15 Greatest Protest Songs Of The 21st Century
7. Pussy Riot - "Putin Lights Up The Fires"
Key Lyrics: "The country is going to the streets with audacity // The country is going to say goodbye to the regime // The country is a wedge of feminists // And Putin is going"
You can't have a list of this century's greatest protest songs without including feminist punk rock collective Pussy Riot. These Russian women specialize in what you could generously describe as "protest art", but what any rational human being would call "master-level displays of badassery".
They were one of the first and only groups to take aim at Vladimir Putin and his oppressive regime, which famously earned them a lengthy stint as political prisoners. In fact, the majority of their songs -- few of which are featured on a proper "album" by the way, as that's not the point of their music -- call Putin out in one way or another. (They have a song called "Putin Has Pissed Himself", for example.)
Even though Pussy Riot consider themselves to be performance artists more than actual musicians, "Putin Lights Up the Fires" is a fantastic punk song. It's a cross between old school punk bands Bad Religion and Bikini Kill. But to be clear, they're on this list primarily because of their gutsiness, not their tunefulness.