"the luck of the irish" by john lennon.... springs to mind anyway as a great one

paradise, john prine

I Ain’t Marching Anymore is pretty much the gold standard of protest songs. Phil's other works like Draft Dodger Rag and No Christmas in Kentucky are high on the list as well. His death was quite a loss. I first heard IAMA in the mid 70s after the Vietnam war was over, but it's power is eternal and I commend Howie for what may be an overdue introduction to Phil for many listeners.

As for current music, I actually consider John Mellencamp's This Is Our Country to be something of protest song. Sure it got turned into a commercial jingle almost as soon as it came out, but if you've ever heard John interviewed and listen to the lyrics you can hear Woody's voice coming through with a message for our current century.

Masters of War - Bob Dylan - sung by Eddie Vedder (yeah!)

I'm not actually an advocate of violence but I've always thought this was a great protest song on a very visceral level. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiQoq-wqZxg

"Kill for Peace" by The Fugs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agikZek3hSo

Sorry the last was a little too religous for me thought it would be more Iraq heavy.

Here's "Shut up, Be Happy"

I have way too many favorites to even list, but for some reason the first one that popped into my head is "Lives in the Balance" by Jackson Browne.

"Some Mother's Son" - by Ray Davies, performed by The Kinks on 'Arthur - or the Decline and Fall of The British Empire', 1969, Reprise Records

"Some Mother's son lies in a field/ Someone has killed some Mother's son today/ Head blown off by some soldier's gun/ While all the Mothers stand and wait/ To meet their children coming home from school/ Some Mother's son ain't got no grave.

"Some Mother's son lies in a field/ Back home they put his picture in a frame/ But all dead soldiers look the same/ They put his picture on the wall/ They put flowers in the picture frame/ Some Mother's memory remains"

As usual, Ray Davies nails it.

Thanks for featuring Phil, Howie.

"Sky Pilot" by The Animals

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_LjjI8TcQ0

John Fogerty/ Fortunate Son.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=rMsMfOlaWV0

Too bad most of the good ones are oldies.

But Michael Franti consistently pumps them out. Check out Rock the Nation.

And then there's that one by Ani diFranco about Bush (from a live album i think) - only heard it once, it's great.

Peter G @ 16:

Then there is this more general protest song. There's a lot of covers of Everybody Knows but I liked the video that goes with this one. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUTBESqnnkg

See also Johnette Napolitano/Jim mackey Haunting version

Mud nailed it.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=aizz0o9fPWU

here's a newer one, a must see

Combat Rock by Sleater-Kinney. Especially the line "dissent's not treason but they talk like it's the same"

mudshark @ 24:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=HVi-DXOfnAM
CSN&Y Ohio.

Girl I dated back then stood next to her girl friend Allison Krause when she caught a bullet in the neck that day. I sat with those kids the day after it happened, none of us were ever the same after that.

Does "Hurricane" count as a protest song? His best, I think. And I love "Masters of War" and "George Jackson" and "Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll", "Oxford Town", etc. But "Hurricane" is in another league. Just an outraged blast of a song. Unbelievably deft storytelling. He's rarely been more invested as a vocalist. By turns injured, corrosively contemptuous, reverent, righteously apoplectic...it's almost exhausting to listen to. And that violin, like an angry keen. Always sends shivers up my spine.

There are so many good protest songs I hesitate to pick just one.

Lots of great choices already in this thread. Here are a couple more classics.

Blowin' in the Wind by Dylan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f01UehWq3v8

Won't Get Fooled Again by the Who (of course)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3mi-bKtDGA

Maybe some wouldn't consider WGFA a protest song, but I think a good case could be made for it as a cautionary tale suggesting the need for eternal vigilance against the powers that be. "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss."

Not really a "protest" song, but Dion's version of "Abraham, Martin & John" always causes the well-up. Steve Earle's "I am a Patriot" is a good one, too.

