Great protest song (recent)?

[RevolutionStartsNow]

Can anyone recommend a great protest/anti-Bush song for a CD I'm making? I just need one more song. Nothing rap or hard rock, it's for someone whose tastes run more to folk/acoustic rock.

I already have several by Steve Earle, a Cowboy Junkies song, a Billy Bragg/Wilco song (Christ for President), and When the President Talks to God by Bright Eyes. And a couple of Dylan songs because he loves Dylan.

Thanks!

[proud2BlibKansan]

1. Just posted this here tonight

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=5641847&mesg_id=5641847

[Mythsaje]

2. Cry Freedom

by Gaia Consort.

[Pirate Smile]

3. Green Day's American Idiot is good.

[RevolutionStartsNow]

4. Yeah, it is.

But a little too hard rock for this guy.

[Pirate Smile]

5. Sorry. I should have read your full OP before posting.

:yoiks:

[RevolutionStartsNow]

6. That's cool, I love Green Day

I bought 3 copies of Bullet in a Bible for xmas gifts this year, including 1 for my son!

[blitzen]

7. John Prine, "Some Humans Ain't Human"

It's a long, mellow song that doesn't seem like a "protest song"--until you get to this part:

Have you ever noticed
When you're feeling really good
There's always a pigeon
That'll come shit on your hood
Or you're feeling your freedom
And the world's off your back
Some cowboy from Texas
Starts his own war in Iraq

Some humans ain't human
Some people ain't kind
They lie through their teeth
With their head up their behind

[G_j]

8. "We Can't Make it Here" by James McMurtry

www.jamesmcmurtry.com

"We Can't Make it Here"

Lyrics


Vietnam Vet with a cardboard sign
Sitting there by the left turn line
Flag on the wheelchair flapping in the breeze
One leg missing, both hands free
No one's paying much mind to him
The V.A. budget's stretched so thin
And there's more comin' home from the Mideast war
We can't make it here anymore

That big ol' building was the textile mill
It fed our kids and it paid our bills
But they turned us out and they closed the doors
We can't make it here anymore

See all those pallets piled up on the loading dock
They're just gonna set there till they rot
'Cause there's nothing to ship, nothing to pack
Just busted concrete and rusted tracks
Empty storefronts around the square
There's a needle in the gutter and glass everywhere
You don't come down here 'less you're looking to score
We can't make it here anymore

The bar's still open but man it's slow
The tip jar's light and the register's low
The bartender don't have much to say
The regular crowd gets thinner each day

Some have maxed out all their credit cards
Some are working two jobs and living in cars
Minimum wage won't pay for a roof, won't pay for a drink
If you gotta have proof just try it yourself Mr. CEO
See how far 5.15 an hour will go
Take a part time job at one of your stores
Bet you can't make it here anymore

High school girl with a bourgeois dream
Just like the pictures in the magazine
She found on the floor of the laundromat
A woman with kids can forget all that
If she comes up pregnant what'll she do
Forget the career, forget about school
Can she live on faith? live on hope?
High on Jesus or hooked on dope
When it's way too late to just say no
You can't make it here anymore

Now I'm stocking shirts in the Wal-Mart store
Just like the ones we made before
'Cept this one came from Singapore
I guess we can't make it here anymore

Should I hate a people for the shade of their skin
Or the shape of their eyes or the shape I'm in
Should I hate 'em for having our jobs today
No I hate the men sent the jobs away
I can see them all now, they haunt my dreams
All lily white and squeaky clean
They've never known want, they'll never know need
Their sh@# don't stink and their kids won't bleed
Their kids won't bleed in the da$% little war
And we can't make it here anymore

Will work for food
Will die for oil
Will kill for power and to us the spoils
The billionaires get to pay less tax
The working poor get to fall through the cracks
Let 'em eat jellybeans let 'em eat cake
Let 'em eat sh$%, whatever it takes
They can join the Air Force, or join the Corps
If they can't make it here anymore

And that's how it is
That's what we got
If the president wants to admit it or not
You can read it in the paper
Read it on the wall
Hear it on the wind
If you're listening at all
Get out of that limo
Look us in the eye
Call us on the cell phone
Tell us all why

In Dayton, Ohio
Or Portland, Maine
Or a cotton gin out on the great high plains
That's done closed down along with the school
And the hospital and the swimming pool
Dust devils dance in the noonday heat
There's rats in the alley
And trash in the street
Gang graffiti on a boxcar door
We can't make it here anymore

Music and lyrics © 2004 by James McMurtry

[blitzen]

12. oh yes, that's a good one! n/t

[Starbucks Anarchist]

27. Excellent choice.

It's also a free download.

