Political Music

faceless · admin Joined: 25 Apr 2006

If you know any good political music from any era or style then I reckon it would make an interesting thread. This comes after the Bob Dylan theme to last week's show and a general interest...

The first tune that ever made me think about larger matters was Imagine - probably because we had to study the lyric as part of an English class at school. I remember the teacher actually having a tear in her eye as she explained how it had affected her (it was a few months after he had been shot).

Download

popinjay · Joined: 02 Jan 2007

Imagine is a nice song, it never upset me though. "Look Into My Eyes" by Outlandish came close when I first heard it. It's a song about Palestine. The video is shit, but the song is good.

nekokate · Joined: 13 Dec 2006 Location: West Yorkshire, UK

I posted Tom Waits's "Road To Peace" in this forum a while back. That really impressed me.

major.tom · Posted: Sat Jun 02, 2007 12:47 am Post subject:

I always liked Blue Sky Mine by Midnight Oil. There's a line in there that almost brings a tear to my eye: "nothing's as precious as a hole in the ground."

Fortunate Son (CCR) and Invisible Sun (The Police) also rank high in my opinion.

...and the entire album of The Wall (Pink Floyd) -- once I saw the movie and realized what the hell it was all about. Until then, I had trouble realizing it was a single narrative.

Colston · Joined: 23 Jan 2007

Freak Out! by The Mothers Of Invention, 2LP, Verve, June 27, 1966 begins with...

Mister America
Walk on by
Your schools that do not teach
Mister America
Walk on by
The minds that won't be reached
Mister America
Try to hide
The emptiness that's you inside
When once you find that the way you lied
And all the corny tricks you tried
Will not forestall the rising tide of
Hungry freaks, Daddy . . .

the rest

Bat · Joined: 30 Apr 2006 Location: Top of the Northern line.

Billy Bragg - I think his stuff is a bit political Smile

Colston · Joined: 23 Jan 2007

Jello Biafra is also a STAR.

In a collaboration with D.O.A. on "Last Scream of the Missing Neighbors" from 1989 he sang a little ditty entitled Full Metal Jackoff...

Around our nation's capital
There's a freeway 8 lanes wide
White concrete ringed around the city
For those who want inside
Get on get off
Ignore everything to the sides
In your midst I drive
While homeboys in the back of the van make drugs

Wanna hide something like a ccrack lab
Just put it in plain sight
Only stop to refuel and unload
More poison to tear more lives apart
Gang wars like never before
Better lock your doors, buy some guns
And pray (prey?) for martial law

the rest

faceless · admin Joined: 25 Apr 2006

colston, I'm gonna edit those down a bit -

Colston · Joined: 23 Jan 2007

CRASS are also a favourite...

They're always there high in the skies...
Nagasaki nightmare, Nagasaki nightmare
Pretty as a picture in the generals' eyes
Nagasaki nightmare, Nagasaki nightmare
They've done it once, they'll do it again
They'll shower us all in their deadly rain
Nagasaki nightmare, Nagasaki nightmare
Nagasaki nightmare, Nagasaki nightmare
Nagasaki nightmare, Nagasaki nightmare

Fishing children fish in the Imperial Waters
Nagasaki nightmare, Nagasaki nightmare
Sons and lovers, lovers and daughters
Nagasaki nightmare, Nagasaki nightmare
Cherry Blossom hanging on the cherry blossom tree
Flash, blinding flash, then there's nothing to see
Nagasaki nightmare, Nagasaki nightmare
Nagasaki nightmare, Nagasaki nightmare
Nagasaki nightmare, Nagasaki nightmare

Colston · Joined: 23 Jan 2007

Colston · Joined: 23 Jan 2007

..and Dylan... an anti boxing tirade.

Who killed Davey Moore,
Why an' what's the reason for?

"Not me," says the boxing writer,
Pounding print on his old typewriter,
Sayin', "Boxing ain't to blame,
There's just as much danger in a football game."
Sayin', "Fist fighting is here to stay,
It's just the old American way.
It wasn't me that made him fall.
No, you can't blame me at all."

See here...

popinjay · Joined: 02 Jan 2007

DavidGig · Joined: 12 Dec 2006 Location: Kansas, U.S.A.

As he reminded us last year, Neil Young has always had a political side. This is from 1986--
http://www.neilyoung.com/lwwtoday/lwwvideos/longwalkhome_wm.html

mickyv · Joined: 12 Dec 2006

There's a free download of a single called "Guantanamo Bay" at this Site;

http://www.cotrmusic.com/%28S%28uvue02atkpiq2kev4tsyib55%29%29/Default.aspx

Also Steve Earle's brilliant song about the "American Taliban", called "John Walker's Blues", but not sure where you can find it now.