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Animal rights has been a subject of bothpopular andindependent music since the 1970s.[1] Associated with theenvironmentalist musicalcounterculture of the previous decade, animal rights songs of the 1970s were influenced by the passage of animal protection laws and the 1975 bookAnimal Liberation.[1]Paul McCartney has citedJohn Lennon'sBungalow Bill, released in 1968, as among the first animal rights songs.[2]
Popular themes includeanti-whaling (prompted by theSave the Whales movement),[1][3][4]opposition to hunting,animal testing andvegetarianism.[5]Bullfighting has been a prominent theme inSpain and someLatin American countries; whilefolk andpop music have traditionally identified with bullfighting traditions, severalska,rock andpunk groups have emerged which oppose them.[6]
Anarcho-punk andveganism have a long association dating back to the 1980s.[5] During this period, Americanhardcore punk andstraight edge scenes became increasingly concerned with animal rights, spawning thevegan straight edge andhardlinepunk ideologies.[7][8] An increase inAnimal Liberation Front activism in the 1990s corresponded with the rise of vegan straight edge and hardline bands.[9][10] The more peacefulKrishnacore subgenre, which also advocates vegetarianism and animal rights, developed around this time too.[11] The association betweenpunk subculture and animal rights has continued in the 21st century, with vegan punk festivals includingFluff Fest in the Czech Republic andVerdurada in Brazil.[8][12]
| Song | Artist | Album | Themes | Year | Language | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| "All the Good Girls Go to Hell" | Billie Eilish | When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? | Climate change | 2019 | English | [13] |
| "40-year old Vegan" | Chokeules | Stay Up | Veganism | 2014 | English | [14] |
| "A Life Embossed" | Protest the Hero | Volition | Opposition tolegislations against specific dog breeds | 2013 | English | [15] |
| "Acà toro" | Punkreas | Paranoia e potere | Anti-bullfighting | 1995 | Italian | [16] |
| "Animal Grace" | Laura Nyro | Angel in the Dark | Animal rights | 2001 | English | [17] |
| "Animal Kingdom" | Prince | The Truth | Veganism | 1998 | English | [18][19] |
| "Animal Liberation" | Los Fastidios | Guardo avanti | Anti-animal testing, direct action | 2001 | Italian and English | [20][21] |
| "As Long As It Tastes Good" | Acerbic Wit | Single | Turning a blind eye to animal cruelty | 2022 | English | |
| "Beat the Meat" | Good Clean Fun | On the Streets Saving the Scene From the Forces of Evil | Vegetarianism | 2000 | English | [22] |
| "Behind the Mask" | Goldfinger | Disconnection Notice | Animal rights activism, veganism | 2005 | English | [23] |
| "Blood Sports" | The Style Council | "Walls Come Tumbling Down!" | Anti-hunting, anti-animalblood sports | 1985 | English | [24] |
| "Cats and Dogs" | Gorilla Biscuits | Start Today | Speciesism | 1989 | English | |
| "Civilized Man" | Shelter | Mantra | Vegetarianism | 1995 | English | [25] |
| "Clams Have Feelings Too (Actually They Don't)" | NOFX | Pump Up the Valuum | Vegetarianism, ethics of eating seafood | 2000 | English | [22][26] |
| "Consume & Kill" | Manliftingbanner | Ten Inches That Shook the World | Vegetarianism | 1992 | English and French | [27] |
| "Cow" | Linda McCartney andCarla Lane | Wide Prairie | Vegetarianism | 1998 | English | [28] |
| "Cruel Circus" | The Colourfield | Virgins and Philistines | Opposition to animal acts in circuses, anti-trophy hunting, anti-animal testing | 1985 | English | [29][30] |
| "Cruelty to Animals" | Frenzal Rhomb | Forever Malcolm Young | Cruelty to animals | 2006 | English | |
| "Death Camps" | Cro-Mags | Best Wishes | Vegetarianism | 1989 | English | [25] |
| "Don't Kill The Animals" | Nina Hagen andLene Lovich | 1986 | English | |||
| "Don't Kill the Whale" | Yes | Tormato | Anti-whaling | 1978 | English | [3][31] |
