Andrew Clarke

Sometimes, we are just waiting for a spark.

Songs
that changed
the world

Music of resistance and transformation

Forty-two songs that confronted injustice, challenged the status quo, and gave people the words they needed to hear.

Buy the book Hear the playlist

Out now from Gelding Street Press. $39.99

Out now in bookshops and online. Get your copy

Songs That Changed The World by Andrew Clarke, book cover

Liner note

“This isn’t a book about the best songs ever recorded.”

“It is about impact: the moments when a song became bigger than the artist who created it and began to change the world around it.”

Andrew Clarke

Now playing

Song of the week

[Week of 5 October 2026]

Strange FruitBillie Holiday, 1939

First performed by Holiday in 1939, its brutal depiction of lynching forced listeners to confront a reality many would rather have ignored. It showed that popular music could take on the most difficult subjects with courage and devastating emotional power.

Listen Read the story

The 42 songs

Every song in the book, 1939 to 2019. Filter by the cause each one took up.

Beyond the UK & US

Songs that stood up to power far from the usual charts.

1966Chile

Gracias a la Vida
Violeta Parra

1971Brazil

Construção
Chico Buarque

1987USSR

Peremen! (Changes!)
Kino

2005Tunisia

Rais Lebled
El General

2019Algeria

La Liberté
Soolking

Nine decades
of change

Pick a decade to see the songs that moved it, from Billie Holiday to Soolking.

1930s

    Your requests

    Which song changed your world?

    Forty-two is a start, but not the end. Tell us the song you’d add to the list, or add your story to one already in the book.

    Recent suggestions

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    I want to
    Questions? songsthatchangedtheworld@outlook.com

    Read it.
    Now hear it.

    The official playlist runs alongside the book, so every chapter has a soundtrack.

    Open in Spotify

    Community playlist, [updated monthly]

    Songs you sent us

    The best reader suggestions, gathered into a playlist of their own, so every contribution ends up somewhere you can hear it.

    Play the community playlist Suggest a song
    Andrew Clarke, podcast host

    The podcast, coming soon

    Waiting for a Spark

    Songs That Changed The World with Andrew Clarke

    The stories behind the songs, the artists and the movements they inspired, told by Andrew Clarke.

    First episode coming soon Spotify Apple Podcasts YouTube

    Latest episodes

    All episodes
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    Follow the show on Spotify or Apple Podcasts to hear it first.

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    Episode 2Date to be announced

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    Episode 3Date to be announced

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    Coming soon
    Andrew Clarke in front of a wall of gold and platinum records

    About the author

    Andrew Clarke

    A Melbourne writer who has spent his career across three lifelong passions: sport, motoring and music.

    A former football journalist, he published his first book, A Pictorial History of the Australian Automobile, in 1988, and has since written more than 30 books on motor racing, Australian rules football and leading athletes and public figures, including seven ghostwritten autobiographies.

    Music has been the constant. He has been to thousands of gigs, built a serious record collection and managed a band in the 1990s. As a writer, Clarke has long been fascinated by the power of songs to capture a moment, challenge accepted thinking and become catalysts for social change.

    Media and event enquiries

    More from Andrew Clarke

    Recent books on football and motorsport.

    2026The Immortals of NASCARBuy at Readings →2025Australian Football’s 100 Year ClubBuy at Readings →2024Immortals of Australian FootballBuy at Readings →

    In the media

    Recent interviews, reviews and features on the book.

    Watch01/10/2026

    Nine, Today Extra

    The songs that changed the world

    Andrew talks about the book on Today Extra.

    Watch on Nine
    Interview30/09/2026

    ABC News

    Why Nirvana and Midnight Oil made the cut in Songs that Changed the World

    Andrew talks to the ABC’s Mawunyo Gbogbo about how the 42 songs were chosen, and which ones just missed out.

    Read the interview
    Review05/10/2026

    InDaily (InReview)

    Songs that changed everything … or tried to

    A review by Phil Brown that looks at how the songs connect to the politics and culture of their time.

    Read the reviewAlso on InDaily SA
    Extract24/09/2026

    The Australian

    10 powerful, unforgettable songs that changed the world around us

    A first-run extract from the book. May be behind a paywall.

    Read the extract
    Opinion26/09/2026

    The Canberra Times

    Sure, AI can generate songs – but it can’t win over a rowdy crowd

    Andrew on why live music may be the best defence of human-made songs. Also in the Newcastle Herald and St George & Sutherland Shire Leader.

    Read the articleNewcastle HeraldThe Leader
    Extract23/09/2026

    The Canberra Times

    These three songs changed the world – what’s your favourite anthem?

    An extract on three songs from the book. Also in The Senior and the Daily Advertiser.

    Read the extractThe SeniorDaily Advertiser

    More coverage

    Praise & press

    Media kit
    “Clarke’s glossy tome is an enlightening study of songs that have changed the world (and the formerly ignorant people in it). Some are obvious choices… but others are more subversive… Elvis Presley’s Hound Dog, The Beatles’ I Want To Hold Your Hand, and Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit are included, of course, because they were about a time and a moment, and they ushered in every damn thing that came next.”
    Dave Bradley, Fifty+SA
    As featured in

    Events & appearances

    Book Andrew for an event
    Andrew Clarke being interviewed on stage at the book launch, beside a banner for Songs That Changed The World
    Launch nightThursday 1 October 2026Andrew in conversation at the book launch at Readings Hawthorn.

    Coming up

    More events will be announced here soon. Want Andrew at your bookshop, festival, club or school? Get in touch.

    Get your copy

    Gelding Street Press
    Out now, $39.99
    ISBN 9781922662361

    Readings Amazon Australia Bookshop.org (US) Barnes & Noble Kindle ebook

    Bookshop.org orders support independent bookstores across the US. In Australia, any bookshop can order it in: just quote ISBN 9781922662361.

    Read it together

    Book clubsDiscussion guideQuestions and listening notes for your next meeting. ClassroomsTeacher’s guideHistory, music and civics activities built around the songs. Media & eventsMedia kitCover, author photos, bio and fact sheet to download.