1) For What it's Worth - Buffalo Springfield (1967)

"For What It's Worth" is a song written by Stephen Stills. It was performed by Buffalo Springfield and released as a single in January 1967; it was later added to the re-release of their first album, Buffalo Springfield. The single peaked at #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. In 2004, this song was #63 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

While the song has come to symbolize worldwide turbulence and confrontational feelings arising from events during the 1960s (particularly the Vietnam War), Stills reportedly wrote the song in reaction to escalating unrest between law enforcement and young club-goers related to the closing of Pandora's Box, a club on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, California. The song's title appears nowhere in its lyrics; it is more easily remembered by the first line of chorus: "Stop, children, what's that sound? Everybody look what's going down."

In 2006, Stephen Stills was interviewed by Tom Kent on his radio show "Into the '70s" and pointed out that many people think "For What It's Worth" is about the Kent State Shootings, although it was actually recorded several years before that event.

Source: Wikipedia.com

2) I'd love to Change the World - Ten Years After (1971)

Easily Ten Years After's most popular single, "I'd Love to Change the Word" is one of the few songs that had the distinction of being a staple of both FM and AM radio at the time (late '60s). Lyrically, the song is an inventory of the confusion of the state of the world at the time, including a litany of complaints, communication breakdowns, and other social phenomenon. As the song builds and builds, it ultimately addresses the madness of the Vietnam War. Musically, the song is equally striking, featuring an impressive, ascending folk-inspired chord pattern to guide the melody, buttressed by Lee's most expressive - and most tasteful - electric guitar performance of his career. If there is a single song that can describe the overall vibe of the counterculture in 1969/1970, this may very well be it. The band and Lee never quite matched the song's supple power in their later efforts, but this song is representation enough of their awesome artistry.

Source: All Music Guide.com (by Matthew Greenwald)

A Space in Time is the seventh album by the British blues rock band. The album also contains their biggest hit, "I'd Love To Change The World", the third track on the album. The song has a conservative sensibility, which was unusual for most songs of this time period. It criticizes "dykes and fairies, freaks and harries" and the idea of taxing the rich to feed the poor, concluding that this would result in there being "no rich no more." It also takes a sordid and serious look at the idea of changing the world, which the song suggests is much harder than it seems. The song features a speedy, 30-second guitar solo by lead vocalist Alvin Lee. Although this was their biggest hit they rarely played it live.

Source: Wikipedia.com

3) What's Going On - Marvin Gaye (1971)

"What's Going On" is a song written by Renaldo "Obie" Benson, Al Cleveland, and Marvin Gaye. It was the title track of Gaye's groundbreaking 1971 Motown album What's Going On, and it became a crossover hit single that reached #2 on the pop charts and #1 on the R&B charts. A meditation on the troubles and problems of the world, the song proved a timely and relatable release, and it marked Gaye's departure from the pop stylings of 1960s-era Motown towards more personal material. The song topped a Metro Times list of the 100 Greatest Detroit Songs Of All Time, and in 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked it the fourth greatest song of all time.

The song has been covered by multiple artists, notably Cyndi Lauper, whose version reached #12 on the pop singles charts in 1987.

Designed with a somber jazz-inspired tone, "What's Going On" addressed the political and social troubles of the world and black-on-black crime in a soulful, introspective way, contrasting to the more dramatic socially conscious records made by Sly & the Family Stone and The Temptations over the previous three years. The song originated from an idea by Four Tops member Renaldo "Obie" Benson, who, witnessing stressful conditions while on tour in Europe, began writing a song to express his feelings. Once back in the United States, Benson and Motown songwriter Al Cleveland prepared an initial rough version of the song, and invited Marvin Gaye as a third collaborator on the song. Gaye, depressed from the death of singing partner Tammi Terrell and strongly considering a retirement from performing, planned to produce "What's Going On" as a single for The Originals, but Benson and Cleveland convinced Gaye to record it himself.
On the finished track, as Gaye musically ponders on the state of the world and the Vietnam war, a party can be heard going on in the background, from which Gaye's voice is purposely detached. The partygoers are portrayed by Detroit Lions players Mel Farr and Lem Barney, whose acquaintances Gaye had made during his failed 1970 tryout with the team.

