Top 10 protest songs of the 21st Century

Bright Eyes' Conor Oberst: He doth protest too much
Bright Eyes' Conor Oberst: He doth protest too much

Under The Radar magazine has put together a list of the top 10 protest songs of the 21st Century - that's this century, so there's no Marvin Gaye or Edwin Starr. Instead we've got Bright Eyes topping the list with When The President Talks To God and Jarvis Cocker at number two with the subtly titled Cunts Are Still Running The World.

Here's the list…
10. Bruce Springsteen - How Can A Poor Man Stand Such Times And Live (2006)
9. Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings - What If We All Stopped Paying Taxes (2002)
8. Elbow - Leaders Of The Free World (2005)
7. Sleater-Kinney - Combat Rock (2002)
6. Arcade Fire - Intervention (2007)
5. Kris Kristofferson - In The News (2006)
4. Talib Kweli And Cornel West - Bushonomics (2007)
3. Tom Waits - Hoist That Rag (2004)
2. Jarvis Cocker - Cunts Are Still Running The World (2006)
1. Bright Eyes - When The President Talks To God (2005)

If we were to write a protest song, it might be about the lack of variety in this list. Where's the hip-hop? Outkast's B.O.B. (Bombs Over Baghdad) or Kanye West's Diamonds From Sierra Leone, anyone?

More from Under The Radar magazine.

Tom Porter worked on MusicRadar from its mid-2007 launch date to 2011, covering a range of music and music making topics, across features, gear news, reviews, interviews and more. A regular NAMM-goer back in the day, Tom now resides permanently in Los Angeles, where he's doing rather well at the Internet Movie Database (IMDB).