# It’s Protest Season: we need a Battle Hymn of the Republic **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [February 13, 2026, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-s-protest-season-we-need-a-battle-hymn-of-the-republic/1027632 "2026-02-13T00:32:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bobsmom101](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobsmom101/32/2867_2.png) [@bobsmom101](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobsmom101)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2026, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-s-protest-season-we-need-a-battle-hymn-of-the-republic/1027632/1 "2026-02-13T00:32:33Z")
Now that spring looks like it may be coming after all, I’m hoping the Resistance will get even more traction, especially at the No Kings protests planned for March 28. I’m not casting any shade on Bruce Springsteen or Jesse Welles or any of the great anti-war songs of our youth but IMO, we need a good, rousing marching song specifically for our time. I’d like to nominate the Scottish ballad “500 Miles.” It’s the perfect antidote to Lee Greenwood and always makes me want to get up and egg an ICE facility. Would any of you all who are songwriters like to generate some appropriate lyrics or should I just ask AI? I’m attaching the video of the Imagine Dragons 2014 performance in Scotland. If anyone can sit still listening to this – well, you gotta be half dead! ([https://youtu.be/bF563v8nkiw?si=8-5s4TC1H5ygBTeg](https://youtu.be/bF563v8nkiw?si=8-5s4TC1H5ygBTeg) ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2026, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-s-protest-season-we-need-a-battle-hymn-of-the-republic/1027632/2 "2026-02-13T01:51:51Z")
A rewrite of Zombie is in order. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2026, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-s-protest-season-we-need-a-battle-hymn-of-the-republic/1027632/3 "2026-02-13T02:24:33Z")
I was thinking we need something somewhere between We Shall Overcome and Hitler Has Only Got One Ball. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2026, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-s-protest-season-we-need-a-battle-hymn-of-the-republic/1027632/4 "2026-02-13T09:14:44Z")
500 Miles is a great song for serenading the London Marathon runners as they gasp past where I live, but as a protest song? What protester wants to fall down at the final hurdle? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2026, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-s-protest-season-we-need-a-battle-hymn-of-the-republic/1027632/5 "2026-02-13T09:43:04Z")
“We Will Rock You”… but the fast version Queen played live in the ‘70s, not the stomp-stomp-clap version. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Ekm6WtKwQos/hqdefault.jpg "Queen - We Will Rock You (Fast) [Official Lyric Video] [Queen On Air]") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ekm6WtKwQos) ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2026, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-s-protest-season-we-need-a-battle-hymn-of-the-republic/1027632/6 "2026-02-13T09:57:27Z")
> [@bobsmom101](#): > > . I’d like to nominate the Scottish ballad “500 Miles.” It’s the perfect antidote to Lee Greenwood and always makes me want to get up and egg an ICE facility. I’m sorry, but while I love “500 Miles”, the thought of using the most upbeat feel-good track of the 1990s as a protest song seems kind of silly to me. What’s next - “Sugar Sugar” by the Archies? If you want a song from that period, how about an old standby like Rage Against the Machine’s “Killing in the Name”? I’d say the lyrics are more pertinent, too. ---
**Author:** ![orcenio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/orcenio/32/1036_2.png) [@orcenio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/orcenio)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2026, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-s-protest-season-we-need-a-battle-hymn-of-the-republic/1027632/7 "2026-02-13T11:15:25Z")
Can I just note my love of the poetry in the first stanza of the Battle Hymn of the Republic? > Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord; > He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored; It’s the most 19th century way of saying: “I’ve seen him, God is coming; and he’s opening up a can of whop-ass.” A strong start to a Battle Hymn. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2026, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-s-protest-season-we-need-a-battle-hymn-of-the-republic/1027632/8 "2026-02-13T11:23:42Z")
> [@orcenio](#): > > Can I just note my love of the poetry in the first stanza of the Battle Hymn of the Republic? I feel like another song set to the same music might be more appropriate… > Is there aught we hold in common with the greedy parasite, > Who would lash us into serfdom and would crush us with his might? > Is there anything left to us but to organize and fight? > For the union makes us strong. > > All the world that’s owned by idle drones is ours and ours alone. > We have laid the wide foundations; built it skyward stone by stone. > It is ours, not to slave in, but to master and to own. > While the union makes us strong. > > They have taken untold millions that they never toiled to earn, > But without our brain and muscle not a single wheel can turn. > We can break their haughty power, gain our freedom when we learn > That the union makes us strong. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/czQh1vj1jF8/maxresdefault.jpg "Solidarity Forever") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czQh1vj1jF8) ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2026, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-s-protest-season-we-need-a-battle-hymn-of-the-republic/1027632/9 "2026-02-13T13:32:48Z")
How about Bob Marley’s “Get Up Stand Up”? [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/BiPwCMlghhQ/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEmCOADEOgC8quKqQMa8AEB-AHUBoAC3gOKAgwIABABGEAgZSgPMA8=&rs=AOn4CLBRJXtdA_BN2BxPzICHv3exElznlg "Bob Marley - Get Up Stand Up + Lyrics") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiPwCMlghhQ) Or for something aspirational (if a bit vague) how about Parry’s setting of Blake’s _Jerusalem_ (you could change the references to England to “this/these our” without affecting the scansion) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/-XfbEOFLqPE/maxresdefault.jpg "Hubert Parry: Jerusalem (orch. Elgar) (Prom 75)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XfbEOFLqPE) ---