Shredder @ 23:

Too bad most of the good ones are oldies.

That because such a small portion of the population has a real and intimate connection to this travesty. In my opinion, it's by design.

Shredder @ 23:

But Michael Franti consistently pumps them out. Check out Rock the Nation.

And then there's that one by Ani diFranco about Bush (from a live album i think) - only heard it once, it's great.

Michael Franti, I'll have to check that out.

I live and work in the Buffalo, NY music scene (what little there is of it). Ani is not only a living legend here (more-so than the Goo Goo Dolls,) she's a real presence when it comes to meaningful music and art as a vehicle for real action. She has her own church in town. For real. It's an old historic church, that was literally falling down, that Ani, through her record label and her own determination, restored, renovated and opened as a performance hall (Asbury Hall), art gallery (which hosts Hallwalls Art Gallery) and small club/lounge (known as the Ninth Ward) called, aptly, Babeville. The place has hosted numerous anti-war and pro-peace movies, presentations and artists. Speaking as someone who does not consider himself to be a big fan of her music, she truly is a master of the medium and someone that makes me proud to be a musician (especially one from the same hometown.)

mudshark @ 34:

Rasputin @ 33:

mudshark @ 24:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=HVi-DXOfnAM
CSN&Y Ohio.

Girl I dated back then stood next to her girl friend Allison Krause when she caught a bullet in the neck that day. I sat with those kids the day after it happened, none of us were ever the same after that.

I remember when this happened.It's one of those things that you never forget where you were at the time.

I'd just gotten back from classes and the phone rang and it was my friend asking me to come over and she said she wasn't doing to good. I got to her house and there were about nine of her friends who had been there that day and everyone was in shock. She told me what had happened and that is how I found out.

They had protested because they wanted an end to the killing and in the end it was their friends who wound up being killed in front of their eyes. Death got up close and personal real fast that day... it wasn't a Time Life photograph or CBS Evening News... it was people they knew and loved that were laying bleeding at their feet.

A little bit of something died in everyone that day.

Rasputin @ 43:

mudshark @ 34:

Rasputin @ 33:

mudshark @ 24:

Girl I dated back then stood next to her girl friend Allison Krause when she caught a bullet in the neck that day. I sat with those kids the day after it happened, none of us were ever the same after that.

I remember when this happened.It's one of those things that you never forget where you were at the time.

I'd just gotten back from classes and the phone rang and it was my friend asking me to come over and she said she wasn't doing to good. I got to her house and there were about nine of her friends who had been there that day and everyone was in shock. She told me what had happened and that is how I found out.

They had protested because they wanted an end to the killing and in the end it was their friends who wound up being killed in front of their eyes. Death got up close and personal real fast that day... it wasn't a Time Life photograph or CBS Evening News... it was people they knew and loved that were laying bleeding at their feet.

A little bit of something died in everyone that day.

yeah, I still feel it. I think I was 13 or something like that.And to see this happen in our own country to our own people,by our own military.I don't think I'll ever get over it,not completely.

Sorry about that False Dmitriy. Great minds think alike.

Did i miss Volunteers by Jefferson Airplane ?

Not sure about all time, right now it's Eddie Vedder singing No More.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HXZBI5XTT4

War Pigs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtqy4DTHGqg

oops

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFM7Ty1EEvs
Sunday Bloody Sunday. U2

mudshark @ 45:

Rasputin @ 43:

mudshark @ 34:

Rasputin @ 33:

I remember when this happened.It's one of those things that you never forget where you were at the time.

I'd just gotten back from classes and the phone rang and it was my friend asking me to come over and she said she wasn't doing to good. I got to her house and there were about nine of her friends who had been there that day and everyone was in shock. She told me what had happened and that is how I found out.

They had protested because they wanted an end to the killing and in the end it was their friends who wound up being killed in front of their eyes. Death got up close and personal real fast that day... it wasn't a Time Life photograph or CBS Evening News... it was people they knew and loved that were laying bleeding at their feet.

