Lorenzo:  Les Anarchistes – The Ballad of Sacco & Vanzetti  and Pishku Li are both excellent choices with, as you say, some remarkable vocal performances.  While I find the vocal styling of the 2^nd entry very appropriate for the track, overall, I find your first entry more appealing to my taste.  Great choices!  The Out of Competition track is that no-nonsense, straight ahead style of Italian Folk.  The lyrics are all that are needed here, though the violin, flute, etc. is a very nice touch which adds to the crying of the Tears of the Seven Brothers.  Beautiful vocals here too, but then I am impartial to Italian vocals.

Nick: The Herbs is the band for both of these tracks and each one has what I feel is an effective reggae style which makes the music appealing in order to reach the most listeners, and apparently this was the case with New Zealanders.  I would lean a bit more to the 1^st track which adds the clear vocals of Tim Finn, but both are effective protest songs.

Kees:  Ernst Busch delivers this song quite effectively and I’m glad you chose the soundtrack version as the instrumental introduction is a nice prelude to the song and the message.  It’s also nice to hear something from that decade, as a lot of the pain has been forgotten from that time, and if we ignore it, it will come back to bite us in the end.

Greg:  You always seem to pick the hardest hitting and appropriate tracks that I have never heard.  Redgum did a powerful song here that hits right to the core in a time when the world was trying to sell the war as something positive.  The Shipbuilding song is also powerful, and I’m glad you used this version as I find the singers voice to be quite appealing.

Anders:  I always look forward to your tracks as you always seem to pick things that are different in a good way, and music that I would probably never be exposed to.  Both tracks are perfect protest songs and convey their messages in not just the words, but in the delivery.  Both of these tracks are definite contenders.  Your translations are always very helpful and shed light on a language that I don’t understand, yet they end up being the perfect Rosetta Stone that is needed to understand.

Nickie:  Again, some excellent choices.  These are the types of songs that I instantly think of when someone mentions “protest songs”.  Tom Rapp once again seems to find his way in to whatever style he wants, and his delivery here is perfect with the “snarl” in his voice.  I also enjoyed Cheryl Wheeler, who sends a message that is still relevant today.  Even though her purpose is not to get rid of all guns as you say, it’s still a message that all need to hear and if they translate it that way, then maybe they need to feel a little uncomfortable with that meaning.  The Charlie King track gives his no-nonsense style, where the words are the thing that everyone needs to concentrate on.  The embellishments and etc. are not needed as the words are the most important thing for the world to hear.

Ozgur:  Welcome back, good to see you again.  Bruce Dickinson’s distinctive voice has a way of delivering whatever lyrics he is singing.  He’s powerful, melodic, yet commands your attention.  “Gods of War” is the type of lyrics you’d expect him to sing about, but his message is important to say the least, and the metal vehicle he uses runs you over like a tank, plus the message gets across to the people that need it the most.  The pen is mightier than the sword.  Sacred Cowboys has a more forceful beat, faster with a almost rap-like verse and melodic chorus with the powerful guitar.  Again, another great vehicle for the message he has.  I think I prefer the 1^st one over the 2^nd mostly because of the blue-sier style, though the 2^nd one has more of an Iron Maiden feel to it.

Dr wu:  Roy Harper is one of those artists that I meant to listen to more, but I never seem to for some reason, so I’m not that familiar with this track.  I like his vocals that have a degree of vulnerability to them, a bit of a “crying” waver that I find appealing, especially in this style of music.  The acoustic guitar and piano back him up perfectly, the strength of the guitar brings a lot of power to this song, and that seems to be the case in the music I’ve heard from him.  The commentary on this track is perfect. 

Okay, so far everything is top rate here, so I have no idea who I will vote for yet.