Editing Protest song (section)

== Europe ==

=== Belarus ===
The first famous Belarusian protest songs were created at the beginning of the 20th century during the rise of the Belarusian People's Republic and war for independence from the Russian Empire and Soviet Russia. This period includes such protest songs as "Advieku My Spali" ("We've slept enough", also known as Belarusian Marselliese) and "Vajaćki Marš" ("March of the Warriors"), which was an anthem of the Belarusian People's Republic. The next period of protest songs was in the 1990s, with many created by such bands as NRM, Novaje Nieba and others, which led to the unspoken prohibition of these musicians. As an example, Lavon Volski, frontman of NRM, Mroja and Krambambulia, had issues with officials at the majority of his concert due to the criticism of the Belarusian political system.  One of the most famous bands of Belarus, [[Lyapis Trubetskoy]], was forbidden from performing in the country due to being critical of [[Aleksandr Lukashenka]] in his lyrics.  These prohibitions lead most "forbidden" bands to organize concerts in Vilnius, which, though situated in modern Lithuania, is considered to be a Belarusian historical capital because less than a hundred years ago most dwellers of Vilnius (Vilnia, as it was called before it was given to Lithuania) were Belarusians. But in the middle of the 2010s, the situation began to change a bit and many protest bands started to organize concerts in Belarus.

=== Estonia ===
Many of the songs performed at the Estonian [[Laulupidu]] are protest songs, particularly those written during the [[Singing Revolution]]. Due to the official position of the [[Soviet Union]] at the time, the lyrics are frequently allusive, rather than explicitly anti-Soviet, such as [[Tõnis Mägi]]'s song ''[[Koit (song)|Koit]]''. In contrast, ''[[Eestlane olen ja eestlaseks jään]]'', sung by [[Ivo Linna]] and the group [[In Spe]] is explicitly in favour of an Estonian identity.

===Finland===
Finland has a tradition of socialist and communist protest songs going back to the [[Finnish Civil War]], most of which were imported and translated from Soviet Russia. In the 21st century the socialist protest song tradition is somewhat continued by left wing rap artists and to lesser degree in more traditional [[Taistoism|Taistoist]] form by KOM-theatre choir.

===France===
[[File:MireilleMathieu22.03.2006.jpg|thumb|right|[[Mireille Mathieu]] is known for her song "Une femme amoureuse", reflecting themes of freedom and emotion.]]

"[[The Internationale]]"  ("''L'Internationale''" in French) is a [[socialism|socialist]], [[anarchism|anarchist]], [[communism|communist]], and [[social democracy|social-democratic]] [[anthem]].<ref>[[World Book Encyclopedia]], 2018 ed., s.v. "Internationale, The"</ref><ref>"The International Anarchist Congress, Amsterdam, 1907" (PDF). [http://www.fdca.it www.fdca.it.] Retrieved June 4, 2019</ref>

"The Internationale" became the anthem of international [[socialism]]. Its original French refrain is ''C'est la lutte finale/ Groupons-nous et demain/ L'Internationale/ Sera le genre humain.'' (Freely translated: "This is the final struggle/ Let us join together and tomorrow/ The Internationale/ Will be the human race.") The "Internationale" has been translated into most of the world's languages. Traditionally it is sung with the <!---- right (removed because right or left is debated and but does not matter about the "traditional" aspect)----> hand raised in a clenched fist salute. "The Internationale" is sung not only by [[Communism|communist]]s but also (in many countries) by socialists or social democrats. [[#Chinese lyrics|The Chinese version]] was also a rallying song of the students and workers at the [[Tiananmen Square protests of 1989]].<ref>{{cite web|title=The Internationale|url=http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/INTERNAT.html|publisher=Modern History Sourcebook}}</ref>

There is not so much a protest song trend in France, but rather of a permanent background of criticism and contestation, and individuals who personify it. [[World War II]] and its horrors forced French singers to think more critically about war in general, forcing them to question their governments and the powers who ruled their society.

Jazz trumpeter and singer [[Boris Vian]]'s was one of the first to protest against the Algerian war with his anti-war song "Le déserteur" (The deserter), which was banned by the government.<ref>{{cite web|title=Boris Vian biography|url=http://www.biogs.com/famous/vianboris.html|publisher=biogs.com}}</ref>

Several French songwriters, such as [[Léo Ferré]] (1916–1993), [[Georges Brassens]] (1921–1981), [[Jacques Brel]] (1929–1978) (actually a Belgian singer), [[Maxime Le Forestier]] (born 1949) or interpreters ([[Yves Montand]], [[Marcel Mouloudji]], [[Serge Reggiani]], [[Graeme Allwright]] ...) often wrote or sang songs aligned against majority ideas and political powers. Because racial tensions did not rise to the same levels as those in the United States, criticism was focused more toward bourgeoisie, power, religion, and songs defending liberty of thought, speech and action. After 1945, immigration became a source of inspiration for some singers: [[Pierre Perret]] (born 1934), well known for his humorous songs, started writing several more "serious" and committed songs against racism ("Lily", 1977), which critically pointed out everyday racist behaviour in French society.

Brassens wrote several songs protesting war, hate, intolerance ("Les Deux Oncles" ["''The Two Uncles''"], "La Guerre de 14–18" ["''14–18 War''"], "Mourir pour des idées" ["''To Die for Ideas''"] "Les Patriotes" ["''The Patriots''"] ...), against chauvinism ("La Ballade des gens qui sont nés quelque part" ["Ballad of People Who Are Born Somewhere"]), against bourgeoisie ("La Mauvaise Réputation" ["''The bad reputation''"], "Les Philistins" ["''The Philistines''"] ...). He was often called "anarchist" because of his songs on representatives of law and order (and religion) ("[[Le Gorille]]" ["''The gorilla''"] "Hécatombe" ["''Slaughter''"] "Le Nombril des femmes d'agents" ["''The navel of cops wives''"], "Le Mécréant" ["''The miscreant''"] ...).

