Political protest music probably made its way onto the scene five seconds after politics and music were invented. The two just go hand-in-hand, and in this country’s history its origins can be traced to the civil war (“When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again”), and the abolition of slavery (“Song of the Abolitionist” and “No More Auction Block for Me”).
Some of the greatest political protest songs of all time happened in the middle part of the 20th century when guys like Woodie Guthrie, Millard Lampell, Lee Hayes, and Pete Seeger were singing about the labor movement, and McCarthyism, and anti-nuclearism. “This Land is Your Land”, “Deportee”, “Dust Bowl Blues”, and “Tom Joad” are still well known. Albums like Songs for John Doe, which urged non-intervention in World War II, are as relevant today as they were then.
The 1960s with the civil rights movement gaining a full head of steam, and the Vietnam war heating up, gave us arguably the greatest collection of political protest songs in history. Led by Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Arlo Guthrie, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Jefferson Airplane, and about a thousand other bands.
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Lincoln Wilder -
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