If you had to describe your politics through a band or musician

[mdmc]

Who would represent your political beliefs?







I think I would go with Pete Seeger..

[Ineeda]

1. my top two - Lennon and Baez

[NightWatcher]

2. Woody Guthrie and Tom Morello

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FFl_oPUWw4

[velvet]

3. Midnight Oil

[tigereye]

25. yes, good choice!

also The Clash when they were still together, and REM.

[peekaloo]

4. r.e.m.

my generation.

[hobbit709]

5. Early Airplane and Dylan

[Bertha Venation]

6. Jackson Browne

thinking of "Lives In The Balance"

I wanna know who the men in the shadows are
I wanna 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

[hippywife]

7. Pete Seeger is a good one.

Woody Guthrie, John Lennon, Jackson Browne, Keith Greeninger, so many more.

[MiddleFingerMom]

8. Rage Against the Machine and The Jonas Brothers n/t

[darkstar3]

31. I got into Rage pretty late,

but after I got into politics in college, Rage spoke to me on another level and I've liked them ever since. My favorite song is still one of their old school ones though, and this part is why:

With this mic device
I spit nonfiction
Who got tha power
This be my question
Tha mass of tha few in this torn nation?
Tha priest tha book or tha congregation?
Tha politricks who rob and hold down your zone?
Or those who give tha thieves tha key to their homes?
Tha pig who's free to murder one Shucklak
Or survivors who make a move and murder one back?

(From Mic Check - Battle of Los Angeles - 1999)

It loses something when you just read the lyrics, but it's a song that gets me energized EVERY time I hear it.

[timtom]

9. John Fogerty

[WinkyDink]

10. Phil Ochs and/or the Chad Mitchell Trio.

[Richardo]

11. Bruce Cockburn and the Austin Lounge Lizards

Two ends of the enragement continuum.

[Altoid_Cyclist]

23. You took my top pick of Bruce Cockburn.

One of the best Singer/songwriters, guitarist, poet, humanitarian and fighters for the wronged.

Thanks for including him. I'd like his music even if we didn't have the same surname.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z02J_kPincA

[Iggo]

12. I dunno...Dead Kennedys, I guess. (n/t)

[S n o w b a l l]

13. Marvin Gaye - sums it up in two songs

What's Going On

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rD78i6eoGkM&feature=related

Mercy Mercy Me

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkYx--x9wa0&feature=related

[Odin2005]

14. Green Day.

[LibDemAlways]

67. Me too. "Minority" sums it up for me.

[Bennyboy]

15. SPEARHEAD

Franti speaks for me right now. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CszG_bR35Mw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01FE9cPXE3M

[S n o w b a l l]

18. Wow...love those songs.

Those fit me too. Thanks for posting.

[Bennyboy]

19. The most important artist of our time.......BOMB THE WORLD!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICL-4Onk0PA

[S n o w b a l l]

20. Beautiful....

I think you just turned me on my new favorite artist. :fistbump:

[Bennyboy]

42. Be sure to see one of his shows....

Really one of the best acts on the road right now. He gets the crowd MOVING...and the band just kicks serious ass behind him.....

www.spearheadvibrations.com

[S n o w b a l l]

43. I downloaded 6 songs of his today...

Read his bio...I must have been living under a rock for 10 yrs not to know about him.

[Bennyboy]

46. He is THE AVATAR......

He does a festival called Power To The Peaceful that draws about 10,000 people to in Golden gate Park and he is always speaking out and taking action. He was a HUGH Kucinich supporter.

The first time I saw him, it was like seeing Bab Marley again. The only artist that I knew was so much more important than just the music.

Be sure to check out the video of his trip to Iraq and Afghansistan too....And his work with Charlie Hunter in the BeatNigs and The Disposable Heroes of Hip Hopcracy....

Summer of 2010 will be the year Franti becomes the biggest star on the planet.(in the kind of non star status that us hippies love) Right now his music is in the movies and on two TV shows opening credits....and he has an actual radio hit...And a new album coming out I think.........

[LynzM]

59. YES.

That's mine, too!

