Most Memorable Protest and Social Uplift Songs, Anthems

Music has always been used as a vehicle to protest conditions or provide uplifting messages to the masses. Whether used during the Vietnam era anti-war protests or the civil rights movement of the 1960s or as personal and/or political anthems of the 1970s, '80s, or '90s, this list of songs has become an indelible part of the American landscape, giving voice to millions of Americans searching for a better way of life.

1. "This Land Is Your Land" - written as a response to Irving Berlin's patriotic "God Bless America," Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land" has transcended its original Communist leanings and has become an American anthem for the disenfranchised.

2. "Say It Loud: I'm Black and I'm Proud" - Soulster James Brown's anthem of Black pride arrived on the scene as America was being ripped apart by the Vietnam war, the disintegration of the civil rights movement following the assassination of Martin Luther King and the rise of the Black Power movement with the Black Panthers, becoming a powerful and affirmative statement for African Americans that continues to this day.

3. "What's Going On" - Marvin Gaye wrote this as searing portrait of a country torn by war, but its origins came from more personal reflections: Gaye was inspired to write this song after his own brother returned from Vietnam. The album of the same title is also a searing social commentary on modern day America and the states of relations of Black people during the early seventies in the post-civil rights era. Haunting and evocative, "What's Going On" represents the highest of what R&B could achieve in message songs.

4. "A Change Is Gonna Come" - Inspired by Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind," R&B croonster Sam Cooke wrote this song specifically to address the growing changes that were coming about for Black people because of the civil right movement. A classic in social commentary, "A Change Is Gonna Come" has since become an anthem for racial change and justice.