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SONGS WITH A MESSAGE
SOLDIERS
(William J Gaither/1967) ABBA
 Tucked away in the middle of ABBA last album - The Visitors - Soldiers would have to be not only one the most subtly powerful anti-war songs ever written, it is also one of the Swedish foursome's most underrated gems. Take the line,"They (Soldiers) look so strong, you'd think that nothing in the world was wrong" and also, "because if the bugler starts to play, we too must dance". They don't hit you over the head with their message like some songs do, but they doesn't mince words either - how blindly we all do as we are told, going to war as though it was the normal and right thing to do, even though it is against our principles to do so. A powerful message wrapped in sugar coating, this song is sheer brilliance.
WITH GOD ON OUR SIDE
(Bob Dylan/ 1964) Bob Dylan
 One of a number of songs on Bob Dylan's 1964 album, The Times They Are A-Changin', that contributed towards him being hailed as the voice of the 60s generation, a title he was never comfortable with. The message of the song is simple - people refuse to take responsibility for their inhumanity to others, particularly in times of war. They justify their actions by claiming it is all done in the name of God, whoever or whatever that person deems God to be, and somehow that seems to make it right. It doesn't.
LUKA
(Suzanne Vega/1987) Suzanne Vega
 A well written, thought-provoking song that raised awareness of child abuse, and how to spot the tell-tale signs. Speaking of the song, Vega once said: "A few years ago, I used to see this group of children playing in from of my building, and there was one of them, whose name was Luka, who seemed a little bit distinctive from the other children. I always remembered his name, and I always remembered his face, and I didn't know much about him, but he just seemed set apart from these other children that I would see playing. And his character is what I based the song Luka on. In the song, the boy Luka is an abused child - In real life I don't think he was. I think he was just different."
DOWN BY THE RIVER
(Albert Hammond, Lee Hazelwood/1973) Albert Hammond
 One of the many songs written by Albert Hammond and Lee Hazelwood (Nancy Sinatra's producer and some-time singing partner), all wonderful, empassioned tunes that ache with feeling. This one was released at a time when the world was just waking up to its responsibilities towards the earth and the environnment. It did much to raise awareness about how industrialisation was polluting and would eventually destroy our world if we didn't change our ways. It also elevated Hammond to a status of singer/songwriter rather than just a writer for others (Little Arrows for Leapy Lee, Make Me An Island (1969) and You're Such a Good Looking Woman (1970) for Joe Dolan; Good Morning Freedom for Blue Mink, Freedom Come, Freedom Go for The Fortunes and The Air That I Breathe for The Hollies).
SKY PILOT Parts 1 and 2
(Eric Burdon/1968) Eric Burdon & The Animals
 A powerful ballad with a fiercely anti-war message that hammered home the sentiments of the vast numbers of people in the western world who wanted out of the Vietnam War. The song tells of a Sky Pilot - the military name for a chaplain - hence the lyric "He blesses the boys as they stand in line." Genuine sound effects of fighting, gunfire and airplanes are included, along with the Royal Scot's Dragoon Guards Highland regiment pipe band. The tune they play is All The Bluebonnets Are Over The Border, a classic Scottish war piece that was written during the Scottish Jacobite uprising. It has since become the regimental tune of the King's Own Scottish Borderer's as well as a tune used by other Scottish regiments. Lead singer Eric Burdon tape-recorded them at a school without their knowledge, which resulted in him receiving an angry letter after the song was released. Sky Pilot is over seven minutes long; the single was split into two parts to fit onto the 45. One had to flip the record to hear the whole song. Sky Pilot was the first 45 rpm single to be produced in stereo. The last verse, following the sound effects and the bagpipes, is very haunting: "In the morning, they return with tears in their eyes, the stench of death drifts up to the skies". One of the best war protest songs of all time.
