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PROTEST SONGS DEFINITION:
Essentially a protest song is one that expresses disapproval or complaint, commonly about a perceived injustice, immorality or bad circumstance. The term "protest song" first gained wide usage in the 1960s as a description of popular anti-war songs by artists such Bob Dylan and Joan Baez who may have been influenced by earlier civil rights songs particularly those of Pete Seegar.
The subjects addressed by the protest song often come into the category of current affairs and so tend to have relevance limited in time and place. They often relate to political and social issues and may be associated with a movement for social change. During the Industrial Revolution, dehumanising working conditions and low wages were a common theme, the 1920s and 30s union songs championing workers’ rights were popular, the 60s hilighted the civil rights movement, the Vietnam war, and environmental awareness.
It is supposed that the protest song has the purpose to inspire its audience to pay attention to the situation outlined in the song, perhaps with a call for direct action or support "the cause". The song content will often align and empathise with the position of the "underdog" and may denigrate groups or persons seen as contributing causally to the "bad situation". The devices of pathos, irony, parody and black humour may also be found in protest songs. Protest songs may be of any musical style or genre but often are "sing along" songs undemanding on singing and musical ability, thus simple pop and folk arrangements tend to be the most commonly used. Typical causes using the protest song include: anti-war, anti-racism, the labour movement, environmentalism, feminism, gay rights, animal rights, social exclusion, poverty and many more.
Rod Smith July 2013
IMPORTANT
Although many of the songs mention artist or author names, this may not be accurate and these songs should not be considered as definitive versions representative of any particular performance or artist. Also the keys and chord sequences chosen may also vary considerably between versions by different artists. Some of these songs may be in the public domain or traditional categories, however most are not, and should you wish to use them as a basis of a performance or for any non-personal study purpose you are advised to contact the copyright holders (where available, copyright info has been included with the song). These transcriptions are made by many different individuals from all over the world for their own research and instruction, and as such are liable to great variation in interpretation and opinion. They are being shared on this site for educational purposes only, please see our copyright page for more info.
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1913 Massacre- Woody Guthrie 19th Nervous Breakdown- Mick Jagger & Keith Richards 99 Red Balloons- Nena Across The Lines- Tracy Chapman A Day In The Life- John Lennon A Day In The Life- The Beatles Advertising Space- Robbie Williams Africa Unite- Bob Marley After The Gold Rush- Neil Young A Hard Rain's A- Gonna Fall- Bob Dylan A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall- Bob Dylan Alabama- Neil Young All I Want- Jim Garland All My Trials- Joan Baez All The Fine Young Men- Eric Bogle Ambush In The Night- Bob Marley American Skin 41 Shots- Bruce Springsteen And The Band Played Waltzing Mathilda- Eric Bogle Angry American- Toby Keith Another Brick In The Wall- Pink Floyd Any King's Shilling- Elvis Costello Aquarius- James Rado (hair) A Reason For It All- Eric Bogle A Soldier's Dream- Donovan P Leitch A Toast To Those Who Are Gone- Phil Ochs At The Zoo- Paul Simon Authority Song- John Mellencamp Average Person- Paul Mccartney A Well- Respected Man- Ray Davies Baby, You're A Rich Man- John Lennon & Paul Mccartney Bad Moon Rising- Creedence Clearwater Revival Bad Moon Rising- John Fogerty