Last week, Rolling Stone came out with another list that tried to de-escalate masculinity in music. The 100 Best Protest Songs of All Time.
Now don't get me wrong, the list itself wasn't that bad, it was the perspective of the list. Rolling Stone's list leaned heavily into 2 categories:
Protests Against Vietnam.
Protests Against White America.
They also had a very Dylan-esque angle to their list.
My list is different. When I think of protest music, I think of an artist that may jump off the stage and punch you in the face. Or an artist that is so emotionally distraught, they may jump off a cliff after the show. It skews more toward the rawness of punk and rap.
Not artists warbling with an acoustic guitar.
You say that music stopped that bastard Nixon? My Uncle was in Vietnam, he is now 75 years old. Since when does Rolling Stone care about Vietnam? When they are trying to proselytize and draw parallels to today. Rolling Stone used to be the counterculture, now it's the corporate culture. It's not a coincidence that RS dropped this list a few weeks after the start of the Trump Administration.
There's plenty of good protest music from our time without digging back to the 1930's. Our list today starts in the shadows of the Vietnam withdrawal, focusing on many songs you didn't hear on Commercial FM radio, but in the depth of night on College Radio or on YouTube. (Song rating at Rolling Stone in parenthesis.)
Fight the Power (1990) by Public Enemy (2)
Arguably the greatest protest song of all time, regardless of the time frame.
Our freedom of speech is freedom or death
We got to fight the powers that be
Nazi Punks Fuck Off (1981) by the Dead Kennedys (51)
We ain't trying to be police
When you ape the cops, it ain't anarchy
I Shot the Devil (1983) by Suicidal Tendencies (-)
I shot Reagan, I shot Sadat
I'm gonna shoot you
Killing in the Name of (1992) by Rage Against the Machine (21)
Those who died are justified, for wearing the badge, they're the chosen whites
You justify those that died by wearing the badge, they're the chosen whites
Bomb. Repeat. Bomb. (2007) by Ted Leo and the Pharmacists (-)
And when the dying starts
You won't have to know a thing about who's dead
This is America (2018) by Childish Gambino (-)
You just a black man in this world
You just a barcode
Dicks Hate the Police (1980) by The Dicks (-)
Dicks hates policemen, and it's true
You can't find justice, it'll find you
Fuck tha Police (1988) by NWA (10)
Eazy-E, won't you step up to the stand
Tell the jury how you feel about this bullshit?
Two Tribes (1984) by Frankie Goes to Hollywood (-)
Are we living in a land where sex and horror are the new Gods?
Yeah
Uncle Sam Goddamn (2007) by Brother Ali (-)
Welcome to the United Snakes
Land of the thief, home of the slave
Bombs Over Bagdad (2000) by Outkast (-)
Both Andre 3000 and Big Boi have clarified that, despite its up-tempo, this is an anti-war song.
The fence is too high to jump in jail
Too low to dig, I might just touch Hell
Bonzo Goes to Bitburg (1985) by the Ramones (-)
There's one thing that makes me sick
It's when someone tries to hide behind their politics
16 Military Wives (2005) by The Decemberists (-)
Sergeant sent a letter to five
Military wives, his tears drip down to ten little eyes
Alright (2015) by Kendrick Lamar (22)
What you want you, a house? You, a car?
40 acres and a mule?
Holiday (2004) by Green Day (-)
Hear the drum pounding out of time
Another protester has crossed the line (hey!)
Allentown (1982) by Billy Joe (-)
But they've taken all the coal from the ground
And the union people crawled away
Reagan (2015) by Killer Mike (71)
They declared the war on drugs, like a war on terror
But what it really did was let the police terrorize whoever
From Her Lips to God's Ears (2006) by Against Me (-)
Constant war for constant soldiers.
What are we gonna do now?
The Message (1982) by Grandmaster Flash (16)
'Cause it's all about money; ain't a damn thing funny
You got to have a con in this land of milk and honey
Open Letter (To a Landlord) (1988) by Living Colour (-)
Now you can tear a building down
But you can't erase a memory
Beds are Burning (1987) by Midnight Oil (97)
Sun City (1985) by Artists Against Apartheid (75)
Holiday in Cambodia (1992) by Sister Double Happiness (-)
Know Your Rights (1982) by The Clash (-)
Do the Evolution (1998) by Pearl Jam (-)
1996 (1996) by Marilyn Manson (-)
50,000 Unstoppable Watts (2009) by Clutch (-)
Black America Again (2016) by Common (-)
Sunday Bloody Sunday (1983) by U2 (30)
American Jesus (1993) by Bad Religion (-)
Protest and Survive (1982) by Discharge (-)
Racism Sucks (1982) by 7 Seconds (-)
Civil War (2011) by Immortal Technique (-)
Smallpox Champion (1993) by Fugazi (-)
Planet B (2019) by King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard (-)
Revolution (2004) by Authority Zero (-)
Racists (2017) by Anti-Flag (-)
Wargasm (1992) by L7 (-)
Police Myself (2019) by Open Mike Eagle & MF Doom (-)
40. War Pimp Renaissance (1995) by Lard (-)
War Pigs (1989) by Faith No More (-)
The Story of Thomas McElwee (1996) by the Crucifucks (-)
Voice Your Disgust (2013) by Jungle Rot (-)
Nobody Speak (2016) by Run the Jewels (-)
Oklahoma City Alarm Clock (1995) by the Fixtures (-)
Like Sprewells on a Wheelchair (2004) by the Dillinger Four (-)
Youth Against Fascism (1992) by Sonic Youth (-)
April 29, 1992 (1996) by Sublime (-)
Ich bin ein Ausländer (1994) by Pop Will Eat Itself (-)
Dead River (1991) by Alice Donut (-)
Listen, 4 Dead in Ohio is an iconic lyric, I can't argue that.
But when it comes to the American Dream, do you think things are better today or in the 1960's? Your answer may be determined by your Race, Creed, or Color.
The best list I found on the internet was from:
That guy has dedicated his life to Protest Music.
Again, I think that my knowledge is more suited for the 70's moving forward. If you don't think there's things to protest today, you aren't paying attention.
The great irony in Rolling Stone's list is that they want their list to be the definitive statement on Protest Lists, but they had to pay to be at the top of the search engine. Then, AI cites Rolling Stone as the document of record.
Doesn't anyone else see what's wrong with that?
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