# The Best Anti-War/Protest Songs of All Time **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 6, 2003, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-anti-war-protest-songs-of-all-time/159374 "2003-03-06T00:21:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2003, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-anti-war-protest-songs-of-all-time/159374/41 "2003-03-06T14:14:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jjimm \* > Another vote for _Universal Soldier_. There’s one disturbing thing with it though: > [@](#): > > An atheist, a **Jain** , Concidering that Jains are very pacifist I find it hard to believe that they would let someone fight in a war on their behalf. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2003, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-anti-war-protest-songs-of-all-time/159374/42 "2003-03-06T14:23:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Floater \* > \*\*There’s one disturbing thing with it though: > > Concidering that Jains are very pacifist I find it hard to believe that they would let someone fight in a war on their behalf. \*\* Yeah, I’ve often questioned that, too. However, I reckon the choice was deliberate, to make the point. ---
**Author:** ![S\_Puppy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@S\_Puppy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/S_Puppy)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2003, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-anti-war-protest-songs-of-all-time/159374/43 "2003-03-06T14:26:57Z")
Grand Funk - People Lets Stop The War ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2003, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-anti-war-protest-songs-of-all-time/159374/44 "2003-03-06T14:28:39Z")
OH, and another one: **The Message, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five** > [@](#): > > A child was born, wih no state of mind > Blind to the ways of mankind > God is smiling on you but he’s frowning too, > Cause only god knows what you go through > You grow in the ghetto, living second rate > And your eyes will sing a song of deep hate > The places you play and where you stay > Looks like one great big alley way > You’ll admire all the numberbook takers > Punks, pimps and pushers and the big money makers > Driving big cars, spending twenties and tens > And you wanna grow up to be just like them > Smugglers, scramblers, burglars, gamblers > Pickpockets, peddlers and even pan-handlers > You say I’m cool, I’m no fool > But then you wind up dropping out of highschool > Now you’re unemployed, all null ‘n’ void > Walking around like you’re Pretty Boy Floyd > Turned stickup kid, look what you done did > Got send up for a eight year bid > Now your manhood is took and you’re a Maytag > Spend the next two years as an undercover fag > Being used and abused, and served like hell > Till one day you was found hung dead in a cell > It was plain to see that your life was lost > You was cold and your body swung back and forth > But now your eyes sing the sad sad song > Of how you lived so fast and died so young It’s kinda sad to see where rap and hip-hop has gone, considering how it started. The song still sounds fresh and relevant. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2003, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-anti-war-protest-songs-of-all-time/159374/45 "2003-03-06T14:58:28Z")
I’m a bit surprised nobody’s mentioned [Sky Pilot](http://www.lyricsxp.com/lyrics/s/sky_pilot_part_1_eric_burdon.html) yet. > [@](#): > > In the morning they returned with tears in their eyes > The stench of death drifts up to the skies > A young soldier so it looks at the sky bright > Remember the words thou shalt not kill. ---
**Author:** ![Crown\_Prince\_of\_Irony](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ed655f/32.png) [@Crown\_Prince\_of\_Irony](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crown_Prince_of_Irony)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2003, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-anti-war-protest-songs-of-all-time/159374/46 "2003-03-06T15:43:05Z")
**War Pigs** by Black Sabbath. ---
**Author:** ![Sparrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Sparrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparrow)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2003, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-anti-war-protest-songs-of-all-time/159374/47 "2003-03-08T16:43:37Z")
“The Sun is Burning” by Simon & Garfunkel. I just listened to it to make sure I had the right one, and I was crying by the end. ---
**Author:** ![Isaac\_Cashman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a9a28c/32.png) [@Isaac\_Cashman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isaac_Cashman)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2003, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-anti-war-protest-songs-of-all-time/159374/48 "2003-03-08T16:59:52Z")
Let’s give credit where it is due. Buffy Sainte Marie wrote “The Universal Soldier”. From Tom Paxton: “The Willing Recruit”, “Jimmy Newman”, and “Talking Viet–Nam Pot Luck Blues”. And I just gotta add: Tom wrote “The Marvelous Toy” in clerck–typist class at Fort Dix, NJ. ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2003, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-anti-war-protest-songs-of-all-time/159374/49 "2003-03-08T17:02:18Z")
