[INTRO MUSIC]
[BYRDS PLAYING]
NARRATOR: Give
them three chords,
and they'll give you the truth.
THE BYRDS: (SINGING) The
times, they are a-changin'.
NARRATOR: Welcome
to watchmojo.com,
and today we're
counting down our picks
for the top 10 protest songs.
BOB MARLEY: (SINGING)
Get up, stand up.
Don't give up the fight.
NARRATOR: For this
list, we've chosen
songs that argue
against the status
quo, ask for change in social,
political, or other spheres,
and/or are associated with
particular events, periods,
movements, et cetera.
EDWIN STARR: (SINGING)
War, huh, yeah.
What is it good for?
Absolutely nothing.
PETE SEEGER: (SINGING)
We shall overcome.
NARRATOR: Number 10-- "We
Shall Overcome," Pete Seeger.
PETE SEEGER: (SINGING)
We shall overcome.
NARRATOR: Although the song
had been kicking around,
in some form, since--
well, no one really knows.
"We Shall Overcome" has become
synonymous with Pete Seeger.
PETE SEEGER: (SINGING) The
whole wide world around.
The whole wide world around.
NARRATOR: The banjo-slinging
folk legend certainly
had a hand in shaping
the song as we know it.
Used as a musical
form of protest
during the Civil
Rights Movement,
the anthem features
simple, but honest, lyrics
that made it a ready battle cry
for any group facing adversity.
PETE SEEGER: (SINGING)
deep in my heart--
NARRATOR: Plus, it continues
to be recorded in support
of a number of causes today.
PETE SEEGER: (SINGING)--believe
we shall overcome--
[THE EDGE PLAYING GUITAR]
NARRATOR: Number 9--
"Sunday Bloody Sunday," U2.
U2: (SINGING) Mm, oh.
NARRATOR: Despite being drenched
in U2's signature echo pop
sound, "Sunday Bloody Sunday"
is actually the band's response
to the British Army's armed
attack of Northern Irish Civil
Rights protesters in 1972.
U2: (SINGING) Puts my back up,
my back up against the wall.
Sunday, Bloody Sunday.
NARRATOR: Also known as
the Bogside Massacre,
the incident resulted
in over a dozen deaths.
U2: (SINGING) Sunday,
Bloody Sunday.
Sunday, Bloody Sunday.
NARRATOR: Thanks to
its clanging guitars,
and military-inspired
beat, it's become one
of the group's signature songs.
U2: (SINGING) How long?
How long must we sing this song?
How long, how long?
Tonight--
NARRATOR: But it's the
respect, and authority,
with which U2 tackles
the subject matter, that
really makes it stand out.
U2: (SINGING) wipe
your blood shot eyes.
Sunday, Bloody Sunday.
Wipe your tears away.
Sunday, Bloody Sunday.
NARRATOR: Number 8--
"F*** tha Police," NWA.
NWA: (RAPPING) F*** tha
police, coming straight from
the underground.
A young n**** got it
bad cause I'm brown.
NARRATOR: With this
gangsta rap track,
NWA went straight outta Compton,
and straight into controversy.
NWA: (RAPPING) F*** that
shit, cause I ain't the one,
for a punk motherf*****
with a badge and a gun,
to be beaten on--
NARRATOR: By presenting
a clear street-view look
at racially-motivated police
brutality, "F*** tha Police"
got the rappers
noticed by the FBI.
NWA: (RAPPING) Yo, Dre
I got something to say.
F*** the police.
F*** the police.
F*** the police.
NARRATOR: The government
agency's attention
to lyrics that appeared to
support violence towards cops,
actually helped fuel the
band's cred and popularity.
NWA: (RAPPING)**** the police
and Ren said it with authority,
because the n***** on
the street is a majority.
A gang--
NARRATOR: Meanwhile, the song
has become a classic protest
song.
And the weight behind
its title phrase,
has become a recurring
theme in hip-hop music.
(RAPPING) Dumb
mother****** with a gun.
And if I'm rolling
off the 8, he'll
be the one that I take
out, and then get away.
While I'm driving off laughing
this is what I'll say.
F*** the police.
[GUITAR PLAYING] Number
7-- "Ohio," Crosby, Stills,
Nash, and Young.
CSNY: (SINGING) Tin
soldiers and Nixon coming,
we're finally on our own.
