political music

[brake_and_bleed]

ok, im going to try and ship off my college work onto other people...
for my english language investigation, i have chose to analyse and compare political songs from the 1950 [1960's,70's,80's,90's] to the present day.
comparing lyrics, reasoning and issues.

i already have a wee list, but i need A LOT.

cheers,
lots of love,
paul

[Changleen]

I'll start you off:

http://www.ironsheik.biz/

You can download most of his stuff there as well.

[ummbikes]

I would dig into Country music. It can be very political.

The Dixie Chicks are politically active for the Democrats here in America, there newest album is very political, but you will really have to dig into the lyrics find the political context.

On the neo-con front Toby Keith is very political.

Both the 'Chicks and Keith have songs about soldiers, it would be fun to compare and contrast what messages they atempting to sell.

[brake_and_bleed]

[quote] I would dig into Country music. It can be very political. [/quote

ive been looking at dylan [masters of war], and billy bragg [price of oil]

im thinking neil young and johnny cash too, but i cant pick a song!!

[chamber_gurl]

the possibilty is endless!!! but dont jsut stick to the punk side of things cuz thats wot peole wud guess from u!! Politics rules everything!! (which is kinda sad in a way) and ur gunna find it anywhere really!!
try playing girls aloud "sound of the undergorund" backward-
revealing the subliminal msg of "sign up for the Labour party, it's free and we gunna DESTROY, sign up mother f*ckers"

i dnt thinkt his post was very helpful!

[brake_and_bleed]

i dont wanna play anything backwards...
its about simple analysis of grammer and lexis, syntax and all thats crazy stuff!

what makes you think i would just stick to the punk side too?

cheers though,
paul

[TheInedibleHulk]

Dylan, Cash, and Neil Young are all good choices for sure. Bob Marley, Bruce Springstien, Jackson Browne (Hardcore 80s), Tracy Chapman, U2, Pink Floyd, and Steve Earle all come to mind as well. Good luck.

[brake_and_bleed]

thats good, some artists i hadnt thought about there, but make it easier for me, specific songs if thats possible!:D

[TheInedibleHulk]

U2- Mothers of the Dissapeared, Sunday Bloody Sunday, Bullet the Blue Sky
Tracy Chapman- Across the Lines
Marley- Buffalo Soldier, Exodus.... there's more, I dont have much Marley
Bruce Springstein- Born in the USA, My Hometown
Jackson Browne- Lives in the Balance
Pink Floyd- The Wall- whole album
Steve Earle- John Walker's Blues, Jerusalem, Amerika V6.0

If nothing else do steve earle, he's awesome.

[-dustin]

Anti-Flag strikes me as rather political.

[ummbikes]

I would also pay close attention to songs that help shape, or reflect the attitudes of the people during a specific era. While most of these songs will not be overtly political they do play a role in determining where a society is headed, and where it is arriving from.

A few quick examples:

Hotel Califorina by the Eagles.
Material Girl by Madonna.
Hey Ya by Outkast.

These songs all were pop hits that really were much more than just a mere song. While not polemics like Dylan, Biaffra, and De la Racha pen they all are rather scathing observations about the society at that time.

[Silver]

Bad Religion (Look up the lyrics to "American Jesus", it's scary...) and NOFX, in a sometimes comic way.

[chicodude]

Greenday

Operation Ivy

And NOFX, as silver said

[B_A_MTBIKER]

Rage Against The Machine- Bulls on Parade
And most all of their other tunes.

[JRogers]

Others have already mentioned most of what I would suggest- U2, Dylan, Rage Against the Machine.

Not sure what qualifies as "political" but you might want to look at The Beastie Boys (especially newer stuff) and the Dope Poets Society (Canadian rap group). Also, Metallica might work (For Whom the Bell Tolls, ...And Justice For All, Ride the Lightning, One and others).

[stevew]

minutemen "If Reagan played Disco"
minutemen "Joe McCarthy's Ghost"
minutemen "Vietnam"

Buy any minutemen record.

