Writing a good protest song is like putting together any good piece of propaganda - you water down your message (and bog down the music)and lessen its effectiveness by insisting on a clear statement ot the "facts". The great song writers understand that personalizing the song and adding details is what really puts a charge in the audience; establishing historical accuracy can be done in the liner notes.

Woody was the master at writing leftist propaganda (and I use the term in its best sense). Bobby D. also became very good at it ("Hurricane" is a classic example). I have always thought that criticisms that I have read in the 'Cat regarding "Ohio" by Neil Young, didn't take its value as propaganda into account.

"Ohio", "Reuben James", and the subject of this thread are all rabble rousing songs, and Al Gore showed us in the last election what happens when you try to give the rabble too much information.