20. Guns N' Roses: 'Civil War' - Born from an instrumental Slash and Duff McKagan used to play in sound-check, the 1993 Guns N' Roses song took on a life of its own when Axl Rose wrote lyrics around it. Essentially a homage to Vietnam style protest songs, 'Civil War' mentions both John F Kennedy's assassination and Martin Luther King whilst playing with the dual meaning of the word 'civil' in Civil War by asking "What's so civil about war anyway?".
19. Kate Bush: 'Army Dreamers' – Set at an almost funeral pace, 'Army Dreamers' is sung from the perspective of a mother who lost her son in a war – presumably World War II – and her pangs of guilt over what she could have done to prevent his death. Despite its pertinent anti-war message, the song failed to have much impact on the UK charts, reaching a lowly 16.
18. The Sex Pistols: 'God Save The Queen' - Released on the week of the Queen's Silver Jubilee in May 1977, The Sex Pistols' spitting, anti-establishment classic was the most notorious song of the decade. Protesting against the might of the monarchy, the visceral punk anthem labels it as a “fascist regime” and proclaims that Britain has “no future” - such lyrics that caused the BBC to ban it from its airwaves. Perhaps not as thought-provoking as some of The Clash's protest songs, however, it was just as hard-hitting.
17. The Beatles: 'Revolution' – One of The Beatles' rockier numbers, the Lennon/McCartney penned track was inspired by the Parisian riots of May 1968 when students took to the streets and the largest ever economic strike in an industrialised country took place. Directly addressing and prompting the world's young revolutionaries, Lennon pertinently sings: “You say you want a revolution, Well, you know, We all want to change the world” and perhaps the most inspired lyrics: “But if you go carrying pictures of chairman Mao, You ain't going to make it with anyone anyhow.”
16. Bob Marley & The Wailers: ' Get Up, Stand Up' – The reggae anthem is urges everyone not to be quashed by the powers that be with the timeless refrain “Get up, stand up: stand up for your rights! Controversial, the song also attack the oppressive nature of organised religion as Marley decrees "Preacherman, don't tell me / Heaven is under the earth / I know you don't know / What life is really worth.” One of Marley's arsenal of musical masterpieces.
15. Black Sabbath: 'War Pigs' - Taken from the classic 1970 album 'Paranoid', this is Black Sabbath's blitzkrieg of an anti-war song. The evocative song title is derived from the term 'walpurgis' meaning a 'witches sabbath', whilst the outro to the song has the separate title 'Luke's Wall'. The lyrics see Ozzy Osbourne blasts politicians for “only starting the war” and forcing the poor to fight and die in it. How true.
14. The Rolling Stones: 'Gimme Shelter' – Described by Mick Jagger as an “end of the world song”, 'Gimme Shelter' is arguably the most famous anti-war song of all time. To an epic Keith Richards guitar line, the song (with Mick Jagger and Merry Clayton dueting) warns of the impending apocalypse “Oh, a storm is threat'ning, My very life today; If I don't get some shelter, Oh yeah, I'm gonna fade away / War, children, it's just a shot away, It's just a shot away...” Testament to its enduring legacy, the song has been used to soundtrack countless Vietnam movies and television shows.
13. The Clash: 'London Calling' – We could've picked a number of tracks from the highly politicised punk legends - from 'Career Opportunites' which attacks the dire political and economic situation of England to 'White Riot' which deals with class and racial inequalities – but the title track of their defining 1979 album 'London Calling' is our choice. Taking it's title from the World War II BBC World Service message “this is London calling”, the packed song alludes to not only the state of the capital but also Three Mile Island (“a nuclear error”), desperation, social criticism, drugs and the flooding of the Thame barrier ("London is drowning / And I live by the river"). Oh, and it's a killer song to boot.
12. Rage Against The Machine: 'Killing In The Name' – Their name itself sticks two fingers up at the establishment, and despite almost every song they have produced being a protest anthem at the core, 'Killing In The Name' succinctly sums up everything Rage are about. An explosive aural annihilation of the authorities, thanks to the recent UK Christmas number one campaign the expletive strewn 1992 protest anthem is as potent as ever. Lyrically cutting, singer Zach de la Rocha accuses the US security forces of being infiltrated by the Ku Klux Klan (“some of those that work forces are the same that burn crosses”) as the track builds to an impossibly angry, euphoric climax.
11. Neil Young: 'Southern Man' – The lyrically vivid classic addresses the American South as he despatches a narrative about a man (an embodiment of the entire south) mistreating black his slaves - “I can hear screaming and cruel whips cracking”. Highly emotive, Young asks when will the south "pay them back" for the decades of abuse, torture and slavery. In response to the song, Lynyrd Skynyrd penned the upbeat 'Sweet Home Alabama', name-checking Neil Young – something he was pleased about "They play like they mean it," he said. "I'm proud to have my name in a song like theirs."