Ferré was also called an "anarchist". He sang against consumerism ("Vitrines" [''"Shop Fronts"''], "Chanson mécanisée" [''"Mechanized Song"''], "[[Il n'y a plus rien]]" [''"There is nothing left"''] ...), against French [[Algerian War of Independence|war]] ("Miss guéguerre" [''"Miss Squabble"''], "Pacific blues", "Regardez-les" [''"Look at them"''], "Mon général" [''"My general"''], "Les Temps difficiles" [''"Hard Times"''], "La Marseillaise"), death penalty ("Ni Dieu ni maître" [''"No God no Master"''], "La Mort des loups" [''"The Death of the Wolves"'']), Estate control ("La Gueuse", "La Complainte de la télé" [''"Lament of TV"''], "La Révolution" [''"Revolution"''], "Le Conditionnel de variétés" [''"Middle of the road music conditional mood"'']), illusion of representative democracy ("Ils ont voté" [''"They voted"''], "La Grève" [''"Strike"'']), dictatorships ("Franco la muerte", "Allende", "[[La Violence et l'Ennui]]" [''"Words ... Words ... Words ... ''"]), sexual hypocrisy and freedom ("[[Amour Anarchie|Le Chien]]" [''"The Dog"''], "[[Amour Anarchie|Le Mal]]" [''"Evil"''], "Ton style" [''"Your style"''], "[[L'Espoir (album)|La Damnation]]" [''"Damnation"''] ...).

Brel's work is another ode to freedom ("Ces gens-là" ["''These people''"], "Les Bourgeois" ["''The Bourgeois''"], "Jaurès", "Les Bigotes" ["''The bigots''"], "Le Colonel" ["''The colonel''"], "Le Caporal Casse-Pompon" ["''Corporal Break-Nots''"]).

===Germany===
[[File:Klaus_nomi_ill_artlibre_jnl.png|thumb|right|[[Klaus Nomi]]'s collaborator and influential figure in the punk and protest scene.]]

[[Ton Steine Scherben]], one of the first and most influential German language [[Rock and roll|rock]] bands of the 1970s and early 1980s, were well known for the highly political lyrics of vocalist [[Rio Reiser]]. The band became a musical mouthpiece of [[New social movements|new left movements]], such as the [[Squatting|squatting movement]], during that time in Germany and their hometown of [[West Berlin]] in particular. Their lyrics were, at the beginning, [[anti-capitalism|anti-capitalist]] and anarchist, and the band had connections to members of the German [[Red Army Faction]] movement before they became illegal. Later songs were about more complex issues such as unemployment ("Mole Hill Rockers") or homosexuality ("Mama war so"). They also contributed to plays and two full-length [[concept album]]s about homosexuality by the Hamburg theatre group Brühwarm (literally: boiling warm).

A dissatisfied German youth in the late 1970s and early 1980s resulted in a strand of highly politicized German-language Punkrock ("Deutschpunk"), which mostly concerned itself with politically radical left-wing lyrics, mostly influenced by the [[Cold War]]. Probably the most important German-language punk band was [[Slime (band)|Slime]] from Hamburg, who were the first band whose LP was banned because of political topics. Their songs "Deutschland" ("Germany"), "Bullenschweine", "Polizei SA/SS", and the anti-imperialist "Yankees raus" ("Yankees out") were banned, some of them are still banned today, because they propagated the use of violence against the police or compared the police to the [[Sturmabteilung|SA]] and [[SS]] of [[Nazi Germany]].

The Cologne-based rock group [[BAP (German band)|BAP]] is known for their committed and intelligently written lyrics, dealing with discrimination and the power games of Germany's political elites in many of their songs. The song "[[Kristallnaach]]" (1982) is a point in case. It analyses the corruptibility of the present-day masses for new forms of fascism, while referring to the "Night of Broken Glass" that took place in 1938.

In [[East Germany]], protesting against the state was often prohibited.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Kaminsky|first1=Annette|title=Orte des Erinnerns Gedenkzeichen, Gedenkstätten und Museen zur Diktatur in SBZ und DDR.|last2=Gleinig|first2=Ruth|date=2007|others=Gleinig, Ruth, 1950–, Igel, Oliver, 1978–, Kaminsky, Anna, 1962–|isbn=9783861534433|location=CH. Links Verlag (Sachbuch)|oclc=985523869}}</ref> Despite this, the song [[Ermutigung]] by [[Wolf Biermann]] became a widely popular protest song against the [[Socialist Unity Party of Germany|SED]] government.<ref>{{Cite book|first=Peter|last=Rühmkorf|title=Strömungslehre|publisher=Rowohlt|year=1978|isbn=978-3499251078|edition=Erstausg|location=Reinbek bei Hamburg|oclc=4779148}}</ref>

=== Ireland ===

==== Irish rebel songs ====
[[File:Sinéad_O’Connor_(cropped).jpg|thumb|right|[[Sinead O'Connor]] is known for her political songs, including "The Foggy Dew", reflecting Irish rebel music themes.]]

[[Irish rebel music]] is a subgenre of Irish folk music, played on typically Irish instruments (such as the [[Fiddle]], [[tin whistle]], [[Uilleann pipes]], [[accordion]], [[bodhrán]] etc.) and acoustic guitars. The lyrics deal with the fight for Irish independence, people who were involved in liberation movements, the persecution and violence during [[The Troubles|Northern Ireland's Troubles]] and the history of Ireland's numerous rebellions.

