Singing truth to power: The best protest songs of the past 10 years
Musicians have always harnessed the power of music to protest war, inequality and oppression, in the aim of promoting positive change. Euronews Culture delves into the best protest songs of the last decade.
WARNING: This article contains language some may find offensive.
“All of that art-for-art’s-sake stuff is BS. What are these people talking about? Are you really telling me that Shakespeare and Aeschylus weren’t writing about kings? All good art is political! There is none that isn’t. And the ones that try hard not to be political are political by saying, ‘We love the status quo’.” - Toni Morrison -
Despite what some may very foolishly claim, culture and politics do go hand in hand. Art in all its forms is a mirror held up to the world, reflecting the troubled times we live in.
Music has seen its fair share of rebellion and resistance through protest songs, with musicians using their craft as tool to denounce, empower, motivate and inspire change.
From Aretha Franklin to Rage Against The Machine, via Nina Simone, Fela Kuti, Bob Marley, Marvin Gaye, Bob Dylan, NWA, Public Enemy, Dead Kennedys, The Clash and Bikini Kill (to name but a few), the tradition of artists releasing politically and socially engaged songs is nothing new.
Those who declare that the age of the protest song peaked in the 1970s are not paying enough attention: the art of the protest song is alive and well today, with artists like System Of A Down, Run The Jewels, Kendrick Lamar and Fontaines D.C. continuing to voice their dissent in song. Only this year, we’ve had Bruce Springsteen releasing ‘Streets Of Minneapolis’, a protest song denouncing “King Trump and his private army” following the killing of Alex Pretti and Rennee Good by ICE agents; U2 putting out two politically charged EPs; and Massive Attack teaming up with Tom Waits to release one of the most powerful protest anthems of the 21st century.
Can music change the world? It certainly can awaken consciousness and empower those who do pay attention.
Here is our non-exhaustive list of the most impactful protest songs of the past 10 years – art from those who believe that music does have the power to change things for the better.
Beyoncé & Kendrick Lamar – Freedom (2016)
Ever since its release in 2016, this gospel-rock song has become an anthem for various social and political movements – most notably for the 2020 George Floyd protests and Kamala Harris’ 2024 presidential campaign. It’s a song about discrimination and prejudice, one which opposes oppression in all its forms. When Beyoncé sings: “I can’t move”, the line echoes “I can’t breathe” - Eric Garner’s final words before being choked to death by the police. According to a 2020 New York Times investigation, those three words were used by more than 70 people who died in US police custody.
Key lyrics: “Freedom / Freedom / I can't move / Freedom, cut me loose”
Pussy Riot – Putin Lights Up The Fires (2016)
Russian feminist punk rock collective Pussy Riot have revolted against oppression, homophobia, sexism, and were one of the first groups to take aim at Vladimir Putin. Many of their songs call out Putin (‘Organs’ and ‘Putin Has Pissed Himself’ spring to mind), and ‘Putin Lights Up The Fires’ stands out as a punk anthem that Bikini Kill would have been proud of. More impressively, the collective has made it abundantly clear that even in the face of jail sentences, staying quiet is not an option.
Key lyrics: (Translated) "The country is going to the streets with audacity / The country is going to say goodbye to the regime / The country is a wedge of feminists / And Putin is going"
Kae Tempest – Europe Is Lost (2016)
In ‘Europe Is Lost’, Kae Tempest creates a sharp and hard-hitting call to arms. It’s a cry to end apathy and “thoughts and prayers” armchair activism. Faced with the chaos of the world, they call out hard truths as well as our hypocrisy when confronted with despair happening right in front of us. It’s a perfect companion piece to their 2019 song ‘People’s Faces’ - a heart-ripping track about broken Britain, the ills of Brexit and the solace that can be found in people’s faces.
Key lyrics: “Meanwhile the people were dead in their droves / And no, nobody noticed / Well, some of them noticed / You could tell by the emoji they posted”
Anohni – Drone Bomb Me (2016)
A powerful yet delicate song dealing with geopolitics, drone warfare, and the destruction of humanity, 'Drone Bomb Me' is an ode to a young Afghani girl whose family has been killed. The song chronicles how she now wants the same fate. It features on the aptly titled album 'Hopelessness', which also contains the song ‘4 Degrees’ - an engaged track about our hypocrisy when faced with climate change.
Key lyrics: “Drone bomb me / Blow me from the mountains / And into the sea”
Nadine Shah – Out The Way (2017)
Featuring on her politically charged third album ‘Holiday Destination’ (the follow-up to the gorgeous ‘Fast Food’), ‘Out The Way’ deals with nationalism and the right wing demonisation of immigrants. Shah, a second generation immigrant herself, manages to make her confrontational songs both powerful and melodically stunning, calling out dehumanisation in the most meaningful of ways.
Key lyrics: “You say "Out the way! Out the way! Out!" / Where would you have me go? / I'm second generation, don't you know?”
