Favorite songs that raise social awareness

[NMMNG]

There are many songs out there that are intended to raise our social awareness on poverty, racism, war, genocide and so on. What are some of your favorites?


A few of mine:

Another Day in Paradise by Phil Collins

On the Turning Away by Pink Floyd

Peace on Earth by U2

[EstimatedProphet]

1. One Tin Soldier-Coven

[NMMNG]

5. I like that one--it's a classic

I have it on my "Freedom Rock" collection.

[swag]

2. "Darling Nicki" by Prince

I can still hear Tipper Gore uttering the phrase, "masturbating with a magazine."

[Deja Q]

3. 2

"Fear of a Black Planet" - Public Enemy
"Evil that Men Do" - Queen Latifah

[Crazy Guggenheim]

4. Out in the Country by Three Dog Night.

Whenever I need to leave it all behind
Or feel the need to get away-ay-ay
I find a quiet place, far from the human race
Out in the country

Before the breathin air is gone
Before the sun is just a bright spot in the night-time
Out where the rivers like to run
I stand alone and take back somethin worth rememberin

Whenever I feel them closing in on me
Or need a bit of room to move
When life becomes too fast, I find relief at last
Out in the country

Before the breathin air is gone
Before the sun is just a bright spot in the night-time
Out where the rivers like to run
I stand alone and take back somethin worth rememberin


Before the breathin air is gone
Before the sun is just a bright spot in the night-time
Out where the rivers like to run
I stand alone and take back somethin worth rememberin

Before the breathin air is gone
Before the sun is just a bright spot in the night-time
Out where the rivers like to run
I stand alone and take back somethin worth rememberin

Before the breathin air is gone
Before the sun is just a bright spot in the night-time

[CrazyOrangeCat]

6. Dylan's . . .

"Masters of War"

"Ballad of Hollis Brown"

"A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall"

lots more . . .

[bridgit]

7. This is the story of Hezekiah Jones...

Hezekiah Jones lived in a place... in Arkansas.
He never had too much, except he had some land,
An' he had a couple of hogs and things like that.
He never had much money
But he'd spend what he did make as fast as he made it,
So it never really mattered that he had much money.
But in a cupboard there, He kept in the cupboard... he kept in the cupboard books,
He called the books his "rainy season."

The white folks around the county there talked about Hezekiah...
They... said, "Well... old Hezekiah, he's harmless enough,
but the way I see it he better put down them goddam books,
Readin' ain't no good, for nigger is nigger."

One day the white man's preacher came around
Knockin' on doors, knockin' on all the doors in the county,
He knocked on Hezekiah's door.
He says, "Hezekiah, you believe in the Lord?"
Hezekiah says, "Well, I don't know, I never really SEEN the Lord,
I can't say, yes, I do..."

He says, "Hezekiah, you believe in the Church?"
Hezekiah says, "Well, the Church is divided, ain't they,
And... they can't make up their minds.
I'm just like them, I can't make up mine either."

He says, "Hezekiah, you believe that if a man is good Heaven is his last reward?"
Hezekiah says, "I'm good... good as my neighbor."

"You don't believe in nothin'," said the white man's preacher,
You don't believe in nothin'!"
"Oh yes, I do," says Hezekiah,
"I believe that a man should be indebted to his neighbors
Not for the reward of Heaven or fear of hellfire."

"But you don't understand," said the white man's preacher,
"There's a lot of good ways for a man to be wicked..."

Then they hung Hezekiah high as a pigeon.
White folks around there said, "Well... he had it comin'
'Cause the son-of-a-bitch never had no religion!"

[NMMNG]

9. I've never heard that before

But I like the lyrics. They are profound and really speak to me. I especially like "I believe that a man should be indebted to his neighbors ,Not for the reward of Heaven or fear of hellfire."

