On Demand
The Sound of People Power: Your Democracy Song
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
- Comments [142]
On Election Day, Soundcheck looks at songs that capture the spirit of democracy. We look at songs posted on the Soundcheck page and we take your calls. And, guests from red and blue states weigh in with their own picks: Billboard magazine's Deborah Evans Price joins us from Nashville, Tenn., and Princeton University professor Daphne Brooks joins us from New Jersey.
Your Democracy Song: Be creative! Your choice can be political or whimsical, patriotic or idiotic. Just make sure to explain why you think it exemplifies democracy.
Soundcheck blog: John Schaefer on democracy in music
Guest picks: Watch videos of songs picked by Deborah Evans Price and Daphne Brooks
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Let's hear your song picks, people! You might opt for one of the biggies: Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land," or Irving Berlin's "God Bless America." Or, you might go the populist route, with Sly and the Family Stone's "Everyday People." And you might post a Prince track because, seriously, everybody likes Prince at least a little. Good luck!
I'm nominating "Don't Worry About the Government," by the Talking Heads. It can be read as an ironically scathing expression of naivete or a feel-good anthem of democracy representing the actual needs of the people, depending upon the tenor of the times and your own personal mood. Either way, a must-play on Nov. 5.
"I see the states, across this big nation
I see the laws made in Washington, D.C.
I think of the ones I consider my favorites
I think of the people that are working for me
Some civil servants are just like my loved ones
They work so hard and they try to be strong
I'm a lucky guy to live in my building
They all need buildings to help them along"
I'm skipping the whole democracy angle and going nationalist with "I Love America" by Alice Cooper. It is without a doubt the most patriotic song ever written by a man who reportedly bit the head off a chicken.
How can you argue with:
"I love the bomb, hot dogs and mustard
I love my girl, but I sure don't trust her
I love what the Indians did to Custer
I love America
Here they come!
There they go!
I love my jeans and I love my hair
I love a real tight skirt and a real nice pair
And on the fourth of July, I love the rockets' red glare
I love America"
The song came long before this campaign, and still sums up what elections should be about:
"Yes We Can" by Lee Dorsey
(see also Allen Toussaint)
"Now is the time for all good men to get together with one another / Iron out the problem and iron out their quarrels / And try to live as brothers.
Funk enough that you don't feel as silly as you should feeling as hopeful as you do. Indeed, it's about the little bitty boys and girls.
Unfortunately, the gist of most elections is too neatly summed up by the J.B.'s:
"You Can Have Watergate Just Gimme Some Bucks and I'll Be Straight."
"Power to the People" by John Lennon.
Bob Dylan, "Subterranean Homesick Blues." I felt like a bona fide subversive the day I finally memorized all the words. Not to mention the groundbreaking video...
"Democracy" Leonard Cohen
Just One Victory, Todd Rundgren
The lyrics induce goosebumps.
Example:
Can you hear me,
The sound of my voice,
I am here to tell you,
I have made my choice.
I've been listening,
To what's been goin' down,
There's just too much talk,
and gossip goin' 'round.
You may think that I'm a fool,
But I know the answer...
...Somehow, someday, give us,
Just One Victory, and we're on our way.
(and the rest makes perfect sense, write me if you don't have the words)
Against Me! "Those Anarcho Punks Are Mysterious"
We're all presidents,
We're all congressmen,
We're all cops
In waiting.
We're the workers of the world.
There is the elite and the dispossessed
And it's only about survival,
Who has skill to play the game
For all it's worth,
Reaching out for a scary kind of perfection.
Let's try to keep
As much emotion out of this
As possible.
Let's try not to remember any names.
We'll do it for our country,
For our people,
For a moral vision.
United, we'll make them remember
Our history,
Or how we like to be told...
How we like to be told,
And we rock,
Because it's us against them.
We found our own reasons to sing,
And it's so much less confusing
When lines are drawn like that,
When people are either consumers or revolutionaries,
Enemies or friends hanging on the fringes
Of the cogs in the system.
It's just about knowing where everyone stands.
All of a sudden,
People start talking about guns,
Talking like they're going to war
'Cause they found something to die for.
Start taking back what they stole;
Sure beats every other option,
But does it make a difference how we get it?
