# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![Mr.Mook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Mr.Mook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Mook)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-anti-war-protest-songs-of-all-time/159374/61 "2003-03-10T05:46:11Z")
One of the first antiwar songs I can remember is from the old “Billy Jack” movie called “One Tin Soldier.” It was kinda simplistic, but still powerful. Is it possible that Maureen McGovern or someone like that sang that song? ---
**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, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-anti-war-protest-songs-of-all-time/159374/62 "2003-03-10T07:35:10Z")
“One Tin Soldier” was the one-hit of a group called Coven; the lead singer was named Jinx Dawson. The song and movie are cringe-inducing now, but when I was eleven years old it really seemed relevant and Right On! ---
**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 10, 2003, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-anti-war-protest-songs-of-all-time/159374/63 "2003-03-10T16:24:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Annie-Xmas \* > \*_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 ._ Yeah, I did think something looked odd about that. 🙂 ---
**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 10, 2003, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-anti-war-protest-songs-of-all-time/159374/64 "2003-03-10T19:16:08Z")
THe Great Mandela Peter, Paul, and Mary Believe it of not. I was staioned in Jorea in 1972-73. The Armed Forces Korea Network used to play “One Tin Soldier” darn near every morning. And the Movie Theatre at the Soeul post showed M_A_S\*H at least three times. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-anti-war-protest-songs-of-all-time/159374/65 "2003-03-10T19:44:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by carnivorousplant \* > \*\*While I’ve got you all here…What is Jefferson’s Airplane _Lather_ about? > > [Lather](http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/SongUnid/F7148A04D82CD45D48256BF40008EE3F) \*\* “Lather” was the nickname of the Airplane’s drummer at the time it was recorded. It was '69, he just turned 30, Grace was pushing it herself, and in the countercultural milieu they were living in, at 30 years old, everyone was washed up. Essentially, the song is Slick’s winking nod to the fact that you can only get away with the hippie lifestyle for only so long before you inevitably have to grow up. As for Jefferson Airplane war protest songs: We Can Be Together Volunteers Wooden Ships (cowritten by Paul Kantner & David Crosby, recorded by both their bands) Crown of Creation Let’s Get Together (recorded by the Airplane three years before the Youngbloods) Uncle Sam Blues (actually, a Jorma /Hot Tuna staple, but performed by the Airplane proper at Woodstock) House at Pooneil Corners (the BEST Apocalyptic rock & roll gloom & doom dirge EVER IMHO – forget all the goth/punk/death metal bands, this beats them all) ---
**Author:** ![look\_ninjas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b2d939/32.png) [@look\_ninjas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/look_ninjas)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-anti-war-protest-songs-of-all-time/159374/66 "2003-03-10T19:56:38Z")
It isn’t exactly a song, but “Kinky Sex Makes the World Go Round” by the Dead Kennedys always brings a smile. ---
**Author:** ![djbdjb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a87d85/32.png) [@djbdjb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/djbdjb)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-anti-war-protest-songs-of-all-time/159374/67 "2003-03-10T20:07:37Z")
[Protest Song](http://www.neilinnes.org/O-P.htm#protestsong) by Neil Innes ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-anti-war-protest-songs-of-all-time/159374/68 "2003-03-10T21:16:26Z")
An oldie but goodie, from all the way back in the American Civil War (popular on both sides): "The Vacant Chair ". It’s effective because it isn’t polemical or even simplistic, with nothing about being right or wrong; it just describes the pain the family lives with after losing a son. Like any song, it loses something without the music, but here goes: > [@](#): > > We shall meet but we shall miss him. > There will be one vacant chair. > We shall linger to caress him, > While we breathe our ev’ning prayer. > When a year ago we gathered, > Joy was in his mild blue eye. > But a golden cord is severed. > And our hopes in ruin lie. > > We shall meet, but we shall miss him. > There will be one vacant chair. > We shall linger to caress him, > While we breathe our ev’ning prayer. > > At our fireside, sad and lonely, > Often will the bosom swell, > At remembrance of the story, > How our noble Willie fell. > How he strove to bear our banner, > Thro’ the thickest of the fight, > And uphold our country’s honor > In the strength of manhood’s might. > > True, they tell us wreaths of glory, > Evermore will deck his brow, > But this soothes the anguish only, > Sweeping o’er our heartstrings now. > Sleep today, O early fallen, > In thy green and narrow bed. > Dirges from the pine and cypress > Mingle with the tears we shed. ---
