Jen has asked for suggestions for a political-motivation mix CD she’s calling “Swing Arizona Blue.” This post started out as a comment for her blog, but became way to long and wound up here.
First of all, stay away from depressing music. You want passionate, heart-lifting tunes and adrenaline-pumping rock ’n roll. You don’t want to be made sad, you want to be made mad and motivated.
Credence Clearwater Revival’s “Fortunate Son” springs to mind, descriptive as it is of our current “leader”:
Some folks are born made to wave the flag,
ooh, they’re red, white and blue.
And when the band plays “Hail To The Chief”,
oh, they point the cannon at you, Lord,
CHORUS:
It ain’t me, it ain’t me,
I ain’t no senator’s son,
It ain’t me, it ain’t me,
I ain’t no fortunate one, no,
Some folks are born silver spoon in hand,
Lord, don’t they help themselves, oh.
But when the taxman come to the door,
Lord, the house look a like a rummage sale, yes,
CHORUS
Yeh, some folks inherit star spangled eyes,
ooh, they send you down to war, Lord,
And when you ask them, how much should we give,
oh, they only answer, more, more, more, yoh,
CHORUS x 2
There’s also CCR’s “Commotion.” In part:
People keep atalkin’, they don’t say a word.
Jaw, jaw, jaw, jaw, jaw.
Talk up in the White House, talk up to your door,
So much goin’ on I just can’t hear.
CHORUS:
Com, commotion,
Git, git, git, gone.
Com, commotion,
Git, git, git, gone.
Both of those can be found on the Credence Clearwater Revival boxed set and on the less pricy Chronicle Vol. 1: The 20 Greatest Hits. John Fogerty, former lead singer of CCR, has released a new album called Deja Vu All Over Again. The title song relates how much the war in Iraq reminds him of Vietnam:
Did you hear ‘em talkin’ ’bout it on the radio
Did you try to read the writing on the wall
Did that voice inside you say I’ve heard it all before
It’s like Deja Vu all over again
Day by day I hear the voices rising
Started with a whisper like it did before
Day by day we count the dead and dying
Ship the bodies home while the networks all keep score
And those who know me know how I feel about Pearl Jam — the last great protest rockers of our time. Some of the usual suspects from their catalog:
- “Glorified G” (Vs.) — A sarcastic anti-gun song. “Got a gun, fact I got two / That’s ok man, ’cause i love God!” Also contains the great line “Don’t think, dumb is strength.”
- “Bu$hleaguer” (Riot Act) — An anti-Bush spoken-word piece that got Eddie Vedder viciously booed when he performed it in a W mask, then took the mask off and stomped on it onstage.
- “Porch” (Ten) — A classic fast-paced ’90s rocker with political overtones. “All the bills go by, and / Initiatives are taken up / By the middle / There ain’t gonna be any middle any more. / And the cross i’m bearing home / Ain’t indicative of my place. / Left the porch… / Left the porch…” A great activism song if ever their was one. Vedder caused a fuss during the MTV Unplugged performance of this song by standing atop his wooden stool, doubling over, and scrawling “PRO CHOICE” on his forearm in black magic marker during the bridge.
- “Whipping” (Vitalogy) — A blistering punk-influenced indictment of powerful leaders for their attempts to bend the world to their conservative ideologies.
- “Do the Evolution” (Yield) — One of my all time favorites. This rip-snorting screed about the state of the world is insightful, yet almost hilariously over the top. All politically passionate individuals have had those moments of enraged astounded cathartic screaming hyperbole, and this is Vedder’s. Tod McFarlane, of Spawn and Sandman fame, directed an amazing and disturbing animated music video.
Other suggestions: early U2 — some great political anthems there — as well as R.E.M.’s “Finest Worksong” ( Singles Collected, Document) and “Stand” (Green).
Update: I just thought of a couple more…
(added by Adam on 8/26/2005)