Well, do you really f*cking get it?
for whom the bell tolls by metallica. but only if obama wins. its the end of the world as we know it by rem if it's mcain. maybe rich girl by hall and oats for palin.
lou reed's "there is no time" does it best.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCutvXccFlA
This is no time for Celebration
This is no time for Shaking Heads
This is no time for Backslapping
This is no time for Marching Bands
This is no time for Optimism
This is no time for Endless Thought
This is no time for my country Right or Wrong
Remember what that brought
There is no time
your site prevents me from printing the entire song...
Michael MacDonald's "Shine Sweet Freedom" is overlooked and great! It struggles from the smoky darkness into the light. It moves from ego to we-go, isolation to community. It is the exuberance of freedom itself. Its sound and soul mix is in black and white, it is the pulse and spirit of democracy unfettered. Here's the lyrics:
No more runnin down the wrong road
Dancin to a diffrent drum
Cant you see whats goin on
Deep inside your heart
Always searchin for the real thing
Livin like its far away
Just leave all the madness in yesterday
Youre holdin the key
When you believe it
Chorus:
Shine sweet freedom
Shine your light on me
You are the magic
Youre right where I wanna be
Oh sweet freedom carry me along
Well keep the spirit alive on and on
Well be dancin in the moonlight
Smilin with the risin sun
Livin like weve never done
Goin all the way
Reachin out to meet the changes
Touchin every shining star
The light of tomorrow is right where we are
Theres no turnin back
From what Im feeling
Chorus:
Coz therell be starlight all night
When were close together
Share those feelings dancin in your eyes
Tonight theyre guiding us
Shinin till the mornin light
Tiny Masters of Today are band of really young kids who do a lot of political songs. They are giving a new one away on their website called La-La Land which samples McCain and Palin. It is pretty punk rock and very relevant.
http://tinymasters.net/Downloads.htm
The theme should be the Who song "Won't get fooled again", specifically the Pete Townshend performance from the late 70's fundraising show "The Secret Policeman's ball"... Just look at the hook,
"I'll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around me
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
Then I'll get on my knees and pray
We don't get fooled again"
If this doesn't describe what's happening, I don't know what does...
"Call It America" by singer/songwriter Joe Travers. The lyrics go to the heart of the matter:
We want to dream there's a sky forever blue,
A day still clear when noble men and women
love to speak what's true,
A roof so high we all can stand, an earth so fertile beneath our hand,
We all still yearn for the land that is brave and free,
And we want to call it America again...
www.joetravers.net
best song about democracy EVER: PEOPLE HAVE THE POWER by patti smith
From the drum part beginning to the end....it's anthemic!
best song about democracy EVER: PEOPLE HAVE THE POWER by patti smith
from the beginning drum part to the end...it's anthemic!
Alice Cooper - Elected.
the only song that has been running through my head this entire election season is a song by the band The Ghost (which, sadly, has broken up) called "Banished and Loving It"
http://www.myspace.com/theghostmusic
"this time i wont be hanging around
i'll sever ties
that have me gagged and bound
(your idle hands have tied you down)
what's to lose, enemies or friends?
what's the lynch mob's verdict
am i truth or am i trend?
it's easier to judge a voice
than it is to use one
it's harder to avoid the sides
than it is to choose one"
Get Up, Stand Up...The Wailers
What about Mrs. Robinson?
Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?
Our nation turns it's lonely eyes to you
Or Ani Difranco's Paradigm.
"Lives in the Balance" by Jackson Browne
There are way too lives in this balance on election day. We need truth, understanding and cooperation. I hope our next president can offer change! Here is a lyric from the song:
They sell us the President the same way
They sell us our clothes and our cars
They sell us every thing from youth to religion
The same time they sell us our wars
I want to know who the men in the shadows are
I want to hear somebody asking them why
They can be counted on to tell us who our enemies are
But they're never the ones to fight or to die
And there are lives in the balance
There are people under fire
There are children at the cannons
And there is blood on the wire
Sam Cooke's "A Change is Gonna Come".
I'll certainly be playing it over and over again on Tuesday.
Obama should have different musicians cover it on inauguration day.
"There've been times that I've thought I couldn't last for long
But now I think I'm able to carry on
It's been a long time coming
But I know a change is gonna come"
"A Change is Gonna Come" shows us that Hope is at the center of Democracy. Without it why would we care enough to participate?
