There should be at least one song of religious contents in this collection. Religious faith, denied by Soviet authorities, became soon an important symbol of identity for Lithuanians and a distinctive sign from the oppressor. Singing a religious song, or more generally celebrating any form of religious rite, were in themselves acts of protest. “Marijos giesmė”, more commonly known as “Marija Marija” was a particularly popular hymn, with music by Česlovas Sasnauskas and lyrics by the poet Maironis. In addition, lines such as “Išgelbėk nuo priešo baisaus!” (“Save us from the terrible enemy”), made the prayer acquire additional significance in the context of the occupied country.

Written as a poem by the national poet Maroinis and set to music by composer Juozas Naujalis, “Lietuva brangi” is often considered a second national anthem of Lithuania, and it is arguably the patriotic song by definition for this country. Nearly no major event or gathering during the Singing Revolution was complete without a rendition of the song by the crowd.

While not exactly a very popular band during the years of the Singing Revolution, Gintarėliai deserve a special mention for the way they anticipated its musical spirit and some of its most important values. Secretly tuned on Radio Luxembourg, these young men fell in love with the great British rock bands of the time and got inspired to form their own group. Aware of the low quality of Soviet electric guitars, but also unable to afford foreign ones from the black market, they built their own instruments and began playing in small events and receptions, eventually climbing up to become recording artists. Not only a song like "Stebis tėtis ir mama" rocks like a hurricane, but it really impresses for its modernity. Soviet pop of the time was inevitably backwards, compared to what was going on in the Anglo-American scene, but this song sounds exactly like late 1960s-early 1970s, mixing influences from Jimi Hendrix, The Small Faces, the early Deep Purple and of course The Beatles. The lyrics of this song are written by the poet Algimantas Baltakis.

One of the highlights of the third edition of the Rock March, where it was executed by the Polikaitis Group, one of the American-Lithuanian bands, "Aš čia - gyva" is in reality a song written before the Singing Revolution. It expresses the typical feelings of the exiles who miss their country and feel they are still there in spirit. Verses of this kind clearly resonated also for those who lived in the occupied Lithuania.

Released on Antis 1986 album Kažkas atsitiko (Something happened), “Zombiai” is a cover of Men at Work’s “Down Under” with a different set of lyrics that perfectly illustrate Antis’ inclination to sarcasm and sharp parody against Soviet Union and Soviet way of life. It is arguably the band’s biggest hit, and it became a regular feature in their concerts, before and after independence.

Set on a poem by Justinas Marcinkevičius, one of Lithuania’s foremost poets, “Tėvyne dainų ir artojų” is one of those songs that, in time, achieved the status of “unofficial pop anthem” of Lithuania. A dramatic, pathos-filled take on the questions of freedom and patriotism, it remains one of the most beloved Lithuanian songs, often trespassing the area of pop, having for instance received also arrangements for choir ensembles.

A big hit in those days, and the signature song for the band Kardiofonas, “Kalėdinė eglutė” became a sort of alternative Christmas song, in times when Christmas was still an unwelcome festivity for Soviet authorities. The rather surreal lyrics were written in 1981 by the poet Antanas Jonynas: by his own admission, Jonynas had initially written the verses as a play of words, but then he realized that the sense of absurd emerging from them was well reflective of the absurdity of the life conditions in Soviet Union. Eventually he came to define the poem as one of his most “socially-conscious” works. After independence, the track has remained a season favorite among Lithuanian audience.

Protagonists of the first edition of the Rock March, the Hilda Blues Band were a rare case of Lithuanian act of the time that did not sound so typically “1980s”. Firmly rooted in blues and guitar rock, they sang both in Lithuanian and English, not rarely indulging in renditions of blues standards. Arguably, the most “American” among Lithuanian bands.

With its heavily patriotic feelings, its incitement to save Lithuania, and most of all its repeated metaphor of the “holding hands”, just like in the Baltic Way, “Kokia nuostabi, Lietuva, esi” is one of the most representative songs of the Singing Revolution. Numerous versions exist of this song, but the original was written and performed by Kipras Mašanauskas, who was still attending school at the time.

With their distinctive heavy metal sound, Katedra were among the protagonists of the first edition of the Rock March. Any song in any rock genre was in principle rebellious during those days, since they represented the western way to music that Soviet authorities despised. However, in “Mes jėga” we also witness the independentist spirit of the Singing Revolution – of course through the epic tones of heavy metal: “we are a force, when our hearts beat together”.

Setting to music another poem by Justinas Marcinkevičius, singer Eurika Masytė created one of the unofficial anthems of the Independence movement, after she performed the song in 1989 with her band Antikvaras ("Antiques"). The tones of the song catch that hopeful-yet-melancholic feel that many ballads of the Singing Revolution possess.

