Songs were always a part of political and social change, as I found out a few years ago when I agreed (reluctantly) to speak to our local history society on song and history, something I knew little about.
These are some of the things I unearthed:

The earliest collection of songs were political ones, dating from 1199 in French, Latin, Provencal, English and Anglo-Norman.

This, from Andrew Fletcher of Saltoun 1655-1716.
"If a man were permitted to make all the ballads, he need not care who should make the laws of a nation"

Around this time the song Lilibulero was said to have ""rhymed James II out of three kingdoms".

This, on the Jacobite rising of 1690.
"The ballad of 'The Haughs of Cromdale' was originally produced to describe the battle of Cromdale, which in fact was a chaotic defeat for the Jacobites in 1690, when the leaders of the encamped army neglected to post sentries and were routed by the English troops.
The ballad maker decide that this was too ignominious a defeat to record so he interwove a description of the action with a somewhat high-flown description of Montrose's victory at Auldearn over the Covenanter army in 1645. Thus the two battles, forty-five years and a considerable number of miles apart, were unceremoniously joined together. The gallant Montrose, who had been dead for over forty years, was brought to life in verse to win another battle. The result is a horribly muddled ballad, but one which has been immensely popular.
The Jacobites, with the help of the ballad, lived to fight another day and rose again some fifty years later to be finally defeated at Culloden. To the strains of the pipes playing this tune the Highlanders have charged and won battles all round the world."


The forcible seizure of land by the landed gentry (the enclosures) gave rise to many of our transportation songs.

Alan Lomax once claimed (I'd love to know if it is accurate) that the Tralaleri singing he recorded from the Genoan dockworkers was used by the Garibaldi revolutionaries when the singing of political songs were banned by the authorities. The insugents sat outside the bars la-la'ing the tunes of all the revolutionary songs (all well known to the general populace) at the passing police and soldiers.

I am not sure how effective singing is as a form of social and political expression nowadays (chanting seems to be the main voice of demonstations today), but I can't imagine any of the Peace marches I took part in (Aldermaston, Faslane, Pembroke) without the songs. If nothing else, they made you feel that you were part of something and not on your own.
It's also hard to separate the U.S. Civil Rights movement from its songs - which, I believe, were vital to what went on and what was achieved.
Many American folk singers went south to give their support, though (not to introduce a controversial note - what, moi!) Bob Dylan apparently refused, claiming he couldn't afford the fare. He was finall ashamed into doing so by actor-folksinger Theodor Bikel, who bought him a ticket.

So the next time club organisers tell you they don't like political songs at their club, tell them.....

Sorry if all of this is a bit messy; I've been wanting to take part in this thread but - funny week, one way and another.
Jim Carroll