A little bit of something died in everyone that day.

yeah, I still feel it. I think I was 13 or something like that.And to see this happen in our own country to our own people,by our own military.I don't think I'll ever get over it,not completely.

We didn't get over it and my friend was crushed... she couldn't deal with it really and "walked off to look for America" as the song goes. She and a girl friend decided to take a drive cross country later that year and she was killed in a car accident.

Its funny I just got in touch with another friend from that time a few days ago. She teaches too and the students in the University are very different from back then.Up until recently far too many have been oblivious of what is going on now, but they seem to be waking up, just hope they don't have to learn a lesson the hard way like we did.

Black Sabbath

Into the Void

Pollution kills the air, the land and sea
Man prepares to meet his destiny

Love Me Love Me Love Me I'm a Liberal
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STdmiiYTl9I&feature=related

Rush

Distant Early Warning

There's no swimming in the heavy water
No singing in the acid rain

Everyone is forgetting Eve of Destruction by Barry McGwire..best ever!!

I was JUST thinking that we need some Phil Ochs. I had this song in mind:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlbMFRK9I9s

REO Golden Country

Country Joe McDonald and The Fish Fish Cheer/Feel-Like-I'm-Fixin'-to-Die

Janis Ian When Angels Cry

David Crosby What are their names?

The Doors The End

How about Woody's "Deportee" or the Clancy Brother's cover of Brendan Behan's "Patriot Games"? Both songs bring tears to the eyes.

I met Phil briefly, twice, in the early 70's, and he was genuinely nice guy. This was before the manic/depression did him in and from which, I understand, he was a pain in the ass. His good music was behind him and he saw no way out.

But I still miss him. Nice montage, once again, Howie.

Did someone mention the Doors?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHDSnfHb5nc
Peace Frog.

My favorite protest song is "The Ballad Of Penny Evans" by Steve Goodman. One voice singing incredible words.

Next Stop is Viet Nam (We're all gonna die Rag)

http://youtube.com/watch?v=LBdeCxJmcAo - Country Joe McDonald.

God bless 'em, every one!

"My favorite protest song is “The Ballad Of Penny Evans” by Steve Goodman. One voice singing incredible words"

Oh, man...I haven't thought of that song in years. Absolutely a great, moving song. Steve Goodman is sorely missed to this day.

"The Universal Soldier". I remember the Donavon version, but I think someone recorded it before him.

It's hard to top Phil Ochs, and yes, most of the best protest songs are "oldies", but there's at least one singer/songwriter who's taken up the torch - James McMurtry. His song "We Can't Make it Here" is nothing short of a masterpiece. Take a listen and you'll be a believer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_vN0--mHug

Machine Gun- Jimi Hendrix

It seems I've been singing these songs my entire life.

As a kid, 15 or 16, I remember my mother, who’d never been more than 100 miles from her hometown, a small town in southern Kentucky, started to talk about going to Canada.

I had no idea what she was talking about.

The war would end one year before I graduated from high school,

Off to college and then to California.

How little I knew or understood then.

And now, another generation of mothers and sons are living with this cloud over their heads.

There is no draft, but there is still war.

Will it never end?

Pravduh @ 86:

It seems I've been singing these songs my entire life.

As a kid, 15 or 16, I remember my mother, who’d never been more than 100 miles from her hometown, a small town in southern Kentucky, started to talk about going to Canada.

I had no idea what she was talking about.

The war would end one year before I graduated from high school,

Off to college and then to California.

How little I knew or understood then.

And now, another generation of mothers and sons are living with this cloud over their heads.

There is no draft, but there is still war.

Will it never end?

It wouldn't surprise me in the least , if shrub installed the draft before he leaves.