If Katedra were the spokespersons for heavy metal in the first Rock March, Už Tėvynę acted as spokespersons for punk in the second edition. Once more, the genre alone would be enough to qualify as rebellious, but a song like "Lietuva tai - jėga" made sure that also the patriotic message would go through.

Present in the 1988 edition of the Rock March, Bix could be defined as a crossover band, sometimes referred to as “post-punk”, and mostly bearing elements from Latin music, funky and ska. After independence, their success reached out outside the Baltic area, and for some time they have been among the best known Lithuanian acts abroad. Bix are still active nowadays.

Released properly only in 2009, "Viešpaties lelija" is one of the most beloved ballads of the Singing Revolution. Author and performer Gintarė Jautakaitė had been a musical child prodigy, having won a radio song competition at age six with a song she herself wrote. After embarking in a promising singer’s career in Soviet Lithuania, she moved to US in 1982 and became an American citizen the year after. Yet, she kept on writing songs in Lithuanian and her best known repertoire dates exactly to the years of the Singing Revolution. "Viešpaties lelija" belongs to the rich group of patriotic songs written during this period.

Performed during the third edition of the Rock March, the song reflects the growing sentiment of confidence, felt by Lithuanians in 1989, that freedom was on sight. While Foje may have not been sure that this would have been achieved by their generation, they had no doubt that they “will be born tomorrow”, that is, that the quest for independence was not to cease until victorious. The song is also known as “Aš noriu būti laisvas”, after the last verse.

Written for the third edition of the Rock March (July 1989), the song sports an anthemic singalong refrain that hails to the recently-proclaimed Lithuanian sovereignty, and also some bitterly sarcastic strophes that mostly targeted the Western European countries, which, until then, had not shown great sensibility and support towards the independentist struggle of Lithuania and other Soviet states.

“Bunda jau Baltija” (The Baltics Are Waking Up) is quite a unique case of trilingual song written in Lithuanian, Latvian (with the title “Atmostas Baltija”) and Estonian (“Ärgake, Baltimaad”). Composed by Boris Reznik, and sung by three different singers (Bubelis was the Lithuanian one), it was specifically tailored for the Baltic Way, and of course meant to be sung by the participants to the event in the three countries. The song is often referred to as the “joint anthem of the Baltics”.

One of the biggest hits for the band Foje, “Laužo šviesa” is a typical example of a song that is not a protest song, but whose sentiments Lithuanians could fully relate to. When asked what the song was about, Foje leader Andrius Mamontovas answered “about loneliness and about waiting”.

Perhaps better known as "Į Lietuvą", this song acquired a special significance in relation to the so-called “Day of Mourining and Hope” on June the 14th – the day commemorating the start of the mass deportations of Lithuanians in 1941. With an album just finalized two days before, on June 14th 1989, Vilčinskas had the opportunity to premiere this song and others of his on the Lithuanian National Radio. The sentiment of returning home to Lithuania after a long time (reinforced by the melancholic and “estrada” feel of the music) was instantly relatable for thousands of Lithuanians, who reacted enthusiastically to the song and to Vilčinskas’s band Medus, making them a very popular act of the time.

This song is featured at the end of the movie „Vaikai iš Amerikos viešbučio“ (“The Children of the Hotel America”), which was released in 1990. The film depicts Kaunas in 1972 (the year when Romas Kalanta put himself on fire and died in Kaunas, as an act of protest against the Soviet regime): a group of teenagers listen to Luxembourg radio and dream about rock’n’roll and a different life, eventually becoming targets of KGB.

The Singing Revolution was not only animated by pop and folk music. Art music made its part too, and in fact it may have anticipated the phenomenon already in the 1970s, via composers like Bronius Kutavičius, Algirdas Martinaitis or Feliksas Bajoras, An example pertaining to the Singing Revolution years is Martinaitis’ “Sakmė apie šūdvabalį”, with a text written by Kristijonas Donelaitis. Martinaitis belonged to a generation called “New Romantics”, which successfully attempted to re-forge a Lithuanian artistic identity, emancipated from the canons imposed by Soviet occupation.

An example of “instant song”, this track was written and recorded literally few days after the tragic events of the January killings in 1991, offering some comfort to a country in deep mourning. Initially released on an unofficial tape compilation, “Broli, neverk!” quickly became a standard in Lithuanian pop, and was covered by numerous acts in the following years. In its original version, the song was written and recorded by a group of singers and musicians from the pop-rock scene of Šiauliai city, including Virgis Stakėnas, Saulė, Laimontas Dinius, Gytis Paškevičius and others.

Kernagis was a singer-songwriter and actor, who was one of the founders and main exponents of the “sung poetry”, the Lithuanian equivalent of the Italian cantautorato or the French chansonniers. Written before its release in 1992 on the lyrics by the poet Bernardas Brazdžionis, “Šaukiu aš tautą” captures the feelings of the newly-independent Lithuania, looking at the future with hope but also bearing the long suffering of the past that just ended.