you know, Jigga is right which feels wierd to write. too many of these threads are kinda just bleh, hey this new band sounds neat. hey, Im new, can I get a YSI, blah blah blah. I like to get involved in them too but latly I been hanging around Ect. so I figured I'd start a wide musical ranging topic.
How impactful do you believe politics in music can be. do you think that the main form of "political" music compares to the messages from the 60s or 70s. With artists such as Bob Marley, who will be forever remembered as being very active in the political community, passed away is there any chance to see someone with as strong of a message actually make a difference? do you think a political change is even needed in music?
I think that the political stance in music today is almost a joke because of the whole "punk" scene. the underground trying to recreate the punk of the 70s with overly "political" tones. even green day acting as though it is an important issue (which it is) but honestly they arent convincing to me. I dont think a musical revolution is needed but with the war going on and the large unapproval of bush, I think something could happen.
what do you think
Full Version: Political Music
i was sortof thinking about this yesterday -- so many artists have album tracks that are blatantly about Dubya. has any other president inspired this much music?
Nixon and Reagan had their fair share of inspiration.
I don't believe that there can be a significant change in political thought based on music, based on today's economic climate. Country music takes a conservative stand when it get political (Dixie Chicks be damned), and the whole of pop music seems to be liberal (Ted Nugent be damned). There's just so much finger pointing and too many voices shouting their opposing sides to each other that people like me who are in the middle just get annoyed. Green Day pulls it off with American Idiot though by the sheer force of the music, I think.
Maybe I'm just talking out of my ass.
I don't believe that there can be a significant change in political thought based on music, based on today's economic climate. Country music takes a conservative stand when it get political (Dixie Chicks be damned), and the whole of pop music seems to be liberal (Ted Nugent be damned). There's just so much finger pointing and too many voices shouting their opposing sides to each other that people like me who are in the middle just get annoyed. Green Day pulls it off with American Idiot though by the sheer force of the music, I think.
Maybe I'm just talking out of my ass.
I know there are bands that have made a career out of political work, but I most of that stuff gets really stale after awhile. About the only "political band" that's in my CD collection these days is Midnight Oil. Not because they're overtly political, but because they were a great band, particularly live.
Songs about New Labour/Tony Blair
"You and Whose Army?" - Radiohead
"Tony Blair" - Chumbawumba
"Snowball" - Elbow
I'm struggling, no problem with the next one though
Margaret Thatcher, Thatherism et al.
"Stand Down Margaret" - The Beat
"Tramp the Dirt Down" - Elvis Costello
"Margaret on the Guillotine - Morrissey
"Mother Knows Best" - Richard Thompson
"Shipbuilding" - Elvis Costello/Robert Wyatt
"Ghost Town" - Specials
"Thatcher Years" - New Model Army
"Thatcherites" - Billy Bragg
"Ironmasters" - The Men They Couldn't Hang
"Tea With Pinochet" - Christy Moore
"Two Million Voices" - Angelic Upstarts
"One in Ten" - UB40
"I'm In Love With Margaret Thatcher" - Notsensibles
"Kick Out The Tories" - Newtown Neurotics
"Sheep Farming In The Falklands" - Crass
"Celebrate (The Day After You)" - The Blow Monkeys
"The Day That Thatcher Dies" - Hefner
"There Is A Power In A Union" - Billy Bragg
Some other more recent ones
N.W.A. – Fuck The Police
Frankie Goes To Hollywood – Two Tribes
U2 – Pride (In The Name Of Love)
Negativland – Christianity Is Stupid/Helterstupid
The Pop Group – We Are All Prostitutes
Asian Dub Foundation – Real Great Britain
Asian Dub Foundation – Free Saptal Ram
"You and Whose Army?" - Radiohead
"Tony Blair" - Chumbawumba
"Snowball" - Elbow
I'm struggling, no problem with the next one though
Margaret Thatcher, Thatherism et al.
