10 Perfect Protest Songs In Rock History

So far most of the songs that have come out on this list normally have to do with the carnage going on on American soil. A lot of rockers know what it's like to grow up in America, and it can be an extremely mixed bag depending on who you ask. Punk was blossoming in England as well, and the Clash were ready for war on London Calling.

Taking the title from a radio broadcast slogan that was common around the time, Joe Strummer is almost seething with anger, urging the rest of his fellow citizens to wake up and see what's really going down around them. Calling out from the underworld, almost anything is fair game for Strummer on this song, from calling out the superficiality of a show like Beatlemania to making sure that he finds himself on the right side when London starts drowning.

This is all some fairly heavy stuff to be singing about in a pop song, but you would hardly notice from the melody of the track, which is one of the poppier tunes that the Clash had performed up to that point. If anything, this entire double record seems to have the same idea in mind, going for an array of different styles and getting more and more disenchanted by everyday life in the process. This kind of stuff never sees radio time that often, but sometimes you need a little bit of honey to get the rest of your fanbase paying attention. The times were changing, and you needed to try not to feel alike.