Protest Song Of The Week: 'Did I Do Enough' By Lonnie Holley (Feat. Jesca Hoop)
Lonnie Holley, a Black working class artist, is one of the most incomparable and unique artists to produce music in the past 25 years. His introspective lyrics, often fragmented but still profound, not only reflect on the life that he has lived but deconstruct the colonial history of the United States as it relates to all of us.
“Tonky,” the latest album from Holley, was released on March 21. Each composition is multilayered and rich, melding jazz, gospel, and soul with elements of industrial and electronic music. To me, it’s like listening to Charles Bradley muse over a dreamlike or brooding score created by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. Which is then further transformed by splashing in woodwind and brass instruments that convey Holley’s spiritual freedom.
The album’s masterpiece is “Seeds.” The nine-minute autobiographical opening track recalls the memories that still haunt him from his time at the Alabama Industrial School for Negro Children in 1961 when he was 11. A similar song, “Mount Meigs,” appeared on Holley’s 2023 album “Oh Me Oh My,” but “Seeds” is a better symphony. (Note: “Tonky” refers to a childhood nickname.)
“Protest With Love” is simple and straightforward, the first song released from the album. “If you’re gonna protest about it, protest with love.” But it doesn’t have the depth that can be found in the other songs on the album.
The song that best represents the plainspoken and symphonic richness of Holley’s music while intersecting with protest themes is “Did I Do Enough.” It features Jesca Hoop, a folk-rock singer and guitarist (who counts Tom Waits as an early mentor).
Holley sings:
“Did I do enough as a human, a son, a friend, or a father?”
“Did I give enough of me for it to really matter?”
“Did I learn enough?”
Hoop’s harmonizing lifts the music, as Holley contemplates whether he’s really doing all that he can to make the world a better place.
“I may not be the greatest human that I could be,” Holley confesses. “But did I do enough to touch somebody and help them along the way? Did I do enough?”
In an interview for Under the Radar Magazine, Holley shared that this song is about how he views his work as an artist committed to humanity. It’s about how we are all socially connected and have an obligation to one another.
Feeling powerless also makes it easy for us to be hard on ourselves. Sometimes the most well-meaning people think their actions aren’t enough to make a difference because they aren’t seeing the desired results.
But it was the people’s historian Howard Zinn who wrote, “Small acts, when multiplied by millions of people, can quietly become a power no government can suppress, a power than can transform the world.”
We need not worry about how insignificant our actions might be. More worthwhile is to take that first step to confront rampant social injustice. The collective impact of our small acts, especially standing side by side with fellow humans, may ultimately answer the question of whether we have done enough.
Listen to “Did I Do Enough” by Lonnie Holley (featuring Jesca Hoop):