[Selatius]

9. One of the best anti-war songs I've heard of this war

http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/faithless/massdestruction.html

Faithless' song "Mass Destruction."

...

Whether long range weapon or suicide bomber
Wicked mind is a weapon of mass destruction
Whether you're soar away sun or BBC 1
Misinformation is a weapon of mass destruction
You could a Caucasian or a poor Asian
Racism is a weapon of mass destruction
Whether inflation or globalization
Fear is a weapon of mass destruction

Whether Halliburton or Enron or anyone
Greed is a weapon of mass destruction
We need to find courage, overcome
Inaction is a weapon of mass destruction

...

[willing dwarf]

10. Phil Ochs has so many

I love that one; I'm not Marching Anymore ( not sure if that's the name, but that's the line in the chorus.) You hardly ever hear his music lately, and now is when it's needed.

[Rocknrule]

11. I like BYOB by System of a Down

[Hatalles]

13. Devils & Dust by Springsteen...

... also another good Bright Eyes track is Landlocked Blues. With Dylan, make sure you got "With God on Our Side." =)

[RevolutionStartsNow]

19. Landlocked Blues is indeed on the CD already!

That's a good Dylan choice too. I already have Masters of War and A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall.

[Bluerthanblue]

14. "Fiddle and the Drum?"

by Joni Mitchell or Perfect Circle?-- It's one of my absolute favorites- and speaks deep, when you really listen and think on the words-

"....You say I have turned,
Like the enemies you've earned,
But I can remember,
All the good things you are,
And so I ask you please,
Can I help you find the peace and the star?,
Oh, my friend,
What time is this?,
To trade the handshake for the fist

And so once again,
Oh, America my friend,
And so once again,
You are fighting us all,
And when we ask you why,
You raise your sticks and cry and we fall,
Oh, my friend,
How did you come,
To trade the fiddle for the drum

You say we have turned,
Like the enemies you've earned,
But we can remember,
All the good things you are,............."

It's not 'in your face-' but it speaks well, at least i think it does-

Hope you find the perfect one-
peace

[Swede]

15. Everlast has this one.

What it's like - Everlast



We've all seen a man at the liquor store beggin' for your change
The hair on his face is dirty, dread-locked, and full of mange
He asks the man for what he could spare, with shame in his eyes
"Get a job you fucking slob," is all he replies
God forbid you ever had to walk a mile in his shoes
'Cause then you really might know what it's like to sing the blues

Then you really might know what it's like (what it;s like) 3x
Then you really might know what it's like

Mary got pregnant from a kid named Tom who said he was in love
He said, "Don't worry about a thing, baby doll
I'm the man you've been dreaming of."
But 3 months later he say he won't date her or return her calls
And she swears, "God damn, If find that man I'm cuttin' off his balls."
And then she heads for the clinic and
she gets some static walking through the door
They call her a killer, and they call her a sinner
and they call her a whore
God forbid you ever had to walk a mile in her shoes
'cause then you really might know what it's like to have to choose

Then you REALLY might know what its like (what its like) 3x
then you really might know what its like

I've seen a rich man beg
I've seen a good man sin
I've seen a tough man cry
I've seen a loser win
And a sad man grin
I've heard an honest man lie
I've seen the good side of bad
And the downside of up
And everything between
I've licked the silver spoon
Drank from the golden cup
And smoked the finest green
I've stroked the fattest dimes at least a couple of times
before I broke their heart
You know where it ends, yo, it usually depends on where you start

I knew this kid named Max
He used to get fat stacks out on the corner with drugs
He liked to hang out late
he liked to get shit-faced and keep the pace with thugs
Until late one night there was a big gun fight and Max lost his head
He pulled out his chrome.45, talked some shit, and wound up dead
Now his wife and his kids are caught in the midst of all of this pain
You know it comes that way
at least that's what they say when you play the game
God forbid you ever had to wake up to hear the news
'Cause then you really might know what it's like to have to lose

Then you really might know what it's like...
Then you really might know what it's like...
Then you really might know what it's like...to have the blues

[ConsAreLiars]

16. Phil Ochs, long dead, but always relevant - Cannons of Christianity

If he likes Dylan he will probably be delighted to hear Phil Ochs. Lyrics from http://www.cs.pdx.edu/~trent/ochs/lyrics/cannons.html If you are unfamiliar with Ochs Amazon has audio samples. (PM me if want it and you're in a rush.)

