Mette ciao, who addresses the Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and is a cover of the Italian party song Bella ciao, has in recent months been heard echoing on the streets of Copenhagen.

It is sung by Men in black, a movement that protests against the Danish corona restrictions, and it is written by rapper Danny "Rozenberg" Rosenberg.

- When we had started up Men in black, we needed a song we could sing when we marched.

I wrote the lyrics in ten minutes, he says.

Party hit on corruption

Mette ciao is a rap song and according to Håkan Thörn, professor of sociology who published a book on revolutionary songs in 1968, rap music in particular has had a mobilizing force in protest movements in recent decades.

This applies to everything from the Black power movement in the USA to the Swedish Sami struggle.

- In rap music, the musical expression and the text are integrated, therefore it is particularly well suited for protest music, says Håkan Thörn.

But in Russia, where it is being demonstrated against the imprisonment of regime critic Alexei Navalny, it is instead a party hit that engages in corruption and extravagance in the form of water disco in Putin's palace, which has become the movement's soundtrack.

- Combining music with humor and irony is very effective for who does not want to be on the side of laughter ?, says Håkan Thörn.

In Hong Kong, there have been protests against a law on the extradition of citizens to China.

The protesters have sung a grand hymn called Glory to Hong Kong, written by the pseudonym Thomas dgx yhl.

- It brings to mind the International or We shall overcome, almost like a national anthem, says Håkan Thörn.

Make the protests attractive

He believes that the corona restrictions can contribute to more people being attracted by the demonstrations.

- A lot of people long to be in the square with other people and to sing and dance, I think that makes the protests even more attractive.

But if music is so important to the protest movements, isn't there a risk that hard lyrics will lead to violence?

No, the Danish rapper Rozenberg does not think so.

- It is a metaphorical message, he says.