10 Best American Protest Songs

10.  "Mr. Wendal"(Arrested Development) 3 Years, 5 Months, & 2 Days in the Life of. . . , 1992

I can hear all of the die-hards in the bloggosphere now, the old hatters, the mad dying hippies:  "But this isn't even a protest song!  give me some Phil Ochs!  Some Donovan!  Some CSNY!  Come on, man!"  the truth is that in 1993, when Arrested Development was in the middle of a swath of musicians, poets, writers, and politicians who claimed not to have a cause for which to fight, they found the one thing to attack that was always in front of our faces:  the nasty effect that poverty has on our country.  Mr. Wendel cried out to us at a time when this entire country was too busy complaining about a trade deficit that didn't even exist to see that most of the people most in need were right underr our noses.  listening to it now, I wonder how many of us will see him now. 

9. "War" (Edwin Starr) War & Peace, 1970

Okay, so it's sort of an obvious choice.  Sue me.  The truth is that if you haven't heard this song and live within the lower 48 states, someone is bound to laugh at you.  Not only was this the only blatantly anti-war hit for the Temptations when they released it  (and Starr's only record of note for that or anty label,) but it was the only war song released for Motown that Berry Gordy didn't try to stop from recording as soon as he saw it.   

8. "I Ain't Marching Anymore" (Phil Ochs) I Ain't Marching Anymore,  1966

     Ah, Phil Ochs.  he might not have written a single song of lasting mmerit other than this song, but what a song!  of all of the list protest songs that were pressed into the folk scene in the '60's, this might be the one with the purest sense of the anti-war movement of the time and those yet to come.  There's it's timelessness and, of course, that you can't help but whistle it for several hours after you've heard it once. 

7. "Handsome Johnny" (Richie Havens) Mixed Bag, 1967

"It's a long, hard road before we'll be free."  This is the first of a list of songs that come to mind from the last great Protest period that successfully pressed two of the major conflicts in the US-- of the Civil Rights and Anti-War Movements-- together.  Not only that, but Havens' straight-forward, hard-driving protest song took a looka t every conflict our country'd had from its inception till then and encapsulated it into the piece, leaving room for those of us who might pick up a guitar and sing it again to add in a verse or tow of our own.  Like any great folk song, this one lets its singer mold it to the time it needs to be sung. 

6."Guerilla Radio" (Rage Against the Machine) Battle for Los Angeles, 1999

The great thing about Rage Against the Machine was that they could make fabulous music with a hard-driving political edge without having their audience-- head-bangers, thrashers, hippies, would-be-lost souls, anyone just so long as they could scream-- take themselves too seriously.  Of course, soon after this record was released, frontman Zach De La Rocha ran into Mexico to go fight with zapatistas, leaving the rest of the band to be a back-up act for Chris Cornell.  at least they left us banging our heads and screaming "Free Mumia!" 

5. "Machine Gun" (Jimi Hendrix)  Band of Gypsys, 1970

It's New Year's Eve, 1969.  Jimi Hendrix-- sex symbol, rock god, trippy magic boy has put together some old Army buddies for his new band, they turn up the bass, go a LOT more blues, and do a song about. . . VIETNAM?  Seriously, though, this song tore me apart the first time I heard it, and considering the short version of this song clocks in at just over 9 minutes, it should you, too. 

4. "Change is Gonna Come" (Sam Cooke) AInt That Good News, 1963

According to legend, soul singer Sam Cooke listened to Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind" and sat down and wrote this song.  I don't know if that's true, but whether or not it is, I know that every time I hear this song-- even in the bad remakes of it, and there are many-- I still take a breath.   

3. "Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore" (John Prine) John Prine, 1970

There's a live 2004 recording of this song on Youtube that speaks most clearly to me about its importance.  prine is playing this song to a college crowd, and halfway through the song, he starts to talk.  He says "you know, I put this song away for a little while, didn't play it at all.  then I got a call from the President of the United States told me it was time people heard it again."  The crowd laughed.  The truth is that what with all of the crap about flag pins and the sanctimonious braggarts telling people to "Support Our Troops" and "Pray for the President", I think it only fitting that someone tell them that Jesus don't like killing, no matter what the reasons for.  Thank you, John Prine. 

2. "You Haven't Done Nothin'" (Stevie Wonder) Fulfilliness' First Finale, 1974

This song was apparently inspired by Richard M. Nixon, but really it's about bad leaders in general.  The message is clear:  don't lie to your people.  we will know. 

1. "Maggie's Farm" (Bob Dylan) Bringing It All Back Home, 1965

I agonized over this choice, primarily because Bob Dylan wrote so many great protest songs from '61 to '66, and has peppered his career with them to this day.  "Maggie's Farm," though-- a protest song that protests the protest movement-- is the ultimate in the fight for individual freedoms.