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10 Best Protest Songs Of The 21st Century

theprolific.com — Every war since WWII has inspired some sort of a cultural backlash against the powers that be. Sometimes it’s a movie like W. but more often than not, these artistic expressions are protest songs. We take a look at the best protest songs of the 21st century.

Who dugg this? Made popular Oct 18, 2008

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  • thehypedzj, on 10/17/2008, -7/+35Dugg for an Orwellian inspired Radiohead
  • username7410, on 10/17/2008, -2/+29"...there have been repeated suggestions from many musical critics that the song is based on the controversial election of George W. Bush in 2000."

    Which is completely untrue. Thom Yorke has even said in interviews that would be an incredibly shallow subject for a song.
  • C4Aries, on 10/18/2008, -2/+15Wait, you think that Flobots shouldn't be there, but freakin Green Day should be? Wtf?
  • inactive, on 10/18/2008, -5/+18these top 10 need to get the ***** off digg. *****.
  • 180andback, on 10/18/2008, -8/+20No NIN? Meh.
  • jlimon, on 10/18/2008, -0/+9As much as I like the song "When The President Talks To God" is how much I hate the rest of Bright Eyes' work. Weird.
  • mangolio, on 10/18/2008, -4/+12Apparently, protest songs can only be performed by people with guitars. There's some excellent hip-hop out there ("Memorial Day" by The Perceptionists, for instance) that some might call protest music, but alas ... no guitar.

    Memorial Day
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsjEbpJcWtg
  • drmobutu, on 10/18/2008, -4/+12"Hit Me, Baby, One More Time"?
  • inactive, on 10/17/2008, -14/+22Dugg for R.E.M. and Radiohead! Keep it up!
  • Ex3poo, on 10/18/2008, -0/+7I only recognized 4 out of ten
  • Coolspot420, on 10/18/2008, -5/+12More than anything, this list shows just how ***** the current state of music is, and how far its fallen since the 60s/70s

    Kimya Dawson sucks.

    Radiohead was good until Thom crawled up his own ass and stopped making anything other than atonal whiny *****.
  • SpeedSteamBoat, on 10/18/2008, -3/+9Serj Tankian - Empty Walls
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBI_NNeBeXQ

    The video is pretty good too. Maybe it doesn't belong on the list, but I think it's a pretty damn good protest song. It's certainly better than any of the stuff he's done with SoaD, IMHO.
  • IceDogg, on 10/18/2008, -4/+10No Anti-Flag?
  • mrblue182, on 10/18/2008, -4/+10Dugg for Decemberists!
  • CrushThemTorg, on 10/18/2008, -1/+6And I say your uncle was a crooked French-Canadian, and he was gut-shot running gin.
  • inactive, on 10/18/2008, -5/+10No, people just realise that those ***** don't have half the talent that a guitarist, a drummer, a bassist, has. Speaking over a looped beat is absolutely nothing compared to the years of dedication and skill required to play.

    This not a blind criticism, I was into hiphop for years, creating and performing music. It wasn't until I joined a band that I realised this.

    But alas, you people will never listen. Bring on the Bury Brigade.
  • Dundasbro, on 10/18/2008, -1/+6Dugg for Tom Waits.
  • Deviate, on 10/18/2008, -0/+4Fugazi always deserves a digg
  • inactive, on 10/17/2008, -7/+11it's a shame Bob Dylan's songs aren't in here, but it's a damn good ranking for the new centurey!

    LOVE THE VIDEOS
  • beerwench, on 10/18/2008, -3/+7go listen to peace train by cat stevens or give peace a chance by john lennon... i know theyre not the from the 21st century but theyre songs....

    this list is a huge disappointment... most of the songs were more annoying and screechy than anything :(
  • bwdd, on 10/18/2008, -1/+5Holiday?
    The list is "best" protest songs.
  • mauleriscool, on 10/18/2008, -5/+9Where is my RAGE!!!!!!!!! Rage against the machine........
  • otbeverly, on 10/18/2008, -4/+8Dugg, but not sure 2+2=5 is the best protest song of the ... oh, 21st Century.

    Thoughts of *edit* Jigsaw Falling into Place *edit* come to mind.
  • warchant, on 10/18/2008, -0/+4hippies had it right...they protested against the gov't...not a party
    they knew the gov't was the problem, not one particular party. i'm just really sick of protest songs blaming the republicans for everything when both parties completely blow goats.
  • Owwmykneecap, on 10/18/2008, -2/+6most of those songs are like super popular. oh wait....