The song is notable for its heavy use of major seventh and minor seventh chords, a fairly uncommon occurrence in popular music of that era. Also, notably for this record, Marvin Gaye sings both lead and background vocals himself. The process had been used for many years to give parts of a recording extra strength (Motown themselves had used it on such tracks as The Supremes' "You Keep Me Hangin' On"), but Gaye took it a step further and sung each of his vocal passes in various harmony parts, creating an ethereal sound that became one of his trademarks.

Source: Wikipedia.com

4) Ohio - Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young (1970)

"Ohio" is a protest song written by Neil Young in reaction to the Kent State shootings of May 4, 1970 and performed by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. It was released as a single, peaking at #14 on the Billboard Hot 100. Although a live version of the song was included on the group's 1971 double album Four Way Street, the studio version of both songs did not appear on an LP until the group's compilation So Far was released in 1974.

Young penned the lyrics to "Ohio" after seeing the photos of the incident in Life magazine. On the evening that CSNY entered Record Plant Studios in Los Angeles, the song had already been rehearsed, and the quartet with their regular rhythm section recorded it live in just a few takes. During the same session they recorded the single's equally direct b-side, Stephen Stills' ode to the war's dead, "Find the Cost of Freedom."
The record was mastered with the participation of the four principals, rush-released by Atlantic and heard on the radio with only a few weeks delay (this despite the group already having their hit song "Teach Your Children" on the charts at the time). In his liner notes for the song on the Decade retrospective, Young reported that "David Crosby cried when we finished this take." Crosby can be heard keening "four, why? why did they die?" and "how many more?" in the fade.

The lyrics help evoke the turbulent mood of horror, outrage and shock in the wake of the shootings, especially the line "four dead in Ohio," repeated throughout the song. "Tin soldiers and Nixon coming," refers to the Ohio National Guardsmen who killed the student protesters and Young's attribution of their deaths to the President of the United States, Richard Nixon. Crosby once stated that Young keeping Nixon's name in the lyrics was "the bravest thing I ever heard." After the double's release, it was banned from some AM radio stations because of the challenge to the Nixon Administration in the lyrics, but received airplay on then underground FM stations in larger cities and college towns. The American counterculture took the group as its own after this song, giving the four a status as leaders and spokesmen they would enjoy to varying extent for the rest of the decade.

This song was selected as the 385th Greatest Song of All Time by Rolling Stone in December 2004.

Source: Wikipedia.com

5) Eve of Destruction - Barry McGuire (1965)

"Eve of Destruction" was so present on the airwaves at its height in 1965 that as it ended play on one station, it would start up on another, a dominating hit single which charted higher than any protest song written by Bob Dylan, the man whose own "Masters of War" must have inspired P.F. Sloan's classic protest song. Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone" came close, stalling under the upper reaches of the Top 40 two weeks before McGuire grabbed the brass ring. McGuire even cut "Master's of War," appearing on his 1994 One Way Records Anthology album and evidence of the typecasting which decimated what should have been a huge radio presence beyond this title track and first and only hit. Five years before Ricky Nelson would chart with Dylan's "She Belongs to Me," McGuire makes it the first of two Dylan covers, throwing the similarities right in the listener's face. A Steve Barri/P.F. Sloan title, "You Never Had It So Good," follows that, and the theme and model becomes a bit redundant. Sure, people had commercialized the songs of Bob Zimmerman, but not to the extent where the man behind Carole King's eventual solo success, Lou Adler, along with the Grass Roots' initial production team of Sloan and Barri, would take a former New Christy Minstrel and turn him into a radio-friendly copy of the world-famous protest singer. Engineer Bones Howe, P.F. Sloan, Barri, and McGuire redesign the traditional "Sloop John B," a version that is much different from the Beach Boys', and it's a wise move which backslides and is eradicated as they go after Dylan's "Baby Blue," truly branding the innovative soul that is Barry McGuire. At least his reading of Sylvia Fricker's "You Were on My Mind" is original enough, though McGuire can't hit the notes the We Five's Beverly Bivens easily reached. The pulsating cover of the Ian & Sylvia tune doesn't come close to the We Five's arrangement and majesty which charted simultaneous with "Eve of Destruction," but it works so much better than the "imitation Bob" which permeates this package. The Beach Boys took the traditional "Sloop John B" Top Three in 1966, but McGuire did it first, and he also pre-dated Gladys Knight with a version of the standard "Try to Remember" ten years before she brought the title to popular radio. It is these three notable other covers which succeeded for Barry McGuire and indicated his potential. The man has tons of talent, as witnessed on his Christian albums like Lighten Up, and the dark sounds of his classic moment in the sun and gravelly voice (which probably influenced Alex Chilton) deserved much more success.
 