"200 Years" written and performed by Henry Gibson in Robert Altman's Nashville. At once tongue-in-cheek, hilariously hokey, and unfailingly patriotic. A stab at the country's post-Vietnam centennial-crazed, flag-waving mood, the Bible-belt, and country music itself. A perfect fit even today for a McCain-Palin rally.
i second sam cooke's a change is gonna come. i have had it in my head for 2 months now! i am surprised that i haven't heard people playing it anywhere, or recognizing the obvious relevance for the major theme of this political season - change.
John Mellencamp's "Little Pink Houses"
It's a little cheesy, but I really think it's a great "democracy" song. I can still remember the day my father, a country western music fan, someone I thought only listened to a.m. radio and would have never even heard the song told me it was one of his favorites. He loved how it depicted the life of the working person and so do I:
Theres a black man with a black cat
Living in a black neighbourhood
Hes got an interstate runnin through his front yard
You know, he think, that hes got it so good
And theres a woman in the kitchen cleanin up the evening slop
And he looks at her and says: hey darling, I can remember when you could stop a clock
Chorus:
Oh but aint that america for you and me
Aint that america were someting to see baby
Aint that america, home of the free
Little pink houses for you and me
Well theres a young man in a t-shirt
Listening to a rockin rollin station
Hes got a greasy hair, greasy smile
He says: lord, this must be my destination
cuz they told me, when I was younger
Boy, youre gonna be president
But just like everyting else, those old crazy dreams Just kinda came and went
Every time I hear the appeal (for song suggestions), I think Stones, "You can't always get what you want." We're watching an ugly end to 8 years and wondering if we can possibly get what we need. Who would want the job of clean up from this disaster? Honestly, it makes a Cat 5 Hurricane look like a walk in the park.
I LOVE the Todd Rungren suggestion as well as a few of the others.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVw0Mb8XR9M
It's a new dawn, it's a new day--nina simone
"Chimes of Freedom" by Bob Dylan.
"Tolling for the rebel, tolling for the rake
Tolling for the luckless, the abandoned an' forsaked
Tolling for the outcast, burnin' constantly at stake
An' we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing..."
I vote for "Call It America" by Joe Travers. It's profound, poetic, insightful as well as beautifully written and performed. It's about our common yearning for freedom and a promise for a better life.
"Call It America" by Joe Travers - Definitely!
(www.joetravers.net)
"Call It America" an important song, one that needs to be heard by many, many people! Playing it on the air this Election Day would be a true community service.
Thanks WNYC!
Joe Travers's "Call It America." It's perfectly universal.
How about skipping the middleman of politics and going straight to the subject at hand: Stevie Wonder, "Love's in Need of Love Today". A glorious cheeseball of what everyone needs to bring into the voting booth on Tuesday.
This song had become a cliché in my generation to the extent that it had been sung so much that no one wanted to hear it any more. But when I heard it by accident last summer, I said to myself, "So that's why it was once so popular. My God," I said to myself, "this is the perfect recording of the perfect song." To appreciate what I am saying, you cannot imagine it or merely remember it; you have to hear it anew: Peter, Paul and Mary's recording of Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind," the perfect rendering of the perfect American song.
We Won't get Fooled Again by The Who, it speaks to how democracy can go wrong, and offers a warning to avoid it. "Meet the new boss / same as the old boss" neatly describes the problem with the system: regardless of the label a power seeker takes, they are still just a corrupt power seeker. The [Democrats, Labour, Republicans, Torries, etc.] are not the problem, the problem is with the entire partisan system, "We Won't get Fooled Again" tells us to look for true change.
"I Hope I Get It" from A CHORUS LINE:
God, I hope I get it! I hope I get it!
(I really need this job! Please God I need this job! I've got to get this job!)
(The above is because these days, Democracy seems to be all about winning.)
"man in the corner shop" Artist Paul Weller, The Jam
Line from the song "God Created All Men Equal"
Without question, our Nation's true National Anthem (if there must be)Woody Guthrie's, "This Land was Made for You and me"
This Land Is Your Land
This land is your land This land is my land
From California to the New York island;
From the red wood forest to the Gulf Stream waters
This land was made for you and Me.
As I was walking that ribbon of highway,
I saw above me that endless skyway:
I saw below me that golden valley:
This land was made for you and me.
I've roamed and rambled and I followed my footsteps
To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts;
And all around me a voice was sounding:
This land was made for you and me.
When the sun came shining, and I was strolling,
And the wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling,
As the fog was lifting a voice was chanting:
This land was made for you and me.
As I went walking I saw a sign there
And on the sign it said "No Trespassing."
