Protest song

A protest song is kind of folk music (or, more recently, pop-influenced folk music). They become popular during times of social disruption and among socially neglected groups. They rail against injustice, racial discrimination, war, inflation, social inequalities and the like. Folk songs occur throughout history, as in the American Revolutionary War and the abolitionist movement of the 1800s. In the 20th century, the [union movement]?, the Great Depression and the Vietnam War were the primary periods of popularity for protest songs. The common form, with acoustic guitar and harmonica, was popularized by the work of Woody Guthrie during the Great Depression and [Dust Bowl]?.

Main protest song singers :

• Woody Guthrie
• [Burl Ives]?
• [Pete Seeger]?
• Bob Dylan
• Donovan?
• [Joan Baez]?

The protest songs :

Unions, Depression era and World War II

• This Land is Your Land Woody Guthrie
• Union Maid Woody Guthrie
• Dump the Bosses [John Brill]?
• Sixteen Tons [Tennesee Ernie Ford]?
• Casey Jones - The Union Scab [Joe Hill]?
• Hallelujah, I'm a Bum [Harry McClintock]?

Anti-Nuclear

• We Will All Go Together When We Go Tom Lehrer
• Hard Rain Bob Dylan
• Wooden Ships [Crosby Stills and Nash]?

The 1960s and the Vietnam War era

• We Shall Overcome Traditional?
• Eve of Destruction [Barry McGuire]?
• My Generation [The Who]?
• Today I Killed a Man [P. J. Proby]?
• Charlie on the MTA [The Kingston Trio]?
• Turn, Turn, Turn [Pete Seeger]?
• Signs [The Five Man Electrical Band]?
• Where Have All the Flowers Gone [The Kingston Trio]?
• For What It's Worth [Buffalo Springfield]?
• The "I-Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-To-Die" Rag [Country Joe and the Fish]?
• Chicago [Graham Nash]?
• Ohio [Crosby Stills Nash and Young]?
• Bring the Boys Home [Freda Payne]?
• War [Edwin Starr]?
• Ball Of Confusion [The Temptations]?

More recent

• Biko [Peter Gabriel]?
• 99 Luftballoons Nena?
• Stand or Fall [The Fixx]?
• Maggie Out! Anonymous
• Free Nelson Mandela [The Specials]?
• Sunday, Bloody Sunday U2
• The Hurricane Bob Dylan
• Rain on the Scarecrow [John Cougar Mellencamp]?
• If I Had a Rocket Launcher [Bruce Cockburn]?

See also REM, [Midnight Oil]?, U2