Among the many examples of the genre, some of the most famous are "[[A Nation Once Again]]", "[[Come out Ye Black and Tans]]", "Erin go Bragh",<ref>{{cite web|title=Erin-Go-Bragh|url=http://sniff.numachi.com/~rickheit/dtrad/pages/tiERNGOBRA;ttERNGOBRA.html|access-date=October 3, 2007}}</ref> "[[The Fields of Athenry]]", "[[The Men Behind the Wire]]" and the Republic of Ireland's national anthem "[[Amhrán na bhFiann]]" ("The Soldier's Song"). Music of this genre has often courted controversy, and some of the more outwardly anti-British songs have been effectively banned from the airwaves in both England and the Republic of Ireland.

[[Paul McCartney]] also made a contribution to the genre with his 1972 single "[[Give Ireland Back to the Irish]]", which he wrote as a reaction to [[Bloody Sunday (1972)|Bloody Sunday]] in Northern Ireland on January 30, 1972. The song also faced an all-out ban in the UK, and has never been re-released or appeared on any Paul McCartney or [[Wings (band)|Wings]] best-ofs. The same year McCartney's former colleague [[John Lennon]] released two protest songs concerning the hardships of war-torn Northern Ireland: "[[Some Time in New York City|Sunday Bloody Sunday]]", written shortly after the 1972 massacre of Irish civil rights activists (which differs from [[U2]]'s 1983 song of the same title in that it directly supports the Irish Republican cause and does not call for peace), and "The Luck of the Irish", both from his album ''Some Time in New York City'' (1972).

The [[Wolfe Tones]] have become legendary in Ireland for their contribution to the Irish rebel genre. The band has been recording since 1963 and has attracted worldwide fame and attention through their renditions of traditional Irish songs and originals, dealing with the former conflict in Northern Ireland. In 2002 the Wolfe Tones' version of "[[A Nation Once Again]]", a nationalist song from the 19th century, was voted the greatest song in the world in a poll conducted by the [[BBC World Service]].<ref>{{cite web|title=The World's Top Ten|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/us/features/topten/|access-date=May 1, 2007|publisher=BBC}}</ref>

An Irish alternative rock/post punk band from [[Dublin]], [[U2]] broke with the rebel musical tradition when in 1983 they wrote their song "[[Sunday Bloody Sunday (song)|Sunday Bloody Sunday]]". The song makes reference to two separate massacres in Irish history of civilians by British forces – [[Bloody Sunday (1920)]] and [[Bloody Sunday 1972]] – however, unlike other songs dealing with those events, the lyrics call for peace as opposed to revenge.

[[The Cranberries]]' hit "[[Zombie (The Cranberries song)|Zombie]]", written during their English tour in 1993, is in memory of two boys, Jonathan Ball and Tim Parry, who were killed in [[Warrington bombings|an IRA bombing in Warrington]].

===Netherlands===
In 1626 the Dutch national anthem “Wilhelmus” was composed, it was a song in support of [[Willem van Oranje]] who lead the Dutch against the Spaniards in the [[Eighty Years War]].

In 1966 [[Boudewijn de Groot]] released "[[Welterusten meneer de president]]" ("Good night mister president"), a song about the Vietnam War. The song spent 12 weeks in the [[Dutch Top 40]] and to this day it remains an important song in [[nederpop]] and among Dutch protest songs. Following "Welterusten meneer de president", Boudewijn de Groot and Lennaert Nijgh, a Dutch lyricist, made more protest songs. The couple inspired other Dutch musicians, namely [[Armand (singer)|Armand]] and [[Robert Long (singer)|Robert Long]]. 'Tweede Kamer' by [[Sophie Straat]] and [[Goldband]] is a ska protest song against the lack of female leadership in the Netherlands, urging Dutch voters to 'vote for a woman'.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://3voor12.vpro.nl/update~510e35b7-c8df-4d76-8181-af295d460ce4~sophie-straat-en-goldband-maken-stem-op-een-vrouw-anthem~.html | title=Sophie Straat en Goldband maken stem-op-een-vrouw-anthem }}</ref>

===Portugal===
The protest songs in Portugal were mostly associated with the antifascist movement and developed chiefly among students and activists. The best known are songs by [[Paulo de Carvalho]] and [[José Afonso]], respectively "[[E Depois do Adeus]]" (And After the Goodbye) and "[[Grândola Vila Morena]]"([[Grândola]] Swarthy Town). They were chosen as a code to start the [[Carnation Revolution]] that would successfully triumph against the dictatorial regime. The first was written out of letters that the author, then fighting to maintain the colonies (a war that the general public was against) sent to his wife. Hence the title refers to his departure "goodbye" to the war. The other song was very explicit regarding his objective: "''O Povo é quem mais ordena / dentro de ti oh cidade''" (The people is the one who orders the most/ inside of you oh city). "E Depois do Adeus" was vague enough to elude the censorship and pass as an "end of love" song, which also accounts for the order of the broadcast.

Of the two, Zeca Afonso was more prolific and more identified with the movement, so much so that another of his songs was the first choice for the code "Venham mais 5" (Let 5 more come). Other artists also used some craft to hide their meanings in the song or went into exile. One example is [[Adriano Correia de Oliveira]] that masked the explicit lyrics with the vocal tone making it difficult to distinguish the critical verse, from the refrain or even other verses. In no other song is this more noted that the ballad "[[Trova do Vento que Passa]]" (Song/Poem of the Passing Wind), whose lyrics by the writer [[Manuel Alegre]] were a direct criticism of the state. The music was by António Portugal but Correia used a typical [[Fado]] rhythm to hide such provocative verses as "Mesmo na noite mais triste/em tempo de sevidão/há sempre alguém que resiste/há sempre alguém que diz não" (even in the saddest night/in time of servitude/there is always someone who stands up/there is always someone who says No).