What about Simon & Garfunkle’s _Scrborough Fair / Canticle_ ? It’s a beautiful song with a protest woven throughout. The lyrics are here: [http://www.letssingit.com/?http://www.letssingit.com/simon-and-garfunkel-scarborough-fair-canticle-v5xnpqd.html](http://www.letssingit.com/?http://www.letssingit.com/simon-and-garfunkel-scarborough-fair-canticle-v5xnpqd.html) ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2003, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-anti-war-protest-songs-of-all-time/159374/50 "2003-03-08T17:17:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jeff Olsen \* > \*\*I’m a bit surprised nobody’s mentioned [Sky Pilot](http://www.lyricsxp.com/lyrics/s/sky_pilot_part_1_eric_burdon.html) yet. \*\* Shouldn’ t “sky bright” be “sky pilot.” I think someone goofed. I mean, it’s obvious and it’s also \* the title of the song \*. Hi to \*\* Isaac Cashman\*\*, newbie who knows folk music (and esp. Tom Paxton). ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2003, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-anti-war-protest-songs-of-all-time/159374/51 "2003-03-08T17:48:03Z")
I believe Scarborough Fair is a love song turned into a break up song. ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2003, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-anti-war-protest-songs-of-all-time/159374/52 "2003-03-08T18:17:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by carnivorousplant \* > \*\*I believe Scarborough Fair is a love song turned into a break up song. \*\* But they put an anti-war song (Canticle) “underneath” it so that it would be played on the radio. In the link provided in my previous post, it is in parentheses. > [@](#): > > War bellows, blazing in scarlet battalions/Generals order their soldiers to kill/And to fight for a cause they’ve long ago forgotten ---
**Author:** ![Sublime54465](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sublime54465](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublime54465)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2003, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-anti-war-protest-songs-of-all-time/159374/53 "2003-03-08T19:15:45Z")
the star spangled banner, as performed by hendrix August 17, 1969 (woodstock). he added in effects (you know, the sound of bombs dropping followed by the song taps [which is played at military funerals, for all of you who dont know that.]) not only is it a kick ass display of solo electric guitar skills, it has an gets its point across DAMN well. i also second For What Its Worth (Buffallo Springfield) and Ohio (Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young) ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2003, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-anti-war-protest-songs-of-all-time/159374/54 "2003-03-08T20:40:47Z")
Again I must only second something; “Four dead in O-hi-o.” ---
**Author:** ![chris\_young](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@chris\_young](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chris_young)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2003, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-anti-war-protest-songs-of-all-time/159374/55 "2003-03-09T17:26:05Z")
simple song of freedom by tim hardin ---
**Author:** ![chris\_young](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@chris\_young](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chris_young)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2003, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-anti-war-protest-songs-of-all-time/159374/56 "2003-03-09T17:26:05Z")
simple song of freedom by tim hardin ---
**Author:** ![Omorka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/50afbb/32.png) [@Omorka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omorka)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-anti-war-protest-songs-of-all-time/159374/57 "2003-03-10T01:08:25Z")
“Crow on the Cradle,” “Green Fields of France,” “Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye.” Somewhat more comtemporary, although not applicable to the current conflict, Sting’s “Russians.” ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-anti-war-protest-songs-of-all-time/159374/58 "2003-03-10T04:00:03Z")
“Give Peace a Chance.” Not the most cerebral of songs, but it gave the antiwar movement the advertising hook it had always needed. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-anti-war-protest-songs-of-all-time/159374/59 "2003-03-10T05:21:30Z")
Another Aussie song, country band The Wheel’s _Walking in the Shadow of the Man_ which singer Kim Cheshire introduces as being for all the world’s despots. From the tribal dance to the light of common wisdom From some spirit world to the dignity of man From those voodoo dolls to your rhetoric of reason We won’t live in peace while there’s money changing hands We can make believe there’s some method to this madness We can live in hope while the whole world’s getting numb We can put our faith in in the politics of reason We can run for cover when the whole thing comes undone. ---
**Author:** ![St.Urho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8e7dd6/32.png) [@St.Urho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/St.Urho)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-anti-war-protest-songs-of-all-time/159374/60 "2003-03-10T05:45:49Z")
I think _Your Flag Decal Won’t Get You Into Heaven, Anymore_ by John Prine is another good one. Also, _The Patriot’s Dream_ (I think) by Gordon Lightfoot. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-anti-war-protest-songs-of-all-time/159374.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-anti-war-protest-songs-of-all-time/159374.md?page=4)