Songs As Weapons

[mdmc]

Poll question: Songs As Weapons

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=99761042
by Saul Williams for NPR Music
NPR.org, April 3, 2009 - Political music is most commonly thought of in terms of lyricism: artists saying something. Yet in my mind, the most powerful political voices are those with a different way of seeing and processing the world and the sounds that emanate from it. These artists pay particular attention to the soundscapes they shape to suit their words, in some cases even creating new categories of genre to describe the sound and the political fervor within it.

These are five of my favorite "political" songs; those in which the music that houses the lyrics excites me the most.






__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
you can listen to the songs at the npr page linked above

Any other suggestions for the top five list? for me - Calinfornia, Uber Alles remix by the Dead Kennedys / War Pigs by Black Sabbath / all of Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger's cannon.

[HereSince1628]

1. Don't forget Malvina Reynolds. n/t

[mdmc]

28. I love that one song

Little boxes... I've heard Pete Seeger sing it a few times..

[90-percent]

2. minor suggestion

"Trouble Comin every Day" by the original Mothers of Invention on their first album; Freak Out.

Eve of Destruction?

Dylan 1962 to 1967?

Revolution by the Beatles?

Chicago by CSNY?

-90% jimmy

[rucky]

3. Billy Bragg

All You Fascists

[Fumesucker]

4. Brothers In Arms

-Dire Straits

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5JkHBC5lDs

These mist covered mountains
Are a home now for me
But my home is the lowlands
And always will be
Some day you'll return to
Your valleys and your farms
And you'll no longer burn
To be brothers in arms

Through these fields of destruction
Baptisms of fire
Ive watched all your suffering
As the battles raged higher
And though they did hurt me so bad
In the fear and alarm
You did not desert me
My brothers in arms

Theres so many different worlds
So many different suns
And we have just one world
But we live in different ones

Now the suns gone to hell
And the moons riding high
Let me bid you farewell
Every man has to die
But its written in the starlight
And every line on your palm
We're fools to make war
On our brothers in arms

[RandomThoughts]

6. One of the greatest songs.

was on my traveling tape, I listened to that album for many long days driving.

Try this one out, with just a little interpretation it says alot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SEULZIHru0

[Fumesucker]

14. Nice...

Here is a good cover of Dire Strait's "Iron Hand"..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hcq6-d9SgSQ

We haven't changed since ancient times.

[RandomThoughts]

27. Two more from Dire Straits

Down to the Waterline
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViQHS7qswRM

Sweet surrender on the quayside
You remember we used to run and hide
In the shadow of the cargoes I take you one time
And were counting all the numbers down to the waterline

Near misses on the dogleap stairways
French kisses in the darkened doorways
A foghorn blowing out wild and cold
A policeman shines a light upon my shoulder

Up comes a coaster fast and silent in the night
Over my shoulder all you can see are the pilot lights
No money in our jackets and our jeans are torn
Your hands are cold but your lips are warm

She can see him on the jetty where they used to go
She can feel him in the places where the sailors go
When shes walking by the river and the railway line
She can still hear him whisper
Lets go down to the waterline

Ride Across the River
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4hHfCMh-G-s

Im a soldier of freedom in the army of man
We are the chosen, were the partisan
The cause it is noble and the cause it is just
We are ready to pay with our lives if we must

Gonna ride across the river deep and wide
Ride across the river to the other side

.

Im a soldier of fortune, Im a dog of war
And we dont give a damn who the killing is for
Its the same old story with a different name
Death or glory, its the killing game

Gonna ride across the river deep and wide
Ride across the river to the other side

.

Nothing gonna stop them as the day follows the night
Right becomes wrong, the left becomes the right
And they sing as they march with their flags unfurled
Today in the mountains, tomorrow the world

Gonna ride across the river deep and wide
Ride across the river to the other side

[RandomThoughts]

5. personally I don't like the thread title.

A weapon implies violence or attack, or hostility.

How about

songs as forms of thought communication.

or

Songs to inspire thought

or

Songs to convey a point of view not in power.

However one of those titles seems a bit violent, I bet they didn't get nightly TV coverage with that kind of harsh message, and they probably shouldn't. Or maybe coffin is a metaphor for zombies, or dead in spirit, or something else. :shrug: don't know.