INDIAN SUNSET
(Bernie Tauipin, Elton John/1971) Elton John
 Many of the songs on Elton John's Madman Across The Water album (1971), on which this ballad appears, reflect the pair's observations of the US after their first visit there in 1970. This very moving song deals with the plight of Native Americans whose land was basically stolen from them, and in addition to being dehumanised, scalped and disenfranchised, found themselves confined to reservations in squalid conditions where alcoholism and other social unpleasantries were rife. According to Elizabeth Rosenthal's biography His Song: The Musical Journey of Elton John, Indian Sunset was inspired by a visit lyricist Bernie Taupin made to a reservation. Narrated by an unnamed Native American, this emotive ballad which runs to 6 minutes 47 seconds, is about the end of a way of life as the colonization of the vast American continent by the White Man leads inevitably to the subjugation and near extinction of its former masters. Barring the works of Native American singer-songwriter Buffy St-Marie, this is one of only a handful of contemporary ballads to explore the suffering of this once proud warrior race. The string arrangement by Paul Buckmaster gives the song both a grandiose and a melancholy effect. Taupin used a little poetic license with this song; Geronimo, who was an Apache, was not killed by renegades; he surrendered to General Miles in September 1886, and was treated magnanimously, becoming a celebrity in his old age, and publishing his autobiography. He died of pneumonia in 1909.
EMPTY GARDEN (Hey Hey Johnny)
(Elton John/Bernie Taupin/ 1982) Elton John
 A tribute to singer/songwriter John Lennon who was shot to death in 1980 by a deranged fan. In an interview, lyricist Bernie Taupin has identified the 'empty garden' referred to in the song as Madison Square Garden, New York, where, on 28th November 1974 (Thanksgiving night), Lennon had given his last live performance. Elton John appeared onstage with Lennon at that time; they sangÝ"I Saw Here Standing There" which Lennon said was from "an old, estranged fiance of mine called Paul". Lennon and Elton had grown quite close as Elton and had convinced Lennon that his contribution to 20th century culture was far more profound than a few pop songs.ÝElton John has performed at Madison Square Garden more times than any other performer in the history of the Garden.ÝIn his only performance on Saturday Night Live in 1982 he performed this song, which he found particularly chilling because New York was still in shock from Lennon's murder. He then performed it at a sold-out Madison Square Garden show in August 1982, and was joined onstage by Lennon's wife Yoko Ono and son, Sean Lennon.
ABRAHAM, MARTIN & JOHN
(Richard Holler/1968) Dion
 Dion DiMucci, better known by his first name only, was the lead singer of The Belmonts. In 1960 the group disbanded and Dion embarked on a solo career. In 1968 he recorded this hit, which speaks of three of America's most prized and beloved personages who were assassinated for their beliefs - US Presidents Abraham Lincoln and John F Kennedy, and Civil Rights Activist Martin Luther King Jr.
It was written by Rockabilly singer Dick Holler, who also wrote the novelty hit Snoopy Versus The Red Baron. Dion had just recovered from heroin addiction and was offered this as a possible comeback song.
Interstingly, besides The Beatles, Dion, The Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan were the only musicians to appear on the iconic cover of The Beatles' Sgt. Peppers album. The best selling protest song of the 1960s, Abraham, Martin & John was covered by Leonard Nimoy among others. In 1971, Tom Clay merged this sing with the Burt Bacharach/Hal David composition, What The World Needs Know is love, added audio footage of the Kennedy and Martin Luth King assassinations, and turned into a No.1 hit again.
UNIVERSAL SOLDIER
(Buffy St Marie/1965) Donovan
 Buffy Sainte Marie wrote this song in the basement of The Purple Onion coffee house in Toronto in 1963 after witnessing wounded soldiers returning from Vietnam. She has described the song as being "About individual responsibility for war and how the old feudal thinking kills us all." Though not a hit for her it was covered by British folk singer Donovan in 1965 on an EP titled The Universal Soldier, which was a success and bought attention to the song. It became an anthem of the Vietnam Peace movement of the late 1960s. Donovan's finest work was as an ambassador of flower power with memorable singles like 1966's Sunshine Superman and Mellow Yellow.
GIVE PEACE A CHANCE
(John Lennon/1969) John Lennon
 Give Peace a Chance was released in 1969 while fighting was still going on in Vietnam. The song was first recorded during his famous Bed-In for peace with Yoko Ono in May 1969 in room 1472 of Queen Elizabeth's Hotel in Montreal, Canada. John and Yoko stayed in bed for 8 days, beginning on May 26, in an effort to promote world peace. They got a great deal of media attention, which is exactly what they wanted to promote their cause. Some of the people in the hotel room who sang on this were Tommy Smothers, Timothy Leary, Allen Ginsberg, and Petula Clark. Smothers also played guitar on this. Others, including reporters, staff and celebrities, banged on everything from doors to tabletops for rhythm. John thought the first take sounded weak, so the next take added a group of Hare Krishna drummers. The drumming was remixed in the studio, because John came in too soon on the third verse. This song quickly became the anthem of the anti-war movement as many Americans felt the country should not be fighting in Vietnam. On October 15, 1969, a multi-city demonstration called The Moratorium to End the War in Vietnam, took place, with protesters singing this song in mass. When Lennon saw television footage of nearly half a million anti-Vietnam war protesters singing the song outside the White House in November 1969, he considered it to be "one of the biggest moments of my life."
