Can Justin Bieber change the world?

Elvis did.

After all, it's because of his music that mankind was able to achieve space travel.

(Find ONE report that denies this.)

Ok, moon-walking aside, the birth of rock 'n roll in the 1950s fed into the emerging social culture of teen rebellion. The older generation fought against the uprise of "the devil music", but parents pitted against transistor radios always lost out to the likes of Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard.

This new wave of defiance required a soundtrack, and the music responded accordingly. (Elvis, of course, being the King of Rock, is the iconic representation of this evolution.)

Years later, in the turbulence of the 60s, the experimental sounds from musicians like Bob Dylan, The Byrds, and Buffalo Springfield laced the charts with songs about revolution and protests to question the state of society and empower people to make a difference.

Music carried a message to induce change.

People united and protested for peace.

The Byrds' Turn! Turn! Turn! and CCR's Fortunate Son have been a staple in my collection since my mixed tape days. Not because of their lyrics, but rather, they're damn good songs. Musically.

(Now that I'm older, of course, I can appreciate their subject matter.)

Fast forward ahead a few decades (catapulting over the 90s - sorry Gin Blossoms and Better Than Ezra) to a brand spankin' new century.

A new culture, spoiled by commercialism, where over-indulgence has become the norm.

A time riddled with what I like to call "first world problems" (lunch-hour botox injections, anyone?).

And a new generation of music to reflect it all.

At the helm of today's popular music, a universal theme: boy-meets-girl-boy-falls-in-love (but the context has changed - I haven't tried this yet, but if you played The Beach Boys' Wouldn't It Be Nice to a group of teens who listen to - what do kids listen to these days?! - the innocence of the lyrics would blow. Their. Minds.).

But my point is this: war is not over.

Global unrest is abundant.

Telethons raising money for natural disasters don't put a lid on fear, horror and agony.

The era of the 60s protests movements in the U.S. produced legendary songs with lyrics that could very well be transposed to today's global circumstances, and proved there seems to be an undeniable link between music and political movements, so my question is this:

Where are the protest songs of today?

I know these songs exist. Of course they do - Green Day has an anti-war song. So does Lenny Kravitz. But I've never turned on the radio and heard them played in regular rotation. Why are these songs so sparse? Why is it that mainstream media pays no attention to this brand of theme? What has changed about the world that we aren't inundated with a slew of songs about peace and love and uniting a nation? I can't speak from experience on growing up in the 60s (that time was such a blur for everyone, wasn't it....?!?!), but from what I gather, my research and discussions dictate these protest songs were as revered, appreciated, loved and commonplace in that era as, say, Justin Bieber's Baby might be in THIS era.

Music icons of decades past have moulded the Western world - maybe if the Beebs sang "C'mon people now, smile on your brother, ev'rybody get together, try to love one another right now", he, too, could be the voice to empower the generation and make a difference.

SoundTracking: Like A Rolling Stone (Bob Dylan)