This Ain't Your Daddy's Protest Music

I was first tipped off by Laurie to the video of Pink performing Dear Mr. President live, and have subsequently noticed it posted all over the place. As I told Laurie, I've never really been a fan of Pink, but I think this song is very well done. If you're not in a place where you can watch the video, feel free to read the lyrics here.

Anyway, it inspired me to think about what I consider to be my own outlet for protest/political music. Anyone who knows me or who has visited the "greatest guitarists" section of my site knows that music is probably my most called upon vice, so I thought I'd merge the concept of song with the politcal theme of the site, and post my favorites here (some of which have the greatest guitarist playing in the songs below!)

I've never, ever liked most of the protest songs from the 60’s (i.e. “1, 2, 3 what are we fightin’ for?” kind of crap), but obviously respect the origins and people in the movement of the time.

Below you will find nothing of the sort, and many of you won’t like the heavy, guitar driven songs. However, if you can talk about politics given the state we’re in now and not raise your voice, you are one step ahead of me my friend.

Most who read this site will be familiar with the music below. Just click the blue play arrow under the song title, put the kids to bed, and enjoy. To those who are not, I ask that you give at least a 30 second listen, or at least read the lyrics.

(Oh, and to those Bush-supporting "let the rich get richer" type, please feel free to report my posting of copyrighted MP3's to your nearest music industry hotline. Metallica is eating well and living quite comfortably despite my posting their music here, thanks. )

I figured, why not start with the band for which this site is named? If you're looking for an outlet, fueled by deadly combination of anger and intelligence, I urge you to look no further than Rage Against the Machine.

Know your Enemy
Listen:

Yeah, we’re comin’ back then with another bombtrack
Yo, so check this out...

Know your enemy!
Come on!
Born with insight and a raised fist, a witness to the slit wrist, that’s with
As we move into ’92, still in a room without a view
Ya got to know, ya got to know, that when I say go, go, go
Amp up and amplify, defy. I’m a brother with a furious mind

Action must be taken, we don’t need the key we’ll break in
Something must be done about vengeance, a badge and a gun
’Cause I’ll rip the mike, rip the stage, rip the system. I was born to rage against ’em
Fist in ya face, in the place, and I’ll drop the style clearly.

Know your enemy.
Know your enemy!

Hey yo, and dick with this...

Word is born. Fight the war, fuck the norm!
Now I got no patience, so sick of complacence.
With the d, the e, the f, the i, the a, the n, the c, the e... Mind of a revolutionary
So clear the lane, the finger to the land of the chains!

What? The land of the free? Whoever told you that is your enemy.
Now something must be done about vengeance, a badge and a gun
’Cause I’ll rip the mike, rip the stage, rip the system. I was born to rage against ’em
Now action must be taken. We don’t need the key, we’ll break in!

I’ve got no patience now.
So sick of complacence now.
I’ve got no patience now.
So sick of complacence now.
Sick of sick of sick of sick of you.

Time has come to PAY!!!!

Know your enemy!

(Tom M Solo)

Yes I know my enemies!
They’re the teachers who taught me to fight me!
Compromise.
Conformity.
Assimilation.
Submission.
Ignorance.
Hypocrisy.
Brutality.
The elite.

All of which are american dreams.
All of which are american dreams.

Wake Up
Listen:

Come on, although ya try to discredit, ya still never read it.
The needle, I'll thread it, radically poetic
Standin' with the fury that they had in '66.
And like E-Double I'm mad Still knee-deep in the system's shit.

Hoover, he was a body remover. I'll give ya a dose, but it can never come close
To the rage built up inside of me. Fist in the air, in the land of hypocrisy.
Movements come and movements go.
Leaders speak, movements cease when their heads are flown.'

Cause all these punks, got bullets in their heads. Departments of police, the judges, the feds.
Networks at work, keepin' people calm.
You know they went after King, when he spoke out on Vietnam.
He turned the power to the have-nots. And then came the shot!

With poetry, my mind I flex. Flip like Wilson, vocals never lackin' that finesse.
Whadda I got to, whadda I got to do to wake you up?
To shake ya up, to break the structure up?

'Cause blood still flows in the gutter. I'm like takin' photos, mad boy kicks open the shutter.
Set the groove, then stick and move like I was Cassius.
Rep the stutter step, then bomb a left upon the fascists.

