My daughter has gotten into the spirit of political activism, having just spontaneously started singing the chorus of James' anti-war song "Hey Ma" to me yesterday - "Hey Ma, the boys in body bags coming home in pieces". Her version is actually, "Hey Ma, duh boys in bobby bads comin' home in Peter", but I know what she means. Concern may be expressed that my 2 year old has fixated on something so gruesome, but since she doesn't know what it all means I'm not really bothered. WAR IS HELL PEOPLE!
James: Hey Ma
John Prine: Your Flag Decal Won't Get You Into Heaven Anymore
-Sadly, this song was written in reference to Vietnam, yet somehow here we are again with the song still relevant.
Johnny Cash: Man in Black
-Anyone else get goosebumps listening to this? Just me then?
Billie Holiday: Strange Fruit
The Clash: London Calling
Morrissey: Irish Blood, English Heart
Bob Marley: Get Up, Stand Up
Phil Ochs: I Ain't Marchin' Anymore
System of a Down: Hypnotize
Marvin Gaye: What's Goin' On
Bob Dylan: Times They Are A-Changin'
-Because no list like these is complete without a little Dylan.
Bright Eyes: When the President Talks to God
The Decemberists: Sixteen Military Wives
The Specials: Ghost Town
Black Sabbath: War Pigs
Sam Cooke: A Change is Gonna Come
And to wrap this all up, some good old Woody Guthrie - This Land is Your Land. I had always perceived this song to be yet another vestige of flag-waving, blindly pro-American propaganda, but apparently Guthrie wrote it in response to the popularity of "God Bless America". It was written in 1940, so things kind of weren't that great in the US at the time with that whole Depression thing and all, and Guthrie found "God Bless America" to be a slap in the face considering what was really going on. Hence, This Land is Your Land.
Playlist:
Fingers crossed for Tuesday. I'm desperately hoping that my kid's constant shouts of "OBAMA!" with accompanying fist pumps won't be all for naught.
5 comments:
You are a musical goddess and I love Music Mondays. I will be playing this all week.
Yes Cash doing The Man In Black gives me chills every time I hear it.
No comment needs to be made about Holliday's Strange Fruit.
I've loved Sam Cooke since I was a little girl and A Change is Gonna Come is my all time fav.
Really I could go on....but just a perfect list. And I loved that you ended with Woody Gutherie.
I don't know why these videos will never play for me, but alas, they don't.
I've always loved This Land Is Your Land, so much more than our national anthem. It seems so much more inclusive and far less war-driven.
I may go out of my mind if Tuesday doesn't get here soon. I'm gnawing my fingernails down and obsessively checking polls and watching and listening to everything I can just for another fix. Wednesday is going to be tough.
Or, y'know, NOT, should Obama win. pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease.
Awesome playlist. Really awesome.
And don't worry. Tuesday is going to go our way. I am certain of it.
Dude, I had no idea of the history behind Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land". That was pretty cool.
Look at you - a fucking font of knowledge.
You're cooler than the other side of the pillow.
AWESOME.
Adding my own light tracks:
Don Henley, Dirty Laundry
and
Re-Flex, Politics of Dancing
Sorry Johnny, tomorrow I'm wearing red, white and blue and reclaiming the symbols of my oppressors.
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