"Stand Down Margaret" - The Beat
"Tramp the Dirt Down" - Elvis Costello
"Margaret on the Guillotine - Morrissey
"Mother Knows Best" - Richard Thompson
"Shipbuilding" - Elvis Costello/Robert Wyatt
"Ghost Town" - Specials
"Thatcher Years" - New Model Army
"Thatcherites" - Billy Bragg
"Ironmasters" - The Men They Couldn't Hang
"Tea With Pinochet" - Christy Moore
"Two Million Voices" - Angelic Upstarts
"One in Ten" - UB40
"I'm In Love With Margaret Thatcher" - Notsensibles
"Kick Out The Tories" - Newtown Neurotics
"Sheep Farming In The Falklands" - Crass
"Celebrate (The Day After You)" - The Blow Monkeys
"The Day That Thatcher Dies" - Hefner
"There Is A Power In A Union" - Billy Bragg
Some other more recent ones
N.W.A. – Fuck The Police
Frankie Goes To Hollywood – Two Tribes
U2 – Pride (In The Name Of Love)
Negativland – Christianity Is Stupid/Helterstupid
The Pop Group – We Are All Prostitutes
Asian Dub Foundation – Real Great Britain
Asian Dub Foundation – Free Saptal Ram
QUOTE(Casual Sunday @ Mar 10 2006, 12:42 AM) [snapback]40026[/snapback]
How impactful do you believe politics in music can be. do you think that the main form of "political" music compares to the messages from the 60s or 70s. With artists such as Bob Marley, who will be forever remembered as being very active in the political community, passed away is there any chance to see someone with as strong of a message actually make a difference? do you think a political change is even needed in music?
Your example of Bob Marley is perfect. He was really only known for his politics in Jamaica, here in America its all about Marley the Jamaican dope smoker, lets get high and listen to that funny reggae music... Besides that, Bob's politics were strange, I remember a Lester Bangs article where Bob couldn't understand why having his own BMW was a problem. Also in the same article Bob's politics seemed really stoned and reverie driven, a lot of, "if there is enough love we can live as one."
I think, in this age, people use politics to sell records, not really to affect any change. The new Juvenille video shot in New Orleans is a good one. Dudes are standin around all the destruction and shit, but do any of them actually stay around the area they are filming? My guess is they flew in, filmed, then flew out.
Politics and music is a bad mix.
If Tony Blair is quietly aggrieved that he won't get to equal Margaret Thatcher's tenure in Number 10, then he might take comfort in the fact that he trails the Iron Lady in another respect. No songwriter has yet pictured him on the guillotine, planned a party for the day he dies, nor promised to tramp down the dirt on his grave. And while Bush may have inspired more musical scorn than any president in history, Blair remains a difficult figure to demonise. The guitar-strumming PM's musical legacy is therefore a slim one, but here are 10 songs with which to remember him: one for each year in office. And that's roughly 10 more than John Major managed to inspire.
Pulp - Cocaine Socialism (1998)
Even before the honeymoon was over, Jarvis Cocker was casting a withering eye over Cool Britannia and New Labour's attempts to co-opt the Britpop aristocracy. Croons the creepy apparatchik: "Well you sing about common people/And the mis-shapes and the misfits/So can you bring them to my party?" Comes the answer: er, no.
Chumbawamba - Tony Blair (1999)
Up-ending a bucket of water over the deputy prime minister the previous year was not the agit-pop veterans' most Swiftian moment. Amends were made by this retro tale of puppy love with a double-crossing dreamboat. "Tony, now you date/All the girls that you used to hate/So I don't believe a single word you say."
Radiohead - You and Whose Army? (2001)
The end of Blair's first term was aptly marked by this enervated protest song from a band seemingly paralysed by disappointment and impotent frustration. Thom Yorke taunts "Come on, come on," but in a voice which suggests he is preparing for a long nap rather than a punch-up. Five years later, Yorke mounted a more articulate and moving indictment of Blair's regime with his solo song Harrowdown Hill, about the lonely demise of David Kelly.
Pet Shop Boys - I Get Along (2002)
Having contributed to Labour's war chest in 1997, Neil Tennant wrote about Blair more in sorrow than in anger. Here, the sacking of Peter Mandelson over the Hinduja affair in 2001 is framed as an improbably moving break-up song, with a wounded prime minister telling his old friend why he has to go. "I've been trying not to cry/When I'm in the public eye/Stuck here with the shame/And taking my share of the blame/While making sudden plans that don't include you." Last year's I'm With Stupid adapted the idea, with Tony making excuses for his reviled lover George, but this is so much better.