TV celebrates citizen on citizen violence, and violence against those labeled as enemies like in that show 24, or violence for the sake of violence in horror films. I wonder if they would ever put on a show like CSI, or Law and Order, or Jerry Springer, where all the people hurt in the show were establishment types? I wouldn't watch it, but I don't watch those other shows either.

[mdmc]

8. knowledge is a weapon against ignorance..

I got the title from the title of the article.. if you click on the link.. perhaps the use of "tool" would have been more productive..
thank God you and I don't watch those kind of tv shows you describe in your reply..

[RandomThoughts]

12. With all the gun talk lately, I think I reacted to weapon with bad interpretation.

I should just ignore that stuff. You are right, knowledge helps people in many ways, in that it might be said it is a weapon.

and Yes,

Thank God

:)

[Bluenorthwest]

23. For what it's worth...Woody's guitar has a slogan on it

It said "This machine kills facsists"...killing them softly, of course, with his song.

[mdmc]

26. kick

for solidarity

[zeemike]

7. Well I picked the 60s and 70s because i am an old fart

And am not really up on todays music. but i am sure there are a number of great songs out there.
but to chose just one I would have to say "Blowing in the wind" because it goes to the basic reason we are always at war and have so much conflict.
In some ways that song was the beginning of social consciousness, not that there were none before it but that it's message was simple and well accepted.

[zipplewrath]

18. Yup

Probably no more influential song than "blowin' in the wind". A bit like "change" it was a very maluable thought that helped anyone express an idea.

Other nominees would be:

We Shall Overcome

Amazing Grace

Ohio

Love the One Your With

This Land is Your Land (listen to all the verses some time, it's a very liberal/progressive/socialist/communistic song).

Truth is, there is a long tradition of folk/popular songs over the decades that were powerful in their time. The union movement had many. There were also "code" songs from the early days of radio that expressed "forbidden" ideas, and occasionally got banned. Listen to "Jack and Jill" some time by Glenn Miller and reflect on the fact that this song was banned. The Chad Mitchell Trio virtually made a career out of several songs including "Barry's boys" about Goldwater, not to mention "The John Birch Society". Today, I suspect the significance of Peter Paul and Mary's "I did rock and Roll Music" is lost, but it was a form of a protest at the time. The Smothers Brothers virtually had a career of politically loaded songs.

I have to admit to a certain frustration over the last 8 years to the existence of widely popular protest songs. There was no "anthem" for the progressives during the Bush years. I'm sure there were songs here and there by various artists, but nothing that really grabbed people, even in a "Blowin' in the Wind" sense.

[annabanana]

9. By Phil Ochs

What Are You Fighting For

Oh you tell me that there's danger to the land you call your own
And you watch them build the war machine right beside your home
And you tell me that you're ready to go marchin' to the war
I know you're set for fighting, but what are you fighting for?

Before you pack your rifle and sail across the sea
Just think upon the Southern part of the land that you call free
Oh, there's many kinds of slavery and we've found many more
I know you're set for fightin', but what are you fighting for?

And before you walk out on your job in answer to the call
Just think about the millions who have no job at all
And the men who wait for handouts with their eyes upon the floor
Oh I know you're set for fighting, but what are you fighting for?


Turn on your TV, turn it on so loud
And watch the fool a smiling there and tell me that you're proud
And listen to your radio, the noise it starts to pour
Oh I know you're set for fighting, but what are you fighting for?

Read your morning papers, read every single line
And tell me if you can believe that simple world you find
Read every slanted word till your eyes are getting sore,
I know you're set for fighting, but what are you fighting for?

And listen to your leaders, the ones who won the race
As they stand right there before you and lie into your face
If you ever try to buy them, you know what they stand for
I know you're set for fighting, but what are you fighting for?

Put ragged clothes upon your back and sleep upon the ground,
And tell police about your rights as they drag you down,
And ask them as they lead you to some deserted door,
Yes, I know you're set for fightin', but what are you fightin' for?

But the hardest thing I'll ask you, if you will only try
Is take your children by their hands and look into their eyes
And there you'll see the answer you should have seen before
If you'll win the wars at home, there'll be no fighting anymore

And MANY MANY more
http://web.cecs.pdx.edu/~trent/ochs/lyrics.html

[datasuspect]

10. "Machine Gun" by Jimi Hendrix

"i'll pick my axe and fight like a farmer"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVvtIS2YGVI

[H2O Man]

13. Also by Hendrix:

House Burning Down

(This was his call for peaceful change in the wake of MKL's murder.)

