I think they do. There are some really good political records and songs out there. Propaganhi can some times try to hard but there heart is in the right place....sort of.

I'll tolerate them to a certain extent.

If they are done with enough finesse, and the music is actually good to my ears as well then I'll dig it. Some have done a good job with this (Dylan and Marvin Gaye come to mind).

However, if the artist is overreaching, is insincere or annoying it won't sit well with me. (Rage against, Green Day come to mind).

But that's kind of my criterieon for judging most other pop music, as well.

politics and religion are real iffy on record to me.
but when they are done right the albums can be phenomenal.
case in point:
sufjan stevens - seven swans.

well i actually can't think of a great political album off hand, but if i think of one...

It honestly depends on the artist. For some artists it really is their muse and they can write passionately about it. Others write about politics because they want to change the world and it just doesn't fit them and it comes out harsh, forced, and blunt.

If it fits the artist, or if the artist can be creative, clever, or subtile, I'm all for it. Its one less love song I'll be forced to listen to.

Wednesday, July 2, 2008 – Offbeat singer Todd Snider is going political with "Peace Queer," which drops Aug. 19. The CD is the follow-up to 2006's "The Devil You Know." The cover photo, which depicts Snider being held at gunpoint by a shirtless hippie. "Clearly, anyone who looks at the photograph can tell that I had been abducted by an international league of peace queers and forced to write protest music. You know, for their cause," said Snider.

The eight tracks include a Civil War sea shanty, a plaintive cover of the classic "Fortunate Son," a spoken-word number, a rocket-fueled meditation on contemporary culture ("Stuck On The Corner"), and a Fred Sanford-ish funeral dirge. The emotional centerpiece is the wistful "Ponce Of The Flaming Peace Queer."

"'Peace Queer' is a six-song cycle, starting with a song called 'Mission Accomplished,'" Snider explains. "In six sentences, the record goes like this: Here's the kid being told everything's going to be great. Here's the reality of that. Here's that kid when he comes home a sad and banged-up and angry 'winner.' Here's the breakdown of why I think that's happening. Here's the guy in our culture that I think is causing that to happen, and it's not a president. And then here's what I think is going to happen to that guy. And then we roll credits."

Credits include Patty Griffin, Kevin Kinney, Don Herron and Will Kimbrough.

"Things happen in this album besides you being told that war is wrong, with a beat," Snider said. "I don't know that war is wrong. I just know that I'm a peace queer, and I'm totally into it when people aren't fighting, in my home, at the bar where I hang out, or in a field a million miles away."

Songs on the CD are:
1. Mission Accomplished (because you gotta have faith)
2. The Ballad of Cape Henry
3. Fortunate Son
4. Is This Thing Working?
5. Stuck On The Corner (prelude to a heart attack)
6. Dividing The Estate (a heart attack)
7. Ponce of The Flaming Peace Queer
8. Is This Thing On?

Politics, god, whatever, just don't let it get in the way of the music.

What he said, but I'll add Billy Bragg, Woody Guthrie, MC5, Hazel Dickens and Curtis Mayfield to that. Certain sounds tolerate a political message better to me. American folk, Appalachia, soul, blues, etc have stronger roots in social-political unrest of some kind, so the meaning emerges in a way that seems very organic.


Edit: then there's rap, which unavoidably political, I think almost just by existing.

Sometimes political songs work, sometimes they don't. Also sometimes songs that work for one person, won't work for another based on personal experiences, knowledge and political views.

Of course they belong in music. They're a valid form of human expression.

A few political songs I like are:
Billie Holliday - Strange Fruit
Creedence Clearwater Revival - Fortunate Son
Marvin Gaye - What's Going On
Rage Against the Machine - Freedom
Rage Against the Machine - People of the Sun
Bob Marley - Get Up Stand Up
Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young - Ohio
Johnny Cash - The Man In Black
Gil Scott Heron - The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
Black Sabbath - War Pigs
The Clash - Washington Bullets
Green Day - American Idiot
Neil Young - Rockin' In The Free World
Michael Franti - Light up Ya Lighter
Flobots - Same Thing

It really depends. Typically it bugs me, but there are plenty of exceptions. Like has already been said, Billy Bragg for one. Too much religion in music does tend to bug me a bit, but yet again, it depends, I love Johnny Cash after all.

On the other hand, for example, when on 'Year Zero', which was supposed to be this dark, post-apocalyptic album, this song about a leader that "signs his name with a capital G" showed up, I was irritated. Maybe he wasn't referring to Bush, I've never been sure, but it felt that way to me.

When they are as good as this, yes:



Crazed the checkout lady's fingers
Flash across the till
And the captain posts the menu of the day
And in banks across the world
Christians, Moslems, Hindus, Jews
And every other race, creed, colour, tint or hue
Get down on their knees and pray

Jeff Beck on guitar:

Yeah, that song's ass, but Year Zero was an alright album. Much better than With Teeth anyway.

Yeah, aside from that track I liked it well enough.

When it's just a song, it's fine.

Political albums, or careers built upon political songs? Well that's just going a bit too far...

As long as it's in the context of the art. Ala Roger Waters. If the artist is saying it to get noticed, or further an agenda, it's obvious. If the artist has to say it, in the context of his artistic honesty: then, it's genuine and necessary.

Oh yeah, and it can't be blatant, obvious, or easy.

That guitar solo really rocked.

This was my younger brother's favorite album. I still have it on a shelf but haven't played it since he died 9 years ago. I should.