50 greatest protest songs
My definition of a great protest song :-
- A piece of music that is a great song in its own right. Good words and fine sentiments are not enough. The music must move us.
- A song that has a purpose. A song that doesn’t confine itself to commenting on or bemoaning the ills of the world, but seeks in some small way to change things. It may do this by calling directly for something to happen – “free Nelson Mandela”, by informing us, by appealing to our hearts and our emotions, or by challenging commonly held ideas.
- It follows from this that a true protest song should address a specific issue or issues that are current. Songs about wars and revolutions in days long gone are not included here.
- Finally the song should provoke the listener : shock us, unsettle us, amaze us, inspire us, make us angry, make us sad or make us optimistic. If it doesn’t do any of these things, it hardly deserves to be called a protest song. So be warned : there’s a lot of anger and a lot of emotion in these songs.
Only one song per artist is allowed (my self imposed rule). And what goes in is down to my personal taste and prejudices (musically and politically).
UPDATE AUGUST 22 2010
This was the first chart on my website, in December 2007, and still remains popular. So here’s something extra : a podcast of some of the best committed protest songs of the 21st century, as an answer to all those who lament where are all the protest singers these days. (For a few more older protest songs, check out my recent list 100 greatest songs and ballads of the last 100 years.)
Voices for change
Voices for change
1. Saul Williams – The Pledge (Not in my name 2003)
2. Brother Ali – Uncle Sam Goddamn (The Undisputed Truth 2007)
3. Shamarr Allen, Dee 1, Paul Sanchez, Bennie Pete – Sorry Ain’t Enough No More (anti BP song 2010 – free download)
4. Sarah Harmer – Escarpment Blues (I’m a Mountain 2006)
5. Eliza Gilkyson – Man of God (Paradise Hotel 2005)
6. James McMurtry – We Can’t Make It Here (Childish Things 2005)
7. Alun Parry – All Hail To The Market (We Can Make The World Stop 2009)
8. Frank Turner – Photosynthesis (Love Ire & Song 2008)
9. Attila the Stockbroker – Supermodel (Live in Belfast 2003)
10. Moral Dilemma – Right to Remain Silent (Right to Remain Silent 2008)
11. Lily Allen – Fuck You (It’s not me, it’s you 2009)
12. The Peasants – Homeland Security (Love Your Enemy 2005)
13. Amy Martin – What You’re For (Obama song 2008, free download)
14. Evan Greer – The day all the Democrats won (Never Surrender 2009)
15. Immortal Technique – Poverty of Philosophy (Revolutionary Vol.1 2001)
Please leave your comments at the foot of the page.
50 Manu Chao – Rainin in Paradise 2007
Uptempo danceable number from the French born singer who has achieved international success with the group Mano Negra and more recently as a solo artist.
49 Crosby Stills Nash and Young – Ohio 1970
Recorded in response to the killing of four students and the wounding of nine others by soldiers during a peaceful antiwar protest at Kent State University. I’m not a big Neil Young fan, hence the low placing for this classic protest song.
48 Joan Baez & Mimi Farina – Bread and Roses
This song, inspired by the St Lawrence strike of 1912, has become a great anthem of women’s liberation.
47 Company Flow – Patriotism 1999 Punchy militant hip hop in search of a decent video.
46 Dar Williams – Empire 2005
Folk influenced rock. Here she uses her pen to attack Bush’s war on terror.
45 Steel Pulse – No more weapons 2004
UK roots reggae band.
44 Creedence Clearwater Revival – Fortunate son 1969
The senators sons who weren’t sent to Vietnam in the 60s were themselves sending less fortunate young men to war three decades later.
43 Yes – Don’t kill the whale 1978
Delightfully 1970s with its big sweeping chords and unsophisticated video.
42 Paddy McGuigan – The men behind the wire 1975
In 1971 the British government introduced internment without trial in Northern Ireland. McGuigan’s song records the raiding of homes and the mass arrests of Republican sympathisers.