Yea, the several federal men, who pulled schemes on the dream. And put it to an end.
Ya better beware of retribution with mind war.
20/20 visions, and murals with metaphors.

Networks at work, keepin' people calm.
Ya know they murdered X, and tried to blame it on Islam.
He turned the power to the have-nots...And then came the shot!

What was the price on his head?
Who put the price on his head!!!!

I think I heard a shot...
I think I heard a shot...
I think I heard a shot...
I think I heard a shot!

I think I heard a shot!
I think I heard, I think I heard a shot...

"He may be a real contender for this position should he abandon his supposed obediance to white liberal doctrineof non-violence...and embrace black nationalism."

''Through counter-intelligence it should be possible to pinpoint potential trouble-makers... and neutralize them."

"Through counter-intelligence it should be possible to pinpoint potential trouble-makers... and neutralize them...and neutralize them...and neutralize them...and neutralize them..."

Wake up! Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!Wake up! Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!

How long? Not long. Cause what you reap is what you sow!

Freedom
Listen:

Solo, I'm a soloist on a solo list
All live, never on a floppy disk.
Inka, inka, bottle of ink. Paintings of rebellion, drawn up by the thoughts I think!

It's set uplike a deck of cards. They're sending us to early graves.
For all the diamonds They'll use a pair of clubs to beat the spades
With poetry I paint the pictures that hit.
More than the murals that fit, don't turn away, get in front of it

Brotha, did you forget my name? Did ya lose it on the wall Playin' tic-tac-toe?
Yo, check the diagonal, three brothers gone, come on, doesn't that make it three in a row?

(Anger is a gift.)

Yo, check the diagonal, three million gone, come on.
'Cause ya know they're counting backwards to zero.
Environment. The environment exceeding on the level of our unconsciousness.

For example, what does the billboard say?
Come and play, come and play, forget about the movement.

(Anger is a gift.)

YEAH!!
Awww, bring that shit in!

Freedom...yeah.
Freedom...yeah, right.
Freedom...YEAH!!!!!!

FREEDOM!!
YEAH!!
FREEDOM!!
YEAH, RIGHT!!
FREEDOM!! YEAH!! RIGHT!!

One of my favorite bands ever. For those unfamiliar with the lineup, this is Maynard from Tool, Jeordie White from Marilyn Manson, James Iha from the Smashing Pumpkins, Josh Freese from the Vandals/Suicidal Tendencies, and song writing genious Billy Howerdel. The song below was written right around the start of the Iraq invasion.

Pet
Listen:

Don't fret precious I'm here. Step away from the window.
Go, back to sleep.

Lay your head down child, I won't let the boogeymen come.
Count their bodies like sheep to the rhythm of the war drums.
Pay no mind to the rabble, pay no mind to the rabble.
Head down, go to sleep, to the rhythm of the war drums.

Pay no mind, what other voices say. They don't care about you, like I do, (like I do).
Safe from pain, and truth, and choice, and other poison devils.
See, they don't give a fuck about you, like I do.

Just stay with me.
Safe and ignorant...Go,back to sleep.
Go, back to sleep.

Lay your head down child, I won't let the boogeymen come.
Count their bodies like sheep to the rhythm of the war drums.
Pay no mind to the rabble, pay no mind to the rabble.
Head down, go to sleep, to the rhythm of the war drums!

I'll be the one to protect you from, your enemies and all your demons.
I'll be the one to protect you from, a will to survive and a voice of reason.
I'll be the one to protect you from, your enemies and your choices son.
They're one and the same, I must isolate you. Isolate and save you from yourself.

Swayin' to the rhythm of the new world order, and!...
Counting bodies like sheep to the rhythm of the war drums!
The boogeymen are coming, the boogeymen are coming.
Keep your head down, go to sleep to the rhythm of the war drums!

Stay with me. Safe and, ignorant.
Just, stay with me.
I'll hold you and protect you from the other ones.
The evil ones, don't love you son.
(whispered) Go back to sleep.

For the record, I really cant stand Green day. However, they’ve seemed to throw a lot of political stuff in their most recent record, and I’ve decided to bend a little and post one of the songs here (that everyone has heard a million times by now, I’m sure).

Holiday
Listen:

Say, Hey!

Hear the sound of the falling rain.
Coming down like an Armageddon flame (Hey!)
The shame, the ones who died without a name.