[bridgit]

23. i'd heard it on one of dylan's bootleg albums...

it's very sad and his voice cracks when he he "high up as a pigeon" :cry: very sad

[proud2BlibKansan]

8. Randy Newman - Political Science

http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/political.php

No one likes us
I don't know why
We may not be perfect
But heaven knows we try
But all around even our old friends put us down
Let's drop the big one and see what happens

We give them money
But are they grateful?
No they're spiteful
And they're hateful
They don't respect us, so let's surprise them
We'll drop the big one and pulverize them

Now Asia's crowded
And Europe's too old
Africa's far too hot
And Canada's too cold
South America stole our name
Let's drop the big one
There'll be no one left to blame us

We'll save Australia
Don't wanna hurt no kangaroo
We'll build an All American amusement park there
They've got surfing, too!

Well, boom goes London
And boom Paree
More room for you
And more room for me

And every city the whole world round
Will just be another American town
Oh, how peaceful it'll be
We'll set everybody free
You'll have Japanese kimonos, baby
There'll be Italian shoes for me

They all hate us anyhow
So let's drop the big one now
Let's drop the big one now

[NMMNG]

10. That hits the nail on the head

Good old Imperialist USA. :-(

[Floogeldy]

11. That's easy.

"Imagine"

:)

[NMMNG]

17. Wow. How could I have forgotten to put that in the OP

It's right in my sigline after all.

[amerikat]

12. my contribution is

Goldfish Don't Talk Back - Brenda Kahn
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I used to get scared when the planes went by
I thought a russian bomb would drop out of the sky
thought i'd fight and die and go to heaven but i've
learned some things since then
Like no one really knows what's 2+2
you can't always trust The Man in Blue
you may think the work gone mad
but baby they think it's you

Every candy store on the block sells crack
every supreme court ruling is 3 steps back
here's acid rain in the drinking water,
but the goldfish they don't talk back

This song is for Phil Oaks
who hung himself with a length of rope
he took his job seriously,
he weren't no 9 to 5 folk singer.
like the ones on MTV
that's what Kirk Kelly said to me
on the corner of Clinton and Houston Street where

Every candy store on the block sells crack
every supreme court ruling is 3 steps back
here's acid rain in the drinking water,
but the goldfish they don't talk back

I went down to the laundry mat
there's a woman with a face like a Siamese cat
trying to wash her only clothes, the clothes on her back
she's in a St. Vincent's wheelchair,
but it look like St. Vincent doesn't care
she's a 60lb skeleton in underwear

Mr. president
the nation doesn't look secure
are you sure what you spent
all our money for?

There's a great big hole
where the sky used to be
and there's an asshole
on my TV who says
"Act now you get nine issues free
Plus an issue of women with an eating disease@"

Every candy store on the block sells crack
every supreme court ruling is 3 steps back
there's acid rain in the drinking water,
but the goldfish they don't talk back

....let's not be goldfish now.

edit to add: I sure miss the whole punk folk scene, it was so honest .

[CaliforniaPeggy]

13. The name eluded me for a moment, but now I have it......

The Man in the Mirror, by Michael Jackson...it gives me goosebumps always...

[Scout1071]

14. "Mr. Wendel" by Arrested Development.

What ever happened to them?

[Benfea]

30. I love that one!

And I'm not sure what happened to them. They finally put out another album somewhat recently, but I dunno anything beyond that.

[Tikki]

15. "Fish Ain't Bitin'"........Lamont Dozier...

"Rise"......PIL
"What's So Funny About Peace, Love and Understanding".......Nick Lowe
"Media Blitz".......Germs
"War".....Edwin Starr
"Love Train"......O'Jays


Tikki

[deadparrot]

16. "The Downeaster Alexa," by Billy Joel.

