"This Machine Kills Fascists": The 15 Best Anti-Fascist Songs

[Initech]

Everything old is new again, as songs about fascism, dictators, Nazis, government-sanctioned oppression and racially-motivated violence are frustratingly relevant. This administration, among countless other missteps and failures, has repeatedly found it difficult to condemn Nazis and the KKK by name (on the first attempt) with any shred of conviction (on the second attempt) or to the full extent of any heinous actions and ideologies spread (if we can even call that one a third attempt). As violent Nazis, unhooded klansmen, flag-waving neo-Confederates, anti-Semitic white nationalists and armed militias openly walked the streets of Charlottesville, Va., during the recent “Unite the Right” rally, it’s more important than ever to find inspiration, education and motivation in the calls to action of songs that champion anti-fascist ideals and values.

To help the president and his administration find the right words and actions for the next (inevitable) opportunity to call out (and do something about) fascism in its various incarnations (including those found within their own ranks), here are 15 anti-fascist anthems from some of our most important and influential musicians.

15. Elvis Costello, “Night Rally”
With the very first line of his very first single (“Calling Mr. Oswald with the swastika tattoo” from 1977’s “Less Than Zero”), Elvis Costello let everyone know he was comfortable trafficking in outspoken anti-fascist themes. It’s been a theme he’s often returned to throughout his songwriting catalog—in both literal and metaphorical employment—but the closing track to his sophomore album This Year’s Model feels the most immediately relevant in light of the recent “Unite the Right”white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va. Scenes of angry white supremacists holding Tiki torches and shouting racist epithets under cover of night on the University of Virginia campus seems to bring Costello’s “Night Rally” directly into the present day again. Originally bringing to mind the secret meetings of the KKK, Nazis, and other fascist hate groups, “Night Rally” has become scarily relevant again as we don’t have to look very far to see evidence of those “singing with their hand on their heart about deeds done in the darkest hours.” Costello’s song also serves as a warning to those who may too quickly dismiss the threat and find themselves unwittingly falling in with the wrong crowd: “You think they’re so dumb / You think they’re so funny. / Wait until they’ve got you running to the night rally.”

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3. Dead Kennedys, “Nazi Punks Fuck Off”
After the release of their debut album Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables in 1980, Dead Kennedys frontman Jello Biafra noticed that much of his lyrical satire was being taken literally as an influx of neo-Nazis started infiltrating their shows. Incredibly incensed by this unanticipated and unwelcome turn of events, his direct response was to write the song “Nazi Punks Fuck Off,” release it as the lead single for their follow-up album In God We Trust, Inc., and include a free armband in the 7” single that featured a crossed-out swastika (a symbol which was also used on the vinyl’s label sticker). While many of the verse’s lyrics are specific to the anti-Nazi movement within the early punk subculture, the song’s simple chorus (“Nazi punks, Nazi punks, Nazi punks, FUCK OFF!”) is a cathartic refrain whose evergreen employment never falls out of use.

https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2017/08/the-15-best-anti-fascist-songs.html

Great list! I will listen to every one of these!