Not only men but also women had an active participation, albeit in lesser numbers. [[Ermelinda Duarte]], one of those women, wrote the song "Somos Livres" (We Are Free), for a 1972 theatre play called ''Lisboa 72'', masking a deep meaning with catchy children's music. Although the version of her singing the tune is the best known it was only recorded ''after'' the carnation revolution.

Many other songwriters and singers, to generate awareness, used their talents to act in all of Portugal, sometimes without pay or transport. Fausto Bordalo Dias once sang into a mike so poorly made it needed a plastic cup to work. Other singers included the priest Francisco Fanhais, the writer José Jorge Letria; [[Fernando Tordo]]; Luís Cília; Amélia Muge; Janita Salomé; Manuel Freire; [[José Barata-Moura]]; the poet [[Ary dos Santos]]; [[José Mário Branco]], [[Sérgio Godinho]], Carlos Alberto Moniz, Maria do Amparo and Samuel.

===Poland===
Protest songs in Poland were mostly associated with anti-communist movement and developed in the 1970s and 1980s. One of the most important artists was [[Jacek Kaczmarski]], author of such famous songs as "[[Mury (song)|Mury]]" ("The Walls"), "Przedszkole" ("The Kindergarten") and "Zbroja" ("The Armor"), criticizing both the totalitarian communist government and the opposition. Another famous Polish folk singer, [[Jan Pietrzak]], wrote one of the best-known Polish patriotic protest songs, "[[Żeby Polska była Polską]]" ("Make Poland Polish"), in which he reminded the most heroic moments of Polish history, including [[Kościuszko Uprising]], and called people to fight the communists as they fought other enemies of Poland before. He also recorded a musical version of the [[Jonasz Kofta]]'s poem "Pamiętajcie o ogrodach" ("Remember the Gardens"), protesting against the industrialism of life promoted by the communist propaganda. Other Polish artists well known for writing protest songs include [[Kazimierz Staszewski]] and [[Przemysław Gintrowski]].

As [[Rhythms of Resistance]] groups operated in many cities during the 2000s, rhythm predominated protests, and protesters tended not to sing. As Poland moved closer to authoritarian rule, protest song writing and performance became a staple of social movements, and singing was incorporated into street demonstrations. The song's melodies, lyrics, and performance style all alluded to earlier social struggles and political traditions that the protest was referencing and strove to uphold.

In the second decade of the 21st century, urban movements established choirs of activists, i.e. the Warsaw Revolutionary Choir "Warszawianka", the Krakow Revolutionary Choir, the TAK [Tricity Women's Action] Choir in Gdańsk, which supported street protests.<ref name="Kowzan2023"/> The song repertoire consisted largely of reconstructions of protest songs from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In Łódź, [[Warszawianka (1831)|"Warszawianka"]] was sung en masse during the celebrations marking the 110th and 111th anniversaries of the [[Łódź insurrection|insurrection of 1905]].

In 2016, singing workshops for women were conducted during some [[Abortion in Poland#Black Protest|Black Protest demonstrations]]. The protest song {{YouTube|vdex5lu6mJQ|"Wściekły szpaler"}} with the participation of activists showed how important they find this method of communication.

As a tribute to [[Piotr Szczęsny]], who used public self-immolation to condemn "the ruling party for the systematic violation of the law, inspiring discrimination against minorities, and deliberately destroying the country's nature and educational system,"<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Kowzan|first1=Piotr|last2=Szczygieł|first2=Przemysław|date=2022|title=Social movement learning about violence|journal=European Journal for Research on the Education and Learning of Adults|doi=10.3384/rela.2000-7426.4308|s2cid=253471337 |doi-access=free}}</ref> protest songs were written in 2017.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Żuk|first1=Piotr|last2=Żuk|first2=Paweł|date=2018|title=An 'ordinary man's' protest: self-immolation as a radical political message in Eastern Europe today and in the past|journal=Social Movement Studies|volume=17|issue=5|pages=610–617|doi=10.1080/14742837.2018.1468245|s2cid=149475355 }}</ref> In order to convince [[Andrzej Duda]] to oppose constitutional amendments, activists later that year performed a {{YouTube|jYIQmBMUsFk|modified rendition}} of the Christmas carol "Przybieżeli do Betlejem" in the places the Polish president visited.

Many protest songs were performed in Poland in {{Interlanguage link|2019 during the largest teachers' strike|pl|Strajk nauczycieli w Polsce w 2019 roku}} in the country's history. Many schools, even in small towns or villages produced protest songs. Recordings of group performances were posted on social media. Numerous songs were based on tunes from the 1980s of the 20th century, specifically from the time of martial law that put an end to the 'carnival of solidarity' in 1980–1981.<ref name="Kowzan2023" />

Many protest songs were played during the [[2020–2021 women's strike protests in Poland|Women's Strike demonstrations in 2020 and 2021]]. One was {{YouTube|95_ZIOxiQCE|"Tortury ciało"}} to the tune of "[[Bella ciao]]". This song became a symbol of the demonstrations against the government and the Catholic church as they both tried to increase restrictions on the right to abortion.

===Russia===
[[File:Окуджава_на_Арбате_-_panoramio.jpg|thumb|right|[[Bulat Okudzhava]] leading figure in Russian protest music.]]