Hear the dogs howling out of key.
To a hymn called, "Faith and Misery"
And bleed, the company lost the war today

I beg to dream and differ from the hollow lies.
This is the dawning of the rest of our lives
On holiday.

Hear the drum pounding out of time.
Another protestor has crossed the line (Hey!)
To find, the money's on the other side .

Can I get another Amen? (Amen!)
There's a flag wrapped around a score of men (Hey!)
A gag, a plastic bag on a monument.

I beg to dream and differ from the hollow lies.
This is the dawning of the rest of our lives
On holiday


"The representative from California has the floor"

"Zieg Heil to the president gasman
Bombs away is your punishment!
Pulverize the Eiffel towers
Who criticize your government!
Bang bang goes the broken glass and
Kill all the fags that don't agree!
Trials by fire, setting fire
Is not a way that's meant for me!
Just cause, just cause, because we're outlaws yeah!

I beg to dream and differ from the hollow lies.
This is the dawning of the rest of our lives.
I beg to dream and differ from the hollow lies.
This is the dawning of the rest of our lives.

This is our lives on holiday!

Pre-1992 Metallica is some of the best music ever recorded, in my humble opinion. The song below will probably offend some, but I don't think Metallica is necessarily slamming the military. I think they're making a point about the brainwashing and the lack of honor and respect for their lives, using them as expendable bodies.

Disposable Heroes
Listen:

Bodies fill the fields I see, hungry heroes end
No one to play soldier now, no one to pretend
Running blind through killing fields, bred to kill them all
Victim of what said should be, a servant `til I fall

Soldier boy, made of clay, now an empty shell
Twenty one, only son, but he served us well
Bred to kill, not to care, do just as we say
Finished here, greetings death, he's yours to take away!

Back to the front!
You will do what I say, when I say
Back to the front!
You will die, when I say, you must die
Back to the front!
You coward, you servant, you blind man.

Barking of machinegun fire, does nothing to me now
Sounding of the clock that ticks, get used to it somehow
The more a man, more stripes you wear, glory seeker trends
Bodies fill the fields I see, the slaughter never ends.

Soldier boy, made of clay, now an empty shell
Twenty one, only son, but he served us well
Bred to kill, not to care, do just as we say
Finished here, greetings death, he's yours to take away!

Why, Am I dying?
Kill, have no fear
Lie, live off lying
Hell, Hell is here

I was born for dying!!

Life planned out before my birth, nothing could I say
Had no chance to see myself, molded day by day
Looking back I realize, nothing have I done
Left to die with only friend, alone I clench my gun.

Soldier boy, made of clay, now an empty shell
Twenty one, only son, but he served us well
Bred to kill, not to care, do just as we say
Finished here, greetings death, he's yours to take away!

Back to the front.

One of my favorite bands of all time. As many of you know, their guitarist, Darrell Abbot made national headlines, when he was gunned down on stage while playing a show with his most recent band Damage Plan a couple of years ago in Ohio. I was a huge fan of his, and have had the opportunity to meet him a couple of times during college. Pantera has always been a huge musical influence in my life.


Fucking Hostile
Listen:

Almost every day, I see the same face
On broken picture tube, it fits the attitude

If you could see yourself, you put you on a shelf
Your verbal masturbate, promise to nauseate

Today I'll play the part of non-parent.
Not make a hundred rules For you to know about yourself
Not lie and make you believe, what's evil.
Is making love and making friends and meeting God you're own way.
The right way.

To see
To bleed
Cannot be taught
In turn, you're making us
Fucking hostile!

We stand alone

The truth in right and wrong, the boundaries of the law
You seem to miss the point, arresting for a joint?

You seem to wonder why, hundreds of people die
You're writing tickets man, my mom got jumped -- they ran!

Now I'll play a public servant
To serve and protect by the law and the state
I'd bust the punks that rape steal and murder
And leave you be, if you crossed me
I'd shake your hand like a man
Not a god!

To see
To bleed
Cannot be taught
In turn, you're making us
Fucking hostile!

Come meet your maker, boy, some things you can't enjoy
Because of heaven/hell, a fucking wives' tale

They put it in your head, then put you in your bed
He's watching say your prayers 'cause God is everywhere

Now I'll play a man learning priesthood
Who's about to take the ultimate test in life
I'd question things because I am human
And call no one my father who's no closer that a stranger

I won't listen!

To see
To bleed
Cannot be taught
In turn, you're making us...
Fucking...Fucking....Fucking HOSTILE!!