Protest songs in the United States Tom Paxton ("Lyndon Johnson Told the Nation" - about the escalation of the war in Vietnam, "Jimmy Newman" – the story of a dying soldier, and "My Son John" – about a soldier who returns from war unable to describe what he's been through), among others. The first protest song to reach number one in the United States was P.F. Sloan's "Eve Of Destruction", performed by Barry McGuire in 1965. The civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s often used Negro spirituals as a source of protest, changing the religious lyrics to suit the political mood of the time.
On the Eve of Destruction: 1991–1995 On the Eve of Destruction: 1991–1995 On the Eve of Destruction: 1991–1995 is a compilation album by the Detroit, Michigan punk rock band The Suicide Machines, released in 2005 by Noise Riot Records. It collects nearly all the tracks from the band's early releases, including "The Essential Kevorkian" and "Green World" demos, the "Vans Song" single, and other demos and rare tracks. Several of the songs were re-recorded for the band's debut album "Destruction by Definition" in 1996 but appear here in early, rawer forms. It was the first release from Noise Riot, a label founded by Suicide Machines singer