Joyful protesting playlist

We love songs that inspire and motivate us to unite and speak out. The Joyful Resistance playlist melds protest themes with upbeat, uplifting music that celebrates community and resistance. These songs express hope, resilience, and humanity when facing adversity and injustice. Let the music move you!

1. Get Up, Stand Up by Bob Marley and the Wailers
   We start with the last song Bob Marley ever performed on stage. Written by Marley and Peter Tosh, it calls for people to unite and fight for what’s right. “We’re sick and tired of your ism schism game.” Us, too.
   
   
2. Fortunate Son by Creedence Clearwater Revival
   This anti-war anthem from the Vietnam era expresses both opposition to the draft and solidarity with the soldiers by focusing on class discrimination. John Fogarty sings about the wealthy who avoid serving and paying their share of taxes. “And when you ask ’em, ‘How much should we give?’ They only answer, ‘More, more, more, more.’”
   
   
3. What’s Going On by Marvin Gaye
   Marvin Gaye’s first protest song was inspired by police brutality and violence against anti-war activists witnessed by Renaldo “Obie” Benson of the Four Tops. It was written by Gaye, Al Cleveland, and Benson, who said it wasn’t a protest song. “… it’s a love song, about love and understanding. I’m not protesting, I want to know what’s going on.”
   
   
4. Nina Cried Power by Hozier, featuring Mavis Staples
   Irish singer-songwriter Hozier sings with legend Mavis Staples on this soulful anthem that pays homage to the activist singers who came before, including Nina Simone. “It’s not the song, it is the singin.”
   
   
5. People Get Ready by The Impressions
   Curtis Mayfield wrote this gospel-influenced song, echoing train imagery common in many freedom songs. “Picking up passengers from coast to coast.” We, the people, are ready, Curtis.
   
   
6. Stand by Sly and the Family Stone
   The late Sly Stone’s jubilant band calls for people to stand up for themselves, their communities, and what they believe in. “You’ve been sitting much too long. There’s a permanent crease in your right and wrong.”
   
   
7. War/No More Trouble by Bob Marley and the Wailers
   Most of the lyrics come from a speech by exiled Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie in 1963. It warns that “until there’s no longer first-class and second-class citizens of any nation,” there will be war.
   
   
8. A Change Is Gonna Come by Sam Cooke
   Sam Cooke wrote this civil rights anthem in 1963 in response to multiple instances of racial injustice. “It’s been a long, a long time coming, but I know a change gon’ come.”
   
   
9. We Shall Not Be Moved by Mavis Staples
   Mavis Staples sings this African-American slave spiritual, which gained popularity as a protest song during the civil rights movement of the 1960s. “We’re fighting for our freedom. We shall not be moved.”
   
   
10. Takin’ It to the Streets by The Doobie Brothers
    In the first Doobie Brothers single with Michael McDonald, he takes to the streets with his thoughts about poverty and inequality. “Take this message to my brother. You will find him everywhere.”
    
    
11. Maggie’s Farm by Bob Dylan
    We could have gone with several other Dylan songs, but we love the energy of Maggie’s Farm, which ushered in his electric phase. “I try my best to be just like I am, but everybody wants you to be just like them.”
    
    
12. Peace Train by Cat Stevens
    This song gained some baggage after comments by Yusuf Islam years later, but the original recording is an uplifting, optimistic view of what the world could be. “I've been smilin’ lately, dreaming about the world as one.”
    
    
13. Waiting for the Great Leap Forwards by Billy Bragg
    We love this working class activist/troubadour, and this song has his characteristic mix of pop and politics. It has some great lines, including one we can get behind: “The revolution is just a t-shirt away!”
    
    
14. Everyday People by Sly and the Family Stone
    Sly and his band joyously remind us what we have in common while pleading for peace and equality across races and groups. We are everyday people.
    
    
15. Redemption Song by Bob Marley and the Wailers
    Just Bob and his guitar, recorded after his cancer diagnosis, it contains some heavy truth and too many great lines to choose from. “Won’t you help to sing these songs of freedom?”
    
    
16. People Have the Power by Patti Smith
    We close the playlist with a reminder that the people have power in a representative democracy. “The power to dream, to rule, to wrestle the world from fools.” 

Honorable mention

Here are some other protest songs that we love:

• Can’t Deny Me by Pearl Jam
• Fight the Power by the Isley Brothers
• Joy in Resistance by Abena Koomson-Davis and Resistance Revival Chorus
• Ride the Fence by The Coup
  
• Sinnerman by Nina Simone
• Talkin' Bout a Revolution by Tracy Chapman
• The Times They Are a Changin’ by Bob Dylan
• Zombie by Fela Kuti

What songs of resistance inspire you?