Favorite Protest/Political Songs????

[Paperback Writer]

  Now, there are a LOT of these - what are your favorite political-protests songs - especially the ones that are soooo good they fit most occasions and have broad appeal- whether your feeling an issue or just diggin' the music and poetry....you know like... (getting one obvious one out of the way quick)... "Fortunate Son.!

[Kylenz]

Eve of Destruction - Barry McGuire

[mervap]

There ARE a great many to choose from....when I was in 4th grade, I had a pair of teachers who loved folk music and when we would have class parties, they would play music by Peter, Paul & Mary, the Kingston Trio, Bob Dylan and the New Christy Minstrels, among others. My personal protest faves are "This Land Is Your Land", the Woody Guthrie classic, and "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?", by whomever is singing it at any time. (the Johnny Rivers version is great)

[Paperback Writer]

  "Street Fighting Man" - Rolling Stones

[gettingbetter]

In honor of MLK day, I've got to go with "Pride (In the Name of Love)" by U2.  Like Ghandi, MLK had the right idea when it came to Revolution IMHO. 

[Paperback Writer]

  "Nowhere Man."-Beatles

[MeanMrMustard]

"God On Our Side"--Bob Dylan. This song was meant to incite, and justly so. The words are classic Zimmerman, ironic and corrosive. There's two versions of the song--on one Bob sings by himself, but I prefer version #2 where he's accompanied by the great Joan Baez.

(ps: I like someone's choice above of "Street Fighting Man"--one of the Stones best kick-ass tracks (and their one great foray into political statement--if you dont count "Salt of The Earth", that is lol)

-MMM

[mervap]

There's a great protest tune on John Fogerty's new one: "Gunslinger"

[MeanMrMustard]

There's a great protest tune on John Fogerty's new one: "Gunslinger"

yeah, Thx, Merv...you just reminded me of CCR's own "Fortunate Son"--totally great political stuff

[Paperback Writer]

  "Won't Get Fooled Again!"-Who 

[2 of 3]

I almost forgot about this fav of mine.


The Price Of Oil
 
 Voices on the radio
tell us that we’re going to war
those brave men and women in uniform
they want to know what they’re fighting for.

The generals want to hear the end game
the allies won’t approve the plan
but the oil men in the white house
they just don’t give a damn.

It’s all about the price of oil
it’s all about the price of oil
don’t give me no s$#t
about blood, sweat, tears and toil
it’s all about the price of oil

Now I ain’t no fan of Saddam Hussein
oh, please don’t get me wrong
if it’s freeing the Iraqi people you’re after
then why have we waited so long.

Why didn’t we sort this out last time
was he less evil than he is now
the stock market holds the answer
to why him, why here, why now.

Saddam killed his own people
just like general Pinochet
and once upon a time both these evil men
were supported by the U.S.A.

And whisper it, even Bin Laden
once drank from America’s cup
just like that election down in Florida
this s@#t doesn’t all add up.

It’s all about the price of oil
‘cause it’s all about the price of oil
don’t give me no s*&t
about blood, sweat, tears and toil
it’s all about the price of oil.
 
Music and lyrics by Billy Bragg, 2002.

 

[Roger SB]

i liked Green Day's cd American I diot. it has several songs you could call protest songs. the title track is a great protest song. by the way, 2, i will see if i can find that Billy Bragg. that is some sharp stuff!

[2 of 3]

Elvis Costello Peace in our time


Out of the aeroplane stepped Chamberlain with a condemned man's stare
But we all cheered wildly, a photograph was taken,
as he waved a piece of paper in the air
Now the Disco Machine lives in Munich and we are all friends
And I slip on my Italian dancing shoes as the evening descends


And the bells take their toll once again in victory chime
And we can thank God that we've finally got
Peace in our time

There's a man going round taking names no
matter who you claim to be
As innocent as babies, a mad dog with rabies,
you're still a part of some conspiracy
Meanwhile there's a light over the ocean
burning brighter than the sun
And a man sits alone in a bar and says "Oh God,
what have we done?"

 

They're lighting a bonfire upon every hilltop in the land
Just another tiny island invaded when he's got
the whole world in his hands
And the Heavyweight Champion fights in the
International Propaganda Star Wars
There's already one spaceman in the White
House what do you want another one for?

[chris]

i liked Green Day's cd American I diot. it has several songs you could call protest songs. the title track is a great protest song.

nice call. this is as good an album i have heard in five years. i still listen to it regularly. great commentary on a dark time in america. just classic.

[gettingbetter]

This song means more and more to me as time goes by:

Democracy - Leonard Cohen

It's coming through a hole in the air,
from those nights in Tiananmen Square.
It's coming from the feel
that this ain't exactly real,
or it's real, but it ain't exactly there.
From the wars against disorder,
from the sirens night and day,
from the fires of the homeless,
from the ashes of the gay:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

It's coming through a crack in the wall;
on a visionary flood of alcohol;
from the staggering account
of the Sermon on the Mount
which I don't pretend to understand at all.
It's coming from the silence
on the dock of the bay,
from the brave, the bold, the battered
heart of Chevrolet:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

It's coming from the sorrow in the street,
the holy places where the races meet;
from the homicidal bitchin'
that goes down in every kitchen
to determine who will serve and who will eat.
From the wells of disappointment
where the women kneel to pray
for the grace of God in the desert here
and the desert far away:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

Sail on, sail on
O mighty Ship of State!
To the Shores of Need
Past the Reefs of Greed
Through the Squalls of Hate
Sail on, sail on, sail on, sail on.

It's coming to America first,
the cradle of the best and of the worst.
It's here they got the range
and the machinery for change
and it's here they got the spiritual thirst.
It's here the family's broken
and it's here the lonely say
that the heart has got to open
in a fundamental way:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

It's coming from the women and the men.
O baby, we'll be making love again.
We'll be going down so deep
the river's going to weep,
and the mountain's going to shout Amen!
It's coming like the tidal flood
beneath the lunar sway,
imperial, mysterious,
in amorous array:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

Sail on, sail on ...

I'm sentimental, if you know what I mean
I love the country but I can't stand the scene.
And I'm neither left or right
I'm just staying home tonight,
getting lost in that hopeless little screen.
But I'm stubborn as those garbage bags
that Time cannot decay,
I'm junk but I'm still holding up
this little wild bouquet:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.


Leave it to a Canadian to make the greatest statement about American politics.  The last verse says it all for me.  Cohen is just simply brilliant.