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

It never makes no sense
It never makes no sense
Fire, fire, fire, light up your lighter
Fire, fire, fire
Armegeddon is a deadly day
Armegeddon is a deadly way
They're coming for you everyday
While senators on a holiday
The army recruiters in the parking lot
Hustling kids, they're juggling pot
"Listen young man, listen to my plan
Gonna make you money, gonna make you a man.
(bomb, bomb)
Here's what you get, an M16 and a kevlar vest
You might come home with one less leg but this thing will surely keep a bullet out your chest
So come on, come on, sign up, come on
This one's nothing like Vietnam
Except for the bullets, except for the bombs
Except for the youth that's gone"

So we keep it on, 'til you're coming home
higher and higher
Fire, fire, fire, light up your lighter
Fire, fire, fire
So we keep it on, 'til you're coming home
higher and higher
Fire, fire, fire, light up your lighter
Fire, fire, fire

Tell me president tell me if you will
How many people does a smart bomb kill?
How many of them do you think we got?
The general says we never miss shot
And we never ever ever keep a body count
We're killing so efficiently we can't keep count
In the afghan hills the rebels still fighting
Opium fields keep on providing
The best heroin that money can buy and
No body knows where Osama bin hiding
The press conferences keep on lying
Like we don't know

So we keep it on, 'til you're coming home
higher and higher
Fire, fire, fire, light up your lighter
Fire, fire, fire
So we keep it on, 'til you're coming home
higher and higher
Fire, fire, fire, light up your lighter
Fire, fire, fire
So Mr engine, engine, number 9
Machine guns on a New York transit line
The war for oil is a war for the beast
the War on terror is a war on peace
Telling you they're gonna protect you
Telling you that they support the troops and
Don't let 'em fool you with their milk and honey
No, they only want your money
One step forward and 2 step back
One step forward and 2 step back
Why do veterans get no respect
PTSD and a broken back
Take a look at where you money's gone (seen)
Take a look at what they spent it on
No excuses, no illusions
Light up your lighter, bring 'em home

So we keep it on, 'til you're coming home
higher and higher
Fire, fire, fire, light up your lighter
Fire, fire, fire
So we keep it on, til you're coming home
higher and higher
Fire, fire, fire, light up your lighter
Fire, fire, fire

So we keep it on, til you're coming home
higher and higher
Fire, fire, fire, light up your lighter
Fire, fire, fire
So we keep it on, til you're coming home
higher and higher
Fire, fire, fire, light up your lighter
Fire, fire, fire

[abq e streeter]

16. Springsteen, The Clash, Rage Against The Machine, Bob Marley, Rancid

each has ( or had) a slightly different take , all of which I relate to. If I were forced to pick just one, I guess I'd go with The Clash

Just noticed Hobbit mentioning early Jefferson Airplane; good call there too.

[LostInAnomie]

17. The barking dogs that do that version of Jingle Bells.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

26. You've got my vote!

:rofl:

[Stardust]

38. Ha! (that was the first record I ever owned.)

[Lasher]

53. I was going to say Woody Guthrie but this is more appropriate.

Or I could go for Napoleon XIV.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

21. Probably Zappa, because everything should be questioned, and he questioned everything

I don't think there's a single politician on the planet deserving of our 100% blind, unwavering trust and devotion.

It's a job, based on a job interview ("political campaign"), and after they are hired ("elected"), they need to do the job they were hired / elected to do.

It's that plain and simple. When they do the job, they are to be applauded. When they fuck up, the people who hired them / elected them have the responsibility of pointing that out to them.

Otherwise, they get drunk on their own power and begin to think they can do anything, at any time.

Dec 18, 2000 ... "If this were a dictatorship, it'd be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I'm the dictator." - George W. Bush

www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0012/18/nd.01.html

[velvet]

30. yes

My first impulse was to pick Zappa for his inquiring mind, but on reflection thought Midnight Oil more appropriate as they dealt with Australian issues as well as universal ones. Your point about politicians is relevant here, the Oils' lead singer Peter Garrett has been a very disappointing Minister for the Environment since he was elected in '07.

[Initech]

56. Four words: Broadway The Hard Way

He absolutely destroys the Xtian right on that album, but the scary thing is that a lot of people named on that album are still in power. :nuke:

[Enthusiast]

64. John Lennon, Frank Zappa and Neil Young

Sorry I'm late.

Now listening to David Gilmour's On an Island through the headphones.

[Captain Hilts]

22. Mary Travers, a liberal who hated BOTH Reagan and Daniel Ortega. nt

[Taverner]

24. She did didn't she!

I remember her taking a lot of flak from other lefties on that

She was also a member of the Anti Stalin left too...

[Captain Hilts]

33. Cool you remember that...Keep the faith!

[jellen]

27. Willie Nelson

[oregonjen]

28. John Denver

[Rabrrrrrr]

29. Zappa, Neil Young, Britten, Meredith Monk

[HughBeaumont]

32. Dead Kennedys, Frank Zappa, Napalm Death, Arab League.

[Captain Hilts]

34. Wow. I think I'm the only person who mentioned a woman. There's a Jeff Airplane reference...

but that's pretty much IT.

Sad.

[DBoon]

37. Isn't Joan Baez a woman? (nt)

[old mark]

35. Zappa "Take the day and walk around...Watch the Nazis run your town..."

Loved that band, sad that he died so young.
So many great musicians leave early.

mark

[DBoon]

36. The Clash. Bikini Kill. And of course The Minutemen

[Terra Alta]

39. the two Johns

Lennon and Denver.