Crosby Stills Nash Wooden Ships http://youtube.com/watch?v=t0rG2ME4sAc
Abraham, Martin & John -Dion- http://youtube.com/watch?v=yTdImHOj3Bg

Bobby Darin - Simple Song of Freedom http://youtube.com/watch?v=QvY99BJzN-M

OT - amidst all this, I arrived at Steve Goodman's "A Dying Cubs Fan's Last Request" and got all teary-eyed. He appears on his last legs, but the song is classic Goodman - funny, self-deprecating, and poignant.

Even if you're not a baseball fan, it's worth seeing, just to revel in his strength at the end of his life.

Where Have All The Flowers Gone - Pete Seeger 1968 Stockholm http://youtube.com/watch?v=RhlOJm9nkwM

Bob Dylan Blowin' In the Wind http://youtube.com/watch?v=ced8o50G9kg

Bob Dylan - A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall (1976) http://youtube.com/watch?v=gKmxEJLcsIQ

John Denver - The Strangest Dream - 1971 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBcwAJZGXsk

http://youtube.com/watch?v=4zdB1zyjI48
Almost cut my Hair
CSNY

Arlo Guthrie/Alice's Restaurant http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_7C0QGkiVo&feature=related

All of the above, what a walk down Memory Lane.

And, The Bell, by Stephan Smith http://youtube.com/watch?v=PaKRUZX2dWo

And every song on Neil Young's Living With War album from April 2006.

P.S. I've got tickets to see Crosby, Stills, and Nash in June !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vrihp7g0bgs
Ball of Confusion
The Temptations.

Time has come today -The Chambers Brothers http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nuiIqMQ4sA

Quit Burp @ 112:

Time has come today -The Chambers Brothers http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nuiIqMQ4sA

excellent choice.

With much respect to the great Kenny Aronoff...
mudshark @ 21:

John Fogerty/ Fortunate Son.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=rMsMfOlaWV0

The great Max Weinberg backbones John Fogerty and the E Street Band in "Fortunate Son."

Trouble Comin' Everyday!

Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention
Freak Out

Marvin Gaye- What's Going On http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4V70Fk_SDG4

Gimme Some Truth, John Lennon http://youtube.com/watch?v=fBpIfVt46Bk

gn folks. be well.

"Little Boxes" as performed by Malvina Reynolds...Weeds Intro - Season 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvGd8vwWLpE

"Johnny Refused" by The Looters

"Sons And Daughters" by The Neville Brothers--"They say we got freedom of speech, long as you don't say too much."

COPS OF THE WORLD

Grant @35 mentioned this. It's early Bob Dylan, when I think he was at his best. Most people assume this is a song about a slave but it's actually taken from a newspaper article that Dylan read.

I particularly like the audience reaction to this song. It just blows these people away because they've never heard anything quite like it.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=AmVqyzoaiIc

Joan Baez - With God on Our Side (Live 1966) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pih1hVdflnQ&feature=related

There But For Fortune - Peter, Paul & Mary http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iw4xAvm_DXE&feature=related

Mrs McGrath - Dubliners (Original version) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Qwnt4wcEM4&feature=related

And for a special friend who will be going on a trip soon, Bob Dylan-Most Likely You Will Go Your Way (& I'll Go Mine) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCeKkJlMJDQ
Bye babe, take care!

My favorite Phil Ochs song in "The Marines Have Landed On the Shores of Santo Domingo," but there's no you tube clip so read:

And the crabs are crazy, they scuttle back and forth, the sand is burning
And the fish take flight and scatter from the sight, their courses turning
As the seagulls rest on the cold cannon nest, the sea is churning.
The marines have landed on the shores of Santo Domingo.

The fishermen sweat, they're pausing at their nets, the day's a-bornin'
As the warships sway and thunder in the bay, loud in the morning.
But the boy on the shore is throwing pebbles no more, he runs a-warning
That the the marines have landed on the shores of Santo Domingo.