The most famous source of Russian protest music in the 20th century has been those known locally as [[Bard (Soviet Union)|bards]]. The term (бард in Russian) came to be used in the Soviet Union in the early 1960s, and continues to be used in Russia today, to refer to singer-songwriters who wrote songs outside the Soviet establishment. Many of the most famous bards wrote numerous songs about war, particularly The [[Great Patriotic War]] (World War II). Bards had various reasons for writing and singing songs about war. [[Bulat Okudzhava]], who actually fought in the war, used his sad and emotional style to illustrate the futility of war in songs such as "The Paper Soldier" ("Бумажный Солдат").

Many political songs were written by bards under Soviet rule, and the genre varied from acutely political, "[[anti-Soviet]]" songs, to witty satire in the best traditions of [[Aesop]]. Some of [[Bulat Okudzhava]]'s songs provide examples of political songs written on these themes. [[Vladimir Vysotsky]] was perceived as a political songwriter, but later he gradually made his way into more mainstream culture. It was not so with [[Alexander Galich (writer)|Alexander Galich]], who was forced to emigrate—owning a tape with his songs could mean a prison term in the USSR. Before emigration, he suffered from [[KGB]] persecution, as did another bard, [[Yuliy Kim]]. Others, like [[Evgeny Kliachkin]] and [[Aleksander Dolsky]], maintained a balance between outright anti-Soviet and plain romantic material.
Protest rhetoric can also be traced in the works of such rock bands as [[Grazhdanskaya Oborona]], [[Naive (Russian band)|Naive]], [[Tarakany!]], [[Pilot (Russian band)|Pilot]], [[Noize MC]], [[Lumen (band)|Lumen]] and [[Louna]]. Later, during the Soviet-Afghan War in the 1980s, [[Kino (band)]] released an album, [[Gruppa krovi (album)|Gruppa krovi]], which its main song, "Blood Type" (Группа Крови) is a protest song about the Soviet-Afghan War. In [[Grand Theft Auto IV]], it was part of the soundtrack before its ten-year license expired in 2018. In 2019, twenty-nine years and a day after the group's last performance at [[Luzhniki Stadium]], Metallica held a concert there and sang "Blood Type".

In the 21st century, the feminist punk band [[Pussy Riot]] in particular has had frequent run-ins with the [[Vladimir Putin|Putin presidency]] and the Russian Orthodox Church.

===Spain===
[[File:Maria del Mar Bonet.JPG|thumb|[[Maria del Mar Bonet]] is known for her song "Què volen aquesta gent?", an anthem of resistance against [[Franco's dictatorship]].]]

Spain saw a brief period of protest singers in the 1970s, in the final years of [[Francoist Spain|Franco's dictatorship]], mainly challenging the regime's censorship. They include some mainstream Spanish artists of the era, as [[Joan Manuel Serrat]] and [[Víctor Manuel]], but also many others as [[José Antonio Labordeta]], [[Raimon]], [[Luis Eduardo Aute]], [[Rosa León]] or [[Lluís Llach]]. The [[Catalan language]], then a non-official language in the country, was often used as a vehicle of protest in itself, to highlight the cultural discrimination towards non-Castilian Spanish native speakers in Spain.

Most of the protest songs were in a [[folk music|folk]] style with social themes, and were popular among the (then banned) [[Left-wing politics|left-wing]]  and their supporters, as well with many young students in main universities. Some notable songs were ''[[Al Alba]]'' ("At Dawn") by Aute, ''[[Al vent]]'' ("To The Wind") by Raimon, and ''[[L'Estaca]]'' ("The Stake") by Llach.

The movement come to an end after the [[Spanish transition to democracy]], years after Franco's death. In 1997, singer [[Ismael Serrano]] briefly revamped the style, being his song ''Papá cuéntame otra vez'' ("Dad, tell me again") a nostalgic hymn to the 1970s protests.

===United Kingdom===

==== 14th–19th century ====


English folk songs from the late medieval and early modern period reflect the social upheavals of their day. In 1944 the Marxist scholar [[A. L. Lloyd]] claimed that "[[The Cutty Wren]]" song constituted a coded anthem against feudal oppression and actually dated back to the [[English peasants' revolt of 1381]], making it the oldest extant European protest song.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Cutty Wren|url=http://unionsong.com/u080.html|access-date=October 3, 2007|publisher=Union Songs}} and [http://www.mustrad.org.uk/articles/tse1.htm ''The Singing Englishman'']</ref> He offered no evidence for his assertion, however and no trace of the song has been found before the 18th century.<ref>When pressed, Lloyd was said to have admitted later that he made it all up. See the discussion at [http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?ThreadID=47959 Mudcat Cafe] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110522081328/http://www.mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=47959 |date=May 22, 2011 }}. "Cutty" means small and the wren was a bird traditionally hunted in winter: "The Cutty Wren", in fact, has been reliably associated with the widespread 18th-century British folk Christmas alms-seeking rituals of mumming and [[wassailing]], which did involve a sanctioned reversal of social roles, and which, moreover, were sometimes accompanied by an air of suppressed menace, or led to open disorders, causing them to be regulated (masks were prohibited under Queen Elizabeth) or even banned at various times, as under Cromwell.</ref> Despite Lloyd's dubious claim about its origins, however, the "Cutty Wren" was revived and used as a protest song in the 1950s folk revival, an example of what may be considered a protest song. In contrast, the rhyme, "When Adam delved and Eve span, who was then the gentleman?", is attested as authentically originating in the 1381 Peasant Revolt, though no tune associated with it has survived.<ref>P. H. Freedman, ''Images of the Medieval Peasant'' (Stanford University Press, 1999), p. 60.</ref> Ballads celebrating social bandits like [[Robin Hood]], from the 14th century onwards, can be seen as expressions of a desire for social justice, though although social criticism is implied and there is no overt questioning of the status quo.<ref>G. Seal, ''The Outlaw Legend: A Cultural Tradition in Britain, America and Australia'' (Cambridge University Press, 1996), pp. 19–31.</ref>

