🌟60 Years of Anti-War Songs in 90+ Minutes

Protest, remembrance, and resilience—in 25 songs

Memorial Day 2026: I’m sharing this playlist again as a reflection on the deadly consequences of war. Memorial Day honors men and women who died in military service. To me, honoring them also means facing war’s costs clearly—for soldiers, families, civilians, and generations that inherit the grief. These songs are offered in that spirit: remembrance, conscience, and hope.

Music has always been part of protest—a way to grieve, resist, and reimagine what’s possible.

This streaming playlist traces six decades of anti-war and peace-minded songs, 1961-2021, from civil disobedience to global disillusionment, from folk to rock, reggae, rap, and soul. These 25 tracks span generations, genres, and world events, but they share a through-line of conscience, resistance, and hope.

Streaming on Tidal

1. Where Have All the Flowers Gone?—Pete Seeger

2. Blowin’ in the Wind—Bob Dylan

3. Masters of War—Bob Dylan

4. Universal Soldier—Buffy Sainte-Marie

5. Eve of Destruction—Barry McGuire

6. I Ain’t Marching Anymore —Phil Ochs

7. Give Peace A Chance—John Lennon, Yoko Ono

8. Fortunate Son —Creedence Clearwater Revival

9. Gimme Shelter—The Rolling Stones

10. War—Edwin Starr

11. Ohio—Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young

12. Peace Train—Cat Stevens

13. Imagine—John Lennon

14. Redemption Song—Bob Marley and The Wailers

15. Russians—Sting

16. Bullet The Blue Sky—U2

17. One—Metallica

18. Zombie—The Cranberries

19. Jerusalem—Steve Earle

20. Devils and Dust—Bruce Springsteen

21. Holiday—Green Day

22. World Wide Suicide—Pearl Jam

23. Words I Never Said—Lupe Fiasco featuring Skylar Grey

24. Arabesque—Coldplay

25. A Beautiful Noise—Alicia Keys, Brandi Carlile

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