On May 4th, 1970, the
Ohio National Guard
fired on several
peacefully-protesting Kent
State University students.
CSNY: (SINGING)
Gotta get down to it,
soldiers are cutting us down.
NARRATOR: After he saw
photos of the shootings that
left four dead in Ohio,
Neil Young wrote the lyrics
to this protest song.
NIEL YOUNG: (SINGING)
four dead in Ohio.
NARRATOR: David Crosby, Steven
Stills, and Graham Nash,
then joined him in the
studio to record the rocker.
CSNY: (SINGING) How can
you run when you know?
NARRATOR: Though some AM radio
stations banned the single
for its unflattering
namedropping of President
Nixon, Ohio still reached the
Billboard Hot 100's top 20,
following its release.
CSNY: (SINGING)
Four dead in Ohio.
Four dead in Ohio.
Four dead in Ohio.
NARRATOR: Number 6--
"Killing in the Name,"
Rage Against The Machine.
RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE:
(SINGING) Killing
in the name of.
NARRATOR: Never a group to
shy away from tough issues,
Rage quickly
established themselves
as a politically-minded act
with their debut single.
RAGE AGAINST THE
MACHINE: (SINGING)
Some of those that work forces,
are the same that burn crosses.
NARRATOR: The rap metal band
turned "Killing in the Name"
into a musical attack
on police brutality,
institutional racism,
and the Klu Klux Klan.
Through its snorting baselines,
Tom Morello's unorthodox guitar
part
[TOM MORELLO GUITAR SOLO]
NARRATOR: And f-bombs.
Lots and lots of f-bombs.
RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE:
(RAPPING) F*** you,
I won't do what you tell me.
F*** you, I won't
do what you tell me.
NARRATOR: Despite
its explicit lyrics,
the track has become
their signature tune,
and has been covered
by multiple artists.
RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE:
(RAPPING) F*** you,
I won't do what you tell me.
F*** you I won't do
what you tell me.
F*** you I won't do
what you tell me.
F*** you I won't do
what you tell me.
NARRATOR: Number 5-- "Fight
the Power," Public Enemy.
(RAPPING) Listen if you're
missin' y'all, swingin' while
I'm singin', givin'
whatcha gettin'.
Knowin' what I know, while
the black bands sweatin,
and the rhythm rhymes rollin'.
PUBLIC ENEMY: While the Beastie
Boys were fighting for their,
right to party, Chuck D,
Flavor Flav, and the rest
of the Public Enemy crew,
were fighting for their right
to do pretty much
everything else--
PUBLIC ENEMY: (RAPPING)
Fight the power.
NARRATOR: --fused with
aggression, defiance,
and rebellion.
(RAPPING) Fight the power.
NARRATOR: The lyrics of
Fight the Power are steeped
with samples of
African-American culture,
and shots at the
American establishment.
PUBLIC ENEMY:
(RAPPING) Sample a look
back you look and find nothing
but rednecks for 400 years,
if you check.
Don't worry be happy.
Was a number one jam.
Damn if I say it you
can slap me right here.
NARRATOR: Along with playing in
Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing,
the song has since
become an anthem
for urban, underprivileged
young adults.
PUBLIC ENEMY: (RAPPING)
Fight the power.
We've got to fight
the powers that be.
THE WAILERS: (SINGING)
Get up, stand up--
stand up for your rights.
NARRATOR: Number 4-- "Get
Up, Stand Up," The Wailers.
THE WAILERS: (SINGING)
Don't give up the fight.
NARRATOR: Struck by
the devastating poverty
found in Haiti, Bob Marley
teamed up with Peter Tosh
to write this
three-minute number.
THE WAILERS: (SINGING)
We're sick and tired
of the ism-skism, dyin' and go
to heaven in a Jesus' name--
NARRATOR: In the early
'70s, many Haitians
fled the country in the
hopes of freeing themselves
from these conditions.
THE WAILERS: (SINGING) And you
can fool some people sometimes,
but you can't fool all
the people all the time.
And now you see the
light-- what you gonna do?
Stand up for your rights!
NARRATOR: With its solid reggae
groove, and powerful lyrics,
"Get Up, Stand Up"
urged those who remained
to fight for their rights.
Thanks to its powerful
message, it quickly
became a concert staple
for Marley and the Wailers.
