Yeah, so as the title says, what are the best songs with a message, in your opinion?
Sure, stuff like Holiday, American Idiot and the like will be mentioned...but I'm going to avoid those
"The Future is X-Rated" by Matthew Good Band. This is a song that is ridden with metaphors, but it gets a point across...the video compliments it nicely, and really makes you (well, at least, me) think. Then again, you could fill in just about any song by Matthew Good Band in this spot (Hello Timebomb, Strange Days, Load Me Up) and say the same thing.
"Bleed American" by Jimmy Eat World doesn't get mention for lists like this, but I think it should...The whole idea of "Sign up: The Picket Line or the Parade" and "I'm not alone 'cuz the TV's on" is sort of a commentary on North American culture...I likes it
"Imagine" by John Lennon is a bit of an obvious choice...the ideals of peace and love and caring in place of hurt, pain and war is still a novel idea to some people. Controversial, surely, because of the religion line, but still a good pick.
"99 Red Balloons" by Nena. A bit annoying, yes, but it still means a lot. I mean, it looks at the cold war very frankly, and reminds you that these are still people...sure, they're communists, but people nonetheless. It illustrates the paranoia of the time nicely.
That's all I'm going to give for now...what are yours?