**Author:** ![bobsmom101](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobsmom101/32/2867_2.png) [@bobsmom101](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobsmom101)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2026, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-s-protest-season-we-need-a-battle-hymn-of-the-republic/1027632/10 "2026-02-13T14:41:10Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > What protester wants to fall down at the final hurdle? > [@Alessan](#): > > the thought of using the most upbeat feel-good track of the 1990s as a protest song seems kind of silly to me. Of course there would need to be new lyrics – it’s the strong beat that holds the appeal. And what’s wrong with a “upbeat feel-good” protest song anyway? I didn’t realize until I’d started the thread that there was already one for protest songs: [/t/what-are-the-modern-protest-songs/1023484](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-modern-protest-songs/1023484 "Open link in external tab") If a mod wants to merge them, it’s OK with me. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2026, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-s-protest-season-we-need-a-battle-hymn-of-the-republic/1027632/11 "2026-02-13T17:28:54Z")
**Moderating:** We’ll leave them separate. Thanks for checking. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2026, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-s-protest-season-we-need-a-battle-hymn-of-the-republic/1027632/12 "2026-02-13T17:53:46Z")
You’ve got to Fight For your Right To your Country! ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2026, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-s-protest-season-we-need-a-battle-hymn-of-the-republic/1027632/13 "2026-02-13T20:54:02Z")
A question is if we want positive, upbeat songs, or songs that point out how fucked we all are. I’m prone to the latter, but seems like the thread is geared to the former, so I fear such would be a most minor threadshit. ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2026, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-s-protest-season-we-need-a-battle-hymn-of-the-republic/1027632/14 "2026-02-13T21:09:08Z")
A movement needs both kinds! We could start by changing the lyrics of “500 Miles” to “I would march 500 miles…” Also shout-out to Ralph Chaplin, 1887-1961, IWW writer, cartoonist, poet who wrote “Solidarity Forever.” In addition to the verses Smapti quoted there are When the union’s inspiration through the workers’ blood shall run, There can be no power greater anywhere beneath the sun; Yet what force on earth is weaker than the feeble strength of one, But the union makes us strong. It is we who plowed the prairies; built the cities where they trade; Dug the mines and built the workshops, endless miles of railroad laid; Now we stand outcast and starving ’midst the wonders we have made; But the union makes us strong. In our hands is placed a power greater than their hoarded gold, Greater than the might of armies, multiplied a thousand-fold. We can bring to birth a new world from the ashes of the old For the union makes us strong. There are also various modern verses. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2026, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-s-protest-season-we-need-a-battle-hymn-of-the-republic/1027632/15 "2026-02-13T21:16:23Z")
> [@ParallelLines](#): > > A question is if we want positive, upbeat songs, or songs that point out how fucked we all are. The best revolutionary songs are the ones that point out how fucked your _enemies_ will be once you’re done with them ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2026, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-s-protest-season-we-need-a-battle-hymn-of-the-republic/1027632/16 "2026-02-13T21:36:35Z")
[https://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3D11MlvWKfL7s/](https://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3D11MlvWKfL7s/) [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/NsWxqLsajBU/maxresdefault.jpg "Но Пасаран! / No Pasarán! - They Shall Not Pass! (Yugoslav International Brigade Song)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsWxqLsajBU) ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2026, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-s-protest-season-we-need-a-battle-hymn-of-the-republic/1027632/17 "2026-02-13T21:52:05Z")
How about I give a variety then? Two from the classic Styx “Kilroy Was Here” First “Cold War” [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/EFmB6sDGCbE/hqdefault.jpg "Styx - Cold War") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFmB6sDGCbE) And “High Time” [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/6vGE-FM-BDg/maxresdefault.jpg "High Time") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vGE-FM-BDg) And the we’re all fucked “Feed the Machine” by Poor Man’s Poison. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/BlnVP2_dIb4/maxresdefault.jpg "Feed the Machine") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlnVP2_dIb4) ---
**Author:** ![Turki-lurki](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turki-lurki/32/7168_2.png) [@Turki-lurki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turki-lurki)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2026, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-s-protest-season-we-need-a-battle-hymn-of-the-republic/1027632/18 "2026-02-14T01:33:40Z")
‘Four dead in Ohio’ still makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck. We need something that has that kind of impact on folks. Maybe that old csny anthem could still work. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2026, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-s-protest-season-we-need-a-battle-hymn-of-the-republic/1027632/19 "2026-02-14T08:13:54Z")
[![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/NZ6xnmzSNbA/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEmCOADEOgC8quKqQMa8AEB-AHeA4AC4AOKAgwIABABGHIgRSgoMA8=&rs=AOn4CLBLwGdm6ZETURVbihZxA8f396vEYg "You'll never walk alone PROMS 2010") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZ6xnmzSNbA) ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2026, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-s-protest-season-we-need-a-battle-hymn-of-the-republic/1027632/20 "2026-08-16T00:44:58Z")
Lyrics by a human, music and video by an AI, but as a protest song, it slaps: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/E-L-pSbtUcs/maxresdefault.jpg ""Little Marco" (Sitcom Edition) (from the record "MAGA Country")") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-L-pSbtUcs) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/it-s-protest-season-we-need-a-battle-hymn-of-the-republic/1027632.md?page=2)