HOW COME THE SUN
(Tom Paxton - David Horowitz/1971) Mary Hopkin
 An exquisitely performed composition by folk songwriter Tom Paxton (right) featuring the unusual combination of Mary's distinctive voice, 12-string guitar (hauntingly played by Ralph McTell of "Streets of London" fame) and cello which, when played together here, still give me goose bumps. The Tony Visconti produced recording is superb. This version of the song appears on Mary Hopkin's little known gem, the album Earth Song/Ocean Song, which hasn't got a dud song on it.
'How Come The Sun', like other Tom Paxton compositions, addresses issues of injustice and inhumanity and reflects the songwriting skills that have made Tom an integral part of the songwriting and folk music community since the early 60's Greenwich Village scene. He continues to be a primary influence on today's "New Folk" performers. Brought to New York courtesy of the US Army, Tom remained there following his discharge. His early success in Greenwich Village coffee houses, such as The Gaslight and The Bitter End, led to an ever-increasing circle of work. Then in 1965 he made his first tour of the United Kingdom - the beginning of a still-thriving professional relationship that has included at least one tour in each of the succeeding years. Tom's portfolio of songs include 'The Last Thing On My Mind', 'Ramblin' Boy', 'Bottle Of Wine', 'Whose Garden Was This?', 'Goin' To The Zoo' and 'The Marvellous Toy'.
SOLID ROCK
(Shane Howard/1982) Goanna
 In Australia, the band Goanna were a catalyst for a stream of socially-conscious folk-rock music in the 1980s. Their songs brought a voice to the 'stolen generation', and showed all dimensions and facets of their homeland. Goanna's biggest hit, "Solid Rock," was a triple platinum-selling anthem, a call to the rights of Australia's indigenous people. It was a testament to Uluru - and to the change it made to lead singer-songwriter Shane Howard's life. In May 1980, on a doctor's advice, Howard had taken a month's hiatus from Goanna and travelled to Ayers Rock (Uluru). A chance meeting with the Aboriginal tribes at Uluru that gave Howard a new direction for his music. In those days there was no resort or accommodations, just a dirt road for 300 kms to get there. He attended an Aboriginal tribal meeting there one evening. "It was a very amazing experience, it changed my whole perception of the depth of aboriginal culture and spirituality right there and then. I realized we were dealing with a culture that was very ancient, that had its own theology, its own spirituality that was very profound." On his way home, he saw "a different group of Aboriginals - ones that had been displaced from their homes, who suffered from racial abuse and intolerance, whose daily life consisted of a suicide cocktail of petrol (sniffing) and grog. I had come from this beautiful inspiring Aboriginal tradition, and the contrast between that and this harsh reality of conflict with western world 300 kilometers away, it marked me for all time. I saw an incredible injustice that needed to be dealt with. And also, I realized that this country that I grew up in, that I thought was my country, it wasn't. I had to re-assess my whole relationship with the land and the landscape, and understand that we had come from somewhere else, and we had disempowered a whole race of people when we arrived." By the time Howard arrived back in Melbourne, he had a new song for the group to record, based upon his experiences at Uluru - "Solid Rock."
DIRTY LAUNDRY
(Don Henley/1983) Don Henley
 Following the breakup of The Eagles, Henley embarked on a productive solo career, the most commercially successful of any of the band members. His first solo album, 1982's I Can't Stand Still, was a moderate seller. The song "Dirty Laundry" received the most airplay. In The Eagles' Live in Melbourne concert, Henley dedicated this song "to Mr. Rupert Murdoch." The song is about the loss of integrity in evening news broadcasts. Henley sings from the standpoint of a news anchorman who "could have been an actor, but I wound up here", and thus is not a real journalist. Its theme is that TV news coverage focuses too much on negative and sensationalist news; in particular, deaths, disasters, and scandals, with little regard to the consequences or for what is important ("we all know that crap is king"). The second verse contains an obvious reference to the attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan, which occurred the previous year, as the music video for the song depicts the newsroom of the station getting excited at the prospects of the death of a major figure, even anticipating an interview with the widow before the figure has even died. The song was covered by Lisa Marie Presley in 2005. It was the only single released from her album, Now What.
