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24 Political Protest Songs to Put on Repeat Today

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The Vietnam War, the Civil Rights movement, and Black Lives Matter: political protest goes hand in hand with powerful music. The American songbook is rife with political messages, from antiwar rock songs of the 1960s to hip-hop anthems calling for racial equality. In recent years, we've seen political-message songs touching on everything from marriage equality to abortion rights.

This 24-song playlist spans causes and decades, and every track has a message and lyrics that we can learn from. If the outcome of the 2016 election is inspiring you to take action, allow this playlist to serve as your soundtrack.

  1. "Fight the Power," Public Enemy
    Relevant lyric: "Our freedom of speech is freedom or death / We got to fight the powers that be."
  2. "What's Going On," Marvin Gaye
    Relevant lyric: "You see, war is not the answer / For only love can conquer hate."
  3. "Fortunate Son," Creedence Clearwater Revival
    Relevant lyric: "Some folks are born, silver spoon in hand / Lord, don't they help themselves."
  4. "Same Love," Macklemore
    Relevant lyric: "The right-wing conservatives think it's a decision / And you can be cured with some treatment and religion."
  5. "American Idiot," Green Day
    Relevant lyric: "Information age of hysteria / It's calling out to idiot America."
  6. "Beautiful Struggle," Talib Kweli
    Relevant lyric: "All that folks want is safety, they goin' gun crazy / The same reason Reagan was playin' war games in the '80s."
  7. "Eve of Destruction," Barry McGuire
    Relevant lyric: "I can't twist the truth, it knows no regulation / Handful of senators don't pass legislation / And marches alone can't bring integration / When human respect is disintegratin'."
  8. "Born in the USA," Bruce Springsteen
    Relevant lyric: "Come back home to the refinery / Hiring man said, 'son, if it was up to me' / Went down to see my VA man / He said, 'son, don't you understand.'"
  9. "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised," Gil Scott-Heron
    Relevant lyric: "NBC will not be able predict the winner at 8:32 / Or report from 29 districts / The revolution will not be televised."
  10. "Only a Pawn in Their Game," Bob Dylan
    Relevant lyric: "But the poor white man's used in the hands of them all like a tool / He's taught in his school / From the start by the rule / That the laws are with him / To protect his white skin / To keep up his hate / So he never thinks straight."
  11. "What It Means," Drive-By Truckers
    Relevant lyric: "I mean, Barack Obama won, and you can choose where to eat / But you don't see too many white kids lying bleeding in the street."
  12. "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free," Nina Simone
    Relevant lyric: "I wish I could share / All the love that's in my heart / Remove all the bars / That keep us apart."
  13. "Lost Woman Song," Ani DiFranco
    Relevant lyric: "The profile of our country looks a little less hard-nosed / But you know that picket line persisted and that clinic's since been closed."
  14. "A Change Is Gonna Come," Sam Cooke
    Relevant lyric: "There have been times that I thought I couldn't last for long / But now I think I'm able to carry on / It's been a long, a long time coming / But I know a change is gonna come, oh yes it will."
  15. "A Better Tomorrow," Wu-Tang Clan
    Relevant lyric: "We want justice, police supposed to protect and serve / And then they shoot us down like wild animals."
  16. "People of the Sun," Rage Against the Machine
    Relevant lyric: "With their borders and boots on top of us / Pullin' knobs on the floor of their toxic metropolis / But how you gonna get what you need to get?"
  17. "When the President Talks to God," Bright Eyes
    Relevant lyric: "When the president talks to God / Do they drink near beer and go play golf? / While they pick which countries to invade / Which Muslim souls still can be saved?"
  18. "Ohio," Crosby Stills Nash and Young
    Relevant lyric: "What if you knew her / And found her dead on the ground / How can you run when you know?"
  19. "Til It Happens to You," Lady Gaga
    Relevant lyric: "Tell me how the hell could you talk, how could you talk? / 'Cause until you walk where I walk, this is no joke."
  20. "Everyday People," Sly & the Family Stone
    Relevant lyric: "I am no better and neither are you / We are the same whatever we do."
  21. "Why Is It So Hard," Charles Bradley
    Relevant lyric: "Why is it so hard / To make it in America / I try so hard / To make it in America."
  22. "The People," Common
    Relevant lyric: "Sick and tired of punching it / I look on the bus at them / When I see them struggling / I think I'm touching them."
  23. "Hurricane," Bob Dylan
    Relevant lyric: "When a cop pulled him over to the side of the road / Just like the time before and the time before that / In Paterson that's just the way things go / If you're black, you might as well not show up on the street / Unless you wanna draw the heat."
  24. "We Shall Overcome," Mahalia Jackson
    Relevant lyric: "Oh, deep in my heart / I do believe / We shall overcome, some day."

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