History of Protest songs


History of Protest Songs



A protest song is a song associated with a movement for social change. These social changes include: human rights, feminism, climate change, gun control, anti-war. Protest songs have the power to inform, inspire and unite people.

One of the earliest protest song is likely to be “Free America” by Joseph Warren, it was sung by American soldiers back in 1776 when America was declared independent from the United Kingdom. Protest music became  a commonly heard type of music in the early 1900s as after the American Civil War, America became divided by class and race, so people turned to protest music as it helps people realise that they are not alone with how they are feeling.  Protest music has accompanied  periods of progress in America. Protest music is usually about politics, social scientists have been researching the relation between music and politics.

Protest music originated from the West, but it has been adopted by different cultures.



Some of the best protest songs, in the way that they have inspired many, include:

-          ‘Strange Fruit’ by Billie Holiday

-          ‘War’ by Edwin Starr

-          ‘This Land Is Your Land’ by Woody Guthrie

-          ‘Masters Of War’ by Bob Dylan

-          ‘Born In The USA’ by Bruce Springsteen

-          ‘American Idiot’ by Green Day

-          ‘Imagine’ by John Lennon

-          ‘Idioteque’ by Radiohead



Some acts of protest include:

-          In 1968 U.S. Olympic athletes raised a black-gloved fist whilst the national anthem played in protest for the status of human rights in the U.S. regarding African-Americans.

-          Rosa Parks refused to give her seat up on the bus one day, she was arrested but it sparked the U.S. Civil Rights Movement.

-          Marching in Washington for various reasons: Army march to protest unemployment in 1894, Army WW1 veterans marching for their bonus money they had been promised in 1932, the Million Man March to protest the negative image of black males and how African-Americans are treated in 1995.

-          Mahatma Gandhi campaigned for independence for India and he fought for civil rights, to do this he was civilly disobedient.

-          Johnny Cash only wearing black clothing to perform, he hoped it would remind the audience to help out other people.

-          During the Tiananmen Square Massacre, an unnamed man stood in the way of a Chinese army tank, he was photographed doing this and inspired China.

-          In 1963 a monk set himself on fire in protest over the Government’s persecution of Buddhists.

-          Suffragettes movement in order to get votes for women.

-          Worldwide anti-war protest that took place in February 2003 to say ‘no’ to the war in Iraq.

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