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My Favourite Protest songs

  • Jun 1
  • 5 min read

By Joanna Cowan


I have always been a big fan of protest music, I believe it is one of the most powerful things in the world, especially those catchy or gentle songs that don’t sound like a protest until you listen to the lyrics. Especially, in this time of social turmoil these songs written years ago are becoming ever more relevant. Below I have put some of the lyrics to my favourite protest songs, in bold are the particularly impactful lines. I have also made a playlist if you would like to listen to these songs! Please enjoy!!!



Joan Baez



There but for fortune by Joan Baez

Show me the prison, show me the jail

Show me the prisoner, whose life has gone stale

And I'll show you a young man

With so many reasons why

And there but for fortune, go you or I mmm


Show me the alley, show me the train

Show me the hobo, who sleeps out in the rain

And I'll show you a young man

With so many reasons why

And there but for fortune ,go you or I, mmm


Show me the whiskey, that stains on the floor

Show me the drunkard, as he stumbles out the door

And I'll show you a young man

With so many reasons why

And there but for fortune go you or I, mmm


Show me the country, where the bombs had to fall

Show me the ruins of the buildings, once so tall

And I'll show you a young man

With so many reasons why

And there but for fortune go you and I, you and I 

Other great songs:

  1. House of the rising son by Joan Baez or the Animals rendition 

  2. Hard Rains gonna fall by Joan Baez

  3. We shall overcome by Joan Baez

  4. What have they done with the rain by Joan Baez










Simon and Garfunkel 

  1. He was my Brother by Simon and Garfunkel

  2. The Boxer by Simon and Garfunkel

  3. Scarborough fare x cantical tales by Simon and Garfunkel 

  4. Sound of silence by Simon and Garfunkel 

  5. Mrs Robinson by Simon and Garfunkel 

  6. El condor pasa by Simon and Garfunkel 


He was my brother: This song is a civil rights protest song about a man who gets shot fighting for equality, justice and freedom. 

He was my brother

Five years older than I

He was my brother

Twenty-three years old the day he died

Freedom Rider

They cursed my brother to his face

Go home outsider

This town's gonna be your buryin' place

He was singin' on his knees (this line is so descriptive and impactful)

An angry mob trailed along

They shot my brother dead


Because he hated what was wrong


He was my brother


Tears can't bring him back to me


He was my brother


And he died so his brothers could be free


He died so his brothers could be free


Scarborough fare x canticle tales: I particularly love how this traditional folk song is interrupted by the stark contrast of a song about war


Are you going to Scarborough FairParsley, sage, rosemary and thymeRemember me to one who lives thereShe once was a true love of mine

On the side of a hill in the deep forest greenTracing of sparrow on snow-crested brownBlankets and bedclothes the child of the mountainSleeps unaware of the clarion call

Tell her to make me a cambric shirtParsley sage rosemary and thymeWithout no seams nor needle workThen she’ll be a true love of mine 

On the side of a hill in the sprinkling of leavesWashes the grave with silvery tearsA soldier cleans and polishes a gunSleeps unaware of the clarion call (these lines being sung whilst talking about sage and lovers is so poetic)

Tell her to find me an acre of landParsley sage rosemary and thymeBetween the salt water and the sea strandsThen she’ll be a true love of mine

War bellows blazing in scarlet battalionsGenerals order their soldiers to killAnd to fight for a cause they have long ago forgotten (aligns with the Vietnam war in particular but also with many songs in our modern day)

Tell her to reap it with a sickle of leather Parsley sage rosemary and thymeAnd gather it all in a bunch of heatherThen she’ll be a true love of mine



The boxer: 

I am just a poor boy

Though my story's seldom told

I have squandered my resistance

For a pocketful of mumbles

Such are promises

All lies and jest

Still a man hears what he wants to hear

And disregards the rest

When I left my home and my family

I was no more than a boy

In the company of strangers

In the quiet of the railway station

Running scared

Laying low, seeking out the poorer quarters

Where the ragged people go

Looking for the places only they would know

Lie-la-lie (gun shot)

Lie-la-lie- (gun shot)lie-lie-lie-lie

Lie-la-lie (gun shot)

Lie-la-lie-lie-lie-lie-lie, (gun shot) lie-lie-lie-lie-lie

Asking only workman's wages, I come looking for a job

But I get no offers

Just a come-on from the whores on 7th Avenue

I do declare, there were times when I was so lonesome

I took some comfort there, la-la-la-la-la-la-la

Lie-la-lie

Lie-la-lie-lie-lie-lie-lie

Lie-la-lie

Lie-la-lie-lie-lie-lie-lie, lie-lie-lie-lie-lie

Then I'm laying out my winter clothes

And wishing I was gone, going home

Where the New York City winters aren't bleeding me

Leading me, going home

In the clearing stands a boxer

And a fighter by his trade

And he carries the reminders

Of every glove that laid him down

Or cut him till he cried out

In his anger and his shame

"I am leaving, I am leaving"

But the fighter still remains

Lie-la-lie (intermittent gunshots in the background)

Lie-la-lie-lie-lie-lie-lie

Lie-la-lie

I love you



Others 

  1. We shall not be moved by the Seekers: Such a catchy, protest anthem, great for a protest or march  

  2. Another brick in the wall by pink floyd: another anthem of the time, fantastic for chanting 

  3. Beds are burning by Midnight oil: australian climate change rock, a fantastic genre 

  4. Zombie the cranberries: describes the futility of war with focus on the fighting in Ireland but applying to modern day as well

  5. Army dreamers by Kate Bush: against he futility of war and the disregard of human life when young men are recorded as statistics. This also explores the loss experiences by mothers and the wasted potential and aspirations of those lost in war. The line “what a waste, army dreamers” and “mammies heros” is particularly potent. 

  6. Send in the clowns by Judy collins: explores regret and pain but could also be interpreted as a criticism of corrupt powers

  7. Puff, the magic dragon by Peter Paul and Mary: explores the melancholiness of growing up and people suggest it may link to a criticism of drug use

  8. Sunday bloody sunday by U2: fantastic anthem

  9. Your mum does the washing - joshua idehen: very clever and very funny song exploring different dictatorship  

  10. Big yellow taxi - joni mitchell

  11. You don’t own me - leslie gore

  12. Im afraid of americans - David Bowie

  13. I'd love to change the world - ten years after

  14. Killing in the name - rage against the machine 

  15. They don’t care about us - michael jackson 

  16. Respect - Aretha Franklin - Amazing song 

  17. Bold Fenien man - Judy Collins

  18. This land is your land - Peter, Paul and Mary








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