What are/were the most memorable Protest Songs?

To reply to Vinnie from another thread:


Childish Gambino "This is America" I thought was particularly good.  But as I am limited in scope of what I listen to (Bad slypknot!) I have missed the others.  But I will make an effort...

As with Childish Gambino "This is America", I suspect the videos have as much or more to do with the protest aspect as the lyrics do.

Donald Glover is a genius Renaissance man. I worship the ground he walks on.

Barry McGuire's "Eve of Destruction" is considered the "first" rock protest song. Sure, there have always been protest songs especially in folk/blues (Ochs, Guthrie, etc.), but at the time of EoD few if any rock songs (maybe I should say "pop") had any serious sides to them. It has a much harder edge than folky songs like "Blowing in the Wind." I don't buy the "first" label but it certainly was an icebreaker, and was frequently banned or avoided on commercial radio.

What makes this great is that the lyrics have remained relevant every year over its 55 years.

Among the greats that stirred me up in junior high school:

Steppenwolf "Monster"
Country Joe McDonald "Feel Like I'm Fixing to Die Rag"
Dylan "Hard Rain's Gonna Fall" among many
Guess Who "American Woman"
Edwin Starr "War"
Jefferson Airplane "Volunteers" and "We Should Be Together"
Canned Heat "Let's Work Together"
10 Years After "I'd Love to Change the World"
Buffalo Springfield "For What It's Worth" 

Up against the wall motherfucker

I enjoyed Jefferson Airplanes “Volunteers”, as well as that other great protest song at Woodstock by Country Joe and The Fish.

These may be more "social commentary" than "protest"

Marvin Gaye What's Going On
Stevie Wonder Just Enough for the City
McCann/Harris Compared to What
Richie Havens Freedom


And then there's John Prine "Flag Decal" "Paradise" and "Sam Stone"
Steve Goodman "Ballad of Penny Evans" that's a tough one

Anderson Paak's Lockdown remix is pretty freaking great, too.

How about "which side are you on"? I am kinda partial to those mining songs.

I love What's Going On.


I want to do a remake with a rap break after the line "War is not the answer, cause only love can conquer hate...", rapping about that line and the truth it contains.

Now if I could only rap...  And write rap lyrics...

We're already collaborating. Let's collaborate some more.