Hurray For The Riff Raff – Pa’lante (2017)
Derived from the Spanish phrase "para adelante" ("onwards"), this song – the penultimate track on the must-hear ‘The Navigator’ - is Alynda Segarra’s rousing call to perseverance. The singer, of Puerto Rican heritage, calls out the systemic oppression and cultural erasure of Puerto Ricans. It’s a cry for hope in the face of economic, cultural and environmental damage, and it also happens to be utterly mesmerising. If ever you have the opportunity to see Hurray For The Riff Raff live, there’s a chance the set closer will be ‘Pa’lante’. Prepare to get goosebumps.
Key lyrics: “Colonized, and hypnotized, be something / Sterilized, dehumanized, be something / Well, take your pay / And stay out the way, be something / Ah, do your best / But fuck the rest, be something”
Kneecap – C.E.A.R.T.A. (2017)
Irish rappers Kneecap released their first single in 2017, the title meaning “rights”. The story goes that a band member and his mate spray painted the word on a bus stop. When arrested by the police, the “peelers” made them spend a night locked up after refusing to speak English. The incident is documented in the song, as well as in the fantastic film Kneecap. ‘C.E.A.R.T.A’ was banned by certain radio stations, but that didn’t stop the track from putting the band on the map. It didn’t hurt that the song’s popularity coincided with the push for the Irish Language Act in the British parliament – which aimed to officially recognize and protect the Irish language.
Key lyrics: (Translated) “I don't give a fuck about any Garda / A lit joint, I'm too fast / You won't see me standing too long”
Childish Gambino – This Is America (2018)
Donald Glover, performing under Childish Gambino, released this catchy but politically charged song in 2018. It addresses Black life in America, calls out entrenched racism and opposes the violence that decries from prejudice. These themes are best heard and seen in the arresting music video, which is symbolically-loaded. With every year that passes in the US, its message continues to grow as a pertinent state of the union.
Key lyrics: “This is America / Don't catch you slippin' now / Look at how I'm livin' now / Police be trippin' now”
Angèle – Balance Ton Quoi (2019)
In the wake of the #MeToo movement (#BalanceTonPorc in French - ‘Squeal on your pig’), Belgian singer Angèle released a candid track which commented on the misogyny that women are faced with in daily life. Her lyrics denounce how women are still being treated as inferior citizens, and the cover for the single saw Angèle wearing a t-shirt that read: “Women need more sleep than men because fighting the patriarchy is exhausting.”
Key lyrics: (Translated) “People say to me, implicitly: ‘For a pretty girl, you're not that dumb’ / ‘For a funny girl, you're not that ugly’ / ‘Your parents and your brother help, they must be useful”
H.E.R. - I Can’t Breathe (2020)
H.E.R. won the Grammy for Song of the Year and the MTV Video Music Award for Video For Good for ‘I Can’t Breathe’ - a mournful track that calls for change in the face of repeated tragedy. The title and the lyrics refer to police brutality and the institutionalised racism at the heart of the US. It’s an eloquent and direct protest song, matched by its music video, which shows footage of different marches around the world protesting police violence and racism. The video also pays tribute to victims of police brutality by naming victims, including George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Philando Castile.
Key lyrics: “All of the names you refuse to remember / Was somebody’s brother, friend / Or a son to a mother that’s crying, saying / I can’t breathe, you’re taking my life from me”
Run The Jewels – A Few Words For The Firing Squad (Radiation) (2020)
Run The Jewels have never shied away from making a powerful political statement, and this final song on their stellar fourth album ‘RTJ4’ is another example of their dexterous lyricism and engaged spirit. It's a fiery condemnation of oppression and a call for society to evolve, with the track’s title referring to the tradition of the final words before an execution. The words ‘firing squad’ heavily imply that the person is about to be killed by a repressive regime. Many of the lyrics allude to past protest songs, including the line about bodies hung like “strange fruit” - a callback to Billie Holiday’s civil rights song about the lynching of Black people in the US.
Key lyrics: “This is for the do-gooders that the no-gooders used and then abused / For the truth tellers tied to the whippin' post, left beaten, battered, bruised / For the ones whose body hung from a tree like a piece of strange fruit / Go hard, last words to the firing squad was, "Fuck you too"
Fiona Apple – Under The Table (2020)
The incomparable Fiona Apple has long called out sexist behaviours, complex social relationships and gender inequalities in her songs. In 2017, she even released an anti-Trump song, ‘Tiny Hands’, in honour of the Women’s March on Washington. Three years later, she gave us her masterpiece, the LP titled ‘Fetch The Bolt Cutters’, which featured haunting songs about refusing to stay silent and the possibility of liberation after abuse. ‘Under The Table’ is one of these songs – a passionate call for rejecting the social and cultural expectations routinely imposed on women.