Source: All Music Guide.com

6) Time Has Come Today - The Chambers Brothers (1968)

"Time Has Come Today" is a song recorded by The Chambers Brothers in 1966. It spent five weeks at #11 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the fall of 1968.
This song was very much ahead of its time and used many different effects in its recording. The most notable characteristic of this work is the constant presence of the cow bell which produces a "tick-tock" sound throughout the entire song.

For the echo effect, most likely an Echoplex was used. There was quite a large amount of reverb used in this song. For the guitar solo, a fuzz face distortion unit was most likely used.
Most of the strange psychedelic sounds are heard on the long version of this song and not on the short. The purpose of all the strange effects and the vocal effects, (i.e. yelling made to sound like bombs being dropped, screams, and misc.) were to replicate the sounds of war (in this case, the Vietnam War in which the United States was then involved).

Source: Wikipedia.com

7) War - Edwin Starr (1970)

"War" is a soul song written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong for the Motown label in 1969. Whitfield produced the song, a blatant anti-Vietnam War protest, with The Temptations as the original vocalists. After Motown began receiving repeated requests to release "War" as a single, Whitfield re-recorded the song with Edwin Starr as the vocalist, deciding to withhold the Temptations' version so as not to alienate their more conservative fans. Starr's version of "War" was a number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1970, and is not only the most successful and well-known record of his career, but is also one of the most popular protest songs ever recorded. Its power was reasserted when Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band took their rendition into the Top 10 in 1986.

Edwin Starr, who had become a Motown artist in 1968 after his former label, Ric-Tic, was purchased by Motown founder Berry Gordy, Jr., became "War's" new vocalist. Considered among Motown's "second-string" acts, Starr had only one major hit, 1968's number-six hit "Twenty-Five Miles", to his name by this time.

He heard about the conflict surrounding the debate of whether or not to release "War," and volunteered to re-record it. Whitfield re-created the song to match Starr's James Brown-influenced soul shout: the single version of "War" was dramatic and intense, depicting the general anger and distaste the antiwar movement felt towards the war in Vietnam. Unlike the Temptations' original, Starr's "War" was a full-scale Whitfield production, with prominent electric guitar lines, clavinets, a heavily syncopated rhythm accented by a horn section, and with Whitfield's new act The Undisputed Truth on backing vocals.

Upon its release in June 1970, Starr's "War" became a runaway hit, and held the number-one position on the Billboard Pop Singles chart for three weeks, in August and September 1970. It replaced "Make It With You" by Bread, and was replaced by another Motown single, "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" by Diana Ross.

Notable as the most successful protest song to become a pop hit, earning compliments from contemporary protester John Lennon, "War" became Edwin Starr's signature song. Rather than hinder his career (as it might have done for the Temptations), "War" buoyed Starr's career, and he adopted the image of an outspoken liberal orator for many of his other early-1970s releases, including the similarly-themed "Stop the War Now" from 1971. It and another 1971 single, "Funky Music Sho Nuff Turns Me On," continued Starr's string of Whitfield-produced psychedelic soul hits. After 1971, Starr's career began to falter, and, citing Motown's reliance on formulas, he departed the label in the mid-1970s.

Later in his career, after moving to the United Kingdom, Starr re-recorded several of his hits with British band Utah Saints. Starr's new version of "War" in 2003 was his final piece; he died on April 2 of the same year of a heart attack. Interestingly, his death came 13 days after the start of the still-controversial Iraq War, which has drawn endless comparisons to the Vietnam War.

In 1999, Edwin Starr's "War" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

Source: Wikipedia.com

8) Ball Of Confusion: Temptations (1970)

"Ball of Confusion (That's What the World Is Today)" is a 1970 hit single for the Gordy (Motown) label, recorded by The Temptations and produced by Norman Whitfield.

