50 Best Rock Songs About History
Timeless Rock Tracks That Echo Through History
There’s something magnetic about hearing a song that drags the past into the room with you. Not in a textbook kind of way, but like an echo that never really faded. Guitars can sound like engines or battle drums depending on how you listen. A single lyric can pull you from the present into some old scene that still hums under the surface. These tracks dig into memory, myth, and the noise between generations, where the past feels close enough to touch even when it’s all smoke and distortion.
History doesn’t sit neatly in these songs. Some of them hit the theme straight on, names and dates and all. Others circle it sideways, tapping into the same spirit without naming names. They sit in that space where nostalgia collides with protest, where storytelling meets static. You can hear it in riffs that sound like sirens or vocals that feel half prayer, half confession. They remind you that the timeline never really stays in order, and that every loud moment is built on something older still.
These aren’t clean anthems or museum pieces. They’re the loud, messy kind that turn timelines into noise and headlines into verses. You’ll find a few surprises mixed in too—tracks that might not literally fit the topic but somehow still live in the same headspace. It’s a strange kind of mix, part reflection, part rebellion, a reminder that pop, rock, country, and R&B songs have always been tangled up with the past in their own ways. Here are the best rock songs on history.
Top 10 Historical Events Rock Songs
1. 'The Trooper' by Iron Maiden
2. 'Sunday Bloody Sunday' by U2
3. 'Ohio' by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young
4. 'Sympathy For The Devil' by The Rolling Stones
5. 'American Pie' by Don McLean
6. 'The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald' by Gordon Lightfoot
7. 'Wind of Change' by Scorpions
8. 'Enola Gay' by Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark
9. 'Born in the U.S.A.' by Bruce Springsteen
10. 'We Didn't Start the Fire' by Billy Joel
Defining Moments and Historical Figures Rock Songs #11 to 20
11. 'Zombie' by The Cranberries
12. 'Oliver's Army' by Elvis Costello & The Attractions
13. 'Run to the Hills' by Iron Maiden
14. 'Bastille Day' by Rush
15. 'The Rising' by Bruce Springsteen
16. 'Alexander The Great' by Iron Maiden
17. 'Spanish Bombs' by The Clash
18. 'Cortez the Killer' by Neil Young
19. 'Angel of Death' by Slayer
20. 'Buffalo Soldier' by Bob Marley & The Wailers
Songs About Wars and Revolutions in Rock Music #21 to 30
21. 'Goodnight Saigon' by Billy Joel
22. 'Beds Are Burning' by Midnight Oil
23. 'Universal Soldier' by Donovan
24. 'Manhattan Project' by Rush
25. 'Maggie's Farm' by Bob Dylan
26. 'I Don't Like Mondays' by The Boomtown Rats
27. 'For What It's Worth' by Buffalo Springfield
28. 'Aces High' by Iron Maiden
29. 'Fortunate Son' by Creedence Clearwater Revival
30. 'Pompeii' by Bastille
Historical Events Covered by Rock Songs #31 to 40
31. 'Paschendale' by Iron Maiden
32. 'The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down' by The Band
33. 'Indians' by Anthrax
34. 'The Battle of New Orleans' by Johnny Horton
35. 'Give Peace a Chance' by Plastic Ono Band
36. 'Hiroshima Mon Amour' by Alcatrazz
37. 'Smoke on the Water' by Deep Purple
38. 'London Calling' by The Clash
39. 'War' by Edwin Starr
40. 'Russians' by Sting
Rock Music About History and Key People #41 to 50
41. 'Blackbird' by The Beatles
42. 'Creeque Alley' by The Mamas & The Papas
43. 'The Ballad of Ira Hayes' by Johnny Cash
44. 'Primo Victoria' by Sabaton
45. 'A Great Day For Freedom' by Pink Floyd
46. 'Biko' by Peter Gabriel
47. 'In the Ghetto' by Elvis Presley
48. 'Hurricane' by Bob Dylan
49. 'We Work the Black Seam' by Sting
50. 'If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next' by Manic Street Preachers
© 2025 Carson McQueen