Christian cannons have fired at my days
With the warning beneath the holy blaze
And bow to our authority
Say the cannons of Christianity

Oh the children will be sent to schools
Minds of clay are molded to their rules
Learn to fear all of eternity
Warn the cannons of Christianity

Holy hands will count the money raised
Like a king the Lord is richly praised
On a cross of diamond majesty
Say the cannons of Christianity

Missionaries will travel on crusades
The word is given, the heathen souls are saved
Conversions to our morality
Sigh the cannons of Christianity

Come the wars and turn the rules around
To bend your soul on the battle ground
And the Lord will march beside me
Drone the cannons of Christianity

Cathedral walls will glitter with their gold
And the sermons speak through silver robes
Building castles amidst the poverty
Say the cannons of Christianity

Worship now and wash your sins away
Drop the coins, fall to your knees and pray
Cleanse the world of all hypocrisy
Smile the cannons of Christianity

Christian cannons have fired at my days
With the warning beneath the holy blaze
And bow to our authority
Say the cannons of Christianity

[PuraVidaDreamin]

17. Stay Human by Michael Franti and Spearhead

his whole CD Songs from the Frontporch
is activist oriented, cept for one or two sweet jazzy
diddys.

[Bluerthanblue]

18. again not recent- but 3 Jackson Browne favorites-

"For America"
"Lives In the Balance"

and eeriely-

"The Word Justice"-- this one really fits today-

[RevolutionStartsNow]

20. Also by Jackson, I considered "I am a Patriot

but those are good choices too.

[JerseygirlCT]

29. I was just going to add Lives in the Balance

Scary that it was written during the Reagan years and that it's still so timely. The new acoustic album has a softer version if that's what's wanted.

(The others are great, too.)

[RevolutionStartsNow]

21. Thanks everyone!

Lots of good choices, I am going to do some listening to the recommendations and pick a few!

Thanks again, I knew you guys would come through.

[Beelzebud]

22. Rage Against the Machine: Know Your Enemy

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!

Yeah!

Hey yo, and dick with this...uggh!
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!

Come on!
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 (8 times)

[Raydawg1234]

23. John Lennon, Working Class Hero

It fits perfect with the times, heres a few lines


There's room at the top, they're telling you still
But first you must learn how to smile when you kill
If you want to be like the folks on the hill

[unhappycamper]

24. Twenty by Robert Cray

Twenty
words and music by Robert Cray
© 2005 Robert Cray Music, Inc (BMI)

When you’re used up, where do you go
Soldier
Mother dry your eyes, there’s no need to cry
I’m not a boy, it’s what I signed up for

When you’re used up, where do you go
Soldier
I can’t take the heat, and I hardly sleep anymore
What’d we come here for

Standing out here in the desert
Trying to protect an oil line
I’d really like to do my job but
This ain’t the country that I had in mind
They call this a war on terror
I see a lot of civilians dying
Mothers, sons, fathers and daughters
Not to mention some friends of mine
Some friends of mine

Was supposed to leave last week
Promises they don’t keep anymore
Got to fight the rich man’s war

When you’re used up, where do you go
Soldier
Late in 2004
Comes a knock at the door
It’s no surprise
Mother dry your eyes

Mother don’t you cry, no, no
Someone told you a lie
Yes they did, why
Mother don’t you cry, oh no
Mother don’t you cry

When you’re used up, where do you go
Soldier

[HeeBGBz]

25. This one gets played on my satellite work muzak a lot

From the old movie "Wild in the Streets" but the Ramones did it too.