Like "Psychedelic Shack" before it, "Ball of Confusion" delves head-on into psychedelia, this time with a strong political message. The lyrics list a multitude of problems that were tearing apart the United States in 1970: the Vietnam War, segregation, white flight, drug abuse, crooked politicians, and more. "Round and around and around we go", the Temptations sing, "where the world's headed/nobody knows." The end of each section of the Temptations' lists of woes is punctuated by bass singer Melvin Franklin's line, "And the band played on."

"Ball of Confusion's" lyrics are delivered over an up-tempo instrumental track with two drum tracks (one for each stereo channel), multitracked wah-wah guitars, and an ominous bassline by Funk Brother Bob Babbitt that opens the song. Norman Whitfield's dramatic count-in, always recorded at the very start of a recording for synching purposes only, was left in the mix for this record.

Despite its strong political themes, the record consciously avoids implying a definitive point-of-view or a defiant stance. This is because the Temptations song "War", which Norman Whitfield intended as a spring 1970 single release, was not released due to Motown's concern the song's forward message could alienate more conservative listeners. Whitfield took "War" and reworked it as a single for Gordy solo artist Edwin Starr (for whom it became a #1 hit), while he and lyricist Barrett Strong wrote the more subtle "Ball of Confusion" for the Temptations.

When they first saw the sheet music for the song, The Temptations didn't think they would be able to pull off the rapid-fire delivery required for the song. Lead singer Dennis Edwards had the quickest tongue in the group, and was assigned to deliver the more difficult lines in the song. Eddie Kendricks was given a rare chance to sing in a tenor voice for his verses.

The song was used to anchor the 1970 Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 LP. The song reached #3 on the US pop charts and #2 on the US R&B charts.

Personnel

• Lead vocals by Dennis Edwards, Eddie Kendricks, Paul Williams, and Melvin Franklin
• Background vocals by Dennis Edwards, Eddie Kendricks, Paul Williams, Melvin Franklin, and Otis Williams
• Written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong
• Produced by Norman Whitfield
• Instrumentation by The Funk Brothers

Source: Wikipedia.com

9) Southern Man - Neil Young (1970)

Taking on the topic of racism by evoking images of burning crosses, cotton fields, and colonial estates in the American South, Young was in for a surprise when Southern rockers Lynyrd Skynyrd retaliated to "Southern Man" with their song "Sweet Home Alabama." In it they railed, "I hope Neil Young will remember, the Southern man don't need him around anymore. " In truth, the bands were mutual admirers and a "reply song" is about the highest compliment one performer can pay to another. But Young's song also portended the bashing pre- grunge style for which he would become known on and off during his career with Crazy Horse. Nils Lofgren's persistent banging of the piano keys and Young's frantic guitar are the elements that send "Southern Man" into the rock & roll stratosphere, particularly during its long middle break and fade, which are the heart and soul of the song. The verse acts more like a hymn which rests in stark contrast to the instrumental goings-on; that's where the action is - in the sound of what happens when people rise up and claim what is rightfully theirs.
 

Source: All Music Guide.com

"Southern Man" is a song by Neil Young from his album After the Gold Rush. The album was released in 1970.

The lyrics of "Southern Man" are vivid, describing the racism towards blacks in the American South. In the song, Young tells the story of a Southern man (symbolically the entire South) and how he mistreated his slaves. Young pleadingly asks when will the South "pay them back" for years of abuse and racism.

Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd wrote their song "Sweet Home Alabama" in response to "Southern Man" and "Alabama" from Neil's 1972 album Harvest. Young has said that he is a fan of both "Sweet Home Alabama" and Ronnie Van Zant, the lead vocalist for Lynyrd Skynyrd. "They play like they mean it," Young said in 1976. "I'm proud to have my name in a song like theirs." Young has also been known to play "Sweet Home Alabama" in concert occasionally. To demonstrate this camaraderie, Van Zant frequently wore a Neil Young Tonight's the Night T-shirt while performing "Sweet Home Alabama." Crazy Horse bassist Billy Talbot can often be seen reciprocating by wearing a Jack Daniels-styled Lynyrd Skynyrd T-shirt (including at the Live Rust concert).

