Music exists for as many reasons as humans have thoughts. Whether expressing joy, love, grief, or anger, music conveys our deepest feelings like no other art form. To me, the noblest of all reasons for song is to protest injustice. A finely-crafted anthem can power revolutions.
I'm sure a lot of readers (and listeners) will protest at the absence of songs they expect to see on the list. Spoiler alert: there's no "This Is America" from Childish Gambino, nor will you find "American Idiot" by Green Day. It isn't that they aren't great songs with powerful messages. Just ask yourself this: did either of those resonate with the public at large?
Ask a random person on the street, and they won't remember them at first. Or maybe not at all. That doesn't mean they aren't powerful songs. In my mind, a great protest song must influence the zeitgeist. Otherwise, it's failed. I'm not saying I have chosen the absolute best protest songs possible. Well, okay, I am, but I'm certainly willing to admit that you may have a few that fit your definition better.
Protest music that fueled the movement
When asked what he was rebelling against in 1953's The Wild One what he was rebelling against, Marlon Brando's character replied, "Whaddya got?" Screenwriters John Paxton and Ben Maddow wrote the line, so let's give them a little credit. Unlike Johnny Strabler, the artists listed below had some pretty specific ideas they were rebelling against. All did it brilliantly.
"Fight the Power", Public Enemy, 1989
Hip-hop group Public Enemy was already a major force on the music scene by the summer of 1989. They might not have been there at the start, but they didn't miss it by much. Their sophomore album, It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, sold half a million copies in its first month despite little promotion from Columbia Records. I guess they were too busy sending out fliers for their freaking record club. Eventually, it turned platinum anyway.
Filmmaker Spike Lee needed a theme song for his film centered on racial tensions in Brooklyn, the astounding Do the Right Thing. And who better to deliver than Chuck D, Flavor Flav, and Terminator X? No one. Calling for action to "fight the powers that be," it first appeared on the soundtrack of the film in June, and the single followed in July. Full disclosure: I've always felt the same way about John Wayne.
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