Political Anthems

Peter K. peterk at enteract.com
Mon Sep 25 12:00:42 PDT 2000



>Just interested in starting a thread on folks' favorite political anthems,
>songs with a tough political edge. Partly my interest is my newfound
diving
>into Napster-style music surfing, so I'm going to try to put together a
nice
>playlist of left political songs. So what are your favorites.
>Just to kick off a few myself, I've always like Phil Ochs' I AIN"T A
>MARCHING ANYMORE but just listened to HERE"S TO THE PEOPLE OF MISSISSIPPI,
one of the most brilliant and brutal political screeds ever sung in my
>opinion. I'd throw in Bill Bragg's WAITING FOR THE GREAT LEAP FORWARD and
>his version of the INTERNATIONALE. Joni Mitchell's PAVED OVER PARADISE
is
>one of the best environmental songs, while Aretha's R-E-S-P-E-C-T is an
>anthem unto itself.
>
>So....?
>
>-- Nathan Newman

Off the top of my head (and I don't know if these are necessarily "anthems" and I know I'm criminally forgetting some)

One of my favorite bands (no longer in existence, alas), Uncle Tupelo, has a song "Coalminers" on their _March 16-20, 1992_ album. It ends with the catchy line: "Let's sink this capitalist system to the darkest pits of hell."


>From my youth, Peter Gabriel's "Biko" off a self-titled album.
"You can blow out a candle, / but you can't blow out a fire / once the flame begins to catch / the wind will blow it higher"

Public Enemy's "Fight the Power" off of _Fear of a Black Planet_ and "Can't Truss It" from _Apocalypse 91 ... the Enemy Strikes Black_ ; Chumbawamba's "Tubthumping" from _Tupthumper_; lo-fidelity Allstars' "Battle Flag" from _How to Operate with a Blown Mind_; The Clash; Marxman's _33 Revolutions per Minute_; Rancid's "Harry Bridges" from _Let's Go_; Stereolab's "French Disko" off of _Refried Ectoplasm [Switched On Volume 2]_; Linton Kwesi Johnson's "Mi Revalueshanary Fren" from _Tings an' Times_; Smashmouth's "Walkin' on the Sun" from _Fush Yu Mang_.

For those who'd scoff at my limited knowledge and taste, Cake's "Rock 'N' Roll Lifestyle" from _Motorcade of Generosity_ (a truly great album): "And how long will workers keep building him new ones? / As long as their soda cans are red, white and blue ones."

[oh and Nathan, I recently chatted with an ex-girlfriend who's working on the Gore campaign in Illinois and she relayed how she had thought of me when she saw and skimmed Cockburn and Silverstein's _Al Gore: A User's Manual_ at the bookstore. she thought some of it rang true but really, really doesn't want Bush in the White House. She told how on Tipper's B-day, the vice president and Tipper were both very, very drunk and didn't touch the cake some small-town baker lady spent the whole day creating. Gotta watch that figure! ;>) ]

Peter



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