Lady Victoria Eclectic Pagan's blog: "Protest Songs"

How Long by Jackson Browne Album:"World In Motion " (1989 on Elektra Records) "How Long" is an eloquent cry for peace and change and includes a beautiful acoustic lap steel guitar from David Lindley. Because I think it is one of the most meaningful songs Jackson has ever written, I choose to include it on our list of Protest Songs in spite of the fact that it was written in the 80's and not the 60's. Lyrics: When you look into a child's face And you're seeing the human race And the endless possibilities there Where so much can come true And you think of the beautiful things A child can do How long -- would the child survive How long -- if it was up to you When you think about the money spent On defense by a government And the weapons of destruction we've built We're so sure that we need And you think of the millions and millions That money could feed How long -- can you hear someone crying How long -- can you hear someone dying Before you ask yourself why? And how long will we hear people speaking About missiles for peace And just let it go by How long will they tell us these weapons Are keeping us free That's a lie If you saw it from a satellite With its green and its blue and white The beauty of the curve of the earth And its oceans below You might think it was paradise If you didn't know You might think that it's turning But it's turning so slow How long -- can you hear someone crying How long -- can you hear someone dying Before you ask yourself why? And how long will it be 'till we've turned To the tasks and the skills That we'll have to have learned If we're going to find our place in the future And have something to offer Where this planet's concerned How long? (c) 1989 SWALLOW TURN MUSIC (ASCAP)

With God On Our Side Bob Dylan Album:The Times They Are A-Changin' He sang this song at the Newport Folk Festival with Joan Baez 26 July 1964. Bob was unplugged after starting a ruckus among folkies over three decades ago at the Newport Folk Festival by plugging in. In this album he is at the peak of his awesome power. LYRICS: Oh, my name it ain't nothin', my age it means less The country I come from is called the Midwest I's taught and brought up there, the laws to abide And that the land that I live in has God on its side. Oh, the history books tell it, they tell it so well The cavalries charged, the Indians fell The cavalries charged, the Indians died Oh, the country was young with God on its side. The Spanish American war had its day And the Civil War too was soon laid away And the names of the heroes i's made to memorize With guns in their hands and God on their side. The First World War, boys, it came an it went The reason for fightin' I never did get But I learned to accept it, accept it with pride For you don't count the dead when God's on your side. The Second World War boys, came to an end We forgave the Germans and then we were friends Though they murdered six million, in the ovens they fried The Germans now too have God on their side. I've learned to hate Russians all through my whole life If another war comes it's them we must fight To hate them and fear them, to run and to hide And accept it all bravely with God on my side. But now we got weapons of chemical dust If fire them we're forced to, then fire them we must One push of the button an' shot the world wide An' you never ask questions when God's on your side Through a many dark hour i've been thinkin' 'bout this That Jesus Christ was betrayed by a kiss But I can't think for you, you'll have to decide Whether Judas Iscariot had God on his side. So now as I'm leavin', i'm weary as hell The confusion I'm feelin' ain't no tongue can tell The words fill my head and fall to the floor That if God's on our side, he'll stop the next war.

Give Peace a Chance John Lennon (1969) Album: Shaved Fish Give Peace a Chance came out in 1969 while fighting was still going on in Vietnam. This song was first recorded during the Montreal Bed-In with Yoko in 1969. John Lennon Lyrics: Ev'rybody's talkin' 'bout Bagism, Shagism, Dragism, Madism, Ragism, Tagism This-ism, that-ism, ism ism ism All we are saying is give peace a chance All we are saying is give peace a chance Ev'rybody's talkin' 'bout Minister, Sinister, Banisters and Canisters, Bishops, Fishops, Rabbis, and Pop Eyes, Bye bye, Bye bye All we are saying is give peace a chance All we are saying is give peace a chance Ev'rybody's talkin' 'bout Revolution, Evolution, Masturbation, Flagellation, Regulation, Integrations, mediations, United Nations, - congratulations All we are saying is give peace a chance All we are saying is give peace a chance Ev'rybody's talkin' 'bout John and Yoko, Timmy Leary, Rosemary, Tommy Smothers, Bobby Dylan, Tommy Cooper, Derek Taylor, Norman Mailer, Alan Ginsberg, Hare Krishna Hare Hare Krishna All we are saying is give peace a chance All we are saying is give peace a chance

