Offline
I'm featuring songs about politics on my Monday community radio show. Any suggestions?
Offline
Taxman - Beatles
Political Science - Randy Newman
Apolitical Blues - Little Feat / Van Halen
Offline
A Change is Gonna Come...Sam Cooke
Fortunate Son...CCR
Ohio...CSNY
Offline
Blowing In The Wind- Dylan
People Get Ready- The Impressions
Eve of Destruction- Barry McGuire
I Feel Like I'm Fixin to Die- Country Joe and The Fish
Volunteers - Jefferson Airplane
Almost Cut My Hair-CSNY
Gimmie Some Truth - John Lennon
I Want to Grow Up to Be a Politician- Byrds
What's Going On- Marvin Gaye
Chicago- Graham Nash
Biko- Peter Gabriel
Radio Clash- The Clash
Last edited by Fitz (April 26, 2025 9:44 am)
Offline
Blowin In The Wind- Bob Dylan
What's Goin' On- Marvin Gaye
Fly Little White Dove Fly- The Bells
Reach Out In The Darkness- Friend & Lover
Fight The Power- Public Enemy
Big Yellow Taxi- Joni Mitchell
The Maple Leaf Forever- Various artists
Canadian Railroad Trilogy- Gordon Lightfoot
Canada- The Sugar Shoppe
Offline
Bastille Day - Rush (cancon)
Everything Counts - Depeche Mode
The Men Behind the Wire - Dublin City Ramblers
I Think the Answer's Yes - The Beautiful South
Tin Omen - Skinny Puppy (cancon)
The Eleventh Earl of Mar - Genesis
Open Up the Border - Clutch
Master of Puppets - Metallica
Complain - The Vandals
New Frontier - Donald Fagan
Breathing - Kate Bush
Run To The Hills - Iron Maiden
Get Up Stand Up - Bob Marley
Full Metal Jackoff - Jello Biafra and D.O.A (cancon)
Pristeen - Julian Cope
Uprising - Damn Yankees
Total Invasion - Killing Joke
A.D.A.M - X-Clan
Which Side Are You On? - Pete Seeger
War Pigs - Black Sabbath
Western Decay - Atari Teenage Riot
Where Next Columbus? - Crass
Masters of War - The Flying Pickets
Biko - Peter Gabriel
Off With Your Head - Sleater-Kinney
Between the Wars - Billy Bragg
Mostly left-leaning, sorry. It tends to be artistically difficult to write angry songs about punching down.
Offline
Re right wing politics in music I have read that Morrisey of the Smiths supports an extreme anti immigrant stance. We all know about Ted Nugent. Since Covid Van Morrison has expressed some surprising views.
There was a right wing response to Eve of Destruction called The Dawn of Correction by the Spokesmen.
I don't believe Dave Cousins and the Strawbs were right wingers but when Hudson/Ford were with them they released the anti union Part Of The Union. A song that almost grazed the Top 40. Ray Davies is no right winger but the Village Green Preservation Society strikes me as somewhat luddite. I love the wordplay of the song though.
Offline
For What It's Worth (There's something happening here) Buffalo Springfield.
American Woman The Guess Who
Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye The Band
Offline
Get Out And Vote - Johnny Standley
The One On The Right Is On The Left - Johnny Cash
Snoopy For President - Royal Guardsmen
Tricia Tell Your Daddy - Andy Kim
Ball Of Confusion - Temptations
Sweet Home Alabama - Lynyrd Skynyrd
You Haven't Done Nothin' - Stevie Wonder
Offline
Lorne wrote:
Get Out And Vote - Johnny Standley
The One On The Right Is On The Left - Johnny Cash
Snoopy For President - Royal Guardsmen
Tricia Tell Your Daddy - Andy Kim
Ball Of Confusion - Temptations
Sweet Home Alabama - Lynyrd Skynyrd
You Haven't Done Nothin' - Stevie Wonder
Ok Lorne I will get back to that Sweet home with Alabama and Southern Man by Neil Y.
Offline
newsguy1 wrote:
For What It's Worth (There's something happening here) Buffalo Springfield.
American Woman The Guess Who
Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye The Band
You mean kiss him Goodbye by the studio group Steam and later Bananarama.