[HarveyDarkey]

11. Michael Franti : Yell Fire

A revolution never come with a warning
A revolution never sends you an omen
A revolution just arrived like the morning
Ring the alarm, we come to wake up the snoring

They tellin' you to never worry about the future
They tellin' you to never worry about the torture
They tellin you that you'll never see the horror
Spend it all today and we will bill you tomorrow
Three piece suits and bank accounts in Bahamas
Wall street crime will never send you to the slammer
Tell all the children in the arms of their mommas
The F-15 is a homicide bomber
TV commercials for a popping pill culture
Drug companies circling like a vulture
An Iraqi babies with a G.I. Joe father
Ten years from now is anyboby gonna bother

Yell Fire, yo, yo, yo
Here we come, here we come
Yell Fire, yo, yo, yo
Revolution a comin'
Yell Fire, yo, yo, yo
Put em up, Put em up
Yell Fire, yo, yo, yo
A revolution never come with a warning
A revolution never sends you an omen
A revolution

Everyone addicted to the same nicotine
Everyone addicted to the same gasoline
Everyone addicted to a technicolour scream
Everybody trying to get their hands on same green
From the banks of the river to the banks of the greedy
All of the riches taken back by needy
We come from the country and we come from the city
You play us on the record, you can play us on the CD
All the shit you given us is fertilizer
The seeds that we planted you can brutalize them
Tell the corporation you can never globalize you
Like Peter Toss said "Legalize It"
Girls and boys hear the bass and treble
Rumble in the speakers and it make you wanna rebel
Throw your hands up, take it to another level
And you can never, ever, ever make a deal with the devil

Yell Fire, yo, yo, yo, yo
Here we come, here we come
Fire, yo, yo, yo, yo
Revolution a comin'
Fire, yo, yo, yo, yo
Put em up, Put em up
Yell Fire, yo, yo, yo

Throw your hands up
Put em up, Put em up
Throw your hands up
Put em up, Put em up
Throw your hands up

A revolution never come with a warning
A revolution never sends you an omen
A revolution never come with a warning

Yell Fire, yo, yo, yo, yo
Here we come, here we come
Fire, yo, yo, yo, yo
Revolution a comin'
Fire, yo, yo, yo, yo
Put em up, Put em up
Yell Fire, yo, yo, yo
Throw your hands up

A revolution never come with a warning
A revolution never sends you an omen
A revolution just arrived like the morning
Ring the alarm, we come to wake up the snoring

Fire, yo, yo, yo, Fire
Here we come Here we come
A revolution here it come
Put em up, Put em up

[juno jones]

21. Michael Franti also did an amazing cover of 'California Uber Alles'

Any Du'er who knows where to find a copy, drop me a line. ;)

Other than that I would add Clash's "Police and Theives"


Stiff Little Finger's 'Suspect Device',

and my inspirational track right now is Bumcello with Blackalicious: '1,2,3'. It is not necessarily political, but it is powerful. In lieu of a copy of that I leave you with

Bumcello:
http://www.videoclick.com/video-click_zik/videos_bumcello_live_assiko_mintanan.html

Blackalicious - Supreme People (a very pertinent political song you might enjoy):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40R9QDDN9wk&feature=related

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

15. Too many political songs to include

but you've got to have Teacher Uncle Ho by Pete Seeger, I Ain't a Marchin Any More by Phil Ochs, and The Voice Within and Deep by the Moody Blues--political in a different way, but very much liberating.

[Bunkie0913]

16. I like this one...

Todd Snider

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=si0WTCMrksw

Eddie Joe and the Redeemers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dM_fMEML-I

Funk Vigilante`

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JHbFQqSljE

[walldude]

17. Pink Floyd's Animals is a scathing attack at the nature of politics

and humanity.

Dogs

You gotta be crazy, you gotta have a real need
You gotta sleep on your toes, and when youre on the street
You gotta be able to pick out the easy meat with your eyes closed
And then moving in silently, down wind and out of sight
You gotta strike when the moment is right without thinking.

And after a while, you can work on points for style
Like the club tie, and the firm handshake
A certain look in the eye, and an easy smile
You have to be trusted by the people that you lie to
So that when they turn their backs on you
Youll get the chance to put the knife in.

