Clarke’s goal was to compile a definitive top‑40 of songs that changed the world, and he says he ‘could not cut any two songs’ – every track he chose earned a place.

‘Strange Fruit’ was written by Abel Meeropol, a Jewish poet who turned a photograph of a lynching in Indiana into a poem and then a song. When Billie Holiday sang it, the stark image of Black bodies hanging from trees made the track a powerful protest anthem, and the FBI soon labelled her ‘public enemy number one.’ The pressure from the agency also meant Holiday was denied proper medical treatment in her final days.

Nirvana’s ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ appears on the list for a different reason. According to Clarke, the song gave a voice to a disaffected youth generation, resonating with their feelings of alienation. Even though its lyrics are abstract and not overtly political, the track has endured and continues to shape popular culture.

Midnight Oil’s ‘Beds Are Burning’ is called a “danceable, unforgettable anthem” by Clarke. The song tackles the dispossession of the Pintupi people and brought Aboriginal land‑rights issues into mainstream Australian awareness for the first time.

Clarke’s selection shows that a song can change the world either by confronting injustice head‑on, as with ‘Strange Fruit,’ or by capturing the mood of a generation, as with ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit.’ Both approaches hook listeners, then let the message work beneath the melody.