The Last Resort
(Don Henley, Glen Frey/1976) The Eagles
 Released on The Eagles 'Hotel California' album in 1976, The Last Resort, or as its co-writer Don Henley (right) describes it, How The West Was Lost, is one of the most powerful and beautifully crafted songs from The Eagles and from the 20th century. The song reflects the album's theme of America, epitomised by California, as paradise lost. That Henley has a Degree in English Literature is evident in the intelligent and evocative lyrics. Using as the basis for its message the United States domestic policies and practices during the 1800's, the song examines the lasting environmental and social "costs" of the mass migration of people in the United States during the 19th century which came to be known as Westward Expansion.
Dig deeper into the lyrics, however, and it emerges as a polar opposite to Hotel California; the tendency to look at the heavenly destination mankind seeks as justification for our earthly greed, waste, and lack of caring; and the dark side of man's quest for greener pastures emerges as its greater theme. It is no coincidence that the person whose journey is followed in this song starts out from a place called Providence with a view to ending up in Paradise. Don Henley explained in a 1987 interview, "The Last Resort is still one of my favourite songs... That's because I care more about the environment than about writing songs about drugs or love affairs or excesses of any kind. The gist of the song was that when we find something good, we destroy it by our presence - by the very fact that man is the only animal on earth that is capable of destroying his environment. The environment is the reason I got into politics: to try to do something about what I saw as the complete destruction of most of the resources that we have left. We have mortgaged our future for gain and greed."
At just on 7 minutes in length, it's not a minute too long and boasts one of Henley's best vocal performances, particularly the version on Hell Freezes Over; all in all (please pardon the cliche), beautiful, painful music. The Last Resort can be found at track nine on your CD of the Eagles' classic album Hotel California. For those old enough to remember, this equates to track five on side two of the record. After playing The Last Resort, Eagles fans will undoubtedly tell you to turn the record over and enjoy the title cut once again, because you can check out any time you want, but you can never leave ...
Lyrics
BORN IN THE USA
(Bruce Springsteen/1985) Bruce Springsteen
 Springsteen wrote this song in response to the problems Vietnam veterans had encountered when they returned home. Vietnam was the first war The Allies didn't win, and while veterans of other wars received a hero's welcome, those who fought in Vietnam were mostly ignored when they returned home. The original title was "Vietnam." Director Paul Schrader sent Springsteen a script for a movie called Born In The U.S.A., giving Bruce the idea for the new title. Schrader's movie became Light Of Day (1987); Springsteen wrote the title track. Springsteen considers it one of his best songs, but it bothers him that it is so widely misinterpreted as a patriotic song about American pride rather than casting a shameful eye on how America treated its Vietnam veterans.
THE LIVING YEARS
(Mike Rutherford - B.A. Robertson/1988) Mike & The Mechanics
 A thought provoking song, written from the perspective of a son who had a conflicted relationship with his Father. After his father dies, he discovers that he and his father had a much stronger bond than he ever realised, and regrets not saying more while he was alive. This song is seen as the very definition of adult contemporary pop, a genre that came into its own in the 1980s. Mike Rutherford, bass player for Genesis, formed Mike + The Mechanics as a side project when Phil Collins started working on solo albums. Paul Carrack, who had a hit in 1987 with "Don't Shed A Tear," was one of two vocalist in the group and sang lead on this song. He also had a solo hit with a version of the Jackie De Shannon composition, "When you Walk In The Room".
TAR AND CEMENT
(Luciano Beretta, Adriano Celentano and Michele Del Prete/1966) Verdelle Smith
 New York based Verdelle Smith was a solo artist who had released a string of singles before hitting the jackpot with "Tar And Cement" in 1966. They all achieved only moderate success and it was to be "Tar & Cement" that would be her solitary entry into the No. 1 spot. 'Tar and Cement' was originally an Italian smash hit for Adriano Celentano under the title 'Il Ragazzo Della Via Gluck', and written by Luciano Beretta, Adriano Celentano and Michele Del Prete. French chanteuse Fran?oise Hardy did a nice French version under the title 'La Maison O? J'ai Grandi'. Lee Pockriss and Paul Vance wrote English lyrics for it, and it became 'Tar and Cement'. The song tells of a person leaving their country hometown, atracted by life in the big city. Later, they return home with great anticipation to their hown town, expecting it to be how it was when they left, but find everything has changed in the name of progress and development. 'Tar and Cement' was one of the first 'conscience songs' relating to the environment and the price we pay for progress.