[fluff]

A few additions off the top of my head:

The Levellers, The Clash, Tom Robinson, Midnight Oil.

[Changleen]

Gah - I can't believe no one's done Iron Maiden - Run to the Hills.

[fluff]

Gah - I can't believe no one's done Iron Maiden - Run to the Hills.
Or Abba - Mama Mia

[preppie]

Biafra was mentioned, so this came to mind :

- The dead kennedys
- Nomeansno
- Ministry
- LARD
- Johny Cash
- Talking heads
- Elliot Smith (some)
- ..

[narlus]

circle jerks - paid vacation
the pop group - we are all prostitutes
the soft boys - i wanna destroy you

[ska todd]

Aside from some of the obvious, I'll chuck in my suggestions here...

Since I am "ska todd"...
-The Specials..."Ghost Town", "Nelson Mandella"
-The Slackers..."War Criminal" EP

Also check out Conor Oberst. He fronts two bands; Desaparecidos & Bright Eyes. Desaparecidos' "Read Music, Speak Spanish" is pretty politically charged, especially in regards to American consumerism. Some of his Bright Eyes work is pretty political too.

Check out "Let's Not $hit Ourselves (To Love and To Be Loved)" on Bright Eyes' "Lifted (The Story is in the Soil Keep Your Ear to the Ground) disc. His song "One Foot in Front of the Other" from the Saddle Creek "50" comp was released right before the Iraq invasion and is overtly anti-war. It's a great piece to hear, even better hearing it performed live right before the invasion went down.

What else can I add? Ani DiFranco perhaps? Punk-folk often with a good political/feminist charge.

I'll try to think of more and maybe edit the post some.

-ska todd

[fluff]

Early UB40 (first two albums) for some 70's non-punk political choons.

[syadasti]

Some modern industrial groups with political commentary - Front 242, Front Line Assembly, VNV Nation

[BigHit-Maniac]

Greenday's "American Idiot" album comes to mind :thumb:

[B_A_MTBIKER]

Spearhead - Oh my God

[narlus]

the clash "spanish bombs"
neil young "revolution blues" (great song, by the way)
mekons "never been in a riot" (a pisstake at the clashs's "white riot")

[brake_and_bleed]

right cheers all,
got my songs sorted with you help :)

[N8]

Anything by The New Kids on the Block....

[Fathead]

Maybe a little late, but don't forget, and in no particular order:

Pete Tosh (anything - can't have reggae that's not about either politics or luvin')
Timbuk3 (at least half their songs)
Butthole Surfers (something about shooting the Pope?)
Black Sabbath (War Pigs)
Jimi Hendrix (like Tosh, any of the songs that weren't about gettin' it on)

[Btyler311]

Just before the elections I saw Queen's Reich and they did the whole Op Mindcrime thing song for song with video and live actors in front of it (Very cool when a real actor put a gun in their mouth and the gore splattered all over the screen in video)and it all kept being brought back to the bush admin with Revolution etc. The Artists kept reitifying "its time for revolution" etc. We are being controlled blah blah...

Then a week later we saw Sting and he was much more subtle with the song Fragile the video in the background was a continuous slow mo photo neg of bombs dropping as if seen from the plane, then near the end the perspective swung away to show the planes flying over oil wells.

Thats a good topic, a lot of interesting imagery used but you might need to pick a genre to narrow it down or just compare the political ovetones in X's work then vrs Y's work now and show how each ties into current popular culture etc. If you let it stray to too broad an aea for each time period you'll never be able to pin it down and get it done.

G'Luck!

Ty

[narlus]

Gate's _the dew line_ is a very political record, and it's an instrumental (i think; been a while since i listened to michael morley's sheets of guitar noise). he's got an lp called _amerika_ too.

[narlus]

speaking of instrumental lps, frank zappas _jazz from hell_ earned a Parental Warning sticker, even though it was all instrumental. :rolleyes: i think that's one of the reasons he testified before congress @ the PRMC hearings.