Ballad Of Donald White- Bob Dylan Ballad Of Hollis Brown- Bob Dylan Ballad Of Penny Evans- Steve Goodman 1971 Ballad Of The Skeletons- Paul Mccartney Ballad Of William Worthy- Phil Ochs Banks Of Marble- Lee Rice 1950 Barrel Of Pain Half Life- Graham Nash Be Careful Of Stones That You Throw- E Dodd Beds Are Burning- Midnight Oil Big Yellow Taxi- Joni Mitchell Biko- Peter Gabriel Birmingham Sunday Ukulele- Joan Baez Bitch- Meredith Brooks Black & White- Three Dog Night Black Rain- Aa Bondy Blood Brothers- Bruce Springsteen Blood Poppy Red- Nick Shovlin Bloody Well Right- Supertramp Blowing In The Wind- Bob Dylan Blowing In The Wind- Joan Baez Blowin' In The Wind- Bob Dylan Bob Dylan's Dream- Bob Dylan Books Are Burning- Andy Partridge(xtc) Born In The Usa- Bruce Springsteen Born On The Fourth Of July- Tom Paxton Bright Suburban Mr Mrs Clean Machine- Joe Mcdonald Bring 'em Home- Bruce Springsteen Bringing Buddy Home- John Mcdermott Buffalo Soldier- Bob Marley But I Might Die Tonight- Cat Stevens Cakewalk To Baghdad Lyrics And Music By Bruce Barthol © 2003 Cat's In The Cradle- Harry Chapin Charlie & The M.t.a.- Traditional Chimes Of Freedom- Bob Dylan Chimes Of Freedom- Bruce Springsteen Christmas In The Trenches- John Mccutcheon Conquistador- Gary Brooker & Keith Reid(procol Harem) Cookie Jar- Jack Johnson Cops Of The World- Phil Ochs Critic's Choice- Robert Lamm Crucifixion- Phil Ochs Crystal Blue Persuasion- Tommy James Cuban Missile Crisis- Bob Dylan Daniel- Bernie Taupin Dark As A Dungeon- Merle Travis Day Is Done- Peter, Paul & Mary Dear God- Xtc Dear Mrs Roosevelt- Woody Guthrie Deportee- Woody Guthrie Desolation Row- Bob Dylan Dialogue- Robert Lamm(chicago) Disease Of Conceit- Bob Dylan does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?- Robert Lamm(chicago) Donna Donna- Donovan Donots And Anti- Flag Anti- War Song - Justin Sane- Ly Don't Ever Take Away Our Freedom- Peter Paul And Mary Do Re Mi- Woody Guthrie Draft Dodger Rag- Phil Ochs Dust Bowl Blues- Woody Guthrie Ebony And Ivory- Paul Mccartney Eleanor Rigby- John Lennon Eleanor Rigby- Paul Mccartney Eve Of Destruction- Barry Mcguire Everyday People- Sly & The Family Stone(1969) Everything Is Broken- Bob Dylan Excitable Boy- Warren Zevon Excuse Me, Mr- Ben Harper Family Affair- Sly & The Family Stone Father And Son- Cat Stevens Father Christmas- Ray Davies Feel Like I'm Fixin' To Die Rag- Country Joe Macdonald Filled With Love- Joyce Andersen- Ly Final Straw- Michael Stipe- Ly Final Straw—rem Find The Cost Of Freedom- Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young Flowers- The Talking Heads For My Lover- Tracy Chapman Fortunate Son- Creedence Clearwater Revival Fortunate Son- John Fogerty For What It's Worth- Stephen Stills Fragile- Sting Free At Last Chords- Joan Baez Freedom- Paul Mccartney Free Tibet- Vino Rosso Gallipoli- The Fureys Games Without Frontiers- Peter Gabriel Get Together- Chet Powers Get Up Stand Up- Bob Marley Give Ireland Back To The Irish- Paul Mccartney Give Peace A Chance- John Lennon God Save The People- Stephen Schwartz God's Comic- Declan Patrick Aloysius Macmanus Gods Counting On Me Gods Counting On You- Pete Seeger Goldwatch Blues- Donovan Good Company- Brian May(queen) Goodnight, Saigon- Billy Joel Hair- James Rado(hair) Happy Christmas(war Is Over)- John Lennon Hard Times- Stephen C Foster Hard Times In New York Town- Bob Dylan Hard Travelin- Woody Guthrie Harry Truman- Robert Lamm Heavy Horses- Ian Anderson Here's To The State Of Mississippi- Phil Ochs Here's To The State Of Richard Nixon- Phil Ochs Hero Nam Vet- Ron Rackley Hey, Nellie, Nellie- Sam Brown Higher Ground- Stevie Wonder Highway 61 Revisited- Bob Dylan Hiram Hubbard- Trad Hiroshima Hiroshima Nagasaki Russian Roulette- Jim Page Hobos Lullaby- Woody Guthrie Hobos Lullaby- Woody Guthrie 1 Holiday- Greenday Hurricane- Bob Dylan I Ain't Got No Home- Woody Guthrie I Ain't Marchin' Anymore- Phil Ochs I Aint Marching