George Michael - Shoot the Dog (2002)
With its wrecking-ball satire, cack-handed pilfering of the Human League's Love Action, and the unlikely image of Michael getting stoned and watching the World Cup with Cherie, Shoot the Dog was never a good record but it was a brave one. Less than a year after 9/11, there was tabloid punchbag George Michael mocking Blair's apparent obedience to Bush and the neocon project, with an irreverent animated video to boot. "It was a major opportunity to kick me in the teeth," he later reflected. "I was hugely depressed by the lack of support from any quarter, especially fellow musicians."
Dizzee Rascal feat. God's Gift - Hold Your Mouf (2003)
The most talked-about line on Dizzee Rascal's Mercury-winning debut was contained in this shocking snapshot of east London gun culture: "I'm a problem for Anthony Blair." Since then, hoodie hysteria and mounting gang violence have proved him right. (For another UK rapper's take on Blair, try Braintax's rickety but impassioned Syriana Style.)
Elbow - Snowball (2005)
A highlight of the otherwise underwhelming charity album, Help: A Day In The Life, Snowball drips with disgust. "Oh and laughable the crying shame/Oh the mark I made against your name," sighs repentant Labour voter Guy Garvey before imagining Blair haunted by "a hundred thousand punctured souls". Harsh stuff, except when placed next to...
Muse - Take a Bow (2006)
... this apocalyptic space-rock j'accuse, which promises a fiery doom for the architects of the Iraq war. On the same album, Assassin urges: "The time has come to shoot your leaders down." A good time to retire, then.
Larrikin Love - Downing Street Kindling (2006)
The Lidl Libertines vow to set fire to the door of number 10. "And when Tony rushes out complaining of a draft I'll let him warm his feet." After Muse, not terribly scary.
Manic Street Preachers - Send Away the Tigers (2007)
Having demonstrated his empathy for political pariahs on The Love of Richard Nixon, Nicky Wire ties together the misguided "liberation" of zoo animals in Baghdad with the decline of two Tonys: Hancock and Blair. According to Wire, it's about "that idea of being haunted by a wrong decision. With Hancock it was sacking his writers. And, if it weren't for the Iraq war, for all his faults, in historical terms, Tony Blair would be seen as a great prime minister. Now his life is utterly ruined." It's the only song here that the man himself, in his more soul-searching moments, might agree with.
Pulp - Cocaine Socialism (1998)
Even before the honeymoon was over, Jarvis Cocker was casting a withering eye over Cool Britannia and New Labour's attempts to co-opt the Britpop aristocracy. Croons the creepy apparatchik: "Well you sing about common people/And the mis-shapes and the misfits/So can you bring them to my party?" Comes the answer: er, no.
Chumbawamba - Tony Blair (1999)
Up-ending a bucket of water over the deputy prime minister the previous year was not the agit-pop veterans' most Swiftian moment. Amends were made by this retro tale of puppy love with a double-crossing dreamboat. "Tony, now you date/All the girls that you used to hate/So I don't believe a single word you say."
Radiohead - You and Whose Army? (2001)
The end of Blair's first term was aptly marked by this enervated protest song from a band seemingly paralysed by disappointment and impotent frustration. Thom Yorke taunts "Come on, come on," but in a voice which suggests he is preparing for a long nap rather than a punch-up. Five years later, Yorke mounted a more articulate and moving indictment of Blair's regime with his solo song Harrowdown Hill, about the lonely demise of David Kelly.
Pet Shop Boys - I Get Along (2002)
Having contributed to Labour's war chest in 1997, Neil Tennant wrote about Blair more in sorrow than in anger. Here, the sacking of Peter Mandelson over the Hinduja affair in 2001 is framed as an improbably moving break-up song, with a wounded prime minister telling his old friend why he has to go. "I've been trying not to cry/When I'm in the public eye/Stuck here with the shame/And taking my share of the blame/While making sudden plans that don't include you." Last year's I'm With Stupid adapted the idea, with Tony making excuses for his reviled lover George, but this is so much better.