[Silver]

(Very cool when a real actor put a gun in their mouth and the gore splattered all over the screen in video)

Ty

That stopped being cool for me when I saw the Bud Dwyer thing...

[bohica]

If you like heavier type music, try Pro Pain

[mr.terrible]

Rammstein-Amerika
Quite obvious... but that's a pretty new song. Google for the full lyrics in english.

[Btyler311]

Silver,

I don't mean cool for the gore factor but in the way they tied the video so directly to the live actors.

I wonder if the music of the late 30's had any useable political overtones or if it was pretty much just big band stuff.

Ty

[Fathead]

speaking of instrumental lps, frank zappas _jazz from hell_ earned a Parental Warning sticker, even though it was all instrumental. :rolleyes: i think that's one of the reasons he testified before congress @ the PRMC hearings.

Btyler: even earlier than the early 30s, the "new music" (mostly jazz and be-bop) had political meaning. . . flappers, suffragettes, minorities, anti-prohibitionists. Of course, when women and booze are salient political issues, music will necessarily be political.

Narlus: Instrumental music can definitely make a political statement. Trace the "infiltration" of jazz through our culture: embraced by minorities, outlaws, and "beats"; shunned by religious conservatives and law enforcement. Even much of early rock was banned or discouraged because of its "suggestive" or "uncivilized" (read: we're scared of colored folks) instrumental content (the beat, the guitar emphasis), not just its lyrics.

Similarly, but centuries back, certain classical composers made political statements by defying convention in their music. Innovative form, novel instrumentation, opera in the "wrong" language (politically), were all used as statements. This was especially relevant when composers were government-supported.

Going from the subtle to the obvious, I don't think I've seen Public Enemy in this thread yet.

[narlus]

That stopped being cool for me when I saw the Bud Dwyer thing...

didn't rapeman name their _Budd_ EP after that incident?

[BigMike]

YOU MUST check out Immortal Technique. May I suggest the song "The Cause of Death"
Also, I dont know if it counts as music, its more spoken word, but "The poverty of philosophy"

(you can find most of his stuff @ suprnova.org)

[gschuette]

Bob Dylan Hurricane

[The Kadvang]

Anti-Flag... name says it all... good stuff.

[HarryCallahan]

Check out James McMurty's new single "We can't make it here any more". You can download it from his website, which is www.jamesmcmurtry.com

Steve Earle "Copperhead Road"

Johnny Cash "Drive On"

A big chunk of Woody Guthry's catalog

Log on to KPIG radio www.kpig.com and give it a listen. So many artists that mainstream radio never plays

[Zark]

Corrosion of Conformity, Blind.
Best song ever on that album? Vote with a Bullet

Sacred Reich, American Way

[RhinofromWA]

Have you forgotten - Darryl Worelly (Spelling?)
Awfull beautiful life -(not sure if that is the title) Darryl W

Angry American - Toby Keith (he has some non-aired songs that might be worthy of attention look to his last two albums)

Traveling Soldier - Dixie chicks

I am sure there are lots but I am not the best source. These would all be current songs and influenced by the last decade or so. Some may not be full length political statements but there is a statement in there.

[narlus]

how could i forget these"

patti smith - "rock and roll nigger" and "piss factory"

stone cold classics.

[altix]

Against Me!, Dead Kennedys, Dropkick Murphys, Hit The Switch, Justin Sane/Anti-Flag, Strike Anywhere, Midnight Oil, Pearl Jam, Propagandhi, R.E.M, Rage Against The Machine, Rise Against, The Sex Pistols, The Clash, Bad Religion, Sick of It All, The Unseen

=]

[narlus]

xtc - dear god

[Silver]

And the thread comes back from the dead. Took a little longer than Jesus though...

[stevew]

minutemen
"dream told by moto"
"when those bombs start falling on the first day of
world war three, I'm gonna grab me a girl
and go and **** her, yeah-yeah world
war three".

