updating my Ipod-what are some great political/activist songs?

[w8liftinglady]

any genre-rap,rock,folk,country...

[mix]

1. check out Fela Kuti

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fela_Kuti

[w8liftinglady]

3. His work is awesome!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdV1V4vPPLI

[mix]

5. hypnotic beats and baselines

glad you're a fellow fan already!

[ogneopasno]

2. Here's a bunch of artists, which you probably know...

Public Enemy, Woody Guthrie, some songs by John Prine, Johnny Cash...

[Deja Q]

4. My newest entry:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=385&topic_id=289812&mesg_id=289812

[Swede]

6. Here's a couple

It's A Mistake - Men At Work

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5uH2__TAHs

Beds are Burning - Midnight Oil

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10BbpGKLXqk

[InternalDialogue]

7. I recommend Todd Snider and Dan Bern

both of whom fit comfortably into rock, folk and country. Both strongly political, funny, and talented.

Dan Bern:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xsl_8Bcp1xE

Todd Snider:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nMTfZFntjU

[Xipe Totec]

8. Here are my suggestions:

The Temptations - Ball of Confusion
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KVa4zB9K6Y

Crosby Stills & Nash - Teach Your Children
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6pphVs8bF0


Karen Carpenter - Bless the Beasts and the Children
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhR36gV6vW4



Edwin Starr - WAR (live in TV Show)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cv5BYEOQYLo



John Fogerty "Fortunate Son"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-5XgI244xo



Joni Mitchell Big Yellow Taxi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWwUJH70ubM

[w8liftinglady]

9. whoa-NIN "Capital G"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBWhh5Jq9p4
(I wish I knew how to embed)

[NightWatcher]

10. David Rovics, plus you can download his stuff for free. I made this video for him

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=111310
http://www.davidrovics.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8j8BmgeYLA

[w8liftinglady]

11. awesome...

[dixiegrrrrl]

12. Any era? Most of the ones I know are 60's/70's

Look for versions of:

"Joe Hill"

A Patriot's Dream" perferably by Gordon Lightfoot

and this one is haertbreaking:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_jUZtsZ9hA

Brothers in Arms ( lyrics)

"Ain't Nobody Gonna turn Me around"

" I shall be released"
Better yet, may I suggest this wiki entry that lays out a bunch of them:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protest_songs

[w8liftinglady]

13. great-thanks...

[Arugula Latte]

14. The CD "Third World Child" from Johnny Clegg and Savuka

Johnny Clegg is a white guy who fought against Apartheid with music.

A couple samples:

"Asimbonanga (Mandela)"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyTPOyPipRs&feature=related

on edit: found this clip with Nelson Mandela joining him on stage. Watch it if you want to cry:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGS7SpI7obY&feature=related

"Scatterlings of Africa"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hj7paXrhOdY

On the Mandela note, this is a great song from The Specials: "Free Nelson Mandela"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8ZhAkLJpBE

[InternalDialogue]

16. Love Johnny Clegg's energy

Infectious

[Arugula Latte]

20. Yep ... And those songs are 20 years old but hold up well, I think.

[polly7]

38. Thanks for these.

Asimbonga is gorgeous. From tears when Mandela came out on stage to just being happy with him loving the music. Now if I could only stop playing it.

Crap, bad spelling ....... Asimbonanga.

[Arugula Latte]

43. You're welcome. I found the translation ... very moving.

(In that one clip, they were singing about how they have not seen Mandela, and then there he was on stage. What a moment that must have been for Johnny Clegg, who wrote that song when Mandela was in prison.)

Asimbonanga (We have not seen him)
Asimbonang' uMandela thina (We have not seen Mandela)
Laph'ekhona (In the place where he is)
Laph'ehleli khona (In the place where he is kept)

Oh the sea is cold and the sky is grey
Look across the Island into the Bay
We are all islands till comes the day
We cross the burning water

Chorus....

A seagull wings across the sea
Broken silence is what I dream
Who has the words to close the distance
Between you and me

Chorus....

Steve Biko, Victoria Mxenge
Neil Aggett
Asimbonanga
Asimbonang 'umfowethu thina (we have not seen our brother)
Laph'ekhona (In the place where he is)
Laph'wafela khona (In the place where he died)
Hey wena (Hey you!)
Hey wena nawe (Hey you and you as well)
Siyofika nini la' siyakhona (When will we arrive at our destinatio

[Mojambo]

15. See Ochs, Phil. n/t

[Arugula Latte]

17. The song "Which Side Are You On?" is a classic.

Here is Natalie Merchant's take:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3z2f63Njto&feature=related

[CatholicEdHead]

18. John McCutcheon songs

Go over to http://www.folkmusic.com and order the CDs and/or MP3s.

[TommyO]

19. Melissa Etheridge, "Imagine That" from "The Awakening"

Get the entire album, it's worth listening to from first song to last, it's best listened to as an album.

[Arugula Latte]

21. Another suggestion: check out Billy Bragg

He's English and it seems most of his songs are political (he's a big labor/labour guy)

[InternalDialogue]

23. I'll second Billy Bragg.

Unapologetic socialist and a damned entertaining songwriter. :thumbsup:

[taterguy]

27. His Mermaid Avenue collaboration with Wilco is great

They took lyrics that Woody Guthrie wrote that he never wrote music for.

Wilco and Bragg wrote the music.

They put out a pair of outstanding CDs a decade ago.

BTW: Bragg was one of the best live acts I've ever seen. Back in 1990 I saw him do a benefit for striking coal miners.