Lynyrd Skynyrd tried to arrange to have Neil Young come on stage during a performance of "Sweet Home Alabama," where he would have sung "a Southern man don't need me around anyhow," but the performers were never able to arrange this performance due to conflicting touring schedules.

Source: Wikipedia.com

10) Peace Frog - The Doors (1970)

This funky, kinetic song is one of those tracks that will constantly amaze. On this classic Doors track, Morrison touches on points of unrest, "the blood on the streets" that overtakes different cities: Chicago, Venice, "fantastic L.A.," and New Haven. New Haven? Well, New Haven was one of the cities where Morrison was arrested in 1969. Despite the title, the Doors not surprisingly don't offer any solutions to the problems raised here. But then again if they did they might have come off weird. In fact, "Peace Frog," like most Doors songs, has the group all but reveling in disarray. After the polyrhythmic attack comes a kind of meditation. As the music quiets, Morrison begins the passage, "Indians scattered on dawn's highway, bleeding to death, ghosts crowd the child's fragile eggshell mind," which recalls an incident in his childhood that affected him deeply. Like many Doors songs, no matter how far out Morrison's lyrics were, the band was there to support him. Robby Krieger in particular does great terse and bluesy lines throughout. Ray Manzarek's eerie keyboards add to the chaos as usual. This song is from the band's second-to-last effort, Morrison Hotel.

Source: All Music Guide.com

11) Indian Reservation: Paul Revere & The Raiders (1971)

"Indian Reservation (The Lament of the Cherokee Reservation Indian)" is a song written by John D. Loudermilk. It was first recorded in 1959 by Marvin Rainwater and released as "The Pale Faced Indian". Rainwater's MGM release stayed unnoticed. The first hit version was a 1968 cover by Don Fardon, a former member of The Sorrows, that reached #20 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart and #3 on the UK Singles Chart.

In 1971 the Raiders recorded the song. It was released on the Columbia Records label and became #1 on the U.S. chart on July 24. The RIAA gold certification followed on 30 June 1971, for selling over a million copies. The UK punk band, 999, released a cover version on 14 November 1981 on the Albion Ion label, and it reached #51 in the UK chart. The song was later further covered by the Orlando Riva Sound.

A 1994 country song by Tim McGraw, "Indian Outlaw", ends with part of the main "Cherokee people" chorus from "Indian Reservation". The live version also uses the full chorus near the end of the song.

The song refers to the forcible removal and relocation of Cherokee people from southeastern states of the United States to territories west of the Mississippi River. This removal in the 1830s is often referred to as the "Trail of Tears". It followed the Indian Removal Act of 1830. This action was part of a larger United States policy of Indian removal.

The music is in a minor key, with sustained minor chords ending each phrase in the primary melody, while the electronic organ holds the melody line through a slow musical turn (turning of related notes) which ends each phrase, and emphasizes the ominous minor chords. Underneath the slow, paced melody, is a rhythmic, low "drum beat" in double-time, constantly, relentlessly pushing to follow along, but the melody continues its slow, deliberate pace above the drum beat.

The lyrics vary somewhat among the recorded versions. Rainwater's version omits the "Cherokee people!" chorus but includes instead a series of "Hiya hiya ho!" chants. Fardon's version is similar to the Raiders' through the first verse and chorus, but differs in the second verse, which includes the lines "Altho' they changed our ways of old/They'll never change our heart and soul", also found in Rainwater's version. Rainwater includes some of the elements found in the other versions in a different order, and his first verse has words not found in the others, such as "They put our papoose in a crib/and took the buck skin from our rib".

At the end, where the Raiders sing "...Cherokee nation will return", Fardon says "Cherokee Indian...", while Rainwater omits the line and ends with "beads...nowadays made in Japan."

Source: Wikipedia.com

12) I'm Just A Singer - The Moody Blues (1973)

"I'm Just a Singer (In a Rock and Roll Band)" is a hit 1973 single by the English progressive rock band The Moody Blues. It was first released in 1972 as the final track on the album Seventh Sojourn. "I'm Just a Singer (In a Rock and Roll Band)" was later released as a single in 1973, with "For My Lady" on the B-side. It was the second single released from Seventh Sojourn, with the first being "Isn't Life Strange" (also written by Lodge).