**Author:** ![MisterThyristor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecccb3/32.png) [@MisterThyristor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MisterThyristor)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-anti-war-protest-songs-of-all-time/159374/69 "2003-03-10T21:43:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Isaac Cashman \* > 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. (bolding mine) As a fellow Paxton fan, I think you mean [“The Willing Conscript”](http://www.kramerskorners.com/Paxton/lyrics/twc.htm). A few more of his: [Lyndon Johnson Told the Nation](http://www.kramerskorners.com/Paxton/lyrics/ljttn.htm) [We Didn’t Know](http://www.kramerskorners.com/Paxton/lyrics/wdk.htm) [What Did You Learn in School Today?](http://www.kramerskorners.com/Paxton/lyrics/wdylis.htm) And a non-war but bitter protest song: [Goodman and Scwerner and Chaney](http://www.kramerskorners.com/Paxton/lyrics/gsc.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2003, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-anti-war-protest-songs-of-all-time/159374/70 "2003-03-10T22:45:06Z")
I’d second “The Empty Chair”, and also, from the Civil War, “Tenting on the Old Campground” It also doesn’t deal with the rightness or wrongness of the cause that’s fighting, but just an overwhelming weariness for a war that’s gone on too long and left too many people dead: > [@](#): > > We’re tenting tonight on the old camp ground, > Give us a song to cheer > Our weary hearts, a song of home > And friends we love so dear. > > Many are the hearts that are weary tonight, > Wishing for the war to cease; > Many are the hearts that are looking for the right > To see the dawn of peace. > Tenting tonight, tenting tonight, > Tenting on the old camp ground. > > We’ve been fighting today on the old camp ground, > Many are lying near. > Some are dead and some are dying, > Many are in tears. > > Many are the hearts that are weary tonight, > Wishing for the war to cease; > Many are the hearts that are looking for the right > To see the dawn of peace. > Tenting tonight, tenting tonight, > Tenting on the old camp ground. > > We are tired of war on the old camp ground! > Many are dead and gone > Of the brave and true who’ve left their homes– > Others been wounded long. > > Many are the hearts that are weary tonight, > Wishing for the war to cease; > Many are the hearts that are looking for the right > To see the dawn of peace.Dying tonight, > Dying tonight, > Dying on the old camp ground. ---
**Author:** ![Theom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a9a28c/32.png) [@Theom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Theom)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2003, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-anti-war-protest-songs-of-all-time/159374/71 "2003-03-11T16:03:56Z")
“ninety nine red baloons” by Nena “It’s all over and I’m standing pretty in this dust that was a city” ---
**Author:** ![No\_Disguise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9f8e36/32.png) [@No\_Disguise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/No_Disguise)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2003, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-anti-war-protest-songs-of-all-time/159374/72 "2003-03-11T18:02:20Z")
I slap each of you on the wrist for neglecting to so much as mention John Lennon’s Imagine after so many views and posts. BAD DOPERS! BAD!!! ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2003, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-anti-war-protest-songs-of-all-time/159374/73 "2003-03-11T23:47:28Z")
I can’t believe no one has mentioned the wonderful **Where Have All the Flowers Gone?**. And I nominate the subtle, obscure, and powerful **The Reluctant Cannibal** by Flanders and Swann. ---
**Author:** ![lindarielle13](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3bc359/32.png) [@lindarielle13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lindarielle13)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-anti-war-protest-songs-of-all-time/159374/74 "2003-03-12T06:04:44Z")
I second John Lennon’s “Imagine”, which I just heard for the first time today. (I’m 16, cut me some slack.) I’m really surprised that no one’s metioned the Rolling Stones’ “Sympathy for the Devil” or “Street Fighting Man.” I also nominate “Why Can’t We Be Friends” by War. Here’s a link you may be interested in, it’s a poll of this question: [http://www.keno.org/polls/poll\_results.asp?PollNumber=56&PollCategory=Rock-N-Roll&PollType=Weekly](http://www.keno.org/polls/poll_results.asp?PollNumber=56&PollCategory=Rock-N-Roll&PollType=Weekly) ---
