Thesis: the number of songs that are both explicitly political and good can be counted on one hand; and of those, Neil Young wrote two, both in 1970.
Argument ?
ok-cleek
I guess I could use some rearranging
Thesis: the number of songs that are both explicitly political and good can be counted on one hand; and of those, Neil Young wrote two, both in 1970.
Argument ?
The Gang of 4 also wrote a couple of them, in ’79.
I have a fistfull of hardcore from the late 70’s/early 80’s that were both political and good. If you like that kind of thing.
(One of the Neil Young songs that is both political and good, “Cortez the Killer”, is good only as a song — as a political statement it is mostly silly and weak. As a song it is fantastic.)
Well, out with it then!
Masters of War?
off the top of my head i’m going with:
Ohio (Neil Young, 70)
Southern Man (Neil Young, 70)
Masters Of War
War Pigs
that leaves one spot.
i guess Cortez is a political song (and definitely a good one). but i was thinking more about songs that were reactions to the political events of the day.
and i will admit to not knowing much hardcore outside of Minor Threat.
“The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll” is a reaction to political events of the day, and a good song.
The songs I was thinking about from “Entertainment!” I guess are more broad political propaganda than focused issues songs.
I kinda dig “Rockin in the Free World”, also by Neil, but from 1989. Sucks in the “America F**k Yeah” types but it’s actually an indictment of the US circa late Bush I.
“We got a thousand points of light
For the homeless man
We got a kinder, gentler
Machine gun hand”
A heavy, bitter, ironic anthem. What’s not to like?
I love Neil Young, he is one scary old hippy, and his freak flag is still flying. He does whatever the hell he wants, and even when it sucks it’s brilliant in some kind of crazy way. And when it doesn’t suck it will rip your head off, even if it’s not loud.
Long may he wave.
And yeah, Gang Of Four kicked ass. “To Hell With Poverty”! I saw GO4 on New Years Eve 81-82 at the East Side Club in Philly, they were f*cking amazing. Louder than loud, and amazing.
and when did conservatives start wanting to be all black and stuff? ass-clowns.
also for “political” and “good”, I nominate Elvis Costello’s “Tramp The Dirt Down” from “Spike”.
it’s political in the UK context but political it is, and it’s a great song.
Public Enemy has some good stuff, though maybe not “songs.”
i wonder if the vast universe of murder ballads could be considered ‘political’…
Tom Dooley
Omie Wise
Frankie And Johnny
etc..
That would definitely qualify Dylan’s “Hurricane.”
Oliver’s Army?
Spanish Bombs?
Invisible Sun?
Oliver’s Army, yep.
Spanish Bombs, though, was about things that happened decades before the songs was written. so it doesn’t meet my revised requirements (comment #6).
Invisible Sun… i dunno. it’s pretty vague. a person could go … oh let’s say … 29 years without knowing it was about the Irish Troubles. so, maybe. but it kindof gets around the political thing by sounding like any other abstract Police song…
Abstract? Geez, it was about as straightforward as they ever got. “I don’t want to spend the rest of my life looking at the barrel of an Armalite”? Is that a problem with the song or the listener?
Of course if you want songs about the troubles, how about “This song is not a rebel song, this song is ‘Sunday Bloody Sunday.'”
‘Sunday Bloody Sunday.’
yes. now there’s a good one. i may have to move it up to two hands.
“Mothers Of The Disappeared”, too. perhaps.
“I don’t want to spend the rest of my life looking at the barrel of an Armalite”
i always heard that as “looking down the barrel of a normal life”. never bothered reading the lyrics because they seemed clear enough.
Abstract? Geez, it was about as straightforward as they ever got.
nah. they had plenty of straightforward songs (ex. all the love songs, even the creepy love songs, were clear as could be. “Man In A Suitcase” was plain as day, “Driven To Tears”? etc.). but i always heard this one as a fight against settling into a dull gray (factory town) existence: a numb, workaday life.
but actually, i’m glad to learn it was about Ireland. it’s impressive to me that it works even if you don’t know the intended meaning.
Hey, as a late entrant, how about “Filthy Bird” and “Devil’s Radio”? I don’t think they are among RH’s best material, but they are definitely good songs. (And “W Sucks” too, of course.)