| "Excuse Me" | The Decline | Are You Gonna Eat That? | Anti-animal testing | 2011 | English | |
| "Human(e) Meat (The Flensing of Sandor Katz)" | Propagandhi | Supporting Caste | Hypocrisy ofethical meat eating | 2009 | English | [32] |
| "Hunters Will be Hunted" | Heaven Shall Burn | Veto (album) | Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, anti-whaling | 2013 | English | [33] |
| "I Don't Eat Animals" | Melanie Safka | Leftover Wine | Vegetarianism | 1970 | English | [34] |
| "Liberación Animal" | Chucho Merchán | El poder sagrado de la vida | Animal Rights, Animal Liberation | 2017 | Spanish | [35] |
| "Looking for Changes" | Paul McCartney | Off the Ground | Anti-animal testing | 1993 | English | [36] |
| "Long Leather Coat" | Paul McCartney | "Hope of Deliverance" | Anti-fur/leather | 1992 | English | [36] |
| "Lower Order (A Good Laugh)" | Propagandhi | Victory Lap | Speciesism, Ethics of animal consumption | 2017 | English | |
| "Meat Is Murder" | The Smiths | Meat Is Murder | Against all types of meat eating. | 1985 | English | |
| "Men In Helicopters" | Adrian Belew | Young Lions | Anti-hunting, Anti-fishing, Anti-speciesism | 1990 | English | |
| "Nailing Descartes to the wall" | Propagandhi | Less Talk More Rock | For the end of the killing of animals for food. | 1996 | English | |
| "Panda" | Jefferson Airplane | Jefferson Airplane | Panda anti-hunting. | 1989 | English | |
| "Pink Convertible" | MARINA | Ancient Dreams in a Modern Land | Climate change | 2021 | English | |
| "Potemkin City Limits" | Propagandhi | Supporting Caste | Anti-animal husbandry,animal consciousness | 2009 | English | [37] |
| "Puppies and Friends" | Atrophy | Violent by Nature | Animal rights | 1990 | English | [38][39] |
| "Ravenous Medicine" | Voivod | Killing Technology | Animal cruelty, Animal testing | 1986 | English | |
| "San Fermín" | Attaque 77 | Amén! | Anti-bullfighting | 1995 | Spanish | [16] |
| "Save the Whales!" | Country Joe McDonald | Paradise With an Ocean View | Anti-modernwhaling | 1975 | English | [40] |
| "Show Us You Care" | Icons of Filth | Onward Christian Soldiers | Anti-animal testing | 1984 | English | [41] |
| "Shut Up Already" | NOFX | Liberal Animation | Anti-animal rights activism | 1988 | English | [42] |
| "Skin" | Siouxsie and the Banshees | Kaleidoscope | Anti-fur/leather | 1980 | English | [43] |
| "Small Black Flowers That Grow in the Sky" | Manic Street Preachers | Everything Must Go | Anti-zoos | 1996 | English | |
| "Song of the World's Last Whale" | Pete Seeger | At 89 | Anti-whaling | 1970[nb 1] | English | [45] |
| "The Bullfighter Dies" | Morrissey | World Peace Is None of Your Business | Anti-bullfighting | 2014 | English | [46] |
| "TheHealingFields" | Bones | Powder | Veganism, anti-meat industry | 2015 | English | |
| "The Last Leviathan" | Sheena Wellington | Kerelaw | Anti-whaling | 1986 | English | [47] |
| "The Slayer" | Refused | Songs to Fan the Flames of Discontent | Slaughter,Selfishness,cruelty to animals | 1996 | English | |
| "To the Last Whale..." | Crosby & Nash | Wind on the Water | Anti-whaling | 1975 | English | [1] |
| "Vergüenza" | Ska-P | Planeta Eskoria | Anti-bullfighting | 2000 | Spanish | [16] |
| "Voice of the Voiceless" | Heaven Shall Burn | Antigone | Animal rights | 2004 | English | |
| "Waste" | Good Riddance | Ballads from the Revolution | Ethics of eating meat | 1998 | English | [48] |
| "Wild Life" | Paul McCartney and Wings | Wild Life | Opposition to anthropization that affects wildlife | 1971 | English | [36] |
| "Without A Choice" | Useless ID | State Is Burning | Animal rights | 2016 | English |
[...] At times, however, [Virgins and Philistines] broadens its reach to address social affairs: 'Cruel Circus' refers to "fur coats on ugly people expensively dressed up to kill / In a sport that's legal within the minds of the mentally ill", [...]
[...] every track is an essential listen, with the highlight for this writer being 'Show Us You Care', surely one of the most potent - and poignant - anti- vivisection songs.