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Songs of Protest

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Posted on Apr 28, 2006
Green Day
From The Nation

Green Day’s album “American Idiot,” a roaring pop-punk assault on the “redneck agenda” and the warped discourse of post-9/11 America, went to Number 1 on the charts, won a Grammy in 2005 for best rock album and has sold more than 5 million copies. 

The Nation magazine notes that just as Bob Dylan moved the Vietnam era, many modern-day acts are eloquently calling for change in America.

An audio/video sampling of protest:

  • Green Day
  • Neil Young
  • Pink
  • Pearl Jam
  • Kanye West
  • The Dixie Chicks

  • From the editors of The Nation:

    There may never be another Bob Dylan. But there will always be protest music of the sort that first endeared Dylan to a mass audience, and that confirmed the power of song to move not just a generation but a nation. Dylan was not the first protest singer; indeed, a good deal of his early Dust Bowl-poet persona derived from Woody Guthrie. And as his more overtly political compatriot Phil Ochs noted in the mid-1960s, Dylan was never comfortable in any movement, a fact that eventually led him to shed his topical-songwriter trappings to become the mythical character that Richard Goldstein examines on page 11. But the artful approach to political songwriting that Dylan pioneered remains an inspiration to today’s musicians. And what they sing and say still matters, as the first skirmish of the Iraq War--the frontal assault on the dissenting Dixie Chicks after their lead singer criticized George W. Bush--confirmed....

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    By James Stowel, April 26, 2007 at 11:21 am #
    (Unregistered commenter)

    Yeah it was pretty cool

    Report this

    By Jim Perry, May 4, 2006 at 8:25 am #
    (Unregistered commenter)

    How about Steve Earle’s “TheRevoluiton Starts Now”, and another great one from Rodney Crowell, a song called “Don’t Get Me STarted”. Check it out!

    Report this

    By mike de Martino, May 3, 2006 at 9:05 pm #
    (Unregistered commenter)

    The American Dream
    Words and Music by
    Michael de Martino

    I was born in America
    The land of the brave, the free
    I was told of the American dream
    Where everyone’s supposed to be free
    I was born in America
    The land of the guiding light
    I never dreamed that the dream’d be taken
    Away from me
    But somebody’s done it
    Somebody went and stole the American dream.

    If you’re born in America
    You better get ready to fight
    The time of peace is beyond us now
    America’s flexing its might
    I was born in America
    The land of the brave, the free
    I never dreamed that the dream’d be taken
    Away from me
    But somebody’s done it
    Somebody went and stole the American dream.

    Well the soldiers are marching
    The countries at war
    All our troops have been dying, cause there armor’s so poor
    Yeah, This is a country where you’re supposed to be free
    But someone’s been lying to you
    They’ve been lying to me

    Somebody went and stole the American
    Somebody went and stole the American
    Somebody went and stole the American dream
    The American dream
    The dream
    The American dream

    C 1984, 2005 Michael de Martino
    P 2005 Dericco Music BMI
    All rights reserved

    Report this

    By nom, May 2, 2006 at 5:00 pm #
    (Unregistered commenter)

    haha greenday? none of these groups are appriately “protest”. Kanye west? not even close. What about dead prez, the coup, immortal tecgnique plus many othe groups. this article is mostly a joke to say the least.

    Report this

    By John, May 2, 2006 at 5:38 am #
    (Unregistered commenter)

    And what of Tool?

    Report this

    By Roger Drowne EC, May 1, 2006 at 12:33 pm #
    (Unregistered commenter)

    Hello ART-ers

    SEE WHY THEY SING IN PAINT

    20 + PROTEST PAINTINGS at…

    http://www.RogerART.com

    OK 2 copy images and PASS em ON

    Report this

    By Tlazolteotl, May 1, 2006 at 10:18 am #
    (Unregistered commenter)

    I can’t believe Radiohead isn’t listed.

    “Hail to the Thief”

    what the hell did you think that was about?

    Report this

    By MaryHathSpokane.com, May 1, 2006 at 7:57 am #
    (Unregistered commenter)

    As a mother and graduate from U. of Michigan in the late sixties I wish the young generation could be exposed to the ‘classics’ we were - Dylan’s songs, Beetles’- Revolution, Imagine, Let It Be, Cat Steven’s - Peace Train, etc.  I am so upset that the media ‘spews’ out the ‘vomit’ of violence and degradation of women to enslave young minds in their FIRST SEAL just to make the ALMIGHTY ‘buck’!!!
    MaryHathSpokane.com
    MAW (Mother Against War)
    Author of U.N. Peace Pledge

    Report this

    By LLewis, April 30, 2006 at 8:06 pm #
    (Unregistered commenter)

    Pink’s song to the president is very appropriate - especially the refrain about “hard work”.  Great song, perfect timing…

    Report this

    By Weedian, April 30, 2006 at 2:08 pm #
    (Unregistered commenter)

    There’s a guitar player/vocalist/songwriter who goes by the name Wino - he’s a long time cult figure within the underground “stoner” metal niche, which borrows from the early Black Sabbath formula. His prior band, Spirit Caravan, was mostly comprised of material warning against what was coming, and some direct anti-Bushco tunes, “Dove-Tongued Aggressor,” and “Brainwashed.”

    They disbanded and he quickly formed The Hidden Hand, which is completely about railing against all things New World Order and Bushco, and in their debut lp, “Divine Propaganda,” included a list of must-read books with titles ranging from the spot-on Greg Palast, to the ‘far out’ David Icke. They even had anti-Bushco gizmos at their live shows.

    Their sophomore effort, “Mother Teacher Destroyer,” is their best material so far, with titles such as “Travesty As Usual” and “The De-Programming Of Tom Delay.” Very old school slow to mid-paced heavy music, smart and soulfull. Think a Sabbath-ish, mystical version of the 80s iconoclastic Dead Kennedy’s.

    Report this

    By Larry, April 29, 2006 at 11:09 pm #
    (Unregistered commenter)

    topplebush.com has dozens of antiwar songs listed alphabetically in its special projects section.

    ahem, “Just Got Back (from Iraq and Nam)”, my song, is under ‘J’.

    it’s an interesting site, with action alerts and NYT columnists in toto.

    Report this

    By David Hahn, April 29, 2006 at 12:25 pm #
    (Unregistered commenter)

    Alongside the traditional “protest” songs are a bevy of brilliant protest “sound poems” by composers. Such a one is David Hahn’s APOCALYPSE COW available here:
    http://www.davidhahnonline.com/pages/apocalypsecow.htm

    Report this

    By TomSongs, April 28, 2006 at 5:29 pm #
    (Unregistered commenter)

    I’m a songwriter and although my reach has been a mere 60,000-80,000 hits per month, “Bushwhacked” was downloaded more than 2500 times in April.

    “BushWhacked”
    (WMV)
    http://www.tomsongs.com/images/Bushwhacked_0001.wmv

    “BushWhacked”
    MP3
    http://www.tomsongs.com/images/BushWhacked.MP3

    Report this

    By Daniel Fyffe, April 28, 2006 at 3:39 pm #
    (Unregistered commenter)

    I cannot be the only person who listened to Prince’s Cinnamon Girl & Dear Mr. Man along with the brillant “Mosh” by Eminem in the early days of the Iraq war. How quickly we forget and please check these megastars offerings out.

    Report this

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