But on the other side it didn't say nothing,
That side was made for you and me.
In the shadow of the steeple I saw my people,
By the relief office I seen my people;
As they stood there hungry, I stood there asking
Is this land made for you and me?
Nobody living can ever stop me,
As I go walking that freedom highway;
Nobody living can ever make me turn back
This land was made for you and me.
Clearly "Kick Out The Jams."
David Byrne's Rei Momo album captures the spirit of our democracy hands down. There are days where it would be "Independence Day" and others, like today, it's "Lie To Me"
Artist: David Byrne lyrics
Album: Rei Momo
Year: 1989
Title: Lie To Me
[Merengue]
It's a beautiful world and a beautiful dream
And you know I don't care if things are not what they seem
Making up stories that you know aren't true
But you know it's all right 'cause I know it too
Who is the lady with the sno-cone eyes?
Who has the candy with the soft insides?
Talk show religion and
Soap opera love
Whatever happened to
Heavens above?
Well you can lie to me
And I imagine you do
If nothin's right
What's wrong?
That what I like about you
That what I like about you
Birds are flying from east to west
Dogs are running a political race
Twinkle Twinkle
Little Star
How I wonder
Who you are...
Bob Dylan "Changing of the Guard"
Gentlemen, he said,
I don't need your organization, I've shined your shoes,
I've moved your mountains and marked your cards
But Eden is burning, either brace yourself for elimination
Or else your hearts must have the courage for the changing of the guards.
Peace will come
With tranquility and splendor on the wheels of fire
But will bring us no reward when her false idols fall
And cruel death surrenders with its pale ghost retreating
Between the King and the Queen of Swords.
You know, I don't even love the song that much--overexposure, mainly--but for concision, lack of pretension, and openheartedness, I really can't think of a better expression of democratic ideals in song than "Dancing in the Streets."
"It doesn't matter what you wear
Just as long as you are there"
Really, does anything more need to be said than that?
Sorry to be slightly pessimistic but my vote would be for Abbey Lincoln's "The World Is Falling Down"
Barack Obama is basically saying to us a line from the song: "the world is falling down, hold my hand, hold my hand, hold my hand"
"Declare Independence" by Björk. In the song, she rallies her listeners to maintain their own voice and not allow government to silence or hinder their beliefs. Now, when we're coming out of 8 years of oppression and suppression, it is more important than ever to "raise your flag" and stand up for what you believe in, which we are all entitled to do in our “democratic” society.
declare independence
don't let them do that to you
- justice -
start your own currency
make your own stamp
protect your language
- justice -
declare independence
don't let them do that to you
make your own flag
raise your flag (higher higher)
declare independence
don't let them do that to you
damn colonists
ignore their patronizing
tear off their blindfold
open their eyes
declare independence
don't let them do that to you
with a flag and a trumpet
go to the top
of your highest mountain
and raise your flag (higher higher)
raise your flag (higher higher)
declare independence
don't let them do that to you
raise the flag
C'mon guys, I know we're supposed to be creative, but no Bruce Springsteen yet?? I shame to see that John Mellencamp has been suggested but no Bruce. How about "The Promised Land" from Darkness on the Edge of Town?
The dogs on main street howl,
'cause they understand,
If I could take one moment into my hands
Mister, I ain't a boy, no, I'm a man,
And I believe in a promised land.
Another Bruce song could be "Land of Hope and Dreams"...but my heart is with "Promised Land" all the way...it makes me happy and hopeful every time I hear it and it has such a sound of AMERICA, harmonica and everything.
...Plus it's about the American Dream.
'Eric B for President' by Eric B and Rakim of course!
And I'll throw in 'Black President' by Nas we will, after all, elect America's first Black president today.
Well, I didn't post this one yesterday because I thought its focus on a particular political figure limited its evocativeness re democracy as a concept, but the one that's running through my head today is Woody Guthrie's "Dear Mrs. Roosevelt" as performed by Bob Dylan and The Band at a 1968 Guthrie tribute at Carnegie Hall. (It was Dylan's first live performance after his motorcycle accident, by the way, and is available on a CD called "A Tribute to Woody Guthrie.")
It's written as a letter to Eleanor after Franklin's death and Dylan and the Band have a gas impersonating a bunch of howling drunks around a honky-tonk piano at one hell of a wake.
Key lines as an evocation of the democratic spirit: "I voted for him lots of times, and I'd vote for him again/
He tried to find an honest job for every working man"
But what's running through my head today is the refrain:"This world was lucky to see him born." That's how I'm feeling today.
