I signed up at another place I write to do an article on the 10 best protest songs. I have a week to write it, and I'd like your help.
When I first signed up, I thought of all the 60's songs with a kind of nostalgia. But the more I think about it, the more I realize that I want to include songs from different movements, different times, maybe even different countries. Labor songs. Civil rights. Anti-war. National liberation. I want to have a really good list to choose from. Adaptations for different subjects.
Of course I started with some basics like We Shall Overcome (and how Pete Seeger sang it for MLK and changed the word will to shall), and Where Have All the Flowers Gone and Universal Soldier. And I wondered about songs that are not specifically for protest, but that seem to have that kind of effect, like Brother Can You Spare A Dime.
I would like to make my list a kind of history of people's campaigns for a better life. And so I am asking for your help. What songs do you think should be on this list? What is the best labor song? What songs comemorate galvanizing events, like the Birmingham church bombing, or John Brown's rebellion? What about the American Revolution?
Please leave your suggestions in the comments. I am looking forward to this.
UPDATE: Thanks for all your wonderful suggestions. My computer has been overheating, and so I haven't been able to respond as I would have liked. I have lots to work with now, so many thanks.