Well I'm on the Downeaster Alexa
And I'm cruising through Block Island Sound
I have chartered a course to the Vinyard
But tonight I am Nantucket bound

We took on diesel back in Montauk yesterday
And left this morning from the bell in Gardiner's Bay
Like all the locals here I've had to sell my home
Too proud to leave I worked my fingers to the bone

So I could own my Downeaster Alexa
And I go where the ocean is deep
There are giants out there in the canyons
And a good captain can't fall asleep

I've got bills to pay and children who need clothes
I know there's fish out there, but where God only knows
They say these waters aren't what they used to be
But I've got people back on land who count on me

So if you see my Downeaster Alexa
And if you work with the rod and the reel
Tell my wife I am trolling Atlantis
And I still have my hands on the wheel

Now I drive my Downeaster Alexa
More and more miles from shore every year
Since they told me I can't sell no stripers
And there's no luck in swordfishing here

I was a bayman like my father was before
Can't make a living as a bayman anymore
There ain't much future for a man who works the sea
But there ain't no island left for islanders like me

[Heidi]

18. "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll," Bob Dylan,

"The Grave," Don MacLean
"Call It Democracy," Bruce Cockburn

[Robeson]

19. Todd Rundgren, "No World Order"....

...a fave!

[Mz Pip]

20. Ohio

Crosby Stills, Nash & Young did that one, I think.

For What It's Worth by Buffalo Springfield

Feel Like I'm Fixin to Die Rag by Country Joe and the Fish.

Vietnam Era stuff is what resonates with me since I was young, idealistic and very anti-war back then.

Now I'm old and anti-war. The idealism is gone.

Mz Pip
:dem:

[Dervill Crow]

21. Society's Child by Janis Ian. n/t

[u4ic]

22. Universal Solider, Big Yellow Taxi, What's Going On

Universal Soldier Buffy Ste Marie

He's five feet two and he's six feet four
He fights with missiles and with spears
He's all of 31 and he's only 17
He's been a soldier for a thousand years

He's a Catholic, a Hindu, an atheist, a Jain,
a Buddhist and a Baptist and a Jew
and he knows he shouldn't kill
and he knows he always will
kill you for me my friend and me for you

And he's fighting for Canada,
he's fighting for France,
he's fighting for the USA,
and he's fighting for the Russians
and he's fighting for Japan,
and he thinks we'll put an end to war this way

And he's fighting for Democracy
and fighting for the Reds
He says it's for the peace of all
He's the one who must decide
who's to live and who's to die
and he never sees the writing on the walls

But without him how would Hitler have
condemned him at Dachau
Without him Caesar would have stood alone
He's the one who gives his body
as a weapon to a war
and without him all this killing can't go on

He's the universal soldier and he
really is to blame
His orders come from far away no more
They come from him, and you, and me
and brothers can't you see
this is not the way we put an end to war.



Big Yellow Taxi Joni Mitchell

They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot
With a pink hotel, a boutique
And a swinging hot spot
Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you’ve got
Till it’s gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot

They took all the trees
Put ’em in a tree museum
And they charged the people
A dollar and a half just to see ’em
Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you’ve got
Till it’s gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot

Hey farmer farmer
Put away that d.d.t. now
Give me spots on my apples
But leave me the birds and the bees
Please!
Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you’ve got
Till it’s gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot

Late last night
I heard the screen door slam
And a big yellow taxi
Took away my old man
Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you’ve got
Till it’s gone
They paved paradise
And put up a parking lot


What's Going On Marvin Gaye

Mother, mother, there's too many of you crying
Brother, brother, brother, there's far too many of you dying
You know we've got to find a way
To bring some lovin' here today, hey

Father, father, we don't need to escalate
You see, war is not the answer, for only love can conquer hate
You know we've got to find a way
To bring some lovin' here today, oh

Picket lines - sister - and picket signs - sister
Don't punish me - sister - with brutality - sister
Talk to me - sister - so you can see - sister
Oh, what's goin' on - what's goin' on, what's goin' on - what's goin' on
Heah, what's goin' on - what's goin' on, oh, what's goin' on - what's goin' on
Ah ah - ay-ay-ay-ay-ay - right on - right on - ay-ay-ay-ay-ay