I'm going with Alice Cooper's 1972 masterpiece "Elected," a bombastic explosion of over-the-topness that is one of the great rock singles of the era.
Kids want a savior, don’t need a fake
I wanna be elected
We’re all gonna rock to the rules that I make
I wanna be elected
I never lied to you, I’ve always been cool
I wanna be elected, elected, elected
"The Weight" by The Band captures the spirit of democracy not so much because of the lyrical content (i have no idea what this song means) but in the equality of the singing members of the group.
Levon Helm, Richard Manuel, Rick Danko - the interplay between them is unusual. particularly the chorus (And... and... And... you put the load (put the load) right on me).
In the final verse, ("Catch a cannonball...) I believe that it's all three singing into over and around one-another.
Oh - and it was recorded in June of 1968 - one of the more pivotal years in American history. That has to count for something.
Pearl Jam - Undone -
Can't wait for election day
Witness the occupation
Corporations rule the day
Well you know the pendulum throws
Farther out to the one side, swinging
Has to sweep back the other way
The world has come undone
Another day and who can wait
Change don't come at once
It's a wave building before it breaks
All this hope and nowhere to go
This is how I used to feel, but no more
The world has come undone
Like a game that few can play
Change don't come from one
It's a wave... building before it breaks
I keep thinking of that beautiful Nina Simone song Feelin Good
"sleep in peace when day is done - you know how I feel ..it's a new dawn ,it's a new day, it's a new life for me...
Feelin good
A new day for us all
Eva
The song that means the most to me on this historic day is Martha Reeves and The Vandellas singing "DANCING IN THE STREETS." It has always been a song that (for me at least) was celebratory in nature. And today, I am choosing to believe that we will - collectively speaking - will have cause to celebrate.
I hope I won't be the only person doing the Electric Slide!!!!
I really want to say "Democracy" by Leonard Cohen, but something inside of me is screaming "wake up" by rage against the machine
Blowin' in the wind. More than 40 years ago, and it is about time.
How many roads must a man walk down, before you call him a man?
How many deaths will take till we know, that too many people have died?
Get Up Stand Up by the Wailers!
The Times are a changin'
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVw0Mb8XR9M
"It’s a new dawn; it’s a new day"—Nina Simone
Appropriate either way, as George W. Bush will be out of office shortly.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jC3wf1bik4k
"Running on faith"—Eric Clapton
Whether your religious or secular, it’s going to take a lot of faith in the face of the economic and international challenges the country faces.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9i-X4IJzkNM
Simple Gifts--Joseph Brackett
Despite how the American political and physical election system is screwed up...
The simple but important “gift” of a peaceful transfer of power in January is still an ideal for the rest of the world to consider.
Griffin House - "I Remember (It's Happening Again)"
But people start to wonder if our politics make sense
When religion is our best excuse for national defense
And when our citizens start saying that our wars are not okay
And Washington keeps telling them God loves the USA
And they teach us history so we can learn from our mistakes
And this generation wants to know how many years it takes
To change the way we treat our neighbors all across the land
Cause if we don’t change our hearts we repeat the past again
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJoT96xnRZ0
CCR "Fortunate Son." Is there a better description of W.?
Some folks are born made to wave the flag,
Ooh, theyre red, white and blue.
And when the band plays hail to the chief,
Ooh, they point the cannon at you, lord,
Some folks are born silver spoon in hand,
Lord, dont they help themselves, oh.
But when the taxman comes to the door,
Lord, the house looks like a rummage sale, yes,
Some folks inherit star spangled eyes,
Ooh, they send you down to war, lord,
And when you ask them, how much should we give?
Ooh, they only answer more! more! more! yoh,
It aint me, it aint me, I aint no senators son,
It aint me, it aint me; I aint no fortunate one, no,
Everyday People,
Sly and the Family Stone
Lookin' for A Leader by Neil Young
Lookin' for a Leader
To bring our country home
Re-unite the red white and blue
Before it turns to stone
Lookin' for somebody
Young enough to take it on
Clean up the corruption
And make the country strong
Walkin' among our people
There's someone who's straight and strong
To lead us from desolation
And a broken world gone wrong
Someone walks among us
And I hope he hears the call
And maybe it's a woman
Or a black man after all
Yeah maybe it's Obama
But he thinks that he's too young
Maybe it's Colin Powell
To right what he's done wrong
America has a leader
But he's not in the house
He's waling here among us
And we've got to seek him out
Yeah we've got our election
But corruption has a chance
We got to have a clean win
To regain confidence
America is beautiful
But she has an ugly side
We're lookin' for a leader
In this country far and wide
We're lookin' for a leader
With the great spirit on his side
Someone walks among us
And I hope he hears the call
And maybe it's a woman
Or a black man after all
.................
