The 5 greatest protest songs of the Velvet Revolution

Czech musicians — many of them banned from performing or working in exile — played a significant role in the toppling of the communist regime. On Nov. 17 the anniversary of the Velvet Revolution, these are some of the songs that defined the era, many of them performed in iconic Prague locations to record audiences.

In 2007, Czech daily iDnes published the results of a poll asking Czechs to name the most important song associated with the Velvet Revolution. “Prayer for Marta” won by a landslide. Originally composed as a response to the Warsaw Pact invasion of 1968, Kubišová would later be falsely accused of making pornographic photographs and banned from performing that song, or any other, in the Czech lands.

A signatory of Charter 77, the Golden Nightingale award winner would eventually sing the ballad from a balcony on Wenceslas Square on November 22, 1989. This year on November 17 at 17:11 Czech radio stations will play the song to mark the anniversary of the Velvet Revolution.

The activist performer and signatory of Charter 77 left Czechoslovakia in 1978 due to persecution by the communist party. He lived in exile in the Netherlands, returning on November 26, 1989. This song was originally composed in the 1970s for a music festival (Náměšť na Hané) that was eventually shut down by the communist party. It is considered an ode to the basic values ​​of faith, truth, love, and freedom.

This Czech folk band, formed in the 1960s and led by singer Jiří Tichota, is considered one of the most important ensembles of the era. The group was known for adapting American gospel songs for Czechoslovak audiences. Their song “A Little More Faith In Jesus” with Czech lyrics was performed on the Melantrich balcony on November 23rd, 1989 as well as a year later, during American president George Bush’s visit to Prague. Their rendition of “We Shall Overcome” (Jednou budem dál) is considered an essential anthem of hope.