What’s the Best Protest Song Ever?

What’s the Best Protest Song Ever?

Tell us what you consider the all-time best protest song.

Facebook
Twitter
Email
Flipboard
Pocket

Dorian Lynskey’s comprehensive new book, 33 Revolutions Per Minute, details the history of the protest song in America and around the world.

Defining a protest song as one that "addresses a political issue in a way which aligns itself with the underdog," Lynskey starts his story with Billie Holiday‘s harrowing 1939 anti-lynching ballad, Strange Fruit, and ably takes us through the historic tunes that helped sustain and promote the civil rights, labor and anti-Vietnam war movements as well as non-American music from The Clash in Britain, Victor Jara in Chile and Fela Kuti in Nigeria.

It’s a bracing and informative survey, even if you’re familiar with the topic, and it happily sent us at The Nation thinking about our favorite all-time protest songs.

There are far too many to single out just one and props need to be given to iconic gems like Woody Guthrie‘s This Land is Your Land, Bob Dylan‘s Blowin’ in the Wind, Phil OchsI Ain’t Marchin’ Anymore, Bob Marley‘s Get Up, Stand Up, Gil Scott-Heron‘s The Revolution Will Not be Televised and Billy Bragg‘s Power in a Union.

But, in this discussion, we also want to highlight some slightly more obscure classics like Stiff Little Fingers‘s 1978 Suspect Device, which assailed the British imperial project in Northern Ireland with ferocious passion and James McMurtry‘s more modern but equally wrenching We Can’t Make It Here Anymore.

 

Most importantly, we want to hear from you! Please use this form to tell us what you consider your all-time favorite protest song. Please include a link to a video, if you have it, but just tell us the name and artist if you don’t. We’ll publish a survey of readers’ choices next week.

Can we count on you?

In the coming election, the fate of our democracy and fundamental civil rights are on the ballot. The conservative architects of Project 2025 are scheming to institutionalize Donald Trump’s authoritarian vision across all levels of government if he should win.

We’ve already seen events that fill us with both dread and cautious optimism—throughout it all, The Nation has been a bulwark against misinformation and an advocate for bold, principled perspectives. Our dedicated writers have sat down with Kamala Harris and Bernie Sanders for interviews, unpacked the shallow right-wing populist appeals of J.D. Vance, and debated the pathway for a Democratic victory in November.

Stories like these and the one you just read are vital at this critical juncture in our country’s history. Now more than ever, we need clear-eyed and deeply reported independent journalism to make sense of the headlines and sort fact from fiction. Donate today and join our 160-year legacy of speaking truth to power and uplifting the voices of grassroots advocates.

Throughout 2024 and what is likely the defining election of our lifetimes, we need your support to continue publishing the insightful journalism you rely on.

Thank you,
The Editors of The Nation

Ad Policy
x