Key lyrics: “Kick me under the table all you want / I won't shut up / I won't shut up”
Bob Vylan – We Live Here (2020)
“This place has got so ugly / But this is my fucking country / And it’s never been fucking lovely.” This intense track from controversial British punk-rap duo Bob Vylan was released during the summer of the Black Lives Matter protest, and takes a wrecking ball to the archetypical depictions of Britain as a supposedly tolerant nation. It paints the picture of a country that is broken and still plagued by racial abuse.
Key lyrics: “Strong black man in the making / Hated by the place I was made in / This country is finished, but they're proud to be British / Who are they kidding?”
Shervin Hajipour – Baraye (2022)
In 2022, Iranian singer Shervin Hajipour shared his song ‘Baraye’ with the world via an Instagram post. The song was recorded in response to the protests ignited by the tragic death of Mahsa Amini, the 22-year-old woman who was arrested by Iran’s morality police for allegedly not wearing her hijab properly. She died from injuries sustained during her incarceration. ‘Baraye’ became an anthem for the Woman, Life, Freedom protest movement. The powerful song made history in 2023 for becoming the first winner of the new Grammy category ‘Best Song for Social Change’. Announcing the winner, then-US First Lady Jill Biden described the song as a “powerful and poetic call for freedom and women’s rights.” A year later, Hajipour was sentenced to 3 years and 8 months for "encouraging and provoking the public to riot to disrupt national security". Thankfully, he received a pardon.
Key lyrics: (Translated) “For the tired and sleepless nerves / For men, homeland, eternity / For the girl who wanted a boy / or woman, life, freedom / For freedom / For freedom”
Fontaines D.C. - I Love You (2022)
Like Kneecap, Irish post-punkers Fontaines D.C. have continued to express their anger at modern day politics and the fresh scars of history, as well as their solidarity for Palestinians facing genocide. Described by frontman Grian Chatten as the band’s first “overtly political song”, ‘I Love You’ is a gorgeous track that contains multitudes. On the surface, it seems like an ode to a lover. However, it becomes clear that the song is about Ireland, a protest track describing abandoned youth amidst political uncertainty. Both specific in its call for change in Ireland and universal in the way it describes the heavy emotions linked to the realisation you can never return to the same place you once loved, ‘I Love You’ is a modern masterpiece in the pantheon of protest songs.
Key lyrics: “Selling genocide and half-cut pride, I understand / I had to be there from the start, I had to be the fucking man / It was a clamber of the life, I sucked the ring off every hand / Had 'em plying me with drink, even met with their demands”
Rina Sawayama – This Hell (2022)
‘This Hell’ is the sound of Japanese-British singer Rina Sawayama opposing religious extremists who violently target the queer community. Taken from her second studio album ‘Hold The Girl’, Sawayama winds up homophobes, denouncing hatred and bigotry in her empowering LGBTQ anthem. Upon the song's release, during gay pride month, Sawayama stated that she "wanted to write a western pop song that celebrated COMMUNITY and LOVE in a time where the world seemed hellish."
Key lyrics: “Don't know what I did, but they seem pretty mad about it / God hates us? Alright then / Buckle up, at dawn we're riding”
Iyah May – Karmageddon (2025)
Australian singer and former emergency room doctor Iyah May has garnered much attention and controversy over ‘Karmageddon’, which has become a viral hit on social media. The song - one of the most divisive on this list - reportedly led her management to drop her because she refused to change certain lyrics. Some of these denounce big pharma, cancel culture, violence against women, gun rights, a “man-made virus” (in reference to COVID) and genocide. It’s a scattergun approach to a myriad of topics. Some have applauded her for her DGAF candidness; others bemoan that the song has been embraced by the far-right.
Key lyrics: “Diss tracks about beating up your queen / While women dying doesn't cause a scene / While we're fed all these distractions / Kids are killed from Israel's actions”
Massive Attack & Tom Waits – Boots On The Ground (2026)
This year has seen the release of several protest songs - whether it’s Bruce Springsteen flipping the bird to Trump and paying tribute to the victims of ICE or U2 releasing a politically-charged EP addressing both how “America will rise against the people of the lie” and how one can live compassionately in times of violence. Arguably the most powerful one (so far) has come from British trip-hop icons Massive Attack and legendary American singer-songwriter Tom Waits, who teamed up for ‘Boots On The Ground’. Both a missile aimed at the criminal actions of ICE and the wider state of play ("Across the western hemisphere, state authoritarianism and the militarisation of police forces are fusing again with neo-fascist politics"), the song is uniquely haunting and undeniably impactful. The track was accompanied by a stirring video, made with the work of photo artist thefinaleye. When artists of this caliber deliver songs this rousing, it gives you hope that humanity isn’t completely doomed.
Key lyrics: “Now who the hell are these federal pricks? / Hiding in the Senate like a bloated-ass tick / Air-conditioned fuckstick loafers / Sittin' in a room full of army posters”
