Red & Blue Rock

The National Review has posted a list of what it claims are the top 50 conservative rock songs. Ignoring for the moment that rock & roll, as a musical genre and a lifestyle choice, pretty much spits in the eye of anything resembling conservative values, it's an interesting list. One has to pause, however, at the inclusion of songs like CCR's "Who'll Stop the Rain," an anti-Vietnam classic, and the Clash's "Rock the Casbah" ("By order of the prophet/We ban that boogie sound"), and wonder if whoever compiled this list has ever listened to the fucking songs. (On the other hand, it was the wife of Democratic champion Al Gore that created the PMRC.)

In the interest of fairness and balance (and a supressed outrage at conservative gall), I've cobbled together a sample list of songs that espouse and/or one-up liberal values:

1. R.E.M. : "Cuyahoga"
Several artists, including Randy Newman, have written odes to this Ohio river, famously polluted to the point where it became flammable, and actually ignited. The pollution, natch, made possible by consistently weak environmental regulations and conservative undermining of existing laws in favor of letting megacorporations do as they please with America's resources.

Sample lyric: "Rewrite the book and rule the pages/Saving face, secured in faith/Bury, burn the waste behind you."

2. U2: "Sunday Bloody Sunday"
Originally written as a response to a particularly brutish incident in Irish history, this song now sounds like a post-9/11 reaffirmation of non-violence and anti-jingoism, while reminding one of the eventual result of an eye-for-an-eye foreign policy: "There's many lost, but tell me, who has won?"

3. Billy Joel: "Leningrad"
Hard to believe now that Billy Joel was once capable of songs that were not only hummable, but heartfelt. Such is this case with this number, which contrasts the life of an American kid raised under the spectre of 1950's Cold War paranoia and a man in Leningrad trying to make a living.

Sample lyric: "Haven't they heard we won the war?/What do they keep on fighting for?"

4. Sting: "Russians"
In a similar vein, and from the same time period, as the song above, "Russians" blithely mocks the hypocrisy of the war-mongering Reagan administration and the generally childish build-up of nuclear arms by the superpowers: "There is no monopoly of common sense/On either side of the political fence/What just might save us/Me and you/Is if the Russians love their children, too."

5. Rage Against the Machine: "Vietnow"
You could probably take your pick among the RATM oeuvre for songs that militantly espouse a left-wing philosophy and that regard right-wing politics with merciless contempt. But I've always been partial to this indictment of conservative talk-show radio. "Naw, fuck it, turn it off," barks vocalist Zack de la Rocha (son of a Chicano political artist), effectively biting a hand that has never bothered to offer his band any airplay.

Sample lyric: "Shock around the clock, from noon to noon/Men grabbin' they mics and stuff 'em into tha womb/Terror's the product ya push/Well I'm a truth addict/Oh shit, I got a headRush"

6. Bruce Springsteen: "The Ghost of Tom Joad"
For those of you who might prefer a more subtle portrayal of the American working class and its inability to survive while playing by the rules imposed by a conservative political base that has resisted raising working wages for nearly 15 years, turn to Bruce's chilling morality tale, "Atlantic City" (and catch the video, if you can). But for a more prosaic (and unabashedly Steinbeck-via-Fonda influenced) take, check out the title track from this memorable (and criminally neglected) album from the early 90's. Steinbeck never sounded more desolate.

7. Pearl Jam: "World Wide Suicide"
It took the outrageous and criminal actions of the Bush administration to rouse this band from the pile of dead alternative artistes, but what a comeback it is. Dripping with scorn and contempt, this band hasn't sounded this pissed off in years: "Medals on a wooden mantle/Next to a handsome face/That the President took for granted." Welcome back, boys.

8. 10,000 Maniacs: "Gun Shy"
I can only take the cloying sentiments of this band in small doses, but they always sounded best when they became snide. In this number, the singer warily congratulates her younger brother on the occasion of his becoming a man and joining the army. But, she cautions, "There is a world outside of this door/And when you meet it, promise me/You won't meet it with your gun."

9. Bob Dylan: "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll"
Ignore the hippie anthems of the 60's (Well, don't ignore them. They're great. But for purposes of this argument, ignore them.) and sit down while Zimmy tells you a tale of justice served to the rich and business-as-usual for the working class that are pressed into indentured servitude for them. Now is the time for your tears, indeed.

10. Bright Eyes: "At the Bottom of Everything"
I've often promoted this on my radio show as a new and more accurate national anthem, at least for this age. The political content is subtle (especially for an artist who regular performs a song called "When the President Talks to God" in concert), but the lyrics brilliantly portray (through the lens of a crashing airliner) what can only be called a marching tune for wasted potential and ignorance: "And to this endless race for property and privilege to be won/We must run, we must run, we must run."

I could go on. Christ, I could go on. Stay tuned.