[Heidi]

33. Have you heard his CD, "The Internationale"?

Bragg is one of my absolute favorites.

[taterguy]

34. I had it on cassette back in college

Haven't heard it lately though

[Schema Thing]

22. Steve Earle - City of Immigrants

[mentalsolstice]

24. MLK - U2, In the Sun - Coldplay & Michael Stipe

The Saints Are Coming - Greenday and U2. Except for MLK, the other two songs were recorded for Katrina benefits.

[AlCzervik]

25. Ten years after, I'd love to change the world.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUokMbJC3P8

[AlCzervik]

26. System of a Down BYOB.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3Az7JPZ6ZA

[blogslut]

28. Here you go

I thought I would link to a couple of lovely recordings from the past - performed by artists not primarily known for their anti-war stances:

Loggins & Messina - Golden Ribbons

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbR-yFXGt10

John Denver - The Box

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpy75Sg2g1E

[JesterCS]

29. Here is a few

Eminem - Mosh
Pallor - Lie Lies
Linkin Park - Bleed It Out
Disturbed - Indestructable ( a good song for the soldiers )
Drowning Pool - Soldiers ( another good song for the troops )

[Heidi]

30. Tom Robinson Band: "Glad to be Gay."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHG2LJGfEdw

[moriah]

31. I still love this cover of Imagine

The video is worth watching.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpqKA9_ddFk

[fight4my3sons]

32. Rage Against the Machine and the Flobots

both have a lot of songs

[Bertha Venation]

35. Four Dead In Ohio - dunno if it's CSN or CSNY n/t

[taterguy]

36. It's a Neil Young song and the title is just Ohio

And I'm not sure how anyone familiar with the song wouldn't know that since his vocals are quite distinctive

[Heidi]

40. Neil Young wrote it, but it was first released as a single by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, 1970.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lT_1h8HMPRk

:hi:

[ok_cpu]

37. A lot of Sly and the Family Stone

'Underdog', 'Don't Call Me Nigger, Whitey', 'Stand!', etc.

If 'The Essential' is on iTunes, you can't go wrong with the whole set.

http://www.amazon.com/Essential-Sly-Family-Stone/dp/B00006NSH7/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1238333109&sr=8-2

[Symarip]

39. Vietnam - Jimmy Cliff

Ball of Confusion - The Temptations
Anxiety Attack - Skankin' Pickle
1984 - Oingo Boingo
5446 That's My Number - The Maytals
Stupid War - Dirty Rotten Imbeciles

[Heidi]

41. John Prine: "Sam Stone"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mo7p7ictF8&feature=related

Sam Stone
By John Prine

Sam Stone came home,
To his wife and family
After serving in the conflict overseas.
And the time that he served,
Had shattered all his nerves,
And left a little shrapnel in his knee.
But the morphine eased the pain,
And the grass grew round his brain,
And gave him all the confidence he lacked,
With a Purple Heart and a monkey on his back.

Chorus:
There's a hole in daddy's arm where all the money goes,
Jesus Christ died for nothin' I suppose.
Little pitchers have big ears,
Don't stop to count the years,
Sweet songs never last too long on broken radios.
Mmm....

Sam Stone's welcome home
Didn't last too long.
He went to work when he'd spent his last dime
And Sammy took to stealing
When he got that empty feeling
For a hundred dollar habit without overtime.
And the gold rolled through his veins
Like a thousand railroad trains,
And eased his mind in the hours that he chose,
While the kids ran around wearin' other peoples' clothes...

Repeat Chorus:

Sam Stone was alone
When he popped his last balloon
Climbing walls while sitting in a chair
Well, he played his last request
While the room smelled just like death
With an overdose hovering in the air
But life had lost its fun
And there was nothing to be done
But trade his house that he bought on the G, I. Bill
For a flag draped casket on a local heroes' hill

Repeat Chorus

[Heidi]

42. Don McLean: "The Grave"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xe6j0JBwEO4

The Grave
The grave that they dug him had flowers
Gathered from the hillsides in bright summer colors,
And the brown earth bleached white at the edge of his gravestone.
He’s gone.

When the wars of our nation did beckon,
A man barely twenty did answer the calling.
Proud of the trust that he placed in our nation,
He’s gone,
But eternity knows him, and it knows what we’ve done.

And the rain fell like pearls on the leaves of the flowers
Leaving brown, muddy clay where the earth had been dry.
And deep in the trench he waited for hours,
As he held to his rifle and prayed not to die.

But the silence of night was shattered by fire
As guns and grenades blasted sharp through the air.
And one after another his comrades were slaughtered.
In morgue of marines, alone standing there.

He crouched ever lower, ever lower with fear.
"they can’t let me die! the can’t let me die here!
I’ll cover myself with the mud and the earth.
I’ll cover myself! I know I’m not brave!
The earth! the earth! the earth is my grave."

The grave that they dug him had flowers
Gathered from the hillsides in bright summer colors,
And the brown earth bleached white at the edge of his gravestone.
He’s gone.

[alarimer]

44. Michael Franti

Light up ya lighter
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cK0FAc6cw8k&feature=related

Yell Fire is a pretty good, pretty political album.

[tigereye]

47. what a great musician he is!

love his songs. Great variety of styles, too.

[tigereye]

45. Midnight Oil has some great political songs

Beds are Burning http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10BbpGKLXqk



Blue Sky Mine http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10BbpGKLXqk


My Country http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyeTuoWCqUE&feature=related


great rave-ups with a message!



One Country http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTpGgItl4hI&NR=1

[WinkyDink]

46. Phil Ochs. Pete Seeger.