Editing Protest song (section)

===Poland===
Protest songs in Poland were mostly associated with anti-communist movement and developed in the 1970s and 1980s. One of the most important artists was [[Jacek Kaczmarski]], author of such famous songs as "[[Mury (song)|Mury]]" ("The Walls"), "Przedszkole" ("The Kindergarten") and "Zbroja" ("The Armor"), criticizing both the totalitarian communist government and the opposition. Another famous Polish folk singer, [[Jan Pietrzak]], wrote one of the best-known Polish patriotic protest songs, "[[Żeby Polska była Polską]]" ("Make Poland Polish"), in which he reminded the most heroic moments of Polish history, including [[Kościuszko Uprising]], and called people to fight the communists as they fought other enemies of Poland before. He also recorded a musical version of the [[Jonasz Kofta]]'s poem "Pamiętajcie o ogrodach" ("Remember the Gardens"), protesting against the industrialism of life promoted by the communist propaganda. Other Polish artists well known for writing protest songs include [[Kazimierz Staszewski]] and [[Przemysław Gintrowski]].

As [[Rhythms of Resistance]] groups operated in many cities during the 2000s, rhythm predominated protests, and protesters tended not to sing. As Poland moved closer to authoritarian rule, protest song writing and performance became a staple of social movements, and singing was incorporated into street demonstrations. The song's melodies, lyrics, and performance style all alluded to earlier social struggles and political traditions that the protest was referencing and strove to uphold.

In the second decade of the 21st century, urban movements established choirs of activists, i.e. the Warsaw Revolutionary Choir "Warszawianka", the Krakow Revolutionary Choir, the TAK [Tricity Women's Action] Choir in Gdańsk, which supported street protests.<ref name="Kowzan2023"/> The song repertoire consisted largely of reconstructions of protest songs from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In Łódź, [[Warszawianka (1831)|"Warszawianka"]] was sung en masse during the celebrations marking the 110th and 111th anniversaries of the [[Łódź insurrection|insurrection of 1905]].

In 2016, singing workshops for women were conducted during some [[Abortion in Poland#Black Protest|Black Protest demonstrations]]. The protest song {{YouTube|vdex5lu6mJQ|"Wściekły szpaler"}} with the participation of activists showed how important they find this method of communication.

As a tribute to [[Piotr Szczęsny]], who used public self-immolation to condemn "the ruling party for the systematic violation of the law, inspiring discrimination against minorities, and deliberately destroying the country's nature and educational system,"<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Kowzan|first1=Piotr|last2=Szczygieł|first2=Przemysław|date=2022|title=Social movement learning about violence|journal=European Journal for Research on the Education and Learning of Adults|doi=10.3384/rela.2000-7426.4308|s2cid=253471337 |doi-access=free}}</ref> protest songs were written in 2017.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Żuk|first1=Piotr|last2=Żuk|first2=Paweł|date=2018|title=An 'ordinary man's' protest: self-immolation as a radical political message in Eastern Europe today and in the past|journal=Social Movement Studies|volume=17|issue=5|pages=610–617|doi=10.1080/14742837.2018.1468245|s2cid=149475355 }}</ref> In order to convince [[Andrzej Duda]] to oppose constitutional amendments, activists later that year performed a {{YouTube|jYIQmBMUsFk|modified rendition}} of the Christmas carol "Przybieżeli do Betlejem" in the places the Polish president visited.

Many protest songs were performed in Poland in {{Interlanguage link|2019 during the largest teachers' strike|pl|Strajk nauczycieli w Polsce w 2019 roku}} in the country's history. Many schools, even in small towns or villages produced protest songs. Recordings of group performances were posted on social media. Numerous songs were based on tunes from the 1980s of the 20th century, specifically from the time of martial law that put an end to the 'carnival of solidarity' in 1980–1981.<ref name="Kowzan2023" />

Many protest songs were played during the [[2020–2021 women's strike protests in Poland|Women's Strike demonstrations in 2020 and 2021]]. One was {{YouTube|95_ZIOxiQCE|"Tortury ciało"}} to the tune of "[[Bella ciao]]". This song became a symbol of the demonstrations against the government and the Catholic church as they both tried to increase restrictions on the right to abortion.