The era of civil and religious wars of the 17th century in Britain gave rise to the radical communistic millenarian [[Levellers]] and [[Diggers]]' movements and their associated ballads and hymns, as, for example, the "[[Diggers' Song]]".<ref>Noted by German Marxist theoretician [[Eduard Bernstein]] (1850–1932), in ''Cromwell & Communism: Socialism and Democracy in the Great English Revolution'', originally published in 1895, translated by [[H. J. Stenning]] (Routledge, 1963), pp. 111–2.</ref> with the incendiary verse:
<blockquote><poem>
But the Gentry must come down,
and the poor shall wear the crown.
Stand up now, Diggers all!</poem></blockquote>

The Digger movement was violently crushed, and so it is not surprising if few overt protest songs associated with it have survived. From roughly the same period, however, songs protesting wars and the human suffering they inflict abound, though such songs do not generally explicitly condemn the wars or the leaders who wage them. For example, "The Maunding Souldier" or "The Fruits of Warre is Beggery", framed as a begging appeal from a crippled soldier of the [[Thirty Years' War]].<ref>V. de Sola Pinto and Allan Edwin Rodway, ''The Common Muse: An Anthology of Popular British Ballad Poetry, XVth-XXth Century'' (Chatto & Windus, 1957), pp. 148–50.</ref> Such songs have been known, strictly speaking, as songs of complaint rather than of protest, since they offered no solution or hint of rebellion against the status quo.{{citation needed|reason=no evidence provided of fact or of rationale, which would make nearly every song on this page not a protest song|date=July 2016}}<ref>For the distinction between "songs of complaint and protest songs, see for example, Dick Weisman, ''Which Side Are You On: An Inside History of the Folk Music Revival in America'' (London: Continuum International Publishing Group, 2006), pp. 36–37.</ref>

The advent of industrialization in the 18th and early 19th centuries was accompanied by a series of protest movements and a corresponding increase in the number of topical social protest songs and ballads. An important example is "The Triumph of General Ludd", which built a fictional persona for the alleged leader of the early 19th century anti-technological [[Luddite]] movement in the cloth industry of the north midlands, and which made explicit reference to the Robin Hood tradition.<ref>K. Binfield, ed., ''The Writings of the Luddites'' (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2004), pp. 98–100.</ref> A surprising English folk hero immortalized in song is [[Napoleon Bonaparte]], the military figure most often the subject of popular ballads, many of them treating him as the champion of the common working man in songs such as the "Bonny Bunch of Roses" and "Napoleon's Dream".<ref>V. Gammon, "The Grand Conversation: Napoleon and British Popular Balladry" ''Musical Traditions'', http://www.mustrad.org.uk/articles/boney.htm, retrieved February 19, 2009.</ref> As labour became more organized songs were used as anthems and propaganda, for miners with songs such as "The Black Leg Miner", and for factory workers with songs such as "The Factory Bell".<ref>J. Raven, ''The Urban & Industrial Songs of the Black Country and Birmingham'' (Michael Raven, 1977), pp. 52 and 61, and M. Vicinus, ''The Industrial Muse: A Study of Nineteenth Century British Working-class Literature'' (Taylor & Francis, 1974), p. 46.</ref>

These industrial protest songs were largely ignored during the first English folk revival of the later 19th and early 20th century, which had focused on songs that had been collected in rural areas where they were still being sung and on music education. They were revived in the 1960s and performed by figures such as [[A. L. Lloyd]] on his album ''The Iron Muse'' (1963).<ref>B. Sweers, ''Electric Folk: The Changing Face of English Traditional Music'' (Oxford University Press, 2005), pp. 32–3.</ref> In the 1980s the anarchist rock band [[Chumbawamba]] recorded several versions of traditional English protest songs as ''[[English Rebel Songs 1381–1914]]''.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/r2music/folk/reviews/englishrebelsongs.shtml "Reviews"], BBC Radio 2, retrieved February 19, 2009.</ref>

====20th century====
[[File:Maggie_Holland_of_the_English_Country_Blues_Band_at_Goodwood_Folk_Festival.jpg|thumb|200px|[[Maggie Holland]], known for "A Place Called England".]]

Colin Irwin, a journalist for ''[[The Guardian]]'', believes the modern British protest movement started in 1958 when the [[Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament]] organized a 53-mile march from [[Trafalgar Square]] to [[Aldermaston]], to protest Britain's participation in the arms race and recent testing of the H-bomb. The protest "fired up young musicians to write campaigning new songs to argue the case against the bomb and whip up support along the way. Suddenly many of those in skiffle groups playing American songs were changing course and writing fierce topical songs to back direct action."<ref name="aldermaston">{{cite news|last=Irwin|first=Colin|date=August 10, 2008|title=Power to the people; Aldermaston: The birth of the British protest song|newspaper=The Guardian|location=London|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2008/aug/10/folk.politicsandthearts|access-date=November 8, 2008}}</ref> A song composed for the march, "The H-Bomb's Thunder", set the words of a poem by novelist [[John Brunner (novelist)|John Brunner]] to the tune of "Miner's Lifeguard":
<blockquote><poem>
Men and women, stand together
Do not heed the men of war
Make your minds up now or never
Ban the bomb for evermore.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.antiwarsongs.org/canzone.php?id=3201&lang=en | title= The H-Bomb's Thunder | access-date = November 8, 2008 |publisher = Anti-War Songs}}</ref></poem></blockquote>