10. Creedence Clearwater Revival: 'Fortunate Son' – John Fogerty wrote the song in 1969 in protest at the Vietnam war and took inspiration from the partnership of David Eisenhower (the grandson of President Eisenhower) and Julie Nixon (the daughter of President Nixon). The premise is that, unlike the impoverished narrator of the song who is being conscripted, “fortunate son” David Eisenhower gets to miss Vietnam. Four decades later on his 2007 album 'Revival', Fogerty penned the song I Can't Take It No More' about the Iraq War in which he labels then President George W Bush as “a fortunate son.”
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.
8. Buffalo Springfield: 'For What It's Worth' – One of two Stephen Stills entries on the list, while many musicians were embracing the hedonistic love of the sixties Stills was dealing with much grittier subject matter. Essentially an ode to the violence, social paranoia and brutalities of the Vietnam War, what differentiates 'For What It's Worth' from the vast majority of other protest songs is it's overtly positive chorus - “stop killing, what's that sound? everyone look what's going down.” If only the leaders of the world would pay notice.
7. Bob Dylan: 'Blowin In The Wind' – One of Dylan's many timeless protest songs, the 1963 anthem poses a series of questions about war, freedom and peace, yet never really answers them. The chorus' famous refrain of “The answer my friend, is blowing in the wind” is wholly ambiguous – either implying the answer is all around and obvious or as intangible as the wind. The track becmae a soundtrack of the civil rights movement of the 1960s and testament to its enduring legacy has been covered by everyone from Elvis Presley to Dolly Parton.
6. U2: 'Sunday Bloody Sunday' – Opening with a military drumbeat, U2's highly political 1983 anthem soon turns into a heady protest at The Troubles in Northern Ireland - most notably the Bloody Sunday massacre in Derry in January 1972 when British soldiers opened fire on protesters, killing 14 and injuring 29 more. Composed by The Edge, arguably the most hard-hitting moment of the song comes when Bono proclaims “I won't heed the battle call”. An earlier version of the track interestingly featured the line “Don't talk to me about the rights of the IRA, UDA”, but this was later removed as the band did not want to directly reference political groups.
5. Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young: 'Ohio' – The timeless song was written in response to the Kent State Shootings of May 4, 1970 when the Ohio National Guard opened fire college students protesting against the American invasion of Cambodia which President Nixon had announced five days earlier. Four were killed and one left paralysed. Just like its subject matter, 'Ohio' is brutal lyrically, referring to "four dead in Ohio" throughout and opening with the line "Tin soldiers and Nixon coming." Named as the 385th greatest song of all time by Rolling Stone magazine, really it should have been higher.
4. Barry McGuire: 'Eve Of Destruction' – As the portentous title titillates, the song warns of an imminent apocalypse as it laments the ills of society. Almost Leonard Cohen-esque in the grave delivery, McGuire touches upon all of the political woes of the mid 1960s – the Cold War, Vietnam, the nuclear arms race, inequality and civil rights. Inspired lines such as “You’re old enough to kill, but not for votin’" make this easily one of the greatest protest songs of all time.
3. Plastic Ono Band: 'Give Peace A Chance' - The phrase “Give peace a chance” was originally said by John Lennon to a journalist in an interview during his famous 'Bed-In' with Yoko Ono. He liked the line so much he eventually went on to write the song. The anti-war anthem then gained fame when it was sung by half a million demonstrators in Washington at the 1969 Vietnam Moratorium Day. Alongside Lennon's other protest anthems 'Imagine', 'Happy Xmas (War Is Over)' and 'Power To The People',' Give Peace A Chance' is a defining protest song.
2. Billie Holiday: 'Strange Fruit' – Abel Meeropol, a Jewish high school teacher from the Bronx, wrote the haunting song in response to the lynching of two black men Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith in August 1930. Condemning American racism and the lynching of blacks in Southern states, in her inimitable voice Holiday opens with the incredibly evocative lines: “Southern trees bear strange fruit, Blood on the leaves and blood at the root, Black body swinging in the Southern breeze, Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.”
1. Marvin Gaye: 'What's Going On?' - Not just the greatest protest song, Marvin Gaye's 1971 classic is one of the greatest songs ever written. Co-songwriter Obie Benson initially started writing 'What's Going On?' after witnessing anti-war protesters being beaten by cops hence the “picket lines and picket signs, don't punish me with brutality” lyrics. However with Al Cleveland and Gaye's input it became an anthem meditating on the troubles of the world as a whole and, given the context of the release date, the Vietnam War. Gorgeous musically, Gaye sounds concerned with the bleak subject matter, yet somehow there is also a glimmer of hope in his voice. Considering the current world climate, 'What's Going On?' is as relevant as ever today.
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To mark May Day, a day historically associated with rallies, protests and riots, Gigwise presents the 20 greatest protest songs of all time. Featuring Guns N' Roses, Bob Marley, The Clash, Marvin Gaye, Billie Holiday, The Beatles and more...