Protest songs that are too specific (or too trite) (or just too preachy) are usually the ones with a short shelf life. Those that speak effectively in more universal and poetic terms can last almost forever. To be great, the song has to have relevance to a broad slice of human experience in all ages and all places, not just to one briefly passing political episode.

Some, like Woody Guthrie's "This Land is Your Land" or Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind" get sanitized in the public perception as time goes by, become singalong songs at scout meetings and campfires, and remain popular long after most of the people who hear them even have the vaguest understanding that they once were protest songs.