You gotta keep one eye looking over your shoulder
You know its going to get harder, and harder, and harder as you get older
And in the end youll pack, fly down south
Hide your head in the sand
Just another sad old man
All alone and dying of cancer.

And when you loose control, youll reap the harvest that youve sown
And as the fear grows, the bad blood slows and turns to stone
And its too late to loose the weight you used to need to throw around
So have a good drown, as you go down alone
Dragged down by the stone.

I gotta admit that Im a little bit confused
Sometimes it seems to me as if Im just being used
Gotta stay awake, gotta try and shake of this creeping malaise
If I dont stand my own ground, how can I find my way out of this maze?

Deaf, dumb, and blind, you just keep on pretending
That everyones expendable and no-one had a real friend
And it seems to you the thing to do would be to isolate the winner
And you believe at heart, everyones a killer.

Who was born in a house full of pain
Who was trained not to spit in the fan
Who was told what to do by the man
Who was broken by trained personnel
Who was fitted with collar and chain
Who was given a seat in the stand
Who was breaking away from the pack
Who was only a stranger at home
Who was ground down in the end
Who was found dead on the phone
Who was dragged down by the stone.

Roger Waters solo album Amused to death while not very popular also just eviscerated politicians, war and the first Bush administration.

[Seeking Serenity]

19. The Folk Song Army

We are the Folk Song Army.
Everyone of us cares.
We all hate poverty, war, and injustice,
Unlike the rest of you squares.

There are innocuous folk songs.
Yeah, but we regard 'em with scorn.
The folks who sing 'em have no social conscience.
Why they don't even care if Jimmy Crack Corn.

If you feel dissatisfaction,
Strum your frustrations away.
Some people may prefer action,
But give me a folk song any old day.

The tune don't have to be clever,
And it don't matter if you put a coupla extra syllables into a line.
It sounds more ethnic if it ain't good English,
And it don't even gotta rhyme--excuse me--rhyne.

Remember the war against Franco?
That's the kind where each of us belongs.
Though he may have won all the battles,
We had all the good songs.

So join in the Folk Song Army,
Guitars are the weapons we bring
To the fight against poverty, war, and injustice.
Ready! Aim! Sing!

(I love Tom Lehrer!)

[DemBones DemBones]

20. Bob Dylan, "Masters of War"

Come you masters of war
You that build all the guns
You that build the death planes
You that build the big bombs
You that hide behind walls
You that hide behind desks
I just want you to know
I can see through your masks

You that never done nothin'
But build to destroy
You play with my world
Like it's your little toy
You put a gun in my hand
And you hide from my eyes
And you turn and run farther
When the fast bullets fly

Like Judas of old
You lie and deceive
A world war can be won
You want me to believe
But I see through your eyes
And I see through your brain
Like I see through the water
That runs down my drain

You fasten the triggers
For the others to fire
Then you set back and watch
When the death count gets higher
You hide in your mansion
As young people's blood
Flows out of their bodies
And is buried in the mud

You've thrown the worst fear
That can ever be hurled
Fear to bring children
Into the world
For threatening my baby
Unborn and unnamed
You ain't worth the blood
That runs in your veins

How much do I know
To talk out of turn
You might say that I'm young
You might say I'm unlearned
But there's one thing I know
Though I'm younger than you
Even Jesus would never
Forgive what you do

Let me ask you one question
Is your money that good
Will it buy you forgiveness
Do you think that it could
I think you will find
When your death takes its toll
All the money you made
Will never buy back your soul

And I hope that you die
And your death'll come soon
I will follow your casket
In the pale afternoon
And I'll watch while you're lowered
Down to your deathbed
And I'll stand o'er your grave
'Til I'm sure that you're dead

[Bluenorthwest]

22. You've got good taste....

very good taste...

[90-percent]

24. oh oh oh

Country Joe and the Fish


Feel Like I'm Fixin' to Die Rag!


The original Fish including Joe McDonald still get together for reunion tours now and then.

Barry Melton went out and became a San Franciso lawyer post Fish.

-90% jimmy

[slackmaster]

25. Anything by Slim Whitman

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JH64weKPF60

[TexasObserver]

29. he saved the world from Martians

[BlooInBloo]

30. Any such list without RATM is a list not worth having...

My personal fav, Killing In The Name Of:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkuOAY-S6OY