Anymore- Phil Ochs 1 I Am Not At War With Anyone- Luka Bloom- Ly Ideology- Billy Bragg I'd Like To Teach The World To Sing- The New Seekers I'd Love To Change The World- Alvin Lee I Don't Like Mondays- Bob Geldof(the Boomtown Rats) I Feel Like Im Fixing To Die Rag Chords- Country Joe Mcdonald I Feel Like I'm Fixin' To Die Rag- Joe Mcdonald 1965 If I Had A Hammer- Lee Hays If I Had A Hammer- Peter Paul And Mary If I Had A Rocket Launcher- Bruce Cockburn If I Were Free- Jesse Winchester I Gonna Say It Now- Phil Ochs Imagine- John Lennon I'm Gonna Be An Engineer- Peggy Seeger In A World Gone Mad- Beastie Boys Innocent Child- Mick Jones Instant Karma- John Lennon In Your Name- Graham Nash It Better End Soon- Robert Lamm Its Good News Week- Hedgehoppers Anonymous It's The End Of The World As We Know It- R.E.M. It Takes A Married Man To Sing A Worried Song- Woody Guthrie Jack And Diane- John Cougar Mellencamp Janie's Got A Gun- Steven Tyler Jefferson And Liberty- Traditional Jesus Christ- Woody Guthrie Joe Hill- Phil Ochs Joe Hill Ukulele- Joan Baez Johnny, I Hardly Knew You- Trad Just A Girl- Gwen Stefani Lady Madonna- Paul Mccartney Last Night I Had The Strangest Dream- Ed Mccurdy Lather- Jefferson Airplane Lay Down- Melanie Safka Let Him Dangle- Declan Patrick Aloysius Macmanus Let The People Sing- Brian Warfield Let There Be Peace On Earth- Jill Jackson License To Kill- Bob Dylan Life During Wartime- Green Day- Ly |
Like A Rolling Stone- Bob Dylan Little Boxes- Malvina Reynolds Little Boxes- Pete Seeger Living In The Future In A Plastic Dome- Joe Mcdonald Living On A Thin Line- Ray Davies Look What They've Done To My Song- Melanie Safka Love Me Im A Liberal- Phil Ochs Lowdown- Peter Cetera Lucky Man- Emerson, Lake & Palmer Ludlow Massacre- Woody Guthrie Luka- Suzanne Vega Mad Johns Escape- Donovan Masters Of War- Bob Dylan Me And Julio Down By The Schoolyard- Paul Simon Men Behind The Guns- Phil Ochs Mercedes Benz- Janis Joplin Midnight Special- Huddie Ledbetter My Revolutionary Mind- Woody Guthrie My Youngest Son Came Home- Eric Bogle Nebraska- Bruce Springsteen Nikita- Elton John No Easy Walk To Freedom- Peter Paul And Mary North Country Blues- Bob Dylan Not An Addict- K's Choice No Use For Him- Eric Bogle Oh, Freedom- Traditional American Oh Camil The Winter Soldier - Graham Nash 1973 Ohio- Neil Young Ohio- Neil Young 1970 Old- Time Religion Old Man- Neil Young Old Time Religion Parody- Pete Seeger One- U2 One Love- Bob Marley One Of Us- Eric Bazilian One Tin Soldier- Dennis Lambertt One Way Or Another- Debbie Harry Only A Hobo- Bob Dylan Only A Pawn In Their Game- Bob Dylan Orange Crush- R E M- Ly Outside Of A Small Circle Of Friends- Phil Ochs Oxford Town- Bob Dylan Paradise- Traditional Pastures Of Plenty- Woody Guthrie Peace, Love & Understanding- Nick Lowe Peace Frog- Jim Morrison & Robby Krieger Peace Train- Cat Stevens People Get Ready- Curtis Mayfield Pink Houses- John Mellencamp Political Science- Randy Newman Political World- Bob Dylan Portland Town- Woody Guthrie Power To The People- John Lennon Pride- U2 Prison Trilogy Billy Rose- Joan Baez Psycho Killer- Talking Heads Radio, Radio- Declan Patrick Aloysius Macmanus Radio Ga- Ga- Roger Taylor Real Good For Free- Joni Mitchell Rejoyce- Grace Slick 1967 Repossession Blues- Bob Dylan Revolution- John Lennon & Paul Mccartney Rich Man Poor Man- Peter Paul And Mary Right Here, Right Now- Jesus Jones Roland The Headless Thompson Gunner- Warren Zevon Russians- Sting Salvation- The Cranberries Samson & Delilah- Reverend Gary Davis Save The People- Stephen Schwarz Scarborough Fair- Canticle- Traditional School- Supertramp Searching For A Soldier's Grave- Jim Anglin Shaking The Tree- Peter Gabriel Shambala- Three Dog Night Shipbuilding- Elvis Costello Short People- Randy Newman Signs- L. Emmerson Sing A Mean Tune, Kid- Robert Lamm Singing The Spirit Home- Eric Bogle Smells Like Teen Spirit- Kurt Cobain Soldiers Of Peace- Graham Nash