-
A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall by Bob Dylan
The imagery in this song shows injustice, suffering, pollution and warfare. This is about the Cuban missile crisis in the Cold War. It is one of the most iconic songs from this time period of fear and war. -
We Shall Overcome by Mahalia Jackson
Protest song that became an anthem of the civil rights movement. It was sang at Martin Luther King Jr.'s funeral and the title originated from the phrase that President Lyndon Johnson used. -
Revolution by The Beatles
This song is about the radicals protesting the war. Protests became too extreme to the point of being destructive. John Lennon's purpose of this song was not to have violence as a solution to avoid being like the system the public was protesting against. -
Fortunate Son by Creedence Clearwater Revival
This song spoke out against the war in Vietnam but was supportive of the soldiers fighting there. The song speaks more to the unfairness of social class than war itself. Many protested the fact that rich men were in charge making poor men have to fight. -
Gimme Shelter by The Rolling Stones
This song shows the hard time America was going through during the Vietnam War and the assassination of President Kennedy -
In The Ghettto by Elvis Presly
This song was written to give attention to generations of poverty. In the song the boy grows up hungry, steals and fights, steals a car. etc but is shot and killed just as his own child is born. The song implies that the newborn will meet the same fate, continuing the cycle of poverty and violence.