    Before you say it, A good protest song DOES become popular, you know, it shows people are protesting, which of course they unfortunately are not.
  • CrushThemTorg, on 10/18/2008, -1/+5I'm not certain Ani DiFranco's fans even really enjoy Ani DiFranco's music.
  • drewh1991, on 10/18/2008, -5/+9No Rage Against the Machine?
  • danielman94, on 10/18/2008, -1/+5And how his guts were all suspended in his fingers, and how he held 'em, how he held 'em, held 'em in.
  • Shaggy3, on 10/18/2008, -1/+4Here all the bombs fade away
    Here all the bombs fade away
    Here all the bombs fade away
    Here all the bombs fade away
  • GawtMilk, on 10/18/2008, -4/+7Hmm. They're all about President Bush / the Iraq War. I like R.E.M's work, and Radiohead is legendary, but protest songs were never about going with the flow. Bush is like the 21st Century Scapegoat. Has there been nothing to protest about in the past eight years other than Bush? Or are all the anti-Congress Protest Songs a load of crap?

    I think there should be more coverage of songs from foreign countries, where some serious civil wars have been fought in the past decade.
  • LucasKane, on 10/18/2008, -3/+6You should listen to the rest of the Flobots album
  • therightclique, on 10/18/2008, -1/+4i don't know about this list, but a legendary band like green day can't possibly be compared to a ***** novelty act like flobots, even if green day does suck these days.
  • Dundasbro, on 10/18/2008, -1/+4Dylan doesn't really have much of any protest songs he's sung in the last decade. Closest thing would be Workingman's Blues #2, and that isn't a protest song.
  • Apocalyptic0n3, on 10/18/2008, -3/+6Honestly figured something by System of a Down or Serj Tankian's solo effort would have made the list.
  • YouandWhoseArmy, on 10/18/2008, -4/+7pfft You and Whose Army? is a way better Radiohead 'protest' song; way more epic.
  • comineeyeaha, on 10/18/2008, -0/+3Does the fact that Thom Yorke has denied that several times not mean anything to you?
  • MrM4nager, on 10/18/2008, -0/+3And the water rolls down the drain
  • anderzole, on 10/18/2008, -12/+15dugg for bright eyes
  • swrostmore, on 10/18/2008, -0/+3"best" as a protest doesn't necessarily = "best" as a song - alternately we could use the term "influential." I mean, releasing a song with the lyrics "Seig Heil to the President Gassman" in 2004 when Bush's popularity was at 80%? And it gets constant play for the next 4 years? I mean, that Devendra Banhart song may be great musically (and I love New Weird America), but can you honestly say John Q. Public has ever heard it? Or an obscure Radiohead song that nobody even knows is antiwar?
  • TriplePlay2425, on 10/18/2008, -2/+5Buried for crappy songs.

    Every one of them was lame.
  • ennio, on 10/18/2008, -0/+2I agree, 'You and whose army is a way better "protest" song.Or even "The National Anthem" from Kid A.
    2+2=5 is amazing in it's own right though. :)
  • darkciti2, on 10/18/2008, -1/+3Killing in the Name
    Bombtrack
    Rally 'round the Family

    good call, dude
  • insinuate, on 10/18/2008, -1/+3Wow indeed.
  • unitedatheism, on 10/18/2008, -1/+3Title should be "Best 10 protest songs that you can see on MTV".

    And buried for doing a compilation of protest songs and not including anti-flag or nofx.
  • Psygnosis, on 10/18/2008, -3/+5No Pink - Dear Mr. President? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITZZ6-qCYIE
  • quantumd, on 10/18/2008, -2/+4Where is NIN...
    Letting You http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghOOmr578Wk
    Survivalism http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEmrU8UNF64 hell the entire Year Zero Album along with many tunes on With Teeth

    APC...
    Counting Bodies http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aizz0o9fPWU
  • GhostyBoy, on 10/18/2008, -0/+2I thought it was pretty cool:

    http://funkvigilante.com/WorstPresidentEver.shtml
  • inactive, on 10/18/2008, -2/+4All these songs suck. The 60's had the best anti war music.
  • Akaziel, on 10/18/2008, -1/+3This list is terrible. However......I clicked on the link, with the thought of "no matter how bad this list is, there is ONE band that has released an entire *****-tastic protest ALBUM that will determine whether I Digg or Bury."

    Therefore, Dugg for not having Green Day.
  • lansuggs, on 10/18/2008, -2/+4Next one: The top 10 reasons that top 10 lists should get off Digg (*****)
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