Last week, I posted a listing of my 40 favorite protest songs. We’ve been spinning those choice cuts around the apartment since then, appreciating their timeless topicality. As the contents and concerns expressed in those songs continue to churn, at home and on the streets, several other great protest songs popped to my mind or were suggested by others. I’ve been adding them to a core list of a dozen or so that I’d kept off the original post in the interest of (relative) brevity. This morning, that growing list of protest songs reached the “Top 40” level again, and so I share a second collection with you, for your thought, reflection, action, and/or inspiration. The links below will take you to each of the songs online, and Marcia again made a full Spotify playlist that’s embedded at the bottom of this post for those of you who stream your music. Spin the songs in power. Good in your ear holes, good for your motivated souls!
- “Revolution,” Arrested Development
- “Full Metal Jackoff,” Jello Biafra and D.O.A.
- “Rebel Girl,” Bikini Kill
- “Say It Loud (I’m Black and I’m Proud),” James Brown
- “For What It’s Worth,” Buffalo Springfield
- “Beat Down Babylon,” Junior Byles
- “Be Free,” J. Cole
- “We Come in Peace,” Bobby Conn and the Glass Gypsies
- “A Change Is Gonna Come,” Sam Cooke
- “They’ll Never Keep Us Down,” Hazel Dickens
- “Kill for Peace,” The Fugs
- “Biko,” Peter Gabriel
- “Mannenberg,” Abdullah Ibrahim
- “Soweto Blues,” Miriam Makeba
- “(Don’t Worry) If There’s a Hell Below, We’re All Going to Go,” Curtis Mayfield
- “16 Shots,” Vic Mensa
- “The Big Stick,” The Minutemen
- “Americans,” Janelle Monáe
- “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” Melba Moore
- “Mathematics,” Mos Def
- “There But For Fortune,” Phil Ochs
- “Like Really,” Oddisee
- “Young Girls,” Princess Nokia
- “By the Time I Get to Arizona,” Public Enemy
- “U.N.I.T.Y.,” Queen Latifah
- “My Country ’tis of Thy People You’re Dying,” Buffy Sainte-Marie
- “Asimbonanga,” Savuka
- “Where Have All The Flowers Gone?,” Pete Seeger
- “Bristol and Miami,” The Selecter
- “God Save The Queen,” Sex Pistols
- “Swimsuit Issue,” Sonic Youth
- “Free Nelson Mandela,” The Special AKA
- “Apartheid,” Peter Tosh
- “Sunday Bloody Sunday,” U2
- “Hombre Gris,” Vakeró
- “Trouble,” Josh White
- “Better Must Come,” Delroy Wilson
- “Shipbuilding,” Robert Wyatt
- “Oh Bondage! Up Yours!,” X-Ray Spex
- “Trouble Every Day,” Frank Zappa and the Mother of Invention
If someone came for you one night and dragged you away, do you really think your neighbors would even care? (See track two for the answer).
J. ERIC SMITH 