"I'm Just a Singer (In a Rock and Roll Band)" was written by the Moody Blues' bassist John Lodge, who won an ASCAP songwriting award for it. It is one of John Lodge's signature high-energy rock and roll songs, and is one of his best known compositions for the Moody Blues, along with "Ride My See-Saw."

"I'm Just a Singer (In a Rock and Roll Band)" was the final single by The Moody Blues to feature the use of the Chamberlin (which had recently replaced the similar instrument, the Mellotron). The Chamberlin would later be replaced by a more modern keyboard synthesizer.

A promotional music-video was filmed for "I'm Just a Singer (In a Rock and Roll Band)". This video showed The Moody Blues' flautist Ray Thomas playing a Baritone Saxophone. However, the saxophone was used just for effect in the video. The saxophone sound actually comes from the Chamberlin.

"I'm Just a Singer (In a Rock and Roll Band)" reached #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S., becoming one of their highest-charting hits in that country, but fared less well in their native UK, where it managed #36. It was also the final single released by the Moody Blues prior to their five year hiatus, which was agreed upon so each of the band members could pursue their own solo careers. Their next single would not be until 1978, with "Steppin' in a Slide Zone."

Source: Wikipedia.com

13) One Tin Soldier- Coven (1971)

"One Tin Soldier" is a 1960s era anti-war song written by Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter. The Canadian pop group Original Caste first recorded the song in 1969. The track went to No. 6 on the RPM Magazine charts and hit the No.1 position on Canada's most influential radio chain, CHUM-AM, in Canada and reached Number 34 on the American pop charts in early 1970. A 1972 remake by Skeeter Davis had light success on the American country charts but did very well in Canada, peaking at number 4 on the Canadian country chart and #2 on the Canadian Adult Contemporary chart. The song has occasionally been sung by children choirs on and around Remembrance Day.

Lyrics synopsis

"One Tin Soldier" tells the abstract story of a hidden treasure and two neighboring peoples, the Mountain People and the Valley People. The Valley People are aware of a treasure on the mountain, buried under a stone; they send a message to the Mountain People demanding it. When told they can share the treasure, the Valley People instead decided to take it all by force. After killing all the Mountain People, the victors move the stone and find only a simple message: "Peace on Earth".

Interpretations

The song is a parable condemning prejudice and greed. The refrain contains lines about hating one's neighbor and cheating one's friend, indicating that despite trying to justify things like hatred and violence to oneself, it is wrong all the same.

The lyrics of the chorus mention Biblical concepts such as Heaven, Judgment Day (Last Judgment), and justification, leading many to believe that the song had Judaic and Christian origins. Specifically, it contains a notable line about using religion ("Do it in the name of Heaven") as an excuse for prejudice or violence, indicating that doing so will not necessarily be viewed as righteous by God when facing the Last Judgment.

Other recordings

"One Tin Soldier" was recorded by Skeeter Davis in 1972, earning her a Grammy nomination for Best Female Country Vocal and major chart success in Canada. An animated version of the song, sung by singing duo Sonny & Cher, was created by animator John David Wilson for The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour.
Comedienne Roseanne Barr parodied the song on her 1990 album I Enjoy Being a Girl. The song has been covered by other groups, including Gimp, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, and Killdozer. Actress Brittany Murphy, in character as Luanne Platter, sang the song on the King of the Hill soundtrack. This song was also covered by Voices for Peace, a band consisting of a group of voice actors including Greg Ayres and Tiffany Grant.

The Billy Jack connection

Jinx Dawson of the band Coven sang the song at a 1971 session with the film's orchestra as part of the soundtrack for the Warner Brothers movie Billy Jack. Jinx asked that her band, Coven, be listed on the recording and film, not her name as a solo artist. This Warner release, titled as "One Tin Soldier: The Legend of Billy Jack," reached #26 on Billboard's Hot 100 in fall 1971, only to be pulled from the charts by the Billy Jack film producers as it was moving up due to legal squabbles over the rights to the recording. The full Coven band then reluctantly re-recorded the song for their MGM album. Thus the MGM album containing a second version of this song displayed their whited-out faces on the cover, contrived again by the film's producer Tom Laughlin. The recording then hit the charts again in both 1973 and 1974 after the end of the Vietnam War but before the release of the film The Trial of Billy Jack. The Coven recording was named Number One All Time Requested Song in 1971 and 1973 by the American Radio Broadcasters Association. A slightly different version recorded by Guy Chandler (titled "One Tin Soldier (The Legend of Billy Jack)") charted in summer 1973.