"The Shape Of Things To Come"

There's a new sun risin' up angry in the sky
And there's a new voice Sayin' "we're not afraid to die"
Let the old world make believe It's blind and deaf and dumb
But nothing can change the shape of things to come

There are changes lyin' ahead in every road
And there are new thoughts Ready and waiting to explode
When tomorrow is today The bells may toll for some
But nothing can change the shape of things to come

The future's comin' in, now Sweet and strong
Ain't no-one gonna hold it back for long

There are new dreams crowdin' out old realities
There's revolution sweepin' in like a fresh new breeze
Let the old world make believe It's blind and deaf and dumb
(But) nothing can change the shape of things

To come

[JuneInJax]

26. 3 to recommend

I Am a Patriot - sung by Jackson Brown, words by Steven Van Zandt (Little Stevie of E Street Band). You might find a Pearl Jam version.

http://www.littlesteven.com/songs-voa.html#I%20Am%20A%20Patriot%20(and%20the%20river%20opens%20for%20the%20righteous)


Deja Vu All Over Again - words and music by John Fogerty

http://www.oldielyrics.com/lyrics/john_fogerty/deja_vu_all_over_again.html

Idiot's Delight - Bruce Springsteen and Joe Grushecky (recorded by Grushecky; a few times live by Springsteen) LOVE THIS ONE!

http://www.grushecky.com/lyrics.html

[SkiGuy]

28. Rolling Stones' Sweet Neocon

[mwb970]

30. "Some Mother's Son" by the KInks.

It's on the album "Arthur".

[mia]

31. Talkin Bout A Revolution - Tracy Chapman

http://music.msn.com/album/?album=44376328&song=44377500#

Dont you know
Theyre talkinabout a revolution
It sounds like a whisper
Dont you know
Theyre talkinabout a revolution
It sounds like a whisper

While theyre standing in the welfare lines
Crying at the doorsteps of those armies of salvation
Wasting time in the unemployment lines
Sitting around waiting for a promotion

Dont you know
They`re talkinabout a revolution
It sounds like a whisper

Poor people gonna rise up
And get their share
Poor people gonna rise up
And take whats theirs

Dont you knowYou better run,run,run...
Oh it said you better
Run,run,run...

Cause finally the tables are starting to turn
Talkinbout a revolution
Yes,finally the tables are starting to turn
Talkinbout a revolution oh no
Talkinbout a revolution oh
While theyre standing in the welfare lines
Crying at the doorsteps of those armies of salvation
Wasting time in the unemployment lines
Sitting around waitinf for a promotion

Dont you know
Theyre talkinabout a revolution
It sounds like a whisper

And finally the tables are starting to turn
Talkinbout a revolution
Yes,finally the tables are starting to turn
Talkinbout a revolution oh no
Talkinbout a revolution oh no
Talkinbout a revolution oh no

[LWolf]

32. My Hero, Mr. President

Paula Cole

The List John McCutcheon

Shadow Government or Long Haired Radical Socialist Jew by Huge Blumenfeld

I hope your Dylan choices include Masters of War!

Signature lines are currently turned off due to high traffic.

[Ex Lion Tamer]

33. Some more:

Red Star Belgrade: "The Real Traitors"

Snippet:

The real traitors are trotting out the flag
like the liars over at Fox News.
Ask Bill O'Reilly if fascism pays;
ask Rupert Murdoch if he's singing the blues.
Ask Dennis Miller why he sold his soul
to become the fascist's comic of choice.
Ask all the Democratcs sitting on the Hill
where they spine went and how they lost their voice."


Son Volt: "Jet Pilot"

"Jet pilot for the day
Washed his sins away
Loves to see the Rangers play
His daddy has a job in Washington
Wants to raise a Harvard son

Junior liked to let his hair down
Only trouble is, word gets around

Revolution will be televised
across living rooms
and the great divide
Robbing barren ghettos
for us now
everybody needs a hunting ground

Jet Pilot flown away
Got a passing grade
Made it to the world stage
A hemisphere away
Death is on display
The sins would never wash away

Junior liked to let his hair down
Only trouble is, word gets around

Revolution will be televised
across living rooms
and the great divide
Robbing barren ghettos
for us now
everybody needs a hunting ground

Junior liked to let his hair down
Only trouble is, word gets around:


There's a good list over at http://mahamatzav.blogspot.com/2005/08/greatest-list-of-protest-songs.html

[Bridget Burke]

34. "Wasteland of the Free" by Iris Dement....

You can listen to the whole thing right here: http://wastelandofthefree.com/index.cfm

[DrBloodmoney]

35. Check out 'State Radio' - 'Camilo'

Here's a link to a free download and the lyrics:

State Radio