The Best Anti-War/Protest Songs of All Time

[Lizard]

A lot of the same ones others have mentioned:

“For What It’s Worth” - Buffalo Springfield
“Ohio” by C,S,N, & Y (Has special relevance for me, since I’m a native Ohioan, and my mother attended Kent State U.)
“Fortunate Son” - CCR

And, of course. . . .

“Born in the USA” - Bruce Springsteen. Not as strident as some, but it still made a point.

[mhendo]

I’m not sure if it qualifies, but i was quite impressed with Steve Earle’s recent song, “John Walker’s Blues.”

It wasn’t really and anti-war song or a protest song in the traditional sense; it was more of an attempt to get inside the head of someone who had been demonized and understand why he made the choices he did.

Lyrics here, for those who haven’t heard the song.

[Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker]

*Originally posted by dr hermes *
**I recall Pete Seegar did a song “Big Muddy”. In a real life training exercise, soldiers drowned because an officer ordered them to march into a river that was too fast and wide to cross. The last lines were about the war in the papers and “We`re waist deep in the Big Muddy and the big fool says to push on…” **

The Ribbon Creek Incident:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1557508143/qid=1046924376/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_2/103-4633496-0959840?v=glance&s=books

[clayton_e]

Another vote for Eve of Destruction.

[Thudlow_Boink]

I am shocked–shocked–that no one has mentioned “The War Song” by Culture Club.

[GIGObuster]

Not much respect for this 80’s one, but I like Men At Work – It’s A Mistake

The original target seems to have been Ronald Reagan, the ending though, makes me think of the current commander in chief and the protesters world wide telling him what it is:

*Tell us commander, what do you think?
'Cos we know that you love all that power
Is it on then, are we on the brink?
We wish you’d all throw in the towel

We’ll not fade out too soon
Not in this finest hour
Whistle your favourite tune
We’ll send a card and flower
Saying

It’s a mistake, it’s a mistake
It’s a mistake, it’s a mistake *

[Spavined_Gelding]

Andy Irvin has a snappy little number written by Marcus Turner called When the Boys Are on Parade. With all due respect for the copyright rules and policy here is a verse:

We may well decide we need it and we’ll pay to arm and feed it
But can you tell me who will lead it when the decisions must be made
And you may well prefer abstention but I feel compelled to mention
You’d do well to pay attention when the Boys are on Parade.

That gives a little of the flavor of the thing.

Buffy StMarie’s Universal Soldier, as has already been mentioned as a classic as has Pete Seeger’s Waist Deep in the Big Muddy (and the Big Fool Said Move On). All three emphasize not so much that war is a hideous and destructive thing–which is pretty obvious–as that there is a duty to control what the tools of war are use to do.

[don_t_ask]

More from the Antipodes.

John Schumann and Redgum I Was Only 19

And can you tell me, doctor, why I still can’t get to sleep?
And night-time’s just a jungle dark and a barking M16?
And what’s this rash that comes and goes, can you tell me what it means?
God help me, I was only ninteen.

lyrics

Cold Chisel’s Khe Sanh

I left my heart to the sappers round Khe Sanh
And my soul was sold with my cigarettes to the blackmarket man
I’ve had the Vietnam cold turkey
From the ocean to the Silver City
And it’s only other vets could understand

lyrics

[RawkStah]

The’re not anti-war, per se, but they are protest songs:

“The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” by Gil Scott Heron
“Get Up, Stand Up” by Bob Marley and The Wailers
“Fuck Tha Police” by NWA
“Fight The Power” by Public Enemy
“(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (to Party)” by The Beastie Boys. (Really – what kind of world is it where one’s mother is allowed to throw away one’s best porno mag?)

And, on the anti-war front:
“Happy X-Mas (War Is Over)” by John Lennon and Yoko Ono
“War” by Edwin Starr
“Heaven Help Us All” by Stevie Wonder. Gets me nearly every time I hear it. “Heaven help the boy who won’t reach 21/Heaven help the man who gave that boy a gun” and “Heaven help the man who kicks the man who has to crawl/Heaven help us all”, especially.

[Cruktar]

Not a classic, but I appreciate “Combat Rock” by Sleater-Kinney.