For me, captures the first time in my generation that real change could be a possibility brought to bear by the vote.
I have always maintained that Phil Ochs's "Power and the Glory" was a better, more honest national anthem than Key's Star Spangled Banner:
Come and take a walk with me thru this green and growing land
Walk thru the meadows and the mountains and the sand
Walk thru the valleys and the rivers and the plains
Walk thru the sun and walk thru the rain
Here is a land full of power and glory
Beauty that words cannot recall
Oh her power shall rest on the strength of her freedom
Her glory shall rest on us all (on us all)
From Colorado, Kansas, and the Carolinas too
Virginia and Alaska, from the old to the new
Texas and Ohio and the California shore
Tell me, who could ask for more?
Yet she's only as rich as the poorest of her poor
Only as free as the padlocked prison door
Only as strong as our love for this land
Only as tall as we stand
But our land is still troubled by men who have to hate
They twist away our freedom & they twist away our fate
Fear is their weapon and treason is their cry
We can stop them if we try
national anthem than Key's Star Spangled Banner:
Come and take a walk with me thru this green and growing land
Walk thru the meadows and the mountains and the sand
Walk thru the valleys and the rivers and the plains
Walk thru the sun and walk thru the rain
Here is a land full of power and glory
Beauty that words cannot recall
Oh her power shall rest on the strength of her freedom
Her glory shall rest on us all (on us all)
US Blues- Grateful Dead
Red and white, blue suede shoes, I'm Uncle Sam, how do you do?
Gimme five, I'm still alive, ain't no luck, I learned to duck.
Check my pulse, it don't change. Stay seventy-two come shine or rain.
Wave the flag, pop the bag, rock the boat, skin the goat.
Wave that flag, wave it wide and high.
Summertime done, come and gone, my, oh, my.
I'm Uncle Sam, that's who I am; Been hidin' out in a rock and roll band.
Shake the hand that shook the hand of P.T. Barnum and Charlie Chan.
Shine your shoes, light your fuse. Can you use them ol' U.S. Blues?
I'll drink your health, share your wealth, run your life, steal your wife.
Wave that flag, wave it wide and high.
Summertime done, come and gone, my, oh, my.
Back to back chicken shack. Son of a gun, better change your act.
We're all confused, what's to lose?
You can call this song, the United States Blues.
Wave that flag, wave it wide and high.
Summertime done, come and gone, my, oh, my.
my song:
Oprah by Swiss Beats
It remixes the Coldplay song "Rule the World" to a fresh hip-hop beat and the chorus is uber-ambitious.
'Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, I'm tryin to get that Oprah'
I think its a great signature for young minorities with their eye's in the prize.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CN-Q2z8Id8c
Sorry...somehow cut and pasted poorly there.
Even 4 administrations (soon to be 5) after Bush I, "Rocking in the Free World" is such a right on look at the US political landscape.
Neil Youngs use of the popular slogans in the context of how they are really applied is marvelus:
"We've got a thousand points of light for the homeless man,
We've got a kinder, gentler machine gun hand"
"freedom" - Ritchie Havens. Luv your show John.
Someday at Christmas by Stevie Wonder . It is still so fresh and great ( and I don't even like Christmas ) . It should be played everyday til the end of the holidays .
John Mellencamp's "Your Life is Now"
Would you teach your children to tell the truth?
Would you take the high road if you could choose?
Do you believe you're a victim of a great compromise?
Cause I believe you could change your mind and change our lives
Your life is now, your life is now, your life is now
In this undiscovered moment
Lift your head up above the crowd
We could change this world
If you would only show us how
Your life is now
"what's going on" - the late great Marvin Gaye.
Frederic Rzewski's "Jefferson." Yes, it's arty but it forces you to listen, really listen, to the words of the Declaration of Independence. Highbrow barricades music. I listen to it every Independence Day. Brilliant.
There But For Fortune by Phil Ochs.