41 Tom Paxton – Lyndon Johnson told the nation 1965
I’d always thought of him as a 60s folk singer, so I was a little surprised to find that he’s recently re-recorded this as George W told the nation.
40 Jean Ritchie – Black waters 1977
Beautifully written song about the horrors of coal mining in Appalachia.
39 Tracey Chapman – Behind the wall 1988
Delicately crafted song about domestic violence.
Band from Sydney writing about the MV Tampa incident in which the Australian government refused to allow a ship to dock on Christmas Island that had rescued several hundred asylum seekers at sea. The song refers to a poll in which 77% of Australians expressed support for the government’s stance – other polls put the level of support even higher.
37 Nofx – Wolves in wolves clothing 2006
According to their Wikipedia entry, Nofx’s Fat Mike organised the website punkvoter.com, compiled two chart topping Rock against Bush CDs, and kicked off a Rock against Bush US tour. He’s probably most fondly remembered though for his musical tribute to Dubya Idiot Son of an Asshole.
Hip hop – but don’t let that put you off. There are some great hip hop songs here. This one tells a story and carries a powerful antiwar message.
35 Carl Read – If I had a rocket launcher
Acoustic version of the 1984 Bruce Cockburn song, which I prefer to the original.
34 Paul Robeson – No more auction block 1947
This chart would not be complete without Robeson’s amazing baritone. A true giant among protest singers.
33 Randy Newman - Political Science 1972
Dark humour !
32 Peter Gabriel – Biko 1980
Haunting song about the anti-apartheid campaigner Steve Biko who died in South African police custody in 1977. Gabriel is joined in this performance by the great Youssou N’Dour.
31 Dead Prez – Propaganda 2000
Perhaps tries to make too many political points, but I love the production on this, the way it integrates all the different elements.
30 Linton Kwesi Johnson – Sonny’s lettah (anti-sus poem) 1979
A poignant story, beautifully told. LKJ’s poem also captures the anger at the sus laws which led in 1981 to the Brixton riots.
29 Holly Near - I am willing 2003
Great uplifting anthem to sing along to.
28 Aceyalone - Ms Amerikka 2003
Intelligent lyrical alternative hip hop.
27 The Men They Couldn’t Hang – Shirt of Blue 1985
Tale based on the miners strike of 1984-85. One of my favourite bands.
26 Big Bill Broonzy – I wonder when I’ll be called a man 195?
Anti racist blues song.
25 Christy Moore – No time for love 1985
Ireland’s finest political balladeer.
24 Almanac Singers – I don’t want your millions, Mister 1941
Who are they ? Well Pete Seeger is on vocals, and Woody Guthrie plays guitar. Great union song from the 1930s.
23 Dead Kennedys - California Uber Alles 1979
Tongue in cheek satire directed against California governor Jerry Brown.
22 Public Enemy – Burn Hollywood, burn 1990
Public Enemy – Burn Hollywood Burn by shorty418
Blazing with anger against the white Hollywood establishment. Taken from the album Fear of a black planet.
21 Bruce Springsteen – American skin (41 shots) 2000
Written about the death of Amadou Diallo, shot 41 times by four cops from the NYPD in 1999. He was unarmed. The cops were acquitted of all charges.
20 Bob Marley and the Wailers – Them belly full (but we hungry) 1975
A hungry mob is an angry mob …
19 Sage Francis – Makeshift Patriot 2001
About America’s response to the 9/11 attacks, rather than the attacks themselves. A masterpiece. The sample at the end is from the movie Don’t Look Back, and is taken from an interview with Bob Dylan by Time magazine.
18 The Clash – The Call Up 1980
One of several powerful political songs from the Sandinista album.
17 Chris Wood and Karine Polwart - Moving on song 2006
Wonderful rendition of Ewan MacColl’s classic folk song about the rights of the travelling people.
16 The Special AKA – Free Nelson Mandela 1984
Upbeat, feelgood record which helped make anti-apartheid campaigners feel strong.
15 Phil Ochs – I ain’t marching anymore 1965
Brilliant 60s political singer songwriter with a cultured voice.