Hey, look, it’s time to pledge allegiance
I love my dirty Uncle Sam
Our country’s marching to the beat now
and we must learn to step in time
…
Show you love your country
Go out and spend some cash
Red white blue hotpants
Doing it for Uncle Sam

[akennett]

One by Metallica

[brianmelendez]

Another vote for “Eve of Destruction.”

It was never a popular hit, but I always get a chill from “The Grave” by Don McLean:

The grave that they dug him had flowers
Gathered from the hillsides in bright summer colors
And the brown earth bleached white
At the edge of his gravestone
He’s gone

When the wars of our nation did beckon
The man, barely twenty, did answer the calling
Proud of the trust
That he placed in our nation
He’s gone

But eternity knows him
And it knows what we’ve done

And the rain fell like pearls
On the leaves of the flowers
Leaving brown, muddy clay
Where the earth had been dry

. . . .

[Larry_Mudd]

Not an anti-war song, but certainly a protest song:

The Two Bums:

The bum on the rod is hunted down
As the enemy of mankind;
The other is driven around to his club
And feted, wined and dined.
And they who curse the bum on the rods
As the essence of all that is bad
Will greet the other with a winning smile
And extend him the hand so glad.
The bum on the rods is a social flea
Who gets an occasional bite;
The bum on the plush is a social leech,
Blood-sucking day and night.
The bum on the rods is a load so light
That his weight we scarcely feel,
But it takes the labor of dozens of men
To furnish the other a meal.
As long as you sanction the bum on the plush,
The other will always be there,
But rid yourself of the bum on the plush
And the other will disappear.
Then make an intelligent, organized kick,
Get rid of the weights that crush;
Don’t worry about the bum on the rods,
Get rid of the bum on the plush!

–Anonymous, c. 1930 (Copyright-free, natch.)

[Dryga_Yes]

Propagandhi’s modern masterpiece Stick The Fucking Flag Up Your Goddamn Ass, You Sonofabitch really deserves a mention here. An excerpt:

My father told me “Son, it’s futile to resist,
you can topple ideology but not the armies they enlist.”
I questioned the intentions of the boy scouts chanting war.
“Well that’s the sound of freedom, son” he said.
(free to say no more)

[Floater]

For some reason I think that the contributors to this thread might be interested in this link that leads to a collection of protest songs.

[auliya]

I second Redgum’s I Was Only 19, Cold Chisel’s Khe San and The Band Played Waltzing Matilda written by Eric Bogle and sung by many.

Also Dylan’s Masters of War, as relevant now as then, sadly

[carnivorousplant]

While I’ve got you all here…What is Jefferson’s Airplane Lather about?

Lather

[Annie-Xmas]

Tom Paxton’s song “Born on the 4th of July,” based on Ron Kovic’s book. Excellent book, excellent song. The book was written by a guy who did two enlistments in Vietnam and ended up paralyzed.

Now I wheel myself down to the crossroads of town
To watch the young girls and thier lovers.
And my mind is afire, it’s alive with desire.
Christ, I’ve barely begun, now it’s over.
It my wheelchair for life, my mechanical wife
I’m suppose to be cheerful and stoic.
I’m your old tried-and-true, Yankee Doodle to you.
Clean cut, paralyzed, and heroic.

I was born on the 4th of July.
No one more loyal than I.
When my country said so, I was ready to go
And I wish I’d been left there to die.

[jjimm]

Another vote for Universal Soldier.

He’s five foot two,
And he’s six feet four,
He fights with missiles and with spears.
He’s all of thirty-one,
And he’s only seventeen,
He’s been a soldier for a thousand years.

He’s a Catholic, a Hindu,
An atheist, a Jain,
A Buddhist and a Baptist and a Jew,
And he knows he shouldn’t kill,
But he knows he always will:
Kill you for me, my friend, and me for you.

[Charlie_Tan]

The Temptations, Ball of Confusion:

People moving out, people moving in.
Why, because of the color of their skin.
Run, run, run but you sure can’t hide.

An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.
Vote for me and I’ll set you free.
Rap on, brother, rap on.

Full lyrics here.%7CF%16)