Do you know any protest/union songs that are popular today?

July 23, 2023 1:06 PM

I'm preparing for an upcoming talk I'll be giving to my Union Local about the history of Union Songs. I'm super pumped, because this is a topic I'm reasonably conversant in, and extremely excited about! In addition to the talk, I'm also compiling a playlist of music for attendees to listen to at their convenience. But once the "history" catches up to the present, I'm having a little trouble. Who is carrying the Union Song torch in 2023?

After discussing the folk tradition, the IWW, etc., I will close the talk out by emphasizing the great protest music currently being made, and how if we want to build a big movement and connect with people today, unionists need to break out of our assumptions about union music as being about fiddles, banjos, and flat caps and deploy/engage with music that is currently popular. But here's the problem: just like everyone, as I've gotten older, I've been getting less connected with the Cool Music of Today. I keep trying to refer to contemporary music like The Coup, Public Enemy, Mos Def, Rage Against the Machine, Dropkick Murphys, Tupac Shakur, Muse... Do you see the problem? These are not actually contemporary artists.

So my question is, what are some protest songs that are actually, like, cool right now?
I'm interested in any suggestions that anyone can offer, but here's my wishlist of ideal characteristics, in rough order of likelyhood that anything will turn up:

- Young, hip, cool, etc.
I know all about Springsteen, Pete Seeger, Joe Hill, etc.
- Ideally not in the "folk" idiom?
Since my point is that I want my listeners to break out of their preconceptions of what protest songs sound like, it might be a little counterproductive to point to another acoustic guitar/banjo track, even if they're talking about Trump or whatever.
- Focused on class/labor issues.
Since this is a talk for a labor union, it would be nice if labor issues were forefronted, especially if unions or job actions were actually mentioned in the lyrics.
- "Songs of Persuasion"
This is the hardest criterion, but I'll mention it anyway. One of the topics we'll be discussing is "articulating a problem" vs "suggesting a solution". The historical Union Songs were recruiting and organizing tools, more than simply aesthetic products. Frankly, I have my suspicions that explicit lyrical calls to action might actually be fundamentally incompatible with coolness's requisite ironic detatchment, but a person can hope?

I've found some Asks that have definitely been helpful in my research, but weren't exactly targeted to the specific question I'm looking for:

Protest music generally, but covering the whole history, so not that many contemporary tracks and lots of "folk":
https://ask.metafilter.com/334235/Is-it-a-song-Its-probably-relevant

Contemporary artists, but more about capturing a zeitgeist than about politics per se:
https://ask.metafilter.com/336523/Where-is-our-Bob-Dylan

Young progressive artists, but not exactly "songs of persuasion":
https://ask.metafilter.com/338665/The-kids-are-alright

I'd also welcome any kind of suggestions or ideas you can offer beyond my request for specific tracks!

posted by Krawczak to Media & Arts (11 answers total)

Best answer: This pick is a little old (2017) so might be a miss if you are looking for the absolutely freshest tracks for 2023, but my first thought went to Sheer Mag's Rank and File. It's not explicitly a union protest song, but I interpret the chorus ("If you’ve fallen lonely on your cause / I got the rank and the file here to even the odds") as a collective action call to arms. A different song from the same album (Expect the Bayonet) was apparently played at a Bernie rally in 2019. That track also rules IMHO

Apologies if not as fresh as you are looking for, but since Sheer Mag is not in the folk tradition but more of a retro punk rock sound and is still active and performing gigs as far as I can tell, they may fit your criteria
posted by okonomichiyaki at 1:23 PM on July 23, 2023 [2 favorites]

Not union so much, but protest, tiktok is amazing for this. Two absolute faves are this anti-police banger, this trans anthem and this body acceptance ditty.
posted by Iteki at 1:51 PM on July 23, 2023 [1 favorite]

Burn Barrel
GMC Cash On Strike
posted by Ideefixe at 2:43 PM on July 23, 2023 [1 favorite]

It might be hard to completely avoid folk music. I suspect this is because protest and union songs are meant to be sung by large groups of regular people, not trained performers on stages.

Smithsonian Folkways has several pages on collections of union-related songs - here’s one. You can listen without paying to download, and Google other covers.

Here’s a bluegrass cover of Which Side Are You On

Maybe this?


What I’d really do, though, is reach out to archivists and musicologists who are experts in folk music and union songs. The Woody Guthrie Center just gave an award to Pussy Riot earlier this year so they aren’t necessarily limiting their engagement to traditional folk.

Maybe not all specific to union but there’s some hip-hop and rock.

Good luck with your talk! It sounds really cool. Please circle back and let us know how it goes.
posted by bunderful at 4:58 PM on July 23, 2023 [3 favorites]

Linqua Franqa (aka Maria Parker) performing "Wurk"

(The "Which Side Are You On" reference above reminded me of it. There's a long profile of her in a recent edition of Atlanta magazine.)
posted by intermod at 6:31 PM on July 23, 2023 [1 favorite]

Best answer: The Arkells - many protest songs, but "Knocking at the Door" is probably their biggest hit.
posted by DEiBnL13 at 6:59 PM on July 23, 2023 [2 favorites]

Xenia Rubinas Mexican Chef
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7u1VAa1HBpM
posted by PinkMoose at 9:45 PM on July 23, 2023

Best answer: International Noise Conspiracy, Smash It Up
Waco Brothers, Plenty Tough & Union Made
(sorry, neither of them are particularly recent -- but they're catchy!)
posted by paper scissors sock at 11:04 PM on July 23, 2023 [1 favorite]

A different direction from other answers, but I've been hearing and seeing a lot of Newsies references during the SAG-AFTRA strike--it definitely has a bit of a following among Kids Today thanks to the success of the Broadway production. Its big pro-union anthem is "World Will Know"
Original 1992 movie version (starring a very young Christian Bale)
Clip from the current Broadway production
Video from the first high school production in the US
posted by hydropsyche at 7:08 AM on July 24, 2023 [2 favorites]

For a few years running in the early 2010s, the Solidarity Sing Along in Madison, WI held daily sing-ins where they sang both old and new protest songs. They were inspired by governor Scott Walker's anti-union budget legislation, so many of the songs were both explicitly pro-union and contained calls to action involving voting, organizing, etc.

They released a whole album of their songs, but I can only find one track on their Soundcloud now.
posted by dr. boludo at 8:23 AM on July 24, 2023 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Lots of great answers, thank you all! I've been listening to all your suggestions, and this is all great stuff, both for my talk and for my personal playlists.
I'll just chime in to clarify that I'd love to hear suggestions that don't meet all the criteria in my detailed wish list. "New and/or popular" is more important to me for this question than "specifically union-related".
Keep em coming!
posted by Krawczak at 12:47 PM on July 24, 2023