At their best, protest songs have the power to inspire, inform and unite. They have shaped movements and changed history, from the struggles of the suffragettes to the recent uprisings in the Middle East. One even made it into the Olympics opening ceremony – God Save the Queen by the Sex Pistols.
For anyone who supported the South African anti-apartheid movement in the 70s and 80s, just catching a few notes of N’Kosi Sikeleli Africa, accompanied by a mental image of a defiant clenched fist salute, is enough to bring a tear of solidarity to the eye. The lyrics of Strange Fruit – a song made famous by Billie Holiday about racism and lynching in America’s Deep South – are still haunting; Bob Dylan’s The Times They Are A-Changin’ is as pertinent today in some parts of the world as it was in 1960s America.
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