THE GAMES PEOPLE PLAY
(Joe South/1969) Joe South
 This song is about how people go through life deceiving others or pushing their ideals onto others in an effort to get ahead or just simply survive, without thinking or caring about the effect it has on those around them. Joe South, a session player who played guitar on Aretha Franklin's "Chain Of Fools," Tommy Roe's "Sheila" and Simon & Garfunkel's "The Sound Of Silence" and Bob Dylan's Blonde On Blonde album, performed all the vocal and instrumental parts himself. South won Grammy Awards for Song of the Year and Best Contemporary Song. South's other hits include "Don't It Make You Wanna Go Home", "Walk A Mile In My Shoes", "Down In The Boondocks" (as Billie Joe Royal) and "Rose Garden" as recorded by Lynne Anderson.
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Favourites
WON'T GET FOOLED AGAIN
(Pete Townsend/ 1971) The Who
 A stunning, powerful protest song about how the more things change the more they stay the same. It sounds like no other other song ever written - except perhaps Townshend's other classic, Who Are You, written a few years later, with its dynamic pulsating rhythm, scorching vocals by Roger Daltry, simple but clever organ solo by guest artist Al Kooper and Peter Moon's frantic drumming which bursts in and out around John Entwhistle's incredibly complex bass lines. If there was ever a song to get one hyper, it is this one. The song was first released as the final track on the album, Who's Next, in August 1971, and then as a single. The songs on that album are all that remains of an abortive rock opera, Lifehouse. It set a hard rock standard that even its creators struggled to emulate. The song was originally eight minutes long but was cut to 3 1/2 minutes for its single release.
SIGNS
The Five Man Electrical Band
 This song was originally released in 1970 as the B-side to the unsuccessful single Hello Melinda Goodbye. Appearing on the album Good-byes and Butteflies (1971), it became a big hit for the band when that album was re-released. The Five Man Electrical Band began as The Staccatos and changed their name in 1969. By 1973 they were creatively exhausted and called it quits. An expression of the way that hippies of the 1970s felt discriminated against by society in general, this song shows how an individual must decide whether individuality of expression or conformity to societal standards is the preferred way to live. The singer's choices are with the former, and he, then, must put up with the partiality of others as a consequence of that choice. The version we are familiar with is an edited version, with the lyrics "So I got me a pen and a paper and made up my own little sign". The unedited version says "So I got me a pen and a paper and I made up my own f*ckin' sign". The edit is evident in the way "little" sounds slightly "off". The word actually escaped US radio censors on its first release in 1970.
WHO'LL STOP THE RAIN
(John Fogerty/1970) Creedence Clearwater Revival
 A wonderfully uncomplicated folk-rock song with thoughtful lyrics and a great melody, "Who'll Stop The Rain" became almost transcendental as 1970 saw one of the most terrible and traumatic periods of the Vietnam War. The song makes a debatable political statement that still sends shivers down my spine. Fogerty wrote this song after performing at Woodstock. As we all know, Woodstock was a peaceful demonstration in support of stopping the war in Vietnam. In a radio interview, Fogerty has stated that this song was specifically asking who would stop the rain of B.S. coming from Washington D.C. during the Vietnam war.
