Forums / Media / Music

With the 40th anniversary of the Three Mile Island nuclear reactor meltdown yesterday, I remembered a song by Dan Fogelberg protesting the incident and nuclear energy as a whole.

I like the song, even though I'm not nearly as critical as nuclear power generation as he is. So I ask, "are there any protest songs you like, even if you don't 100% agree with their message?"

Well there's also this song protesting the exact same incident:

A fair amount of 80's Australian songs are in protest of an issue; Midnight Oil being the most prominent figures. My personal favourite would be:

It speaks of the travesties committed against the aboriginals both in the past and still in the present. The inspiration was equally as powerful as its meaning.

It may be a Vietnam protest song but, barring the line about the voting age, it's still relevant

A popular rock song in China during the 80s, it's story of a man with nothing to his name asking a woman why she is not paying attention to him despite his efforts. Believed by some to be an allegory to the disillusioned Chinese youth and the PRC government. It became a sort of rallying song for the student protesters during the Tiananmen Square Protests.

99 Luftballons by Nena, a German anti-war song written during the height of the Cold War:

Zombie by the Cranberries, written about the 1993 Warrington bomb attacks and the Troubles

So, long before Donald Glover put out his so-called masterpiece of a similar idea, The Clash released this song that fit in with several other anti-Thatcherism songs that many British punk and alternative acts (and Billy Bragg) were putting out at the time. Unlike Glover's song, this song's lyrics actually make the point and don't rely solely on the video; people have compared it more to Born in the U.S.A. anyways which also came out around the same time. The reason you probably never heard of this song is because it's off their final album "Cut the Crap" which is widely ridiculed and hated, though this song is considered one of their best.

It is a song about police brutality. I am uncertain that it about protesting, but I am posting it anyway due the band being a guilty pleasure of mine, despite my disagreement of the lead singer's politics.

RIP Erik Petersen, you crusty fuck.