Some of the artists on this list spoke out against the Vietnam War that took many of American lives. These are the best Vietnam protest songs⦠Rock List: Readersâ Best Protest Songs Political tunes by the Beatles, Marvin Gaye, Creedance Clearwater Revival and more Artists like Marvin Gaye, George Harrison, Joan Baez, and Arlo Guthrie spoke out against a war that took nearly 60,000 American lives. Still others depict the physical and psychological destruction that warfare causes to soldiers, innocent civilians, and humanity as a whole. There are few songs more associated with the Vietnam conflict than this sarcastic sing-along, one of the Top 10 Songs About War. Absolutely nothing! 10. Some songs were produced in the hardest of times, and most of the iconic classic rock music was produced during the â60s and early â70s during the United States of Americaâs involvement in the Vietnam War. Whitfield first produced the song â an obvious anti-Vietnam War statement â with The Temptations as the original vocalists. Simon & Garfunkel â â7 OâClock News/Silent Nightâ (1966) Leave it to Simon & Garfunkel to create a sound collage that features the duo singing to âSilent Nightâ over a piano and a chattering voice in the background. "War" is a counterculture era soul song written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong for the Motown label in 1969. Social Text 3:2 (Winter, 1983) p. 104-126; Deena Weinstein, "Rock Protest Songs: So Many and So Few" in The Resisting Muse: Popular Music and Social Protest, ed. Some anti-war songs lament some aspects of war, while others satirize war. Here are ten of the most important anti-war songs in rock. Music, Film, TV and Political News Coverage. Opening with the ominous, fiery protest of "Sunday Bloody Sunday," War immediately announces itself as U2's most focused and hardest-rocking album to date. Already a successful R&B artist with songs such as "Agent Double-O-Soul" and "Oh How Happy," Edwin Starr crossed genres in a big way with "War." Lawrence Grossberg, "The Politics of Youth Culture: Some Observations on Rock and Roll in American Culture." Blowing away the fuzzy, sonic indulgences of October with propulsive, martial rhythms and shards of guitar, War bristles with anger, despair, and above all, passion. Most promote peace in some form, while others sing out against specific armed conflicts. When asked to sum up the music of the war, Peter Bukowski, who served with the Americal Division near Chu Lai in 1968-69, responded: âTwo words. War, whoa, Lord What is it good for Absolutely nothing Listen to me. The incident that spurred the title to the song became known as "Bloody Sunday." The song, an instant hit when it was released in 1970, is still one of the best-known war protest songs of the era. The lead track from the album "War," it hit the top 10 on rock radio in the U.S. "Time" magazine named "Sunday Bloody Sunday" as one of the top protest songs of all time. War, what is it good for? â¦