14 Barry McGuire – Eve of destruction 1965
This raw version of the apocalyptic song by PJ Proby went to number one on both sides of the Atlantic and became the rallying cry for supporters of the 26th amendment to the US Constitution, which changed the voting age from 21 to 18.
13 Mahalia Jackson – We shall overcome 1968
Pete Seeger may have done most to popularise this song, but this gospel version by Mahalia Jackson surely can’t be bettered.
12 Junior Reid – One blood 1990
Rousing Jamaican anti-racist anthem.
11 NWA – Fuck tha police 1989
When hip hop still had the power to shock. Explosive music and violent lyrics. From Straight outta Compton.
10 ani difranco – Self evident 2002
Long post 9/11 poem which hits one target after another with its skilful use of words. Extraordinary.
9 Tom Robinson – Glad to be gay 1976
Direct and passionate from its great opening line, ‘The British police are the best in the world’.
8 DAM – Meen Er Habi 2001
The first Palestinian rapper. Incisive and angry commentary on the Palestinian situation (with subtitles). Amazing.
7 Woody Guthrie - This land is your land 1940
The father of the modern protest song sings his most famous number. Though I’d have liked to have Deportee here. Are there any recordings of Guthrie singing this online ?
Sampling Bruce Hornsby’s The Way It Is, 2Pac’s powerful song differs from most gangsta rap records in that it doesn’t just talk about the reality of life in America’s inner city ghettos, it generalises rather than personalises, and points the finger of blame : ‘instead of war on poverty they got a war on drugs so the police can bother me’.
5 Babyface feat Stevie Wonder – How come, how long 1997
Really moving song about domestic violence.
4 Sam Cooke – A change is gonna come 1965
This melodious song came to epitomise the aspirations of the US Civil Rights struggle. It was covered by several Motown artists, but Sam Cooke’s remains the definitive version.
3 Edwin Starr – War 1970
By some distance the most popular protest song of them all in the last three decades – this is the one that protestors and demonstrators love to sing and love to hear.
2 Bob Dylan – Only a pawn in their game 1964
Bob Dylan Only A Pawn in Their Game Newport Folk Festival.mp4 by musicwithedge
I could have picked any one of many classic Dylan songs (Blowin in the Wind, Masters of War, Hattie Carroll, Times they are a changin’ …) but this is a personal favourite. Starting from the assassination of civil rights leader Medgar Evers, Dylan unravels the psychology of white racism and writes its epitaph.
1 Billie Holiday – Strange fruit 1939
The awesome power of this song comes partly of course from Bille Holiday’s voice and the evocative imagery, but also from the revolutionary slow paced delivery which arrests the listener’s attention yet is so appropriate to the subject matter.
No Rage Against the Machine?!
Hy Lynne would you be so kind to give your opinion at my protest song http://www.hope-comes-in-the-dark.com/
regards
*Pete Seeger’s set-in-World-War-II “Waist Deep In The Big Muddy,” which had a final Vietnam lyric comes to mind.
*Country Joe and The Fish: The famous “FISH” cheer (on LP) that opened the “I’m Fixin’ To Die Rag” made a big impression at a muddy field in Bethany, NY.
*Buffy Sainte-Marie’s “Universal Soldier” had a low opinion of the military in general.
*Jim Croce addressed injustice in a number of Folk songs, but “Which Way Are You Going?” ranks up there with…
*Great Big Sea: “Recruiting Sargeant,” which addressed the World War I slaughter in Flanders and Gallipolli.
I could go on with Joan Baez’ “Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos”) or Malvina Reynolds’ “What Have They Done To The Rain” or “It Isn’t Nice,” but others will comment.
A fascinating selection. I don’t think I could argue with anything there, but have a few suggestions that could be considered.
“Shipbuilding” by Robert Wyatt captures the spirit of he Falklands.
Another Elvis Costello song “Tramp the Dirt Down” expresses the satisfaction we all felt with Margaret Thatcher as Prime Minister to a tee.