Show me a prison, show me a jail
Show me a pris'ner whose face has grown pale
And I'll show you a young man
With many reasons why
There but for fortune, go you or I
Show me an alley, show me a train
Show me a hobo who sleeps out in the rain
And I'll show you a young man
With many reasons why
There but for fortune, go you or I
Show me the whiskey stains on the floor
Show me a drunk as he stumbles out the door
And I'll show you a young man
With many reasons why
There but for fortune, go you or I
Show me a country where the bombs had to fall
Show me the ruins of buildings so tall
And I'll show you a young land
With many reasons why
There but for fortune, go you or I
You or I
"Democracy," by Leonard Cohen.
I am definitely nominating "A change is gonna come" by Sam Cooke / Otis Redding. I remember wishing that Barack Obama would choose it as a soundtrack, back at the beginning of the primary campaign.
In that theme, how about Tears for Fears, "Everybody Wants to Rule the World"
Let the River Run by Carly Simon thrills me and makes me proud of NY and the US. It was the theme of Working Girl.
Let the river run,
Let all the dreamers
Wake the nation.
Come, the New Jerusalem
BEST SONG that reps America's yearnings & what it can be is Steven Van Zandt's VOICE OF AMERICA off the album of same name.
Love to tell you the inside dope on it.
I'm at 973.406.7827
Stuart Hutchison
How about "US Blues" by the Grateful Dead?
It's a bittersweet look at the hooplah surrounding our national self-image, but with an appreciation of the fact that our culture is a thing of shreds and patches that we assemble and reassemble endlessly: "shake the hand that shook the hand of PT Barnum and Charlie Chan.... Wave that flag brothers, wave it wide and high. Summertime's come and gone, my oh my...."
Now or Never
Yoko Ono
from New York Rock
Gets me EVERYTIME!
Are we gonna keep pushing our children to drugs?
Are we gonna keep driving them insane?
Are we gonna keep laying empty words and fists?
Are we gonna be remembered as the century that failed?
People of america, when will we learn?
It's now or never, there's no time to lose.
Are we gonna keep sending our youths to war?
Are we gonna keep scaring rice fields and infants?
Are we gonna keep watching dead bodies over dinner?
Are we gonna be known as the century that kills?
People of america, when will we stop?
It's no or never, there's no time to waste.
Are we gonna keep pretending things are alright?
Are we gonna keep our mouths closed just in case?
Are we gonna keep putting off until it's too late?
Are we gonna be known as the century of fear?
People of america, when will we see?
It's now or never, we've no time to lose.
People of america, when will we see?
It's now or never, we've no time to lose.
Are we gonna keep digging oil wells and gold?
Are we gonna keep shooting the ones that tries to change?
Are we gonna keep thinking it won't happen to us?
Are we gonna be known as the century that kills?
People of america, please, listen to your soul,
We can change the times to century of hope.
'cause dream you dream alone is only a dream,
But dream we dream together is reality.
Everyday People by Sly and the Family Stone
Sometimes I'm right then I can be wrong
My own beliefs are in my songs
A butcher, a banker, a drummer and then
Makes no difference what group I'm in
I am everyday people
There is a blue one who can't accept
The green one for living with
a black ones tryin' to be a skinny one
Different strokes for different folks
And so on and so on and scooby dooby dooby
Ooh sha sha
We gotta live together
I am no better and neither are you
We're all the same whatever we do
You love me you hate me
You know me and then
Still can't figure out the bag I'm in
I am everyday people
There is a new man
That doesn't like the short man
For being such a rich one
That will not help the poor one
Different strokes for different folks
And so on and so on scooby dooby dooby
Ooh sha sha
We got to live together
There is a yellow one that won't
Accept the black one
That won't accept the red one
That won't accept the white one
Different strokes for different folks
And so on and so on and
Scooby dooby dooby
Ooh sha sha
I am everyday people
Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, "This Land Is Your Land"
PUBLIC ENEMY - FIGHT THE POWER
Almost anything from Lou Reed's "New York" album, my favorite being "Dirty Boulevard"
Alice Donut's American Lips
I've got a Jackson Pollack tatoo on my ass.
Video priest screaming out high mass.
Sick little schoolgirls rolling round on my floor.
I got, Jehovo witness knocking at my door.
I got, Rednecks sucking life from a can.
Naked women magazines - making me a man.
Big Blond Bush, schizophrenic tits.
I come, prematurely and I don't give a shit.
NO! Oh-e-oh!