(SINGING) Get up stand up--
don't give up the fight.
NARRATOR: And was the last song
the Rastafarian performed live
before his death in 1981.
THE WAILERS: (SINGING)
Don't give up the fight.
NARRATOR: Number 3-- "The
Times They Are a-Changin'," Bob
Dylan.
BOB DYLAN: (SINGING) Come
gather 'round people,
wherever you roam, and admit
that the waters around you have
grown--
NARRATOR: Written
when America was
on the cusp of
great social change,
and just prior to
JFK's assassination,
this is Bob Dylan's call
for open-mindedness,
and a warning to the old guard.
BOB DYLAN: (SINGING) Come
senators, congressmen,
please heed the call.
Don't stand in the doorway.
Don't block up the hall.
NARRATOR: The coming
generations quickly
adopted it as an anthem of
change, due to its timeless
lyrics.
BOB DYLAN: (SINGING) The
battle outside raging,
will soon shake your windows
and rattle your walls.
For the times they
are a-changin'.
NARRATOR: The Times
They Are a-Changin'
also reach the UK Top 10,
and cemented Dylan's place
in folk music, and
as a protest singer.
BOB DYLAN: (SINGING)
And the first one
now will later be last.
For the times they
are a-changin'.
[SONG CHANGES]
Number 2-- "What's
Going On," Marvin Gaye.
MARVIN GAYE: (SINGING) Mother,
there's too many of you crying.
NARRATOR: In the first track and
single from "What's Going On,"
Marvin Gaye questions the
world, and times, around him.
MARVIN GAYE: (SINGING) Don't
punish me with brutality.
But talk to me, so you
see, what's going on.
NARRATOR: The initial
spark for the song
was an act of police brutality
witnessed by co-writer Obie
Benson during an
anti-war protest.
After Gaye added
his own touches,
the track was released without
Motown boss Berry Gordy's
consent, as he hated the track.
(SINGING) We need some unity,
some love--
NARRATOR: Lucky for us
all, "What's Going On"
topped the soul charts, and
became Motown's fastest-selling
single to that point.
RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE:
(SINGING) Hear me people, oh.
What's going, what's going on?
Before we unveil
our top pick, here
are a few honorable mentions.
CCR: (SINGING) Some folks are
born made to wave the flag.
Ooh, they're red,
white, and blue.
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN:
(SINGING) Born in the USA.
I was born in the USA.
BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD:
(SINGING) Stop
children, what's that sound?
Everybody look whats going down.
What are we fighting for?
Don't ask me, I don't give a
damn, next stop is Vietnam--
And it's five, six, seven,
open up the pearly gates.
SAM COOKE: (SINGING)
A long time coming,
but I know a change gonna come.
MIA: (RAPPING) I throw this
shit in your face when I see ya.
Cause I got something to say.
I was born free.
I was born free.
NARRATOR: Number 1--
"Give Peace a Chance,"
the Plastic Ono Band. (SINGING)
Everybody's talking about
Bagism, Shagism, Dragism,
Madism, Ragism, Tagism--
NARRATOR: Paving the
way for Imagine--
JOHN LENNON: (SINGING)
Imagine all the people.
NARRATOR: --this John
Lennon-penned track
provides the sentiment that
Lennon is best remembered for.
PLASTIC ONO BAND:
(SINGING) All we are saying
is give peace a chance.
NARRATOR: Quickly she adopted
as the anti-Vietnam war song,
give peace a chance was
conceived, and recorded,
during the ex-Beatles Montreal
bed-in with wife Yoko Ono,
and later sung by 500,000
people at the Moratorium March
on Washington.
PLASTIC ONO BAND:
(SINGING) All we are saying
is give peace a chance.
NARRATOR: While it reached
the Billboard Hot 100's Top
20, and the UK
charts Top Five, it's
the song's hopeful tune that
has given it its enduring
legacy in rock and roll.
PLASTIC ONO BAND: (SINGING)
is give peace a chance.
NARRATOR: Do you
agree with our list?
What's your favorite
protest song?
For more rebellious Top
10's published every day,
be sure to subscribe
to watchmojo.com.
JOHN LENNON: (SINGING)
--is give peace a chance.
JOHN LENNON: OK, beautiful.
Yeah.
[OUTRO MUSIC]