Folk singer [[Ewan MacColl]] was for some time one of the principal musical figures of the British nuclear disarmament movement. A former [[agitprop]] actor and playwright. MacColl, a prolific songwriter and committed leftist, some years earlier had penned "The Ballad of Ho Chi Minh" (1953), issued as single on Topic Records, and "The Ballad of Stalin" (1954), commemorating the death of that leader.<ref name="aldermaston" /> Neither record has ever been reissued.<ref>His widow [[Peggy Seeger]] copyrighted "The Battle of Stalin" in 1992, when she included it in her ''Essential Ewan MacColl Songbook'', explaining that after the revelations of Stalin's crimes in 1956, MacColl became ashamed of having written it and never wanted to speak or hear about it. See the [http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=39480#2832022 discussion] on Mudcat Cafe.</ref>
According to Irwin, MacColl, when interviewed in the ''Daily Worker'' in 1958, declared that:<blockquote>There are now more new songs being written than at any other time in the past eighty years—young people are finding out for themselves that folk songs are tailor-made for expressing their thoughts and comments on contemporary topics, dreams, and worries,</blockquote>

In 1965, folk-rock singer [[Donovan]]'s cover of [[Buffy Sainte-Marie]]'s  "[[Universal Soldier (song)|Universal Soldier]]" was a hit on the charts. His anti-Vietnam War song "The War Drags On" appeared that same year. This was a common trend in popular music of the 1960s and 1970s. The romantic lyrics of pop songs in the 1950s gave way to words of protest.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Anderson|first=Terry H.|title=American Popular Music and the War in Vietnam|url=http://web.ebscohost.com.www2.lib.ku.edu:2048/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=21&hid=123&sid=1c13513c-da4d-4bc6-af4d-ddf8e99df995%40sessionmgr114|journal=Peace & Change|access-date=December 4, 2011}}</ref>

[[File:Lie In 15 -- John rehearses Give Peace A Chance.jpg|thumb|John Lennon rehearsing the anti–Vietnam War anthem "[[Give Peace a Chance]]" (1969)]]
As their fame and prestige increased in the late 1960s, [[The Beatles]]—and [[John Lennon]] in particular—added their voices to the anti-war movement. In the documentary ''The US Versus John Lennon'', [[Tariq Ali]] attributes the Beatles' activism to the fact that, in his opinion, "The whole culture had been radicalized: [Lennon] was engaged with the world, and the world was changing him." "[[Revolution (Beatles song)|Revolution]]", 1968, commemorated the worldwide student uprisings. In 1969, when Lennon and [[Yoko Ono]] were married, they staged a week-long "bed-in for peace" in the [[Amsterdam]] [[Hilton Hotel|Hilton]], attracting worldwide media coverage.<ref name="EternalFlame">{{cite web|last=Williams|first=Precious|date=May 19, 2002|title=Eternal Flame|url=http://news.scotsman.com/ViewArticle.aspx?articleid=2328156|access-date=December 20, 2007|publisher=scotsman.com}}</ref> At the second "Bed-in" in Montreal, in June 1969, they recorded "[[Give Peace a Chance]]" in their hotel room. The song was sung by over half a million demonstrators in Washington, DC, at the second [[Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam|Vietnam Moratorium Day]], on October 15, 1969.<ref name="VietnamMoratorium">{{cite news|date=October 15, 1969|title=1969: Millions march in US Vietnam Moratorium|publisher=bbc.co.uk/onthisday|location=London|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/15/newsid_2533000/2533131.stm|access-date=December 16, 2007}}</ref> In 1972 Lennon's most controversial protest song LP was released, ''[[Some Time in New York City]]'', the title of whose lead single "[[Woman Is the Nigger of the World]]", a phrase coined by Ono in the late 1960s to protest [[sexism]], set off a storm of controversy, and in consequence received little airplay and much banning. The Lennons went to great lengths (including a press conference attended by staff from ''[[Jet (magazine)|Jet]]'' and ''[[Ebony (magazine)|Ebony]]'' magazines) to explain that they had used the word ''[[nigger]]'' in a symbolic sense and not as an affront to African Americans. The album also included "Attica State", about the [[Attica Prison riots]] of September 9, 1971; "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and "The Luck Of The Irish", about the massacre of demonstrators in [[Northern Ireland]] and "Angela", in support of black activist [[Angela Davis]]. Lennon also performed at the "Free [[John Sinclair (poet)|John Sinclair]]" benefit concert in [[Ann Arbor]], [[Michigan]], on December 10, 1971, on behalf of the imprisoned antiwar activist and poet who was serving 10 years in state prison for selling two [[Joint (cannabis)|joint]]s of [[Cannabis (drug)|marijuana]] to an undercover cop.<ref name="JohnLennonOnTelevision">{{cite web|title=John Lennon on Television|url=http://homepage.ntlworld.com/carousel/pob18.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071207201246/http://homepage.ntlworld.com/carousel/pob18.html|archive-date=December 7, 2007|access-date=December 17, 2007|publisher=homepage.ntlworld.com}}</ref><ref name="TwentyToLife">{{cite news|title=The Life and Times of John Sinclair|url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/316826/Twenty-to-Life-The-Life-and-Times-of-John-Sinclair/overview|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071111081616/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/316826/Twenty-to-Life-The-Life-and-Times-of-John-Sinclair/overview|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 11, 2007|department=Movies & TV Dept.|work=[[The New York Times]]|author=Jason Buchanan|date=2007|access-date=December 20, 2007}}</ref> On this occasion Lennon and Ono appeared on stage with among others singers Phil Ochs and Stevie Wonder, plus antiwar activists Jerry Rubin and [[Bobby Seale]] of the [[Black Panthers]] party. Lennon's song "John Sinclair" (which can be heard on his ''Some Time in New York City'' album), calls on the authorities to "Let him be, set him free, let him be like you and me". The benefit was attended by some 20,000 people, and three days later the State of Michigan released Sinclair from prison.<ref name="SinclairBiog">{{cite web|last=Sinclair|first=John|date=May 12, 2003|title=John Sinclair's Bio|url=http://www.johnsinclair.us/10for2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=875&Itemid=74|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071027090218/http://www.johnsinclair.us/10for2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=875&Itemid=74|archive-date=October 27, 2007|access-date=December 20, 2007|publisher=John Sinclair}}</ref>