Two very talented men who left the world way, way too soon. :(

[enigmatic]

40. Phil Ochs

[PJPhreak]

41. David Rovics, Crosby,Stills Nash & Young

Who Would Jesus Bomb D. Rovics

Ohio CSN&Y

[RFKHumphreyObama]

44. A few (with examples)

Johnny Cash
The Man In Black
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxkdDRF3Zn4&feature=related

The Ballad of Ira Hayes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2akjI7b9Wg

Don McLean
The Grave
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29XO3iGLVLE

John Denver
Last Night I Had The Strangest Dream
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBcwAJZGXsk

[netania99]

45. Billy Bragg n/t

[TrogL]

47. Pink Floyd - The Wall

[Mendocino]

48. Woody Guthrie

[bif]

49. The MC5

[MiddleFingerMom]

50. I saw the MC5 in '71...

.
...they were the AWFULFREAKINEST garage band you'd ever want
to hear... and they drove the festival crowd to an orgiastic
FRENZY!!!!! It was incredible -- inviting people to join them
onstage... the promoter grabbed the mic from the singer and told
us he was going to shut the concert down because of safety
violations -- the singer grabbed it back and said, FUCK HIM...
THIS IS OUR CONCERT NOW!!!!
.
The show continued... stage shoulder-to-shoulder people.
.
Yeah, they were OK.
.

.

[guitar man]

51. Neil Young

He usually hits the nail on the head.

[Alexander]

52. I would've said Megadeth, if not for their recent albums...

...where Dave Mustaine appears to have become a right-wing born-again Christian.

So I don't know. Maybe John Lennon or Rage Against The Machine or Radiohead or something.

[Throd]

54. Frank Zappa or GWAR

[Hell Hath No Fury]

55. Jello Biafra --

I love me some Jello. :loveya:

[Initech]

57. Zappa, RATM, Dead Kennedys, George Clinton

I'd also add George Carlin and Bill Hicks to the list but they're not musicians.

[jobycom]

58. No one picked Tracy Chapman? Alright, I'll pick Tracy Chapman.

[PVnRT]

60. The Clash, Dead Kennedys

"Washington Bullets" - The Clash

Oh! Mama, Mama look there!
Your children are playing in that street again
Don't you know what happened down there?
A youth of fourteen got shot down there
The Kokane guns of Jamdown Town
The killing clowns, the blood money men
Are shooting those Washington bullets again

As every cell in Chile will tell
The cries of the tortured men
Remember Allende, and the days before,
Before the army came
Please remember Victor Jara,
In the Santiago Stadium,
Es verdad - those Washington Bullets again

And in the Bay of Pigs in 1961,
Havana fought the playboy in the Cuban sun,
For Castro is a colour,
Is a redder than red,
Those Washington bullets want Castro dead
For Castro is the colour...
...That will earn you a spray of lead

Sandinista!

For the very first time ever,
When they had a revolution in Nicaragua,
There was no interference from America
Human rights in America

Well the people fought the leader,
And up he flew...
With no Washington bullets what else could he do?
Sandinista!

'N' if you can find a Afghan rebel
That the Moscow bullets missed
Ask him what he thinks of voting Communist...
...Ask the Dalai Lama in the hills of Tibet,
How many monks did the Chinese get?
In a war-torn swamp stop any mercenary,
'N' check the British bullets in his armoury
Que?
Sandinista!

[applegrove]

61. Dixie Chicks who hate George Bush.

[Blue-Jay]

62. Hanson.

[DutchLiberal]

63. The freewheelin' Bob Dylan!

Blowin' in the wind
Oxford Town
With God on our side
The time they're a-changin'
The lonesome death of Hattie Carroll
Ballad of Hollis Brown
John Brown
Only a pawn in their game
Hurricane

And of course...

Masters of war

[wysimdnwyg]

65. Rage, The Clash, Pearl Jam and Green Day

I suppose I'm somewhat dating myself with that group, but it fits me well. Even if Green Day's political side didn't really come out until six years ago and Pearl Jam largely keeps their politics off their records (Riot Act not withstanding, of course).

[Dogmudgeon]

66. Bruce Cockburn

If I Had A Rocket Launcher ...

... some son of a bitch would die.

http://cockburnproject.net/">The Cockburn Project

--d!

[Beer Snob-50]

68. boring answer but

springsteen and dylan

[CBR]

69. I have to say...

Jay-Z/Eminem -- Renegade


Dixie Chick -- Lubbock or Leave It

Both songs touch hypocrisy and the Dixie Chicks song is so relevant to my experiences growing up in a small WVa town.

[kwassa]

70. The Fugs