When Chuck D of Public Enemy famously called hip-hop “the Black CNN,” he was touching on a universal truth that goes beyond genre: Music and protest have always been inextricably linked. For some marginalized groups, the simple act of creating music at all can be a form of speaking out against an unjust world. Our list of the 100 Best Protest Songs spans nearly a century and includes everything from pre-World War II jazz and Sixties folk to Eighties house music, 2000s R&B, and 2020s Cuban hip-hop.
Some of these songs decry oppression and demand justice, others are prayers for positive change; some grab you by the shoulders and shout in your face, others are personal, private attempts to subtly embody the contradictory nature of political struggle and change from the inside. Many of our selections are specific products of leftist political traditions (like Pete Seeger’s version of “We Shall Overcome”), but just as many are hits that slipped urgent messages into the pop marketplace (like Nena’s anti-nuclear war New Wave bop “99 Luftballons”).
This is probably the only Rolling Stone list to ever feature Phil Ochs, the Dead Kennedys, and Beyoncé side by side, but each of those artists is a vital participant in the long story of musicians using their voices to demand a better world.
List from 1 to 100:
1. Sam Cooke, A Change Is Gonna Come (1964)
2. Public Enemy, Fight the Power (1989)
3. Billie Holiday, Strange Fruit (1939)
4. Aretha Franklin, Respect (1967)
5. James Brown, Say It Loud – I’m Black and I’m Proud (1968)
6. Bob Dylan, Masters of War (1963)
7. Nina Simone, Mississippi Goddam (1964)
8. Pete Seeger, We Shall Overcome (1948)
9. Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, Ohio (1970)
10. N.W.A, Fuck tha Police (1988)
11. Woody Guthrie, This Land Is Your Land (1945)
12. Bob Marley, Them Belly Full (But We Hungry) (1974)
13. Creedence Clearwater Revival, Fortunate Son (1969)
14. Gil Scott-Heron, The Revolution Will Not Be Televised (1971)
15. Marvin Gaye, What’s Going On (1971)
16. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, The Message (1982)
17. Bob Dylan, Blowin’ in the Wind (1963)
18. The Honey Drippers, Impeach the President (1973)
19. Plastic Ono Band, Give Peace a Chance (1969)
20. Phil Ochs, I Ain’t Marching Anymore (1965)
21. Rage Against the Machine, Killing in the Name (1992)
22. Kendrick Lamar, Alright (2015)
23. X-Ray Spex, Oh Bondage Up Yours! (1977)
24. Edwin Starr, War (1970)
25. Green Day, American Idiot (2004)
26. Bob Dylan, The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll (1964)
27. Sex Pistols, God Save the Queen (1977)
28. Bruce Springsteen, 41 Shots (American Skin) (2001)
29. Bikini Kill, Feels Blind (1992)
30. U2, Sunday Bloody Sunday (1983)
31. Stevie Wonder, You Haven’t Done Nothin’ (1974)
32. Tom Robinson Band, (Sing If You’re) Glad to Be Gay (1978)
33. Joni Mitchell, Big Yellow Taxi (1970)
34. Lil Baby, The Bigger Picture (2020)
35. The Wailers, Get Up, Stand Up (1973)
36. MDC, Born To Die (1982)
37. H.E.R., I Can’t Breathe (2020)
38. Buffalo Springfield, For What It’s Worth (1967)
39. Gente de Zona, Descemer Bueno, Maykel Osorbo and El Funky, Yotuel Romero, Patria y Vida (2021)
40. Merry Clayton, Southern Man (1971)
41. Syl Johnson, Is It Because I’m Black (1969)
42. Woody Guthrie, All You Fascists Bound to Lose (1944)
43. The Temptations, Ball of Confusion (That’s What the World is Today) (1970)
44. The Equals, Police on My Back (1967)
45. Bronski Beat, Smalltown Boy (1984)
46. Fela Kuti, Zombie (1976)
47. KRS-One, Sound of da Police (1993)
48. Black Sabbath, War Pigs (1970)
49. Peter Gabriel, Biko (1980)
50. Phil Ochs, Love Me, I’m A Liberal (1966)
51. Dead Kennedys, Nazi Punks Fuck Off (1981)
52. Victor Jara, Manifiesto (1974)
53. Beyoncé feat. Kendrick Lamar, Freedom (2016)
54. Peter Tosh, Legalize It (1976)
55. Loretta Lynn, The Pill (1975)
56. The Clash, The Guns of Brixton (1979)
57. Nena, 99 Luftballons (1983)
58. Country Joe and the Fish, The Fish Cheer/I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-to-Die Rag (1967)
59. Tupac feat. Talent, Changes (1998)
60. Carl Bean, I Was Born This Way (1977)
61. Emel Mathlouthi, Kelmti Horra (2012)
62. YG feat. Nipsey Hussle, FDT (2016)
63. The Special AKA, Free Nelson Mandela (1984)
64. Gil Scott-Heron, Whitey on the Moon (1970)
65. Kris Kristofferson, They Killed Him (1986)
66. Junior Murvin, Police and Thieves (1977)
67. Mecca Normal, I Walk Alone (1986)
68. Janelle Monáe feat. Wondaland Records, Hell You Talmbout (2015)
69. Billy Bragg, There Is Power in a Union (1986)
70. Los Tigres Del Norte, Tres Veces Mojado (1988)
71. Killer Mike, Reagan (2012)
72. The Linda Lindas, Racist, Sexist Boy (2021)
73. Helen Reddy, I Am Woman (1971)
74. The O’Jays, Ship Ahoy (1973)
75. Artists United Against Apartheid, Sun City (1985)
76. Against Me!, Transgender Dysphoria Blues (2014)
77. Charly García, Dinosaurios (1983)
78. The Coup, Ride the Fence (2001)
79. Isley Brothers, Fight the Power (Part 1 & 2) (1975)
80. Johnny Cash, The Ballad of Ira Hayes (1964)
81. Iron Maiden, Run to the Hills (1982)
82. Thomas Mapfumo and the Acid Band, Hokoyo! (1978)
83. Tracy Chapman, Talkin’ Bout a Revolution (1988)
84. Dead Prez, “They” Schools (2000)
85. Fugazi, Merchandise (1990)
86. System of a Down, B.Y.O.B. (2005)
87. The Stop the Violence Movement, Self-Destruction (1989)
88. Natalia Lafourcade, Carla Morrison, Julieta Venegas, Alan Ortiz, Pambo, Madame Récamier, and Manuel Torreblanca, Un Derecho de Nacimiento (2012)
89. Crass, Do They Owe Us a Living? (1978)
90. Barry McGuire, Eve of Destruction (1965)
91. Bright Eyes, When the President Talks to God (2005)
92. Ani DiFranco, Fuel (1998)
93. Team Dresch, I’m Illegal (1996)
94. Molotov, Gimme tha Power (1997)
95. The Byrds, Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos) (1969)
96. McKinley Dixon, Run, Run, Run (2023)
97. Midnight Oil, Beds Are Burning (1987)
98. Heaven 17, (We Don’t Need This) Fascist Groove Thang (1981)
99. Xenia Rubinos, Mexican Chef (2016)
100. Bonzo Goes to Washington, Five Minutes (B-B-B Bombing Mix) (1984)
The 100 Best Protest Songs of All Time
From Pete Seeger to Billie Holiday to Rage Against the Machine to Kendrick Lamar, musicians of all genres have spoken truth to power
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