[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.
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.
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.
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.
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]