My Favorite Protest Songs
Global conflicts, activism, new faces, and great music
Things are bad right now. Really bad. Insanely bad. It’s hard to be hopeful when everything is awful. Artists always do a good job of reflecting the culture, especially when that culture is wrecked. These musicians didn’t shy away from these terrible times and expressed their fear and overall frustration though some of the most famous songs of all time. If you attended a USA curriculum school, you either read the Diary of Anne Frank, Animal Farm, or Lord of the Flies in our educational career. While great pieces of literature, most students won’t read these texts or are cramming to finish the book before the test the next day. Truth be told, the youth pays more attention to what their favorite singer has to say than George Orwell. While many performers have their music be an escape from the ugliness of current events, others do all they can to spread news and information to their audience. In the digital age, celebrities are expected to use their platform to share resources to their fans; I honestly think this is totally acceptable.
Chappell Roan is someone who comes to mind when discussing the “rules for thee, not for me” of it all. Chappell Roan’s entire persona is honoring drag performers and the LGBTQ+ community. Innately, this makes your art political. Chappell Roan not only derives from drag queens, but she is one herself. She’s also proudly shared that she declined performing at the White House for pride month and invited local drag performers to open all her US dates on her last tour. So when someone like this went on the Call Her Daddy podcast, we were all confused. She had already received backlash for defending herself from the paparazzi, saying all the mothers she’s friends are “in hell”, and implying that fans should not approach her if she’s out in public. To add to the fire, she said the following on the podcast with Alex Cooper: “How can these girls tour, write, eat, sleep, interview, perform, work out, lead a team, pay people and be so politically educated? It’s exhausting and i't’s impossible.”
I get that she’s expected to do it all but she chose this expectation- being famous means doing it all if you are a quality artist that is directly involved with all your visuals, songwriting, team leadership, etc. Fans are getting tired of what some call a superficial allies and white girl feminism and Chappell is far from the only artist receiving backlash: Taylor Swift, Brittany Broski, Justin Bieber, among others. On the flip side, we have many public figures in music old and new that are directly involved in politics and positively using their right of free speech. The earliest protest song was “Free Americay!” by Dr. Joseph Warren in 1774. This song discussed the conflict with the British government during the American Revolution. Forwarding some years, there was George M. Cohan’s “Over There” during World War I and one of the first mainstream protest songs Strange Fruit” by Billie Holiday during the Second World War.
I wanted to share a few of my favorite protest songs and their significance looking through a current lens. This list ranges from the Vietnam War, British monarchy, the colonization of the Puerto Rican people, and more. It is also listed in chronological release date. Here is a playlist with all tracks mentioned:
“Blowin’ in the Wind” by Bob Dylan (1962) - questioning acts of war
“A Change is Gonna Come” by Sam Cooke (1964) - the Civil Rights movement
“Blackbird” by The Beatles (1968) - the women of the Civil Rights movement
“In the Ghetto” by Elvis Presley (1969) - poverty and crime
“War Pigs” by Black Sabbath (1970) - critiques war worldwide
“Big Yellow Taxi” by Joni Mitchell (1970) - environmental destruction
“Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door” by Bob Dylan (1973) - impending death of those at the frontlines
“The Pill” by Loretta Lynn (1975) - birth control and reproductive rights
“God Save the Queen” by Sex Pistols (1977) - Britain’s fascist regime
“Sólo le Pido a Dios” by León Gieco (1978) - Argentinian dictatorship
“Army Dreamers” by Kate Bush (1980) - grieving mothers of army veterans
“Rock the Casbah” by The Clash (1982) - the persecution of the Iranian people
“99 Luftballons” by NENA (1983) - life past the Berlin Wall
“Born in the USA” by Bruce Springsteen (1984) - economic hardships of Vietnam veterans
“Smalltown Boy” by Bronski Beat (1984) - homophobia amid the AIDS epidemic
“Fight the Power” by Public Enemy (1989) - systemic injustice of black citizens
“Killing in the Name” by Rage Against the Machine (1992) - LAPD’s misuse of power
“They Don’t Care About Us” by Michael Jackson (1995) - social injustice and police brutality
“Changes” by 2Pac ft. Talent (1998) - hate crimes and lack of potential for black leaders in the US
“American Idiot” by Green Day (2004) - George W. Bush’s attacks on Iraq and the media’s miscoverage of the war
“B.Y.O.B” by System of a Down (2005) - flawed military system and class divide
“Paper Planes” by M.I.A (2007) - negative perception of immigrants in the US
“Alright” by Kendrick Lamar (2015) - hope for black youth in America
“Angel Down” by Lady Gaga (2016) - the death of Trayvon Martin
“Freedom” by Beyoncé ft, Kendrick Lamar (2016) - racial injustice and BLM movement
“Nina Cried Power” by Hozier ft. Mavis Staples (2018) - the power of protest
“This Is America” by Childish Gambino (2018) - police brutality and gun violence
“Get Your Brits Out” by Kneecap (2019) - the infiltration of the British in Ireland
“El Apagón” by Bad Bunny (2023) - lack of quality of life of Puerto Ricans
“LO QUE LE PASÓ A HAWAii” by Bad Bunny (2025) - colonization of Hawaii and Puerto Rico
Artists like Bad Bunny, Kneecap, Fontaines D.C. , and Kendrick Lamar are pioneers in today’s political music. They make politics a part of everything they do. From Kendrick Lamar’s Superbowl half time show to Bad Bunny’s exclusion of the United States in his upcoming tour. What are some of your favorite protest songs? Do you think musicians have an obligation to use their platform during a tough political climate? I wanna know all your thoughts!
Follow Dani Is Dizzy for all things pop culture, music, and Nueva York living. As always, my socials are down below:
Instagram: danielastorres
TikTok: canyonmoonlvr
Pinterest: daniisdizzy
-Daniela Torres
I don’t see the harm in artists using their music/platforms to comment on politics or protest it. They just shouldn’t get political if they wanna back out of it so quickly.