List of socialist songs
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article contains three lists: songs of the socialist parties and movements, anthems of self-proclaimed socialist states, and musical movements that feature prominent socialist themes. Not all national anthems of socialist states are necessarily explicitly socialist, and many were in use at other time in a nation's history.
Songs of socialist movements
| Song | Writer(s) | Date | Country of origin | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Le temps des cerises | Jean-Baptiste Clément | 1866 |  France | Music by Antoine Renard. Became strongly associated with the Paris Commune of 1871, and has become a major socialist song in Francophone countries. |
| Sir de Fisch-Ton-Kan | Joseph Aurnaud | 1870 | France | |
| The Internationale | Eugène Pottier | 1871 | France | Regarded as the international anthem of the socialist movement. First intended to be sung to the tune of "La Marseillaise", Pierre De Geyter composed original music in 1888. It was used as the anthem of the USSR from 1922 to 1944. |
| Les Dances des Bombes | Louise Michel | 1871 | France | |
| Semaine Sanglante | Jean Baptiste Clément | 1871 | France | |
| The Standard of Revolt | Paul Brousse | 1877 | ||
| Elle n'est pas morte! | Eugène Pottier | 1886 | France | |
| Workers' Hymn | Filippo Turati and Amintore Galli | 1886 |  Italy |
It is considered one of the most significant historical songs of the Italian workers' movement, and was banned by successive governments of the Kingdom of Italy, including during the First World War and Fascist Italy.[1][2] |
| Bella Ciao | Mondina Workers | Late 19th century | Italy |
Originally sung by farm workers to protest harsh working conditions, it was adapted by Italian partisans as an anti-fascist song, and is widely used by anti-fascists today. |
| Bandiera Rossa | Carlo Tuzzi | 1908 | Italy |
Uses a traditional folk melody. Primarily known as a song of the Italian labor movement. |
| Fischia il vento | Matvei Blanter and Felice Cascione | 1943 | Italy |
Adapted from the Russian song Katyusha by Italian partisan Felice Cascione as an anti-fascist song. |
| Rossa Palestina | Umberto Fiore | 1973 | Italy |
Focused on the struggle of Palestinians in the Levant |
| La Letanía De Los Poderosos | Gabino Palomares | 1978 |  Mexico | |
| Himno Zapatista | 1990s | Mexico | Anthem of the Zapatista Army of National Liberation | |
| Canción del Partido Comunista | Anthar Lopez | Unknown | Mexico |
|
| Obreros y Patrones | José de Molina | Unknown | Mexico | |
| Manifesto Comunista | José de Molina | Unknown | Mexico | |
| Canto Campesino | León Chavez | Unknown | Mexico | |
| La Huelga | José de Molina | Unknown | Mexico | |
| Hold the Fort | Late 19th century |  United States | Adapted by the Knights of Labor from a gospel hymn written by Philip Bliss. It became famous as the song of the British transportation workers. It is now used by many union movements, especially in the Caribbean.[3] | |
| The Preacher and the Slave | Joe Hill | 1911 | United States | Written as an anti-religious, syndicalist song for the IWW.[4] |
| There Is Power in a Union | Joe Hill | 1913 | United States | Written for the IWW. Sung to the tune of Lewis E. Jones' 1899 hymn "There Is Power in the Blood (Of the Lamb)".[5] |
| Rebel Girl | Joe Hill | 1915 | United States | Written for Elizabeth Gurley Flynn.[6] |
| Bread and Roses | James Oppenheim | 1915 | United States | Multiple melodies have been composed, most famously by Mimi Fariña.[7] |
| Solidarity Forever | Ralph Chaplin | 1915 | United States | Written for the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), it is widely used in the trade union movement. It is sung to the tune of "John Brown's Body". |