FORTUNATE SON
(John Fogarty/1969) Creedence Clearwater Revival
Although they hailed from the San Francisco area, they rarely succumbed to the psychedelic indulgences of the era. John Fogerty was very good at voicing the concerns of the working class in songs like Fortunate Son, which is an anti-government, anti-rich and anti-Vietnam War song all rolled into one. Richard Nixon was president of the US when Fogerty wrote this; Fogerty was not a fan of Nixon and felt that people close to the president were receiving preferential treatment. Said Fogerty of the song: "Julie Nixon was hanging around with David Eisenhower, and you just had the feeling that none of these people were going to be involved with the war. In 1969, the majority of the country thought morale was great among the troops, and like eighty percent of them were in favor of the war. But to some of us who were watching closely, we just knew we were headed for trouble." It is sung from the perspective of a draftee fighting in Vietnam, who ends up there because he is not a "Senator's son." George W. Bush is often considered a "Fortunate Son," as he reaped the benefits that came with growing up in a powerful political family, which may have helped him avoid combat. The song was first released on the CCR album, Willy & The Poor Boys. It is one of three political songs on the album, the others being "It Came From the Sky" and "Don't Look Now (It Ain't You or Me)"
THE TIMES THEY ARE 'ACHANGIN'
(Bob Dylan/1964) Bob Dylan/Peter, Paul and Mary
 The title song of Bob Dylan's ground breaking 1964 album, it became an anthem for frustrated port-World War II youth and summed up the anti-establishment feelings of the youth of the time who would later drop out of the society they scorned and become hippies. Many of the lyrics are drawn from the policies and principles peached by the US Civil Rights movement. In the liner notes of this album, Dylan wrote: "I wanted to write a big song, some kind of theme song, with short, concise verses that piled up on each other in a hypnotic way. This is definitely a song with a purpose. I knew exactly what I wanted to say and who I wanted to say it to." The straight-laced, conservative parents of the world's youth were quite sure who it was aimed at too, and they didn't like it one bit!
IF I HAD A HAMMER
(Pete Seeger, Lee Hays/1949) Peter, Paul and Mary/Trini Lopez
Written in 1949 in support of the American progressive movement, and was first recorded by The Weavers, a folk music quartet comprised of Seeger, Hays, Ronnie Gilbert and Fred Hellerman. The song was not particularly successful when it was first released, likely due in part to the political climate of the time. It fared notably better when it was recorded by Peter, Paul and Mary more than a decade later. Their cover of the song became a Top 10 hit in the US and was unofficially adopted as an anthem by the American Civil Rights movement. They sang it in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC during an historic marchÝorganized by anti-war and civil rights activist Bayard Rustin (1910-1987).ÝToday, the march is best-remembered for Martin Luther King's speech, for his repeated declaration, "I have a dream," that brought the event to its conclusion. At the march, Peter, Paul and Mary also sang their other charting single, the anthemic Bob Dylan composition, Blowin' In The Wind. If I Had a HammerÝhas since been recorded by dozens of major artists, including a version by Trini Lopez on his 1963 album, Trini Lopez at PJ's, as well as one by Leonard Nimoy, which appeared on his 1968 release, The Way I Feel. A more recent example is the reggae-style cover released by BBC personality, Handy Andy, which was not particularly well received. French popstar Claude Francois released his cover Si j'avais un marteau in November 1963.
BLOWIN' IN THE WIND
(Bob Dylan/1962) Peter, Paul and Mary
This was the song that gave the Baby Boomer generation its conscience and became an early anthem for the 1960s peace movement. It is a simple song which asked nine questions but leaves the listener to ponder on the answers, hence the song's title. Peter, Paul & Mary's version, with its close harmonies and simple dual guitar backing rocketed them to fame and single-handedly brought folk-style music back into vogue. The song was first heard by an audience on 16th April 1962 when Dylan performed it to riotous applause at Gerde's in Greenwich Village, New York. The next day Dave Van Ronk, who had been working the Village scene far longer than Dylan, recalled telling him it was an incredibly dumb song. "I mean, what the hell is blowing in the wind?" A few weeks later he had the answer. He was walking through Washington Square Park and heard a kid singing, "How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood, The answer my friend is blowin' in the wind". At that point he knew Bob had a smash on his hands. Of this number, Mary Travers of PP&M says, "If I had to pick one song, my softest spot, it would be "Blowing in the Wind." If you could imagine the March on Washington with Martin Luther King and singing that song in front of a quarter of a million people, black and white, who believed they could make America more generous and compassionate in a non-violent way, you begin to know how incredible that belief was".
