to fame and create music about the surrounding political landscape. But folk artists weren’t the only ones responding to the Red Scare. Nina Simone, Sam Cooke, The Beatles, and many other artists of a multitude of genres used music as a means to speak out and inspire change.

Nina Simone directly addressed anxieties surrounding communism in her song “Mississippi Goddam,” with the lyrics, “They try to say it’s a communist plot/All I want is equality/For my sister, my brother, my people and me.” The song was written speaking against white supremacist attacks on the Black community—however, in the era of McCarthyism, any talk of peace and justice was seen as a communist threat. Nina Simone utilized a theatrical, bouncing beat to relay her political beliefs, even noting in the song that it’s a “show tune/But the show hasn’t been written for it yet.” She sang of the hardships facing the Black community in America during the civil rights movement and the Red Scare, yet maintained a satirical tone, and garnered laughs from her audience in her live appearances.

In 1968, The Beatles addressed the Red Scare with their song “Back In the USSR.” The song reflects on classic American hits like the Beach Boys’ “California Girls” and Chuck Berry’s “Back in The USA,” but contains lyrics about a spy returning to the USSR. Lyrics such as, “Leave it til’ tomorrow to disconnect the phone” show more of a satirical take on the American government’s suspicions and conspiracies. The song parodies both The Beach Boys and Chuck Berry by utilizing the high-pitched doo-wop backing vocals of the Beach Boys, and mixing it with a classic Chuck Berry-esque guitar solo.

Simon and Garfunkel took on a more mocking approach to the communist conspiracies with the lyrics to their song “America”: “She said the man in the gabardine suit was a spy/I said, ‘Be careful, his bowtie is really a camera.’ ” “America” tackles the disillusionment in the 1960s surrounding the American Dream, with its slow, melancholic humming and acoustic guitar. The song captures the dream-like feel of an idyllic cross-country road trip with a lover. The lilting soprano saxophone creates a beautiful crescendo during the bridge, and the organ emphasizes the sadness at the end of the final chorus.

What all of these songs share is a commentary, whether mocking or genuine, on the state of the USA during the Red Scare. Each piece utilizes a meaningful chorus filled with harmonization, creating the sense of a voice of the people—particularly in “If I Had a Hammer,” emphasizing on the power of union and using music as a tool to speak out against a dangerous and unjust regime. As the American government targeted and deplatformed artists of the 40s and 50s, and censored and banned artists of the 60s, the music coming from these eras still lives on today. With the current resurgence of Bob Dylan’s popularity, particularly among Gen Z, and the emergence of more acoustic, singer-songwriter artists, and bands with hard-hitting, politically relevant lyrics, it is clear we are experiencing a folk music revival. And as the current president of the United States baselessly labels his enemies as communists, drawing on the power that the term held during the Red Scare and the Cold War, it is evident that this revival is not without warrant. Within the current political climate, it is important that more musicians are expressing their values and making protests against systemic injustice through music, like the artists that came before.