| Workingmen Unite | E. S. Nelson | 1919 | United States |
Set to the tune of the song "Red Wing". |
| Which Side Are You On? | Florence Reece | 1931 | United States |
Written for the United Mine Workers in Harlan County, Kentucky from the melody from the traditional Baptist hymn, "Lay the Lily Low". |
| The Battle Hymn of Cooperation | Elizabeth Mead and Carl Ferguson | 1932 | United States | A popular song of the consumers' co-operatives movement, especially during the 1930s. Like "Solidarity Forever", it is also sung to the tune of "John Brown's Body".[8] |
| Joe Hill | Alfred Hayes and Earl Robinson | 1936 | United States | Lyrics from a poem by Alfred Hayes. |
| This Land Is Your Land | Woody Guthrie | 1944 | United States | Guthrie wrote the song as a critical response to Irving Berlin's God Bless America. The stanza condemning private property is often omitted.[9] |
| If I Had a Hammer | Pete Seeger and Lee Hays | 1950 | United States | First performed for the CPUSA, successful versions were recorded by The Weavers, Trini Lopez, and Peter, Paul, and Mary.[10] |
| Love Me, I'm a Liberal | Phil Ochs | 1966 | United States | Mocks the insincerity of liberalism in the United States.[11] |
| The Revolution Will Not Be Televised | Gil Scott-Heron | 1971 | United States | |
| Ain't done Nothin If You Ain't Been Called a Red | Eliot Kenin | 1984 | United States | The most famous version was sung by Faith Petric.[12][13] |
| ¡Ay Carmela! | Unknown | 1936 |  Spain | Sung by the Spanish Republicans during the Spanish Civil War.[14] |
| Jarama Valley | Alex McDade | 1938 | Spain | Sung by the Spanish Republicans during the Spanish Civil War.[15] |
| No Pasarán | Leopoldo González | 1936 | Spain | Titled after Dolores Ibarruri's famous speech during the Spanish Civil War.[16] |
| A las Barricadas | Valeriano Orobón Fernández | 1936 | Spain | Used by the Spanish Anarchists during the Spanish Civil War. |
| Freiheit | Gudrun Kabisch and Paul Dessau | 1936 | Spain | Written by German volunteers of the Thälmann Battalion serving in the Spanish Civil War, it became popular among Communists in the United States and Germany.[17] |
| Nanniwan | He Jingzhi and Ma Ke.[18] | 1943 |  China | Nanniwan celebrates a victory of the Communist Eighth Route Army during the Second World War. The lyrics, written by He Jingzhi, were set to a traditional folk melody of northern Shaanxi.[19] |
| Osmanthus Flowers Blooming Everywhere in August | China | The song is based on a folk melody from the Dabie Mountains, where the Eyuwan Soviet was based. The song was very popular during the Cultural Revolution.[20] | ||
| Ode to the Motherland | Wang Shen | 1950 | China | Dedicated to the Chinese Communist Revolution and the CCP.[21] |
| The East Is Red | Li Youyuan | 1960s | China | Written by a Chinese peasant from Shaanxi to celebrate Mao Zedong and the CCP. It became the de facto anthem of the PRC during the Cultural Revolution.[22] |
| Sailing the Seas Depends on the Helmsman | Wang Shuangyin | 1964 | China | Popular among the Red Guards during the Cultural Revolution.[23] |
| Without the Communist Party, There Would Be No New China | Cao Huoxing | 1943 | China | Written as a response to the Kuomintang slogan that "Without the Kuomintang, there would be no China".[24]: 107–110 |
| Socialism is Good | Li Huanzhi and Xi Yang | 1958 | China | Popular during the Cultural Revolution.[25] |
| The Voice of the Masses | Mohammed Abdel Wahab | 1960 |  United Arab Republic |
Pan-Arab song about uniting the Arab world through its people |
| Sar Oomad Zemestoon | Saeed Soltanpour |  Iran | Used by the Organization of Iranian People's Fedai Guerrillas | |
| Buruh Tani | Safi’i Kemamang | 1996 |  Indonesia |
