What a load of shit.
Sammy Hagar's "I Can't Drive 55" is an "anti-nanny state" song? How do people get jobs coming up with this bullshit?
Conservatives are jealous that they can't rock out with a clean conscience to a lot of the music they grew up listening to, so some hack at Nat'l Review has to make it all okay for them. It reminds me of Christians who try to re-situate Jesus as some sort of proto-punk who'd have been down with hardcore. So they try to form Xtian hardcore punk bands that no one ever takes seriously. Why can't they be in on being cool? That seems to be the subtextual whine.
Also, trying to shoehorn some of these songs into the strictures of "pro-" and "anti-" this or that political position is just dumb. Trying to wrestle an anti-choice/anti-abortion statement out of the Sex Pistols song "Bodies" is ridiculous. Conservatives hated the Pistols. They were often banned by religious and conservative town councils in England (documented plenty of places, Filth & the Fury, for ex., etc.). Same with some of these other bands -- hated by not just ideological conservatives, but even mainstream folks when they were at their artistic peaks. Talk about historical revisionism. Now those same bands, hated by conservative forces in their heyday, are retro-actively cool? Weird. The Clash's "Rock the Casbah" -- a conservative song? Sure it is, National Review. Print the lyrics to "Spanish Bombs" in your next issue.
The writer also doesn't seem to understand -- or willfully ignores -- when a songwriter ironically assumes the voice of some fictional character. For example, the writer cites The Kinks' "20th Century Man," where Davies ironically assumes the voice of some character he's created. Davies did the same thing in "Ape Man," which could be dishonestly labeled an "anti-civilization" song. Indeed, some of the reasons given for these songs' inclusion are so tortured and disingenuous that it's painful to read.
One of the few songs that fits bill here is Metallica's "Don't Tread on Me," written during Gulf War I. That was on Metallica's sellout "black" album, when they became a monster truck band for yahoos, and quit writing stuff like "One" and "Fight Fire with Fire," both about the horrors of war. They've sucked ever since.
I had no idea Rush Limbaugh used the bass line from a Pretenders song for his show's theme. Good God. Does Chrissie Hynde know that? She should sue his ass.
-B.
mike larkin wrote:
>
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/25/arts/music/25brockweb.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all
>
> Conservative Top 50
>
> Published: May 25, 2006
> Following is National Review's list of its top 50
> conservative rock songs, with the magazine's
> explanations of its choices.
>
> 1. "Won't Get Fooled Again," by The Who.
> The conservative movement is full of disillusioned
> revolutionaries; this could be their theme song, an
> oath that swears off naive idealism once and for
all.
> "There's nothing in the streets / Looks any
different
> to me / And the slogans are replaced, by—the—bye. .
.
> . Meet the new boss / Same as the old boss." The
> instantly recognizable synthesizer intro, Pete
> Townshend's ringing guitar, Keith Moon's pounding
> drums, and Roger Daltrey's wailing vocals make this
> one of the most explosive rock anthems ever recorded
—
> the best number by a big band, and a classic for
> conservatives.