Prison Songs: Religious and Secular Harmonies

Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body.

Bible, Hebrews (13:3)

He said, “My Lord, prison is more to my liking than that to which they invite me. And if You do not avert from me their plan, I might incline toward them and [thus] be of the ignorant.”

Qur’an, Joseph (12:33)

Oftentimes the best reminders of sacred scripture can be heard in the harmony of secular music. Loretta Lynn sang a song a decade ago called “Women’s Prison” which could be a commentary on the Bible verse in Hebrew 13:3. The Queen of Country music, Loretta Lynn said her husband never abused her, but she dedicated lyrics and gave voice to those women silenced in prison. Tracy Chapman wrote a chilling song called “Behind The Wall” about the mistreatment of a nameless but tearful woman of domestic violence. We know and admire alleged abusers quite well, like Mel Gibson, Charlie Sheen and Chris Brown. Only rarely do we know and see the abused like Rihanna. Chapman expresses concern against an apathetic government, societal silence, and her anguish for the suffocating human suffering of those behind the walls as this verse urges us to do. Chapman’s song powerfully vocalizes and memorializes this mistreatment and imprisonment for millions to hear and ponder:

“Last night I heard the screaming
 Loud voices behind the wall
 Another sleepless night for me
 It won’t do no good to call
 The police always come late
 If they come at all”

Johnny Cash (1955) and Sam Cooke (1960) were both inspired to write their hit songs about those in prison, Folsom Prison Blues and Chain Gang respectively. Sensational and imaginative compared to Lynn’s and Chapman’s heartfelt songs , the lyrics express a genuine human concern for the life of the imprisoned. Two very prophetic prison songs that really resonate to the Bible verse of Hebrew 13:3 are George Jackson and Attica State (1971). The first about the assassination of a Black Panther leader in San Quentin prison, George Jackson and the latter about the Attica Prison Riots where 43 were killed. Bob Dylan and John Lennon wrote and sang these songs in memory of the slain and about the injustice of prisoner abuse. Both are of the protest genre of music and both recall horrific events of life behind bars. Neither Dylan nor Lennon had any need to remember these prisoners and forever preserve their memory archived in these songs. However, both write as if they are in prison with them, remembering the mortality of all life. John Lennon writes:

“What a waste of human power

What a waste of human lives

Shoot the prisoners in the towers

Forty-three poor widowed wives

Attica, Attica State

We’re all mates with Attica State”

John Lennon exhorts “we’re all mates with Attica State” and goes on to call for the “jailing of the judges,” blaming Governor Rockefeller for pulling the trigger. A total biblical empathy with the slain prisoners of Attica State Prison: “They all live in suffocation — let’s not watch them die in sorrow.” There was no question as to whether John Lennon felt and thought that Black Lives Mattered! You can feel the spirit in his lyrics and scriptural harmonious meaning in his message it is “as though in prison with them.”

Bob Dylan’s George Jackson is another really passionate and prophetic prison song; he sings and repetitively calls on the “Lord, Lord” in the refrain. This secular artist uses and follows the almost sacred-sounding-like Gospel:

“I woke up this mornin’

There were tears in my bed

They killed a man I really loved

Shot him through the head

Lord, Lord

They cut George Jackson down

Lord, Lord

They laid him in the ground.”

What did they kill him for? Bob Dylan sings:

“The prison guards, they watched him

As they cursed him from above

But they were frightened of his power

They were scared of his love.”

How is this relevant today? Bob Dylan says it best:

“Sometimes I think this whole world

Is one big prison yard

Some of us are prisoners

Some of us are guards.”

The prophet Muhammad explained the meaning of the second scripture of Joseph (12:33) in this way: “The world is a prison for the believer and a paradise for the unbeliever.” Bob Dylan’s sentiments match this prophetic statement “this world is one big prison yard.” Therefore, this verse in the Qur’an reminds believers that often the position of a prisoner is a preferable place to be at times. Preferring solitude to invitations to be in the company of people of control, power, and privilege. Joseph’s choice placed him in prison and economically restricted his upward mobility. How much in harmony are we today with these scriptures? Where is our prophetic and protest voice as Muslims?

Stevie Wonder was arrested protesting in Washington, D.C. against South African apartheid. South Africa banned his song, “It’s Wrong.” The guards of White South Africa did not want to hear his message. They wished to silence the inspirational voice of righteous protest in the world and continue to live as if black lives did not matter. Artists like Stevie Wonder sang a sort of liberation theology into the hearts and minds of the masses. These songs of protest helped the oppressed to begin to believe cops can no longer kill and imprison leaders like Steve Biko and Nelson Mandela unchecked. Stevie’s lyrics are a testament to how powerful protest and solidarity is aligned to revelation and sacred scripture. Listen to the lyrics he sang in front of the White House as he was arrested singing, It’s Wrong:

“The wretchedness of Satan’s wrath

Will come to seize you at last

Because even he frowns upon the deeds you are doing

And you know deep in your heart

You’ve no covenant with God

Because he would never countenance people abusing”

[Chorus]

“You know apartheid’s wrong…

Like slavery was wrong…

Like the holocaust was wrong…

Apartheid is wrong…)”

[Verse 2]

“The pain you cause in God’s name

Points only to yourself to blame

For the negative karma you will be receiving

Because when people are oppressed

With atrocities that test

The future of all mankind we, the world won’t stand seeing”

Oftentimes the best interpretations of sacred scriptures are heard in the lyrical harmonies of secular protest music. Those artists who purposely give voice to the cause of the prisoners and mistreated. Those who prefer prison as a protest against oppression rather than remain silent to harmful social and political policy. Scriptures are divine interventions. They call for a more harmonious union between the sacred and the secular after there has been a break which causes societal dissonance. Always spoken in the prophetic voice advocating righteous corrective action or non-violent resistance to corrupt practices against the oppressed. Prisoners, mistreated and abused men, women and children God urges us all to be empathetic and caring toward them. We thank God for the secular artists who live and sing harmoniously the true meaning of sacred scriptures. How much more should believers in the sacred scriptures be in harmony with the prisoners, mistreated and abused on earth? Please support Tayba Foundation a Muslim program attempting to bring harmony in society by remembering the prisoners.