Mother, mother, everybody thinks we're wrong
Oh, but who are they to judge us
Simply 'cause our hair is long
Oh, you know we've got to find a way
To bring some understanding here today, oh oh oh

Picket lines - brother - and picket signs - brother
Don't punish me - brother - with brutality - brother
Come on, talk to me - brother - so you can see - brother
Now what's goin' on - what's goin' on, yeah, what's goin' on - what's goin' on
Tell me what's goin' on - what's goin' on,
I'll tell you now what's goin' on - what's goin' on
Ooooh - right on - right on - ay-ay-ay-ay-ay

[WritingIsMyReligion]

25. I love BYT and WGO.

Good songs. :thumbsup:

[WritingIsMyReligion]

24. Awww.... I was going to put "Another Day in Paradise" up there.

:cry::cry:

I'm listening to it right now, actually....

:D :D :hi:

[saltpoint]

26. Joni Mitchell's "Passion Play" (When All the Slaves are Free)

Passion Play (When all the slaves are free)

Magdalene is trembling
Like a washing on a line
Trembling and gleaming
Never before was a man so kind
Never so redeeming

Enter the multitudes
In Exxon blue
In radiation rose
Ecstasy
Now you tell me
Who you gonna get to do the dirty work
When all the slaves are free?
(Who're you gonna get)

I am up a sycamore
Looking through the leaves
A sinner of some position
Who in the world can this heart healer be
This magical physician

Enter the multitudes
In Exxon blue
In radiation rose
Misery
Now you tell me
Who you gonna get to do the dirty work
When all the slaves are free?
(Who're you gonna get)

Enter the multitudes
The walking wounded
They come to this diver of the heart
Of the multitudes
Thy kingdom come
Thy will be done

Oh, climb down, climb down he says to me
From the middle of unrest
They think is light is squandered
But he sees a stray in the wilderness
And I see how far I've wandered

Enter the multitudes
In Exxon blue
In radiation rose
Apathy
Now you tell me
Who you gonna get to do the dirty work
When all the slaves are free?
(Who're you gonna get)

Enter the multitudes
The walking wounded
They come to this diver of the heart
Of the multitudes
Thy kingdom come
Thy will be done

Oh, all around the marketplace
The buzzing of the flies
The buzzing and the stinging
Divinely barren
And wickedly wise
The killer nails are ringing

Enter the multitudes
In Exxon blue
In radiation rose
Tragedy
Now you tell me
Who you gonna get to do the dirty work
When all the slaves are free?
(Who're you gonna get)

© 1988, 1991 Crazy Crow Music BMI

[saltpoint]

27. Ralph McTell's "Streets of London"

"...Let me take you by the hand and
lead you through the streets of London
I'll show you somethin'
To make you understand..."

[CatholicEdHead]

28. Lots to list here from my collection

Megadeth:
Symphony of Destruction
Holy Wars
Peace Sells....but nobodys buying
Sweating Bullets

Metallica:
Disposable Heros

Scorpions:
Crazy World
Alien Nation
Unholy Alliance
Ship of Fools
Crossfire
Winds of Change

Rush:
Noboday's Hero
Alien Shore

John McCutcheon (Note these are entire albums, because they all fit)
http://www.folkmusic.com/f_music.htm

Mighter than the sword
Greatest Story Never Told
Hail to the Chief
Stand Up - Broadsides for our time
Water from Another Time

If I had time I could go deeper into my collection, Offspring (and others) have a few more I cannot filter right now.

[Benfea]

29. "Butterfly Wings" by Machines of Loving Grace

Yes, I'm weird.