Song Of A Soldier- Phil Ochs Song Of Bangladesh- Joan Baez Sound Of Silence- Paul Simon Southern Man- Neil Young Springhill Mine Disaster- Luke Kelly Subterranean Homesick Blues- Bob Dylan Success Has Made A Failure Of Our Home- Sinzad O'connor Sunday, Bloody Sunday- U2 Sunny Came Home- Shawn Colvin Superbird- Joe Mcdonald Sweet Home Alabama- Ronnie Van Zant Sympathy For The Devil- Mick Jagger Synchronicity I- Sting Talkin' About A Revolution- Tracy Chapman Talkin' John Birch Paranoid Blues- Bob Dylan Talkin' World War Iii Blues- Bob Dylan Teach Your Children- Graham Nash Ten Forgotten Men- The Irish Brigade That's The Way I've Always Heard It Should Be- Carly Simon That Was The President- Phil Ochs The Ballad Of Ira Hayes- Bob Dylan The Battle Of Evermore- Led Zeppelin The Bomb Song Joe Mcdonald The Boxer- Paul Simon The Boys That Wore The Green- Unknown The Cannons Of Christianity- Phil Ochs The Continuing Story Of Bungalow Bill- John Lennon The Cruel War- Traditional The Cruel War Chords- Peter Paul And Mary The Dangling Conversation- Paul Simon The Downeaster Alexa - Billy Joel The Fields Of Athenry- Pete St John The Fool On The Hill- John Lennon The General- Dispatch The Ghost Of Tom Joad- Bruce Springsteen The Great Mandella- Peter Yarrow The Green Fields Of France- Eric Bogle The King's Shilling- Ian Sinclair The Klan- Traditional The Logical Song- Supertramp The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll- Bob Dylan The Moneygoround- Ray Davies The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down- Joan Baez The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down- Robbie Robertson The Passing Of My Life- Phil Ochs The Pound Is Sinking- Paul Mccartney The Power And The Glory- Phil Ochs There But For Fortune- Phil Ochs There's A War Outside- Ian Mccalman The Riflemen's Song At Bennington- Traditional The Shipyard Slips- David Wilde The Sins Of A Family- Barry Mcguire The Thresher- Phil Ochs The Times They Are A- Changin- Bob Dylan 1 The Times They Are A- Changin- Bob Dylan The Times They Are A Changing- Peter Paul And Mary The War Drags On- Donovan The Wearing Of The Green- Traditional Irish The Work Of The Weavers- David Shaw They Killed Him- Kris Kristofferson This Land Is Your Land- Woody Guthrie This World Can't Stand Long- Jim Anglin Too Many Martyrs- Phil Ochs Tramp The Dirt Down- Declan Patrick Aloysius Macmanus Tricky Dicky- Joe Mcdonald Turn! Turn! Turn!- Pete Seeger Turn The Page- Bob Seger Turn Turn Turn- Pete Seeger Two Hangmen- Terry Talbot 1969 Union Maid- Woody Guthrie Universal Soldier- Buffy St Marie Universal Soldier- Donovan veronica- Declan Patrick Aloysius Macmanus (Elvis Costello) Victoria- Ray Davies Vigilante Man- Woody Guthrie Walking In Your Footsteps- Sting War- Jonatha Brooke- Ly War Child- Dolores O'riordan War Pigs - Black Sabbath We Don't Want Your War- Jynkz- Ly Welcome To The Black Parade- My Chemical Romance We Shall Overcome- Bruce Springsteen We Shall Overcome- Pete Seeger We Shall Overcome- Zilpha Hort We Want Peace- Lennie Kravitz What About Me- Dino Valente 1970 What Are Their Names- Neil Young What Are You Fighting For- Phil Ochs What Did You Learn In School Today- Pete Seeger What Have They Done To The Rain- Joan Baez What Have They Done To The Rain- Malvina Reynolds What I Am- Edie Brickell Whats Going On- Marvin Gaye What's Happening Brother- Marvin Gaye What's That I Hear- Phil Ochs What's Up- Linda Perry When I'm Gone- Phil Ochs When Margret Was Eleven- Pete St John When The Ship Comes - Bob Dylan When The Ship Comes In- Peter, Paul And Mary Where Have All The Flowers Gone- Pete Seeger Which Side- Arlo Guthrie White Rabbit- Grace Slick With God On Our Side- Bob Dylan Wooden Ships- David Crosby Woodstock- Joni Mitchell World Turned Upside Down- Bragg Billy Wounded Knee- Johnny Cash Yes, We Can, Can- Allen Toussaint You Can't Always Get What You Want- Mick Jagger Zak And Sara- Ben Folds Zombie- The Cranberries |