Lyrics by Anarcho-punk group Marjinal. It became a common protest song in Indonesia against the New Order regime. Originally a socialist song, it has since been reclaimed by pro-democracy camps. |
| El Pueblo Unido | Sergio Ortega | 1973 |  Chile | Lyrics by folk group Quilapayún. It was adapted from chants used during Salvador Allende's presidential campaign, and after he was deposed, it became a common protest song worldwide.[26][27] |
| Venceremos | Sergio Ortega | 1970 | Chile | The anthem of Salvador Allende's presidential campaign.[28] |
| Marcha del ERP | Unknown | 1970s |  Argentina |
The official anthem of the People's Revolutionary Army, which was the military branch of the Worker's Revolutionary Party of Argentina. |
| Kominternlied | Franz Jahnke, Maxim Vallentin, and Hanns Eisler | 1926 and 1928 |  Germany |
Anthem of the Comintern, a Marxist-Leninist political international.[29] |
| Solidaritätslied | Bertolt Brecht and Hanns Eisler | 1929–31 | Germany | Written during the Great Depression and popular among socialists in the late Weimar Republic.[30] |
| Der heimliche Aufmarsch | Wladimir Vogel | 1930 | Germany | Lyrics are from a 1929 poem by Erich Weinert. The most famous version was arranged by Hans Eisler. In 1957, the words were rewritten in East Germany for the Cold War, renamed as "Der offene Aufmarsch".[31][32] |
| Einheitsfrontlied | Hanns Eisler | 1934 | Germany | Also known as the "Song of the United Front". Lyrics by Bertolt Brecht. |
| Die Arbeiter von Wien | Fritz Brugel | 1927 |  Austria |
|
| Whirlwinds of Danger | Wacław Święcicki | 1879 or 1883 |  Poland | Music composed by Józef Pławiński. The anthem of the Polish workers during the Russian Revolution of 1905, it has been translated into many languages and sung worldwide. |
| Łodzianka | Bolesław Zahorski | 1909 | Poland |
Based on Whirlwinds of Danger and has the same melody. Is about Łódź insurrection. |
| You Fell Victim to a Fateful Struggle | Anton Arkhangelsky and Nikolay Ikonikov | 1878 |  Russia | |
| Di Shvue | S. Ansky | 1902 | Russia | Written for the Jewish Labor Bund. |
| Dublin City 1913 | Donagh MacDonagh |  Ireland | Written about the Irish worker's struggle (1913-1916) against British occupation.[33] | |
| The Red Flag | Jim Connell | 1889 |  United Kingdom | Written by Irish-born socialist Jim Connell, it is used as the party anthem of the British and Irish Labour parties. It is sung to the tune of "O Tannenbaum" or "The White Cockade".[34] |
| The Manchester Rambler | Ewan MacColl | 1932 | United Kingdom | Written by the English folk singer Ewan MacColl, inspired by his participation in the Kinder trespass, a protest by the urban Young Communist League of Manchester.[35] |
| Waiting for the Great Leap Forwards | Billy Bragg | 1988 | United Kingdom | Reflects on the disappointments of the Cold War in the aftermath of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's 1987 re-election.[36] |
| Hasta Siempre | Carlos Puebla | 1965 |  Cuba | Written as a response to Che Guevara's farewell letter to Cuba, it became the most famous song of the Nueva Trova movement. |
| Padaj silo i nepravdo | 1922 |  Yugoslavia | Inspired by the Hvar Rebellion. It is based on "Slobodarka", a 1908 song written by Josip Smodlaka.[37] | |
| The Red Army Is the Strongest | Samuel Pokrass and Pavel Gorinshtejn | 1920 |  Soviet Union | |
| The Partisan's Song | Yuri Cherniavsky and Peter Parfenov | 1915-1922 | Soviet Union | A popular Red Army song from the Russian Civil War and World War I.[38] |
| Tachanka (song) | Mikhail Ruderman and Konstantin Listov | 1937 | Soviet Union | Glorifies the Tachankas (machine gun carts) used by the Red Army during the civil war.[39] |
| March of the Defenders of Moscow | Alexey Surkov and Boris Mokrousov | 1941 | Soviet Union | Used by the Red Army beginning at the Battle of Moscow.[40] |