EVE OF DESTRUCTION
(P.F. Sloan/1964) Barry McGuire
 Barry McGuireÝwas one of the first rock protest singers, with a worldwide hit that echoed the feelings that many had during those years. After leaving the New Christy Minstrels to go solo, he signed with Adler's Dunhill Records. Eve Of Destruction became a huge hit and was to be McGuire's only top 40 record. The song was written by 19-year-old PF Sloan, who was a staff songwriter at McGuire's label. Of the song, Sloan said: "It was written in the early morning hours between midnight and dawn in mid-1964. The most outstanding experience I had in writing this song was hearing an inner voice inside of myself for only the second time. It seemed to have information no one else could've had. For example, I was writing down this line in pencil 'think of all the hate there is in Red Russia.' This inner voice said 'No, no it's Red China.' I began to argue and wrestle with that until near exhaustion. I thought Red Russia was the most outstanding enemy to freedom in the world, but this inner voice said the Soviet Union will fall before the end of the century and Red China will endure in crimes against humanity well into the new century. This inner voice that is inside of each and every one of us but is drowned out by the roar of our minds. The song contained a number of issues that were unbearable for me at the time. I wrote it as a prayer to God for an answer. I have felt it was a love song and written as a prayer because, to cure an ill you need to know what is sick. In my youthful zeal I hadn't realized that this would be taken as an attack on The System! The media banned me from all national television shows. Oddly enough they didn't ban Barry. The United States felt under threat. So any positive press on me or Barry was considered un-patriotic. A great deal of madness, as I remember it. I told the press it was a love song. A love song to and for humanity, that's all. It ruined Barry's career as an artist and in a year I would be driven out of the music business too. When Barry was ready to record he picked four songs and 'Eve' was the 4th to be recorded, if there was time. If you listen to the recording he's rushing singing through the lyric because of the time constraints and he was reading it for the first time off a piece of paper I had written the lyric on." It was intended to be a B-side and only got the airplay and sales it did after an influential Texas DJ accidentally played the wrong side while raving about a new artist called Barry McGuire.
WHERE HAVE ALL THE FLOWERS GONE
(Pete Seeger/1962) The Kingston Trio
 Many popular artists acknowledge a debt to Seeger by performing songs or poems he has written or sung over the past half century to champion the labor movement, peace, civil rights, and the environment. Seeger wrote this song as a call for peace. He was inspired by Mikhail Sholokhov's novel And Quiet Flows the Don. The folk group Peter, Paul and Mary began playing this, and when The Kinston Trio saw them perform it in concert, they recorded it the next day. Seeger's lyrics show how war and suffering is cyclical in nature: girls pick flowers, men pick girls, men go to war and fill graves with their dead which get covered with flowers. Of this and other protest songs, writer Seger said, ""Now somebody will ask me, Pete, how can you prove these songs really make a difference? And I have to confess I can't prove a darn thing, except that the people in power must think they do something, because they keep the songs off the air."
SO LONG FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT
(Paul Simon/1969) Simon & Garfunkel
 On the surface this sounds like a tribute to the great American architect, Frank Llord Wright. In reality it is a farewell message from Paul Simon to his singing partner, Art Garfunkel (in 1962, while earning a Bachelor of Arts degree majoring in art history, Art became a great admirer of Frank Lloyd Wright). It follows in the tradition of many other great songs where the singer is saying goodbye to a partner or music collaborator while they are still together. Other examples are Springtseen's Bobby Jean (to Miami Steve, who was embarking on his solo career, such as it was); Neil Sedaka's Our Last Song Together (to songwriting partner Greenfield); Buffalo Springfield's One the Way Home (Neil's kiss off to his band mates) The Beatles' Golden Slumbers/Carry that Weight/The End Paul McCartney medley to his fellow Beatles). Simon's reminisce in the phrase "I remember the nights we'd harmonize till dawn, I never laughed so long, so long, so long..." in Frank Lloyd Wright is a wistful yearning for the return of happier times. Other songs on the album also hint at the breakup - The Only Living Boy In New York and Why Don't You Write Me, written while Art was away in Mexico making the movie Catch-22, tell of Paul's frustration at his singing partner's lack of commitment to what would be their last album - Bridge Over Troubled Water.
7 O'CLOCK NEWS/SILENT NIGHT
(Paul Simon/1966) Simon & Garfunkel
Paul Simon climbed onto the protest bandwagon of the mid 1960s with this confronting juxtposition of the gentle Christmas melody Silent Night with an news bulletin anchorman's read of the year's crises. It was simple - featuring with just a piano and the three voices - but very effective.
THE SOUNDS OF SILENCE
(Paul Simon/1964) Simon & Garfunkel
This was one of the songs Simon & Garfunkel performed in 1964 when they were starting out and playing the folk clubs in Greenwich Village. In an interview with Terry Gross of National Public Radio (NPR), Paul Simon explained how he wrote the song: "It was just when I was coming out of college. My job was to take the songs that this huge publishing company owned and go around to record companies and see if any of their artists wanted to record the songs. I worked for them for about 6 months and never got a song placed, but I did give them a couple of my songs because I felt so guilty about taking their money. Then I got into an argument with them and said, 'Look, I quit, and I'm not giving you my new song.' And the song that I had just written was 'The Sound Of Silence.' I thought, 'I'll just publish it myself,' and from that point on I owned my own songs, so that was a lucky argument.