The streets are still, there's silence in the hills, the town is sleeping
And the farmers yawn in the grey silver dawn, the fields they're keeping
As the first troops land and step into the sand, the flags are weeping.
The marines have landed on the shores of Santo Domingo.

The unsmiling sun is shining down upon the singing soldiers
In the cloud dust whirl they whistle at the girls, they're getting bolder
The old women sigh, think of memories gone by, they shrug their shoulders.
The marines have landed on the shores of Santo Domingo.

Ready for the tricks, their bayonets are fixed, now they are rolling
And the tanks make tracks past the trembling shacks where fear's unfolding
All the young wives afraid, turn their backs to the parade with babes they're holding
The marines have landed on the shores of Santo Domingo

A bullet cracks the sound, the army hit the ground, the sniper's callin'
So they open up their guns, a thousand to one, no sense in stalling
He clutches at his head and totters on the edge, look now he's falling
The marines have landed on the shores of Santo Domingo

In the red plaza square, the crowds come to stare, the heat is leaning
And the eyes of the dead are turning every head to the widows' screaming
But the soldiers make a bid, giving candy to the kids, their teeth are gleaming
The marines have landed on the shores of Santo Domingo

Up and down the coast, the generals drink a toast, the wheel is spinning
And the cowards and the whores are peeking through the doors to see who's winning
But the traitors will pretend that it's getting near the end, when it's beginning
The marines have landed on the shores of Santo Domingo

And the crabs are crazy, they scuttle back and forth, the sand is burning
And the fish take flight and scatter from the sight, their courses turning
As the seagulls rest on the cold cannon nest, the sea is churning
The marines have landed on the shores of Santo Domingo.

Some good ones as yet unmentioned include Kate Bush "Army Dreamers," Yes "Don't Kill the Whale," and "We Gotta Have Peace" by Curtis Mayfield.

Kate:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FmN-pB8ikQ
Yes (awesomely cheesy video):http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wlgH7Oec__s
Curtis:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uX3iMciDVxc

I've got two that nail the topic.

Tom Paxton's - Lyndon Johnson Told the Nation
The song works just about as well for Bush told the nation, lies.

The second is about as haunting as Metalica's One....Steeleye Spans Fighting For Strangers (you can hear this here...http://ultraorange.net/2007/09/09/the-soldiers-death-myth/

Another honorable mention, Simon and Garfunkel's The Sun is Burning or 7 O'Clock Silent Night.

this song gives me chills: it is about being a political prisoner

peter gabriel's wallflower

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnufSc43DyY

6x6 - from wall to wall
Shutters on the windows, no light at all
Damp on the floor you got damp on the bed
They're trying to get you crazy - get you out of your head
They feed you scraps and they feed you lies
To lower your defences, no compromise
Nothing you can do, they day can be long
You mind is working overtime, you body's not too strong

Hold on, hold on
They put you in a box so you can't get heard
Let your spirit stay unbroken, may you not be deterred

Hold on, you have gambled with your own life
And you face the night alone
While the builders of the cages
They sleep with bullets, bars and stone
They do not see your road to freedom
That you build with flesh and bone

They take you out - the light burns your eyes
To the talking room - it's not surprise
Loaded questions from clean white coats
Their eyes are all as hidden as their Hippocratic Oath
They tell you - how to behave, behave as their guest
You want to resist them, you do your best
They take you to your limits, they take you beyond
For all that they are doing there's no way to respond

Hold on, hold on
They put you in a box so you can't get heard
Let your spirit stay unbroken, may you not be deterred

Hold on, you have gambled with your own life
And you face the night alone
While the builders of the cages
They sleep with bullets, bars and stone
They do not see your road to freedom
That you build with flesh and bone

Though you may disappear, you're not forgotten here
And I will say to you, I will do what I can do

You may disappear, you're not forgotten here
And I will say you you, I will do what I can do
And I will do what I can do
And I will do what I can do

and some good enemy...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuTi9UZtPbw