50 Best Rock Songs About Civil Rights
Powerful Rock Tracks That Echo Civil Rights
There’s a certain charge that comes with music tied to protest. It’s not neat, not packaged for easy listening, but raw and restless. You hear guitars buzz against the weight of history, drums pounding in time with footsteps on the street, voices cracking through microphones like they’ve been waiting too long to be heard. These aren’t polished anthems meant for singalongs at stadiums, they’re records that pulse with unrest and frustration, the kind of songs that sound like a crowd moving forward even when the ground feels uneven.
Some tracks dive straight into injustice, calling it by name. Others circle around it, carrying the mood of resistance without spelling out every detail. That’s part of what gives them their staying power. You’ll find the same urgency bleeding into pop, rock, country, and R&B songs because the thread cuts across genres. Even when a track isn’t literally tackling civil rights, the edge of struggle or the flare of defiance still ties it into the larger story. The best ones don’t smooth things over, they lean into the grit.
These are the kind of songs that get pulled into movements, blasted from car windows, sampled, shouted, scrawled into protest signs, or even tucked into someone’s playlist when words feel like they’re running out. They don’t pretend to solve anything. They capture the noise, the push, the uneven energy of people trying to shake the walls around them. Here are the best rock songs for civil rights.
Top 10 Civil Rights Rock Songs
1. 'A Change Is Gonna Come' by Sam Cooke
2. 'Blowin' in the Wind' by Bob Dylan
3. 'Fortunate Son' by Creedence Clearwater Revival
4. 'For What It's Worth' by Buffalo Springfield
5. 'People Get Ready' by The Impressions
6. 'The Times They Are a-Changin'' by Bob Dylan
7. 'Get Up, Stand Up' by Bob Marley & The Wailers
8. 'Respect' by Aretha Franklin
9. 'War' by Edwin Starr
10. 'Ohio' by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
Rock and Roll Songs About Social Issues #11 to 20
11. 'Strange Fruit' by Billie Holiday
12. 'Mississippi Goddam' by Nina Simone
13. 'We Shall Overcome' by Joan Baez
14. 'Redemption Song' by Bob Marley
15. 'Give Peace a Chance' by John Lennon
16. 'The Power of Equality' by Red Hot Chili Peppers
17. 'Living in the U.S.A.' by Steve Miller Band
18. 'What's Going On' by Marvin Gaye
19. 'Say It Loud I’m Black and I’m Proud' by James Brown
20. 'Street Fighting Man' by The Rolling Stones
Rock Songs About Change and Freedom #21 to 30
21. 'Glad to Be Gay' by Tom Robinson Band
22. 'Free Nelson Mandela' by The Specials
23. 'I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free' by Nina Simone
24. 'Sympathy for the Devil' by The Rolling Stones
25. 'Beds Are Burning' by Midnight Oil
26. 'Zombie' by Fela Kuti
27. 'People Have the Power' by Patti Smith
28. 'Uprising' by Muse
29. 'Changes' by 2Pac
30. 'The Revolution Will Not Be Televised' by Gil Scott-Heron
Rock Songs Addressing Injustice and Inequality #31 to 40
31. 'Fight the Power' by Public Enemy
32. 'Get Together' by The Youngbloods
33. 'Where Is the Love?' by The Black Eyed Peas
34. 'One' by U2
35. 'Killing in the Name' by Rage Against the Machine
36. 'Sunday Bloody Sunday' by U2
37. 'Imagine' by John Lennon
38. 'We're Not Gonna Take It' by Twisted Sister
39. 'Born This Way' by Lady Gaga
40. 'Give Me Love' by George Harrison
Rock Songs About Protest and Activism #41 to 50
41. 'Alright' by Kendrick Lamar
42. 'Black or White' by Michael Jackson
43. 'This Land Is Your Land' by Woody Guthrie
44. 'Freedom' by Beyoncé
45. 'The Message' by Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five
46. 'Universal Soldier' by Donovan
47. 'With God on Our Side' by Bob Dylan
48. 'The House of the Rising Sun' by The Animals
49. 'What's Up?' by 4 Non Blondes
50. 'Run to the Hills' by Iron Maiden
© 2025 Carson McQueen