No mention of Billy Bragg? His version of Leon Rosselsons classic “The World turned Upside Down” takes protect back to the Civil War.
Eric Bogle the Australian folk singer best known for the songs “and the Band played Waltzing Matilda” and “Green Fields of France” 2 of the best known songs about World War I.
Stiff Little Fingers on “Wasted Life” sum up frustrations with the problems in Northern Island.
“Battle of the Beanfield” by the Levellers is a little more up to date.
As a final thought, two protest singers have actually died as a result of making their statements.
Victor Jara in Santiago when Margaret’s friend Pinochet came to power. His song “Te recuerdo Amanda” is simply beautiful.
Joe Hill was killed too long ago to leave any of his own recordings, but inspired many songs.
I did consider quite a few of the tracks named, so let me try to explain why they didn’t get in.
The World Turned Upside Down, and the two Eric Bogle songs, don’t meet the criteria for this chart as they’re about events long passed.
Universal Soldier doesn’t feel as close to the bone as other antiwar songs arising from specific conflicts. While Shipbuilding is more social commentary than antiwar protest song. Billy Bragg’s Island of no Return works better as an anti-Falklands war protest song, but I couldn’t find a link for this.
Battle of the Beanfield is an example of a protest song that’s musically unmemorable. Rage against the Machine were reluctantly rejected as their songs aren’t very accessible if you’re not already familiar with the lyrics.
One song that has recently come to my attention is “The Fiddle and the Drum”, originally by Joni Mitchell. She, as a Canadian living in America wrote it to be a message to America. I don’t much care for her acappella version, but A Perfect Circle covered it a couple years ago, adding harmony, and turning it into an absolutely beautiful song.
Joni Mitchell version – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOJLqdcJZJ0
A Perfect Circle version – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_B6kheJ8zks
Al Wilson protest song “Destination Paradise”about Schapelle Corby’s injustice case.
Tells the story of a Wrongfully convicted innocent Australian sent to 20 years in a Bali cell.
the song is so strong in its protest it makes you mad at the injustice that has taken place.
Your list is bullshit cause you aint got Marvin Gaye in it. You have got to be kidding me.
What about ‘Wake up, Everybody’ by Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes. A song that calls out the politicians, preachers, doctors, teachers, business folks to stop all their BS-ing and start doing something more positive for society. The late, great Teddy Pendergrass’s vocals just lent it that air of authority, IMO.
YOU DID NOT INCLUDE JIMMY CLIFF’S VIETNAM. I SUPPOSE IT MEETS YOUR CRITERIA
Awesome list! Very comprehensive in genre and era, I love it, as well as the song criteria. The Riverfront Times posted a list of 10 most effective American protest songs, in spirit of this weekend’s 4th of July holiday. Here’s the link if you want to check it out:
http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/atoz/2011/07/american_protest_songs_most_effective_fourth_of_july.php
For anyone who has more than a passing interest in this subject, I recommend you get yourself a copy of Dorian Lynskey’s great tome 33 Revolutions Per Minute http://www.amazon.co.uk/33-Revolutions-Minute-Dorian-Lynskey/dp/0571241344. It’s authoritative, it’s very readable, and his judgement seldom lets him down. He gets which protest songs mattered and why. He explains where some of the contradictions lie in the music and politics of particular artists while also putting them in their proper historical and cultural context.
His blog – also called 33 Revolutions Per Minute – is also an interesting read : http://33revolutionsperminute.wordpress.com/.
Delighted to see Phil Ochs there, but why have Barry McGuire and not PF Sloan, who actually wrote Eve Of Destruction and the even better Sins Of The Family? And Harry Chapin saw himself always first and foremost as a protest singer rather than the nursery rhyme Cat’s In The Cradle (Sniper and Bummer are FAR more representative. And with due deference, I’ve been trying to write protest songs for the modern era along with Cohenish love songs, and to use lyrics cleverly: http://www.youtube.com/user/brokenjarafingers
I think one of the ways a protest song can be really effective is if it shares a lot of the qualities of a classic church song. Steady meter, a sense of divine inspiration/inevitability, and a range that ordinary people can sing.