"no parade"
having to fight
having to kill
having to see blood to spill
so this is what it's all about
it's not john wayne in a movie
there are no parades fr these heroes
and all i line up are the widows
war is real
when death is made with steel
i don't want to see it
i can't believe in it

"the punch line"
I believe when they found the body of general george a.
custer quilled like a porcupine with indian arrows, he didn't
die with any honor, any dignity, nor any valor.
I wouldn't doubt when they found george a. custer
an american general patriot and
indian fighter, he died with **** in his pants.

"just another soldier"
Over 300 dead,we still got pride
We've lost all our morals,we still got pride
Should we fight this war in some far corner of the globe
And learn how to die for some unjust cause

Is this our future?
Ashes are all that remain
It's easy when you got pride

How much pride does a dead soldier got?
His life so short,no chance to even start

The ones he left behind
The world he'll never see
But no one could deny that the soldier died with pride.

"king of the hill"
what is peace
to the people
who work the land
and die in wars?
it was learned in a game
that was played by us all
who held the top of the hill
from the rest was called the king
and I can't believe it all
was good for humankind
is it peace
to point the guns?
is it war
to fire the guns?
we would run with all of our might
push the king off to take the hill
and to learn who was king
and who makes the better serf
I can't believe it all
was good for humankind
and i have to read the lies
between the lines
believe in this
we are part
of a whole we call the earth
and i have to read the lies
between the lines

"courage"
Where's your courage?
Are you afraid to die?
Are you happy that God is on your side?

I wrote this song in a story of men who died for glory

Where's your courage?
Do you think you're alone?
Are you laughing for being blind and pure?

I wrote this song in a story of men who died for glory

Where's your courage?
Do you share all you have?
Are you hiding from something you dont know?

Where's your courage?

"the cheerleaders"
we'll talk some reason
we could look at the past
will the nation grow?
prosperity may last
can we look
at the problems ahead?
with our heads in the sand
we might as well be dead
cheer him on
the leader of the team
he'll push on through
at all cost to win
but are we free
to think for ourselves
or doomed
to repeat our mistakes?
when you hear them and call your name
can you count the lives they will take?
do you have to see the body bags
before you make a stand?
the cheerleaders
call our their names
on the sidelines
they can feel the players sweat
and i wonder
what it is they see?
all the rallies
will never set them free
can you hear them
call your name?
can you count the lives
they will take?
do you have to see the body bags
come off the plane
just a little bit
just a little bit
just a little bit too late
can you hear them
call your name?
can you count the lives
they will take?
do you have to see the body bags
before you make a stand?
can you hear them
just a little bit
just a little bit too late

"political nightmare"

Someone's doing something
Confusion
Another invasion?
Sympathize with who?

Someone killed somebody
Confusion
Did anyone gain?
How much did it cost?

Woke up screaming
Someone changed sides
Everyone was dying

One too many votes...Satan won

zach dela rocha can eat sh!t and die

[MikeD]

- Talking heads
- ..

Interesting choice...I always found Byrne to be sort of cooly a-political and celebratory of mass culture. I mean, even "Don't Worry About the Government" is about being a-political and part of the mass culture and government that sustains it. You could make a point about it being thusly subversive, but I think Bryne is pretty detached, and there's as much of a case of it being sincere or merely observational...

And "Nothing But Flowers" isn't at all about paradise...it's about a misguided idea of paradise that we really wouldn't want in the end anyhow, and I think it's not subversive at all...merely ironic/cynical in its presentation of a post-consumer world.

I think you should look at Steve Earle if you're talking country, too, btw...

MD



EDIT: AHHH DON'T FEED THE ZOMMBBBIIEEEE THREAD!!!

[Silver]

There's always Bruce Cockburn as well...

BRAINS....BRAINS....

[rockwool]

Here's Neil Young's "Let's impeach the President" (haven't read the whole thread so I don't know if this been posted already).

http://www.ridemonkey.com/forums/showthread.php?t=173097&highlight=neil+young