The history and politics of the English protest song

1964

Twenty Tons of T.N.T.

Tune: Original
Lyrics: Flanders & Swann
Composer: Flanders & Swann

Flanders and Swann filled theatres with recitals of their humorous songs (‘The Gnu’; ‘The Gasman Cometh’), but they included the occasional political song (about the EEC or about rail closures). ‘Twenty Tons of TNT’, coinciding with the election of Labour who remained committed to nuclear weapons, was unusually dark in its imagining of the threat posed by the bomb.

Cause: Anti-militarist
Theme: War and Peace
Addressed to: General Public
Target of Protest: War
Proposal/Solution: Education