Source: Wikipedia.com

14) Everybody Wants to Rule the World - Tears for Fears (1985)

"Everybody Wants to Rule the World" is a song by the British pop/rock band Tears for Fears. It was the band's ninth single release in the United Kingdom (the third taken from their second LP Songs from the Big Chair) and seventh UK Top 40 chart hit, peaking at #2 in April 1985. In the USA, it was the lead single from the album and gave the band their first ever Billboard Hot 100 #1 hit on June 8, 1985, remaining there for two weeks. The song has since become the pinnacle of Tears for Fears' chart success, its endurance allowing it to accumulate over two million radio broadcasts by 1994, according to BMI.

Ironically, considering the song's overwhelming success, "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" was somewhat of an afterthought during the recording of Songs from the Big Chair. According to Roland Orzabal, he initially regarded the song as a lightweight that would not fit with the rest of the album. It was producer Chris Hughes who convinced him to try recording it, in a calculated effort to cross over into American chart success. Orzabal would later reveal in a radio interview that the beat from the song was "borrowed" from another UK Top 40 chart hit: "Waterfront", by Simple Minds.
It was written and recorded in two weeks and was the final track to be added to the Songs from the Big Chair album. The shuffle beat was alien to our normal way of doing things. It was jolly rather than square and rigid in the manner of 'Shout', but it continued the process of becoming more extrovert.
-Roland Orzabal

As was the case with the three hit singles from Tears for Fears' debut LP The Hurting, the song featured bassist Curt Smith on lead vocals. The guitar solo at the end of the song was recorded in one take by session guitarist Neil Taylor.

Originally the song was called "Everybody Wants to Go to War", but was rewritten as "Everybody Wants to Rule the World".

The concept is quite serious - it's about everybody wanting power, about warfare and the misery it causes. - Curt Smith

Source: Wikipedia.com

15) Beds Are Burning - Midnight Oil (1988)

"Beds Are Burning" is a political song about giving native Australian lands back to the Pintupi, who were among the very last people to come in from the desert. These 'last contact' people began moving from the Gibson Desert to settlements and missions in the 1930s. More were forcibly moved during the 1950s and 1960s to the Papunya settlement. In 1981 they left to return to their own country and established the Kintore community which is nestled in the picturesque Kintore Ranges, surrounded by Mulga and Spinifex country. It is now a thriving little community with a population of about 400. (Kintore and the town of Yuendumu are mentioned by name in the lyrics.)
Midnight Oil performed the song in front of a world audience of billions at the closing ceremony of the 2000 Sydney Olympics. The whole band were dressed in black, with the word "sorry" printed conspicuously on their clothes.

Source: Wikipedia.com

16) Freedom Slaves - Tesla (1991)

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17) Blinded by Science - Foreigner (1979)

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18) The Year 2525 - Zager & Evans (1969)

Zager and Evans are best known for their immensely popular "In the Year 2525", written by Rick Evans. The song warned of the dangers of technology, portraying a future in which the human race would at length be destroyed by its own technological and medical innovations and Divine wrath. The last stanza of the song intimates a continuing cycle of birth, death and rebirth of mankind.

"In the Year 2525" hit number one on the pop charts in 1969. It claimed the #1 spot for six weeks, a remarkable achievement. It also topped the charts in the UK. Coincidentally, it was number one on July 20, 1969 in the USA, the date of the first manned moon landing by astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. It was nominated for a special Hugo Award that same year.

The song was originally written in 1964 and recorded and released in 1967 on the Truth Records label. After a radio station in Odessa, Texas popularized the two-year old record, RCA Records distributed the song nationwide. Sales of the original hit recording (including singles sales, album usage and compilation inclusions) now total over 10 million units worldwide.

Source: Wikipedia.com