The 1970s saw a number of notable songs by British acts that protested against war, including "[[Peace Train]]" by [[Cat Stevens]] (1971), and "[[War Pigs (song)|War Pigs]]" by [[Black Sabbath]] (1970). Sabbath also protested environmental destruction, describing people leaving a ruined Earth ("[[Into the Void (Black Sabbath song)|Into the Void]]" including, "[[Iron Man (song)|Iron Man]]"). [[Renaissance (band)|Renaissance]] added political repression as a protest theme with "[[Mother Russia (Renaissance song)|Mother Russia]]" being based on ''[[One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich]]'' and being joined on the second side of their 1974 album ''[[Turn of the Cards]]'' by two other protest songs in "Cold Is Being" (about ecological destruction) and "Black Flame" (about the Vietnam War).

[[File:Clash 21051980 12 800.jpg|thumb|left|[[The Clash]], one of the pioneers of the punk movement, who protested class economics, race issues, and authoritarianism]]
As the 1970s progressed, the louder, more aggressive punk movement became the strongest voice of protest, particularly in the UK, featuring anti-war, anti-state, and anti-capitalist themes. The punk culture, in stark contrast with the 1960s' sense of power through union, concerned itself with individual freedom, often incorporating concepts of [[individualism]], [[Freethought|free thought]] and even [[anarchism]]. According to ''Search and Destroy'' founder [[V. Vale]], "Punk was a total cultural revolt. It was a hardcore confrontation with the black side of history and culture, right-wing imagery, sexual taboos, a delving into it that had never been done before by any generation in such a thorough way."<ref>Savage (1991), p. 440.</ref> The most significant protest songs of the movement included "[[God Save the Queen (Sex Pistols song)|God Save the Queen]]" (1977) by the [[Sex Pistols]], "If the Kids are United" by [[Sham 69]], "[[Career Opportunities (song)|Career Opportunities]]" (1977) (protesting the political and economic situation in England at the time, especially the lack of jobs available to the youth), and "[[White Riot]]" (1977) (about class economics and race issues) by [[The Clash]], and "Right to Work" by [[Chelsea (band)|Chelsea]]. See also [[Punk ideology]].

War was still the prevalent theme of British protest songs of the 1980s – such as [[Kate Bush]]'s "[[Army Dreamers]]" (1980), which deals with the traumas of a mother whose son dies while away at war. Indeed, the early 1980s was a remarkable period for anti-nuclear and anti-war UK political pop, much of it inspired directly or indirectly by the punk movement: 1980 saw '22 such Top 75 hits, by 18 different artists. For almost th[at] entire year ... (47 weeks), the UK singles charts contained at least one hit song that spoke of antiwar or antinuclear concerns, and usually more than one.' Further George McKay argues that 'it really is quite extraordinary to note that one-third of the year 1984 (17 weeks) had some kind of political pop song at the top of the British charts. Viewed from that lofty perspective, 1984 must be seen as a peak protest music time in Britain, most of it in the context of antiwar and antinuclear sentiment.'<ref>McKay, George (2021). [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/351561323_Rethinking_the_cultural_politics_of_punk_anti-nuclear_and_anti-war_post-punk_popular_music_in_1980s_Britain 'Rethinking the cultural politics of punk: anti-nuclear and anti-war (post-)punk popular music in 1980s Britain']. George McKay and [[Gina Arnold]], eds. ''The Oxford Handbook of Punk Rock.'' Oxford: Oxford University Press.</ref>

[[File:Kate_Bush_1981.jpg|thumb|right|200px|[[Kate Bush]] with her poignant anti-war song "Army Dreamers" (1980) capturing the emotional toll of war.]]

However, as the 1980s progressed, it was British prime minister [[Margaret Thatcher]] who came under the greatest degree of criticism from native protest singers, mostly for her strong stance against trade unions, and especially for her handling of the [[UK miners' strike (1984–1985)]], the subject of [[Sting (musician)|Sting's]] "[[We Work the Black Seam]]". The leading voice of protest in [[Margaret Thatcher|Thatcherite]] Britain in the 1980s was [[Billy Bragg]], whose style of protest song and grass-roots political activism was mostly reminiscent of those of [[Woody Guthrie]], however with themes that were relevant to the contemporary Briton. He summarized his stance in "Between the Wars" (1985), in which he sings: "I'll give my consent to any government that does not deny a man a living wage."

Also in the 1980s the band [[Frankie Goes to Hollywood]] released a political pop protest song [[Two Tribes]] a relentless bass-driven track depicting the futility and starkness of nuclear weapons and the Cold War. The video for the song depicted a wrestling match between then-President Ronald Reagan and then-Soviet leader Konstantin Chernenko for the benefit of group members and an eagerly belligerent assembly of representatives from the world's nations, the event ultimately degenerating into complete global destruction. This video was played several times at the 1984 Democratic National Convention. Due to some violent scenes ("Reagan" biting "Chernenko"'s ear, etc.), the unedited video could not be shown on MTV, and an edited version was substituted. The single quickly hit the number one spot in the United Kingdom.
Several mixes of the track feature actor Patrick Allen, who recreated his narration from the [[Protect and Survive]] public information films for certain 12-inch mixes (the original Protect and Survive soundtracks were sampled for the 7-inch mixes).