May Day 2010: The 20 Greatest Protest Songs

9. Edwin Starr: 'War' – One of the most popular protest songs ever committed to plastic, the 1970 Motown smash hit is buoyed by the chorus “"War, what is it good for? Absolutely nothin'!” and attacks the Vietnam War with general distaste and venom. Praised by that other great anti-war song writer John Lennon, the track shot straight to number one in the Billboard charts upon release and was duly adopted by the anti-Vietnam War movement in the early 1970s.

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