Politics and Protest

By Kim Ruehl, About.com Guide to Folk Music

Learn more about the role of protest, dissent and politics in American folk music, what artists make protest music, and what the best protest CDs are.

1. Classic Protest Music
2. New Protest Music
3. The Environment, Labor and Civil Rights

Classic Protest Music

Here are some of the most notable protest and political singers in American folk music.

• All About Protest Music
• Classic Anti-War Protest Songs
• Best Protest and Political Singers
• Why Protest Music Works
• Odetta
• Pete Seeger

• Peter, Paul and Mary
• Joan Baez
• Phil Ochs
• Utah Phillips
• Holly Near
• Woody Guthrie

New Protest Music

Protest music didn't die at the end of the 1960s. Here are some of the new protest singers on the scene.

• Songs Protesting the Iraq War
• Best New Protest Songs
• Ani DiFranco
• Ben Harper
• Dan Bern

• Michael Franti
• Bruce Springsteen - 'We Shall Overcome'
• Neil Young - 'Living With War'
• Sheryl Crow - 'Detours'
• Spook Handy - 'Whatcha Gonna Do?'

The Environment, Labor and Civil Rights

Not all political and protest music speaks out against a war. Here are some recommended songs, artists and albums dealing with the environment, labor issues and civil rights.

• Civil Rights Songs
• Environmentalist Folk Songs
• Folksingers and the Civil Rights Movement

• Immigrants' Movement and Folk Music
• Labor Songs
• "We Shall Overome"