Get Together Youngbloods (1969) Album: The Get Together/Elephant Mountain Written by Dino Valenti Formed in 1965 in Boston, Massachusetts, the Youngbloods band was formed by folk singers Jesse Colin Young and Jerry Corbitt. Later they were joined by jazz drummer Joe Bauer and guitarist/pianist Lowell Levinger III, better known simply as Banana. The band's reading of Dino Valenti's "Get Together" became a hit in California where it was adopted as a counter-culture anthem. The lyrics perfectly captured the mood of late-60s Californian rock music.Elephant Mountain was their most popular album. The Youngbloods Lyrics: Love is but a song we sing And fear's the way we die. You can make the mountains ring Or make the angels cry. Though the bird is on the wing And you may not know why. C'mon people now Smile on your brother Ev'rybody get together Try to love one another right now Some will come and some will go And we shall surely pass. When the one that left us here Returns for us at last. We are but a moment's sunlight Fading in the grass. C'mon people now Smile on your brother Ev'rybody get together Try to love one another right now If you hear the song we sing You will understand. You hold the key to love and fear In your trembling hand. Just one key unlocks them both It's there at your command C'mon people now Smile on your brother Ev'rybody get together Try to love one another right now Right now Right now

For What It's Worth Buffalo Springfield Album: Buffalo Springfield These lyrics from the Buffalo Springfield's 1967 hit 'For What It's Worth' have come to symbolize the turbulent decade of the 1960s. 'For What It's Worth' has transcended the pop charts to become, a touchstone for an entire generation. In 1967, the Buffalo Springfield captured the restless, confrontational mood of that generation railing against the establishment and went on to be revered as one of rock music's most influential groups. ..Copyright 1967 By Stephen Stills Album: Buffalo Springfield Lyrics: There's something happening here What it is ain't exactly clear There's a man with a gun over there Telling me I got to beware I think it's time we stop, children, what's that sound Everybody look what's going down There's battle lines being drawn Nobody's right if everybody's wrong Young people speaking their minds Getting so much resistance from behind I think it's time we stop, hey, what's that sound Everybody look what's going down What a field-day for the heat A thousand people in the street Singing songs and carrying signs Mostly say, hooray for our side It's time we stop, hey, what's that sound Everybody look what's going down Paranoia strikes deep Into your life it will creep It starts when you're always afraid You step out of line, the man come and take you away We better stop, hey, what's that sound Everybody look what's going down Stop, hey, what's that sound Everybody look what's going down Stop, now, what's that sound Everybody look what's going down Stop, children, what's that sound Everybody look what's going down Copyright 1967 By Stephen Stills

Fortunate Son Creedence Clearwater Revival (1969) Album: Willy & The Poor Boys 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-war song all rolled into one. Credence Clearwater Revival Lyrics: Some folks are born made to wave the flag Ooh, they're red, white and blue And when the band plays "Hail To The Chief" Ooh, they point the cannon at you, Lord It ain't me, it ain't me I ain't no senator's son It ain't me, it ain't me I ain't no fortunate one Some folks are born silver spoon in hand Lord, don't they help themselves, oh But when the taxman come to the door Lord, the house look a like a rummage sale, yes It ain't me, it ain't me I ain't no millionaire's son It ain't me, it ain't me I ain't no fortunate one Yeah, some folks inherit star spangled eyes Ooh, they send you down to war And when you ask them, how much should we give Ooh, they only answer, more, more, more, yeah It ain't me, it ain't me I ain't no military son It ain't me, it ain't me I ain't no fortunate one It ain't me, it ain't me I ain't no fortunate one It ain't me, it ain't me I ain't no fortunate son

Blowin' in the Wind Bob Dylan Album:"Freewheelin "(1963) Bob Dylan acquired a large following in folk circles after arriving in New York City in 1960, and the release of his first album in March 1962 was well received, but a larger, mainstream audience was first exposed to his work when Peter, Paul & Mary's version of "Blowin' in the Wind " reached #2 on the charts in mid-1963 Bob Dylan Album:"Freewheelin "(1963) Lyrics: How many roads must a man walk down Before you call him a man How many seas must the white dove sail Before she sleeps in the sand Yes, and how many times must the cannonballs fly Before they are forever banned The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind The answer is blowing in the wind Yes, and how many years can a mountain exist Before it washed to the sea Yes, and how many years can some people exist Before they're allowed to be free Yes, and how many times can a man turn his head And pretend that he just doesn't see The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind The answer is blowing in the wind Yes, and how many times must a man look up Before he can see the sky Yes, and how many ears must one man have Before he can hear people cry Yes, and how many deaths will it take till he knows That too many people have died The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind

ALL THE WEARY MOTHERS OF THE EARTH (PEOPLE'S UNION # 1) (Words and Music by Joan Baez) Album: Come From The Shadows (1972) RARE,OUT OF PRINT Folk singer Joan Baez was born in New York in 1941 and began performing in Boston as a teenager, first coming to national attention after a striking performance at the 1959 Newport Folk Festival. Baez founded the Institute for the Study of Nonviolence in Carmel Valley, California, participated in the Free Speech Movement at the University of California at Berkeley and in the civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama in 1965 (Lutzow 2000). She confirms, "My foundations in nonviolence were both moral and pragmatic" Baez's dedication to nonviolence and human rights grew as she organized an anti-war demonstration for women and children in 1972 entitled "Ring Around the Congress." Later that year, she traveled to North Vietnam to distribute mail and Christmas presents to American prisoners of war, finding herself in the midst of the American bombings of Hanoi. Baez remembers the event as eleven unforgettable days and nights of heavy aerial bombing.....by: Leslie Benson Hear Joan Baez in Concert courtesy of Wolfgang's Vault @ http://concerts.wolfgangsvault.com/ConcertDetail.aspx?id=2437|3385&aid=2563 "You don't get to choose how you're going to die or when. You can only decide how you're going to live." -Joan Baez Lyrics: All the weary mothers of the earth will finally rest We will take their babies in our arms and do our best When the sun is low upon the field To love and music they will yield And the weary mothers of the earth shall rest And the farmer on his tractor and beside his plow Will stand there in confusion as we wet his brow With the tears of all the businessmen Who see what they have done to him And the weary farmers of the earth shall rest And the aching workers of the world again shall sing These words in mighty choruses to all will bring "We shall no longer be the poor For no one owns us anymore" And the workers of the world again shall sing And when the soldiers burn their uniforms in every land The foxholes at the borders will be left unmanned General, when you come for the review The troops will have forgotten you And the men and women of the earth shall rest © 1971, 1972 Chandos Music (ASCAP)

Where Have All The Flowers Gone Pete Seeger All acknowledge their 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. Where Have All The Flowers Gone When you bring people together for any reason whatsoever, you're doing politics. "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." - Pete Seeger Lyrics: Where have all the flowers gone, long time passing? Where have all the flowers gone, long time ago? Where have all the flowers gone? Gone to young girls, every one! When will they ever learn, when will they ever learn? Where have all the young girls gone, long time passing? Where have all the young girls gone, long time ago? Where have all the young girls gone? Gone to young men, every one! When will they ever learn, when will they ever learn? Where have all the young men gone, long time passing? Where have all the young men gone, long time ago? Where have all the young men gone? Gone to soldiers, every one! When will they ever learn, when will they ever learn? And where have all the soldiers gone, long time passing? Where have all the soldiers gone, a long time ago? Where have all the soldiers gone? Gone to graveyards, every one! When will they ever learn, when will they ever learn? And where have all the graveyards gone, long time passing? Where have all the graveyards gone, long time ago? Where have all the graveyards gone? Gone to flowers, every one! When will they ever learn, oh when will they ever learn?

Abraham, Martin, and John Words and Music by Richard Holler Artist:Dion Album: The original "Dion" album Is Out of Print Dion DiMucci, better known only by his first name, was the lead singer of the Belmonts in the late 1950s. In 1960 the group disbanded and Dion started a solo career. In 1962 Dion signed a contract with Columbia Records, for which he would record for the next three years. In 1968 he recorded his hit, "Abraham, Martin, and John." Album: The original "Dion" album Abraham Lincoln is among the nation's most prized and beloved personages. A man of nobility and leadership, he grew up among the impoverished and uneducated. Through perseverance he attained great knowledge of life and love for the American people. " Liberalism is not so much a party creed or set of fixed platform promises as it is an attitude of mind and heart, a faith in man's ability through the experiences of his reason and judgment to increase for himself and his fellow men the amount of justice and freedom and brotherhood which all human life deserves."... John Kennedy Martin Luther King Jr. was able to express the inner anxieties of the oppressed black nation of the 1950's-1960's and stands as one of the founders of present day society. He was driven by his belief of justice and equality for those who were given none. Lyrics: Has anybody here seen my old friend Abraham? Can you tell me where he's gone? He freed a lot of people, But it seems the good die young, But I just looked around and he's gone. Has anybody here seen my old friend John? Can you tell me where he's gone? He freed a lot of people, But it seems the good die young, But I just looked around and he's gone. Has anybody here seen my old friend Martin? Can you tell me where he's gone? He freed a lot of people, But it seems the good die young, But I just looked around and he's gone. Didn't you love the things they stood for? Didn't they try to find some good for you and me? And we'll be free. Someday soon, it's gonna be One day. Has anybody here seen my old friend Bobby? Can you tell me where he's gone? I thought I saw him walkin' Up over the hill, With Abraham, Martin and John