What makes Flack’s version endure is that it ditches the shout/yell novelty that most people associate with “protest songs” and replaces it with a propulsive piano and bass line with horn peaks.  This isn’t just a protest, it’s a march.  Flack injects a jazzy hipness into all the problems of the Vietnam Era, and by the end–with her voice rising again and again–she’s made disillusion with government cooler than it has ever been.

Flack didn’t write “Compared to What”, which is also why it’s the best protest song:  the best ones often aren’t about the message, but how that message is conveyed.  It’s how you get the public to eat vegetables and make them taste ice cream. Flack’s take is where it all began.  It’s why in the 80s Bruce Springsteen was able to confuse an entire country with the rousing chords of “Born in the USA” or how Pulp took on centuries of British castes in 1995 with “Common People” (a song that literally is just describing a date).  Even today we have bands from Sweeden (The Knife) taking on income inequality in “Raging Lung” by quoting DC’s Fugazi.

Be nice to Brenna Williams today.