I was thinking about how Bruce Springsteen is the only artist I know of who has written a protest song lately and I was wondering if anyone else had any good recommendations since… 2016 or so.
Edit: so many great recommendations! Thank you all!
Joe Purdy s album Who Will Be Next. Came out in 2016, addresses white privlage, gun violence, general spiral into madness of the nation. A jem of songwriting simplicity.
Kingslayer, 2020 might fit your question. Not sure exactly how articulate it is, but it is fucking angry and beautiful. And loud. Like, I’m literally not sure, because it’s part Japanese.
Run The Jewels & Greg Nice - Ooh Lah Lah
King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard - Planet B
Lyrics:
[Verse 1]
Open your eyes and light the fluid
Get into it, petrol siphon
Low on meals, browning fields
Bury children[Chorus 1]
Urbanization
Scarification
Population exodus
There is no Planet B
Open your eyes and see
[Guitar Solo][Verse 2]
Open your eyes and shoot the dingo
While this shit goes out the window
Multi-factions
Rusting tractors
Dying hero[Chorus 2]
Only way through is colonization
Acclimatization
Population exodus
Monetization
Civilization
The operation has begun
There is no Planet B[Bridge]
Patient seasons
Blacked out for ages
Dreaming of cake
Snowflakes blanket
Old deserts
Outskirts disperse
Earth is a blank verse
Last hearse
Dry nurse
(Oh!)[Refrain]
Open your eyes and see
There is no Planet B
There is no Planet B
There is no Planet B
There is no Planet B
There is no Planet B
There is no Planet B
There is no Planet B
There is no Planet B
Open your eyes and see[Outro]
Sinners are grinners, ear to ear
Baby Jesus sheds a tearDropkick Murphy just wrote one right?
https://massiveattack.bandcamp.com/album/boots-on-the-ground
https://zealandardor.bandcamp.com/album/wake-of-a-nation-ep - the opening track Vigil is flawless but the entire band’s discography is top tier.
https://runthejewels.bandcamp.com/track/close-your-eyes-and-count-to-fuck-feat-zack-de-la-rocha
Not exactly what you asked, but I think it’s important to note how old protest songs are still so relevant. I listen to a lot of 1980s music (in fact, presently playing my 80s playlist, just went from Tiffany to Belinda Carlisle) and older music.
Listen to the 1971 song Won’t Get Fooled Again by British band The Who. I’m sure most of you have heard it. Listen to what he said 55 years ago and imagine it was written this year, and see how relevant it is.
Agree on old songs still having power in this context. Doesn’t feel old to me, Soup is Good Food by Dead Kennedys may as well have come out in 2025 instead of 1985.
Meet the new boss
Same as the old boss
I’m liking him a lot.
Back in the Vietnam days, it took a while for protest songs to get written, recorded, released, sold, and finally listened to by the target audience. That could take months.
But today, a songwriter can compose a response to an atrocity that day, and instantly release it on numerous platforms, and be part of the actual conversation.
Now we just need more good protest songwriters.
I was going to share Jesse’s music. I second this recommendation.
Just about any song by Jesse Welles these days…
A few examples:
I cannot tell you how happy I am that this man exists.
“CEOs come and go and one just went”
Referring to the United healthcare CEO in the song United Health.
It’s the kind of wordplay boomers loved with Dylan. But it’s fresh, current, enticing, and it holds a sharp edge. In 50 years I hope we remember Welles as fondly.
Came to say this, upvoted.
He had kind of a shit take after Kirk got murked tbh
Adenauer SRP (against the German AfD) (audio, instrumental rendition)
Rise Against - Megaphone (2018)
Rise Against - The Numbers (2021)
Rise Against - The Answer (2022)
Macklemore - fucked up (2025)
Carsie Blanton - Ugly Nasty Commie Bitch (2024)
Sorry that these are all YT links.Clearly I’m a RA fanboy, but I look at the state of the world and I hear their songs, and they’re the same picture. I can’t ignore their music.
(ehem…except for the new Ricochet album with its questionable production decisions)
Carsie’s newest album with the burning hell is great.
While it came out 22 years ago, State of the Union still feels like it could have been written for now.
Prayer of the refugee holds a special place in my heart.