You can't place faith in material things
material things will fail you
a hurricane triggered by a butterfly's wings
your conspirators betray you

Don't place faith in human beings
human beings are unreliable things
don't place faith in human beings
human beings or butterfly's wings

You can't place faith in a new regime
that fascist faith will kill you
a hurricane triggered by a butterfly's wings
your conspirators betray you

don't place faith in human beings
human beings are unreliable things
don't place faith in human beings
human beings or butterfly wings

there's something burning
deep inside I know
there's something
inside this hole

(tonight when i chase the dragon -
By their fruits you shall know them)

Don't place faith
Don't place faith
When I decide to live in the mind
the heart dies
mother superior in the sky
the heart dies
the heart dies

Don't place faith in human beings
human beings are unreliable things
don't place faith in human beings
human beings or butterfly wings

[fight4my3sons]

31. Ball of Confusion - The Temptations

[stpalm]

32. 17% 18-25- The Suicide Machines

I love how direct they are:



Well maybe you do but maybe you don't
Exercise your privilege in the right to vote.
Fuck "rock the vote" and fuck all the rest,
What we need to do is throw cans of tear gas.

17% 18-25

It's a total fucking war between us and them,
And our collective middle fingers is what we'll extend.
Fuck Gideon Yago and fuck MTV,
Fuck the state-controlled media that decides what we see.

17% 18-25

FUCK THIS WAR!

You think that you can cope,
You didn't fucking vote,
2 double-0 6,
World War III!

Power to the People!

[NashVegas]

33. The Clash - "Straight to Hell" ; Kate Bush - "Pull Out the Pin"

If you can play on the fiddle
How's about a british jig and reel?
Speaking king's English in quotation
As railhead towns feel the steel mills rust
Water froze
In the generation
Clear as winter ice
This is your paradise
There ain't no need for ya
Go straight to hell boys
Y'wanna join in a chorus
Of the Amerasian blues?
When it's Christmas out in Ho Chi Minh city
Kiddie say papa papa papa papa papa-san take me home
See me got photo photo photograph of you and mama mama
Mama-san
Of you and mama mama mama-san
Lemme tell ya 'bout your blood, bamboo kid
It ain't coca-cola, it's rice
Straight to hell
Oh papa-san
Please take me home
Oh papa-san
Everybody they wanna go home
So mama-san says
You wanna play mind-crazed banjo
On the druggy-drag ragtime U.S.A.?
In parkland international
Heh! Junkiedom U.S.A.
Where procaine proves the purest rock man groove
And rat poison, the volatile molotov says
Pssst...
Hey chico we got a message for ya...
Vamos vamos muchacho
From alphabet city all the way A to Z, dead, head
Go straight to hell
Can you cough up
Loud and strong
The immigrants
They wanna sing all night long
It could be anywhere
Most likely could be any frontier
Any hemisphere
No man's land
And there ain't no asylum here
King Solomon he never lived 'round here
Go straight to hell boys


===

Just as we hit the green,
I've never been so happy to be alive.
Only seven miles behind
You could smell the child,
The smell of the front line's survival.

With my silver Buddha
And my silver bullet,
(I pull the pin.)

You learn to ride the Earth,
When you're living on your belly and the enemy are city-births.
Who need radar? We use scent.
They stink of the west, stink of sweat.
Stink of cologne and baccy, and all their Yankee hash.

With my silver Buddha
And my silver bullet,
(I'm pulling on the pin,)
Ooh, I pull out, pull out the pin.
(pulling on the pin, oh...)

Just one thing in it:
Me or him.
Just one thing in it:
Me or him.
And I love life!
Just one thing in it:
Me or him.
And I love life!
I love life!
I love life!

I've seen the coat for me.
I'll track him 'til he drops,
Then I'll pop him one he won't see.
He's big and pink, and not like me.
He sees no light.
He sees no reason for the fighting

With my silver Buddha
And my silver bullet.
(I'm pulling on the pin,)
Ooh, I pull out, pull out the pin.
(pulling on the pin, oh...)

I had not seen his face,
'til I'm only feet away
Unbeknown to my prey.
I look in American eyes.
I see little life,
See little wife.
He's striking violence up in me.

With my silver Buddha
And my silver bullet.

Just one thing in it:
Me or him.
Just one thing in it:
Me or him.
And I love life!
Just one thing in it:
Me or him.
And I love life!
I love life!
I love life!