**Author:** ![namesabr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3ab097/32.png) [@namesabr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/namesabr)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2003, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-anti-war-protest-songs-of-all-time/159374/75 "2003-03-12T17:30:54Z")
A vote for “Sam Stone” by John Prine. Plus a couple more Bob Marley: “Buffalo Soldier” “War” (the Haile Selassie speech) ---
**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 12, 2003, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-anti-war-protest-songs-of-all-time/159374/76 "2003-03-12T17:37:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MaxTheVool \* > \*\*I can’t believe no one has mentioned the wonderful _Where Have All the Flowers Gone?_. \*\* Uh, fourth post in the thread. ---
**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 12, 2003, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-anti-war-protest-songs-of-all-time/159374/77 "2003-03-12T17:50:04Z")
Thank you MisterThystor for the Tom Paxton link. Another from Phil Ochs: (I declare) The War Is Over. Once I get done going through Cafe Society, I will start a thread on Marches: Actual, Oddball and lfilk. ---
**Author:** ![Dreaming\_of\_Maria\_Callas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f14d63/32.png) [@Dreaming\_of\_Maria\_Callas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dreaming_of_Maria_Callas)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-anti-war-protest-songs-of-all-time/159374/78 "2003-03-13T12:14:44Z")
On each three albums from 1985 - 1987 R.E.M. featured a song about American injustice against Central and South America. These were “Green Grow the Rushes”, “The Flowers of Guatemala”\*, and “Welcome to the Occupation.” These songs are real eye-openers for someone who didn’t know about American’s hundred years of oppression of Latin American, and gives a real impetus to read more history. I also like Thievery Corporation’s “The State of the Union”, from their latest LP The Richest Man in Babylon (though it’s the only decent track on the album). UnuMondo - The album that it’s on, Lifes Rich Pageant is a boldly political album. It isn’t aggressively anti-American like so much of the publicly visible protest movement, but instead it calls all Americans to rediscover idealism and reinvent the country into one of perfect equality and tolerance, mending our history of native American killing, slaveholding, and overthrow of democratically elected governments. ---
**Author:** ![kefka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/59ef9b/32.png) [@kefka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kefka)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-anti-war-protest-songs-of-all-time/159374/79 "2003-03-13T15:11:30Z")
all excellent choices, and while simon and garfunkel has been mentioned a couple of times, i can’t belive no one has mentioned \*\* silent night/7 o’clock \*\*. this song to this day makes me tear up. it’s so simple. simon and garfunkel sing a gorgeous version of silent night accompanied only by a piano, but the genius is that then the listener hears a newscaster reporting the evening news throughout the singing. i’m not sure i can properly describe it and do it justice. all i can suggest is that you go out and pick up a copy of parsley sage rosemary and time or hit your favorite p2p client and get a copy. you won’t be disappointed, tho you might be a little teary-eyed by the end also, check out the entire s&g album “wednesday morning 3 am.” the whole album is incredible and very anti-war ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2003, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-anti-war-protest-songs-of-all-time/159374/80 "2003-03-14T05:09:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by No Disguise \* > \*\*I slap each of you on the wrist for neglecting to so much as mention John Lennon’s Imagine after so many views and posts. BAD DOPERS! BAD!!! \*\* Yo, check the fifth post! I submit: Fragile by Sting. “If blood would flow, When flesh and steel are one Drying in the color of the evening sun Tomorrow’s rain would wash the stains away, But something in our minds will always stay. Perhaps this final act was meant To clinch a lifetime’s argument That nothing comes from violence, And nothing ever could. For all us born beneath an angry star, Lest we forget how fragile we are.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-anti-war-protest-songs-of-all-time/159374.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-anti-war-protest-songs-of-all-time/159374.md?page=5)