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'Mary, Don't You Weep' - Aretha Franklin - "Cheer up, sisters and don't you cry. There'll be good times bye and bye."

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'Blackbird' - The Beatles - "Blackbird singing in the dead of night. Take these broken wings and learn to fly."

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'Why I Sing the Blues, Pt. 1' - B.B. King - "People you all have been wonderin,' wonderin' why I sing the blues?"

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'Like a King' - Ben Harper - "Cause Martin's dream has become Rodney's worst nightmare."

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'Lift Every Voice and Sing' - Bebe Winans - "Facing the rising sun of our new day begun. Let us march on 'til victory is won."

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'Strange Fruit' - Billie Holiday - "Southern trees bear a strange fruit. Blood on the leaves and blood at the root."

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'Free at Last' - The Blind Boys of Alabama - "Free at last, free at last. I thank God I'm free at last."

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'Blowin' in the Wind' - Bob Dylan - "Yes, and how many years can some people exist before they're allowed to be free?"

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'Chimes of Freedom' - Bob Dylan - "Flashing for the warriors whose strength is not to fight. Flashing for the refugees on the unarmed road of flight."

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'The Times They Are a-Changin' - Bob Dylan - "Come gather 'round people, wherever you roam. And admit that the waters around you have grown."

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'Only a Pawn in Their Game' - Bob Dylan - "And the poor white remains on the caboose of the train. But it ain't him to blame, he's only a pawn in their game."

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'(For God's Sake) Give More Power to the People' - The Chi-Lites - "Cut this jive and see who's got the power to kill the most. When they run out of power, the world's gonna be a ghost."

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'Redemption Song' - Bob Marley - "Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery; None but ourselves can free our minds."

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'We Are Alive' - Bruce Springsteen - "To carry the fire and light the spark. To stand shoulder to shoulder and heart to heart."

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'A Dream' - Common - "With a story to tell, my eyes see the glory and well, the world waitin' for me to yell 'I Have a Dream.'"

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'The Revolution Will Not Be Televised' - Gil Scott-Heron - "You will not be able to stay home, brother. You will not be able to plug in, turn on and cop out." 

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'My Name Is Emmett Till' - Emmylou Harris - "They say the horror of that night is haunting Heaven still. Where I am one more black boy, my name is Emmett Till."

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'Abraham, Martin and John' - Harry Belafonte - "Didn't you love the things that they stood for? Didn't they try to find some good for you and me?"

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'I Don't Want Nobody to Give Me Nothing (Open Up the Door, I'll Get It Myself) Pt. 1' - James Brown - "Don't give me degeneration. Give me true communication. Don't give me sorrow. I want equal opportunity to live tomorrow."

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'Say It Loud—I'm Black and I'm Proud' - James Brown - "But just as sure as it take two eyes to make a pair, huh. Brother, we can't quit until we get our share."

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'What's Going On' - Marvin Gaye - "Mother, mother everybody thinks we're wrong. Who are they to judge us
Simply cause we wear our hair long?"

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'Baby I've Been Thinking' - Janis Ian - "But that day will have to wait for awhile. Baby, I'm only a society's child. When we're older things may change, but for now this is the way they must remain."

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'If You're Out There' - John Legend - "No more broken promises. No more call to war. Unless it's love and peace that we're really fighting for."

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'Alabama' - Neil Young - "Alabama, you got the weight on your shoulders that's breaking your back.
Your Cadillac has got a wheel in the ditch and a wheel on the track."

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'How I Got Over' - Mahalia Jackson - "Tell me how we got over Lord. Had a mighty hard time coming on over. You know my soul look back and wonder. How did we make it over."

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'We Shall Not Be Moved' - Mavis Staples - "We shall not, we shall not be moved. We're fighting for our freedom, we shall not be moved."

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'Down in Mississippi' - Mavis Staples - "Dr. King saw that every one of those signs was taken down, down in Mississippi."

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'A Change Is Gonna Come' - Sam Cooke - "There been times that I thought I couldn't last for long. But now I think I'm able to carry on. It's been a long, a long time coming, but I know a change gon' come, oh yes it will."

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'Ball of Confusion (That's What the World Is Today)' - The Temptations -

"Evolution, revolution, gun control, sound of soul. Shooting rockets to the moon, kids growing up too soon."

See also: The groovy history of Motown Records

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