Episodes
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A Change is Gonna Come
1m 55s
After being victimized by racial discrimination, R&B star Sam Cooke taps into the growing civil rights movement to write a timeless and hopeful ballad.
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If I Can Dream
1m 53s
In December 1968, Elvis made a dramatic return to live television on his NBC “Comeback Special.” Instead of closing the show with a Christmas carol, he delivered a moving tribute to the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Ramblin' Man
1m 24s
In 1975, the Allman Brothers Band, based out of Macon, GA, began performing fundraiser concerts for their fellow Georgian Jimmy Carter, injecting much-needed cash into his long-shot presidential campaign.
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Fight the Power
1m 16s
Director Spike Lee enlisted hip hop artists Public Enemy to write a theme for his 1989 film Do The Right Thing. The resulting song, Fight the Power, became a hit single and a vital modern-day protest anthem.
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We're Not Gonna Take It
1m 28s
In 1985, an organization co-founded by Tipper Gore called the Parents Music Resource Center released “The Filthy Fifteen,” a list of songs deemed outrageous for their violent, sexual, and drug-themed lyrics. Dee Snider, the lead singer of Twisted Sister, one of the PMRC’s targets, testified at a high-profile Senate hearing to combat perceived censorship.
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Don't Stop
1m 12s
In 1992, Bill Clinton chose Don’t Stop by Fleetwood Mac as his presidential campaign theme song. The hit song from 1977 appealed to his fellow baby boomers.
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Say It Loud (I'm Black and I'm Proud)
1m 25s
In 1968, James Brown released Say It Loud (I’m Black and I’m Proud). The song tapped into the emerging “Black is Beautiful” movement and went on to become an unofficial anthem of the Black Power movement.
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What's Going On
1m 25s
In January 1971, Marvin Gaye released the landmark protest anthem What’s Going On. The song reflected a new socially conscious approach to songwriting for the DC native.
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Not Ready to Make Nice
1m 27s
In 2006, the Dixie Chicks released Not Ready To Make Nice. The song is a defiant response to a controversy over remarks that their lead singer, Natalie Maines, made during the run-up to the Iraq War.
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This Land is Your Land
1m 34s
In 1940, folk icon Woody Guthrie wrote the lyrics to This Land Is Your Land as a sarcastic response to Irving Berlin’s God Bless America. The song has been covered hundreds of times, but often without several controversial verses found in Guthrie’s original lyrics.
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America the Beautiful
1m 19s
In 1984, Ray Charles delivered a stirring rendition of America the Beautiful at the Republican National Convention, echoing President Reagan’s optimistic campaign message.
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Ohio
1m 21s
Just weeks after the May 1970 massacre of anti-war protestors at Kent State University, Neil Young wrote the song Ohio and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young rushed out a recording of the single.
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