List of songs about animal rights
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Animal rights has been a subject of both popular and independent music since the 1970s.[1] Associated with the environmentalist musical counterculture of the previous decade, animal rights songs of the 1970s were influenced by the passage of animal protection laws and the 1975 book Animal Liberation.[1] Paul McCartney has cited John Lennon's Bungalow Bill, released in 1968, as among the first animal rights songs.[2]
Popular themes include anti-whaling (prompted by the Save the Whales movement),[1][3][4] opposition to hunting, animal testing and vegetarianism.[5] Bullfighting has been a prominent theme in Spain and some Latin American countries; while folk and pop music have traditionally identified with bullfighting traditions, several ska, rock and punk groups have emerged which oppose them.[6]
Anarcho-punk and veganism have a long association dating back to the 1980s.[5] During this period, American hardcore punk and straight edge scenes became increasingly concerned with animal rights, spawning the vegan straight edge and hardline punk ideologies.[7][8] An increase in Animal Liberation Front activism in the 1990s corresponded with the rise of vegan straight edge and hardline bands.[9][10] The more peaceful Krishnacore subgenre, which also advocates vegetarianism and animal rights, developed around this time too.[11] The association between punk subculture and animal rights has continued in the 21st century, with vegan punk festivals including Fluff Fest in the Czech Republic and Verdurada in Brazil.[8][12]