Our current offering, Occupy Wall Street, is not particularly singalongable, but we move through the media cacophony to a pro-occupier conclusion; hope you like it:
I am greatly moved by the depth of feeling in hearing Iris Dements
Wasteland of the Free…
We got politicians running races on corporate cash Now don’t tell me they don’t turn around and kiss them peoples’ ass
You may call me old-fashioned
but that don’t fit my picture of a true democracy
and it feels like I am living in the wasteland of the free.
I believe the reason MODERN protest songs are not universally embraced is because of control of big media and not a lack of talented singer songwriters..
How About . . .
1. For What It’s Worth – Buffalo Springfield
2. Stand – Sly and the Family Stone
3. Power To The People – John Lennon
4. Power To The People – ChiLites (different than #3)
5. Takin’ It To The Streets – Doobie Brothers
6. I Won’t Back Down – Tom Petty
7. Tell It All Brother – Kenny Rogers and the First Edition
Just a few extra suggestions.
Fantastic list! However, one glaring ommission…
as I scrolled through, passing such powerful illuminaries as Dead Kennedys, The Clash, and Phil Ochs (interesting company, right?) I was hoping to see…
Fear “Let’s Have a War”.
“We could all use the money…we need the space…jack up the Dow Jones…GM will get fat like last time” — the true causal factors.
The name may or may not ring a bell. If it does, it is indeed. Terrific list -not sure I’ve heard all these songs but you’ve given me something to work through. For that I am grateful.
If I Give Your Name – Emma’s Revolution
Call It Democracy – Bruce Cockburn
Wasteland of the Free – Iris Dement
Language of Violence – Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy
Your Next Bold Move – Ani DiFranco
Hero’s Song – Brendan James
Bought and Sold – Dar Williams
Lives in the Balance – Jackson Browne
They Dance Alone – Sting
Lawless Avenues – Jackson Browne
My Country ‘Tis of Thy People You’re Dying – Buffy Sainte-Marie
Waiting for a Miracle – Bruce Cockburn
For America – Jackson Browne
We Work the Black Seam – Sting
Democracy – Leonard Cohen
Television, the Drug of the Nation – Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy
Talkin’ Bout a Revolution – Tracy Chapman
When I Was a Boy – Dar Williams
Jerusalem – Steve Earle
Dear Mr. President – Pink
Oh my…Oh my…you can’t limit yourslef to just 50 songs…There needs to be a “Top 100″…:>) protest songs…
What I found intereting was a number of songs I never considered to be “protest”…so now I”m going back and gradually listening to many of the “lesser known” songs, I mean lesser known to me…
I’ve always assocaited protest music with Vietnam, as that’s my “time era”…but there was SOOOOO much more…and some
became much more popular than others…and I guess the popular ones get the notice, and acclaim…but many of these “lesser known” songs are very, very powerful….
Many…Many thank you’s for putting this list together…
Damn I am going to have to look a few of these up.
You should check this one out though Obama Lazy… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rt99SIqsXi4
I liked the list, but missing from the list of music that you:
Leaders and Followers~~~~~Bad Religion
Panic In Cicero ~~~~~Jesus Lizard
We’re Only Gonna Die For Our Own Arrogance~~~~Sublime
Dude you missed the essential protest songs. Especially the misunderstood ones like “This Land is Your Land” by Woody Guthrie and “Born in the U.S.A” by Bruce Springsteen
“This Land is Your Land” is #7. Also, the Boss is at #21. If every great protest song was included by each artist, there would be a dozen Dylan songs on this list.
add Muse – The Resistance
Protesta y no están los rage agains the machine!! #fail
Tom Waits, Rage Against the Machine, John Lennon, Jimmy Cliff, Toots and the Maytals… plenty more to consider. Also, Devendra Banhart’s “Heard Somebody Say” is a fantastic, under-rated song!
Agree with a previous poster that this needs to be 100 songs.