Paul Simon took 6 months to write the lyrics, which are about man's lack of communication with his fellow man. He has said that the opening line "Hello darkness my old friend" refers directly to his plight with bipolar. The line "Ten thousand people, maybe more ... people talking without speaking, People hearing without listening" is said to sum up exactly how people with bipolar and autistism feel when they are in a large crowd with everyone talking, yet they feel so isolated. The first recording was an acoustic version on Simon & Garfunkel's first album, Wednesday Morning, 3 AM, which sold about 2000 copies. When the album flopped, Simon and Garfunkel split up. Trying to take advantage of the folk-rock movement, producer Bob Johnson overdubbed electric instruments and drums to the acoustic track without their knowledge. It was re-released, became a huge hit and got them back together.
WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO THE RAIN?
(Malvina Reynolds/1962) The Searchers
 Written in 1962, it was first entitled Rain Song. The songs was written as part of a campaign to stop nuclear testing in the atmosphere, which was producing fall-out. It was inspired by a photograph of a survivor of the Hiroshima bombing, looking out across the devastation in disbelief. In the 1950ís, Governments around the world claimed that nuclear fallout from atom bomb testing was ìjust a gentle rain,î non lethal to humans. The song was first released on The Searchers album, This Feeling Inside (1964). has been recorded by many other artists, particularly those of the 1960s folk movement, including Marianne Faithfull and Joan Baez. Malvina Reynolds (above right) was an American folk/blues singer-songwriter and political activist, probably best known for writing the song Little Boxes.
ANOTHER BRICK IN THE WALL
(Roger Waters/1980) Pink Floyd
 This song is said to be about Roger Waters' views on his formal education. He hated his grammar school teachers and felt they were more interested in keeping the kids quiet than teaching them. The wall refers to the proverbial wall Waters built around himself because he wasn't in touch with reality. The bricks in the wall were the events in his life which propelled him to build this wall. His school teacher was another brick in the wall. The chorus came from a school in Islington, England, and was chosen because it was close to the studio. They were also used in Alice Cooper's 'School's Out' in 1972. The Chorus was made up of 23 children between the ages of 13 and 15. They were overdubbed 12 times, making it sound like they were more in number. There was some controversy when it was revealed that the Chorus was never paid. It also didn't sit well with teachers that their students were singing an anti-school song. The Chorus was later given recording time in the studio in exchange for their contribution; the school eventually received ?1000 and a platinum record.
BUFFALO SOLDIER
(Bob Marley, Noel G. "King Sporty" Williams/1980) Bob Marley and the Wailers
 The song is derived from Marley's final recording sessions in 1980. It did not appear on record until the 1983 posthumous release of "Confrontation", when it became a big hit and one of Marley's best-known songs. The title and lyrics refer to the 9th and 10th Cavalry regiments, comprising some 2,000 men in total, who were known as "Buffalo Soldiers", who fought in the Indian Wars after 1866. These regiments were comprised solely of black Africans who were called buffalo soilders by the Native Americans because of their dreadlocked hair, as it resembled that of a buffalo. The buffalo soldiers' job was to exterminate American Indians. Many of the soldiers were in fact slaves taken from Africa. Marley gives a small history lesson as a protest about the black man's role in building the country that oppressed him. It has been widely observed that the music is similar to that used in the Banana Splits theme song, "The Tra La La Song".
99 LUFTBALLOONS
(Gabriele Susanne Kerner/1984) Nena
A protest song in the 1980s that makes comment about the brinkmanship and paranoia/hysteria surrounding the issue of war. The song talks about Nena (real name Gabriele Susanne Kerner) and the listener buying 99 balloons in a shop and letting them go, for fun. These balloons show up on the radar as unidentified objects and both sides scramble planes and go to full alert to counteract a perceived nuclear attack, when in fact it is the most childlike of things - a bunch of balloons. Before the fall of the Berlin Wall, there was a lot of tension between East and West Germany; if either West or East Berliners saw balloons going over the wall, they thought it was a nuclear attack. Nena is a true one-hit-wonder outside of Germany, where she didn't even come close to another hit. Before this, however, her single "Nur Getraumt" topped the singles charts in Germany.
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