Offline
Great thread and can't resist more
The Mothers - Trouble Coming Every Day about the Watts Riots ( Released before Gordon Lightfoot's Black Day in July about the Detroit riots)
Sen Bobby - Wild Thing
Crosby and Nash - Immigration Man
Last edited by Fitz (April 26, 2025 7:25 pm)
Offline
I considered Rush's '2112' to the list. It is of course cancon and replete with the juvenile libertarianism that Neil Peart had a boner for, but Bastille Day seemed more appropriate.
Hemispheres and The Trees are also candidates, but they're more political philosophy.
Edit - crap I forgot. The Tide is Turning by Roger Waters. Actually, most of his 'Radio K.A.O.S.' would've been applicable to the earlier radio song thread, despite the loathsome 80's-era overproduction.
Last edited by Chrisphen (April 26, 2025 7:37 pm)
Offline
One Tin Soldier by The Original Caste
MLK by U2
Killing In The Name from Rage Against the Machine
The Politics of Dancing by Re-Flex
Last edited by betaylored (April 26, 2025 7:44 pm)
Offline
Thanks for the suggestions everybody.
When it comes to musical knowledge, this place is second to none.
Offline
Here's a very obscure one. It was performed at the original Woodstock in 1969, featuring Jeffrey Shurtleff and Joan Baez. "Drug Store Truck Driving Man" is dedicated to Ronald Reagan (which they pronounce as Ronald Ray Guns.)
Offline
Fitz wrote:
Lorne wrote:
Get Out And Vote - Johnny Standley
The One On The Right Is On The Left - Johnny Cash
Snoopy For President - Royal Guardsmen
Tricia Tell Your Daddy - Andy Kim
Ball Of Confusion - Temptations
Sweet Home Alabama - Lynyrd Skynyrd
You Haven't Done Nothin' - Stevie WonderOk Lorne I will get back to that Sweet home with Alabama and Southern Man by Neil Y.
I did think of including them, but felt that they relate more directly to racial and social injustice and aren't as overtly political as Sweet Home Alabama with its mentions of the Governor and Watergate. An argument can certainly be made for both songs, though, and I thought that someone was likely to suggest them.
Offline
RadioActive wrote:
Here's a very obscure one. It was performed at the original Woodstock in 1969, featuring Jeffrey Shurtleff and Joan Baez. "Drug Store Truck Driving Man" is dedicated to Ronald Reagan (which they pronounce as Ronald Ray Guns.)
I recently posted the original version of this song by the Byrds in the songs about the radio thread, The song is about the hostility that red neck Nashville DJ Ralph Emery had towards the Byrds when they appeared on his radio show and to fans of 70's free form radio the Byrds version is well known,
Last edited by Fitz (April 26, 2025 10:23 pm)
Offline
"Money's Too Tight (To Mention)" by Simply Red.
Also, "If It Happens Again" by UB40, which was meant to be a response to Maggie Thatcher's victory in the 1983 UK election.
PJ
Last edited by Paul Jeffries (April 26, 2025 11:21 pm)
Offline
There's also "Election Day", a 1985 hit single from Duran Duran offshoot Arcadia, although it would appear to be more political-sounding in title than in actual lyrical content.
PJ
Offline
Remembered this as a CHUM FM Jazz staple. Did not know until just now when I looked it up on YT that it was written by Gene ( Hundred Pounds of Clay ) McDaniels. Compared to What. My guess is that CHUM FM never touched it after 1975 or so but CFNY picked up on it after that.
Also American Dream by CSNY from the late 80's MTV years. I am sure many here will recall the video and scandals political and other-wise,
Last edited by Fitz (April 27, 2025 9:50 am)
Offline
Dale Patterson wrote:
I'm featuring songs about politics on my Monday community radio show. Any suggestions?
- Green Onions by Booker T. & the MGs, for Eliz. May
- the French Song by Lucille Starr for Yves-Francois Blanchet
- Power to the People by John Lennon for Giorgio Mammoliti of the PPC
- It's All in the Game as performed by Tommy Edwards & others; was co-composed by Charles Dawes, a former US vice president
- Yakety Yak by the Coasters, a tune about debates, French & English & otherwise
- Get a Job by the Silhouettes, a tune about hanging in long enough to qualify for a pension
D.D.
Offline
"Yakety Yak" would have been perfect in the Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke riding, where Barry's Bay's John Yakabuski was MPP for at least twenty years. Yakabuski didn't run in the most recent provincial election, but his successor, PC candidate Billy Denault, won the riding.