Here come American fingers.
Here come American lips.
Jane Fonda spreading her legs on my TV.
I watch her exercise - it's so healthy.
I got Serial killers straight from Transylvania.
Burning crosses and Biblemania.
I got a monster Trans Am - I'm so fucking cool.
I got Jimmy Hoffa floating in my swimming pool.
All my kids eat drugs, got my cigarettes.
Don't give a fuck, fuck, fuck-fuck fuck!
NO! Oh-e-oh!
Here come American fingers.
Here come American lips.
737 exploding Boeing jets.
Hemoroids and growing nuclear threat.
My president has colo-rectal cancer.
Bloody french fries at my McDonald's McMassacre.
Black and Hispanic dying underclass.
Baseball jocks cutting lines from a glass.
Monosodium glutamate to cook in my wok.
I got a herpes sore on the tip of my cock.
NO! Oh-e-oh!
Here come American fingers.
Here come American lips.
NO! Oh-e-oh!
Here come American fingers.
Here come American lips.
"what's going on" - Marvin Gaye
How about all of "Hair," especially "Walking in Space," "3-5-0-0" and the tragic "Flesh Failures/Let the Sun Shine."
Given the historic nature of this election, the best choice is Dylan's "When The Ship Comes In."
Neil Diamond -- They're Coming to America -- chill bumps the first time I heard the great Vic Dana sing it and chill bumps ever since.
Neil Young, "Flags of Freedom"
"One Tin Soldier" which has been covered so many times, is democracy for me. What song could more eloquently describe for us the perils of failing to come together peacefully to improve our world?
"go ahead and hate your neighbor, go ahead and cheat a friend. do it in the name of heaven, you can justify in the end. there won't be any trumpets blowing come the judgment day, on the bloody morning after one tin solider rides away"
Neil Young, "Flags of Freedom"
Tom Glazier's We're Building a City. My parents had this record next to the Josh White album. Back about 58 years ago.
Miss America by David Byrne.
Two songs come to mind
You haven't done nothing by Stevie Wonder is a reflection of the current administration
and
America is not the world by Morrissey is reflective of how US democracy is seen in Europe.
(Though that might change after this election.)
oh, and how about "Cherokee people..."
There's a hymn that I always use on "patriotic" days because it acknowledges that the U.S. exists in a whole world. The essence of democracy, in my mind, is celebrating our openness to others within our own borders. As we are looking ahead with a new administration to big decisions about our relationship to other nations, the humility and respect for others in this hymn seems the right tone to set.
The hymn is to the tune of "Finlandia" and is titled "This Is My Song" in the UM Hymnal. These are the first two verses:
This is my song, O God of all the nations,
a song of peace for lands afar and mine.
This is my home, the country where my heart is;
here are my hopes, my dreams, my holy shrine;
but other hearts in other lands are beating
with hopes and dreams as true and high as mine.
My country's skies are bluer than the ocean,
and sunlight beams on cloverleaf and pine;
but other lands have sunlight too, and clover,
and skies are everywhere as blue as mine.
O hear my song, thou God of all the nations,
a song of peace for their land and for mine.
My favorite political song is Steppenwolf's Monster. It came at that dark time when the Vietnam War was raging, and the anti-war struggle was being waged here at home.
It gives a history of the US good and baf:
"Once the religious, the hunted and weary
Chasing the promise of freedom and hope
Came to this country to build a new vision
Far from the reaches of kingdom and pope
Like good Christians, some would burn the witches
Later some got slaves to gather riches"
"But still from near and far to seek America
They came by thousands to court the wild
And she just patiently smiled and bore a child
To be their spirit and guiding light"
Then it gets to the situation at the time the song was written:
"The spirit was freedom and justice
And it's keepers seem generous and kind
It's leaders were supposed to serve the country
But now they won't pay it no mind
...
Our cities have turned into jungles
And corruption is stranglin' the land
The police force is watching the people
And the people just can't understand
We don't know how to mind our own business
'Cause the whole worlds got to be just like us
Now we are fighting a war over there
No matter who's the winner
We can't pay the cost
'Cause there's a monster on the loose
It's got our heads into a noose
And it just sits there watching"
It ends with a cry for a renewal of democracy:
"America where are you now?
Don't you care about your sons and daughters?
Don't you know we need you now
We can't fight alone against the monster"
Lift Every Voice and Sing
The Negro national anthem
http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/l/i/liftevry.htm
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