George Michael - Shoot the Dog (2002)
With its wrecking-ball satire, cack-handed pilfering of the Human League's Love Action, and the unlikely image of Michael getting stoned and watching the World Cup with Cherie, Shoot the Dog was never a good record but it was a brave one. Less than a year after 9/11, there was tabloid punchbag George Michael mocking Blair's apparent obedience to Bush and the neocon project, with an irreverent animated video to boot. "It was a major opportunity to kick me in the teeth," he later reflected. "I was hugely depressed by the lack of support from any quarter, especially fellow musicians."
Dizzee Rascal feat. God's Gift - Hold Your Mouf (2003)
The most talked-about line on Dizzee Rascal's Mercury-winning debut was contained in this shocking snapshot of east London gun culture: "I'm a problem for Anthony Blair." Since then, hoodie hysteria and mounting gang violence have proved him right. (For another UK rapper's take on Blair, try Braintax's rickety but impassioned Syriana Style.)
Elbow - Snowball (2005)
A highlight of the otherwise underwhelming charity album, Help: A Day In The Life, Snowball drips with disgust. "Oh and laughable the crying shame/Oh the mark I made against your name," sighs repentant Labour voter Guy Garvey before imagining Blair haunted by "a hundred thousand punctured souls". Harsh stuff, except when placed next to...
Muse - Take a Bow (2006)
... this apocalyptic space-rock j'accuse, which promises a fiery doom for the architects of the Iraq war. On the same album, Assassin urges: "The time has come to shoot your leaders down." A good time to retire, then.
Larrikin Love - Downing Street Kindling (2006)
The Lidl Libertines vow to set fire to the door of number 10. "And when Tony rushes out complaining of a draft I'll let him warm his feet." After Muse, not terribly scary.
Manic Street Preachers - Send Away the Tigers (2007)
Having demonstrated his empathy for political pariahs on The Love of Richard Nixon, Nicky Wire ties together the misguided "liberation" of zoo animals in Baghdad with the decline of two Tonys: Hancock and Blair. According to Wire, it's about "that idea of being haunted by a wrong decision. With Hancock it was sacking his writers. And, if it weren't for the Iraq war, for all his faults, in historical terms, Tony Blair would be seen as a great prime minister. Now his life is utterly ruined." It's the only song here that the man himself, in his more soul-searching moments, might agree with.
Reagan inspired a load of songs, certainly, but the vast majority of them were from the punk underground and hip-hop, with bands like the Dead Kennedys, Minutemen, The Fartz, Sonic Youth, er... Reagan Youth, and Public Enemy, etc.. You didn't see a lot of Billboard Chart toppers slamming the guy. Well, there's was Bruce Springsteen, I suppose. Then again, I was pretty young back then and could be overlooking a lot.
Bush is very different in that there are massive, arena-filling bands lining up to slam him. Just this week you have Tori Amos opening her album with "Yo George," MAROON FREAKIN' 5 promoting their new album with an anti-administration song, and Barnes & Noble giving away free Rufus Wainwright samplers including "Going To A Town" with its refrain of "I'm So Tired Of America." It's become so commonplace that's it's hard to find an album that doesn't in some way reference the guy, which seems at a level unseen since the anti-Vietnam movement. Go figure.
What's interesting is that musicians have been rallying against Bush for so long as he's continued to get away with more and more, you're starting to see (hear) more resignation and retreat. There's been so much mellow music coming out. It's as if artists are saying, I'm tired of shouting, I'm going to to cuddle up with some tea and work on finding inner peace. There's a massive trend towards the quiet and introspective.
For example: Sky Blue Sky, Pocket Symphony, The Shins, Neon Bible, Feist, Panda Bear, Joanna Newsom, etc. etc. Everything seems to be getting dreamier and quieter, which might explain why guys like Montana bemoan the current state of music. There's not a lot of loud guitar rock in indie.
In England they've just decided to dance and dress like toddlers and codgers.
I could be reaching.
Bush is very different in that there are massive, arena-filling bands lining up to slam him. Just this week you have Tori Amos opening her album with "Yo George," MAROON FREAKIN' 5 promoting their new album with an anti-administration song, and Barnes & Noble giving away free Rufus Wainwright samplers including "Going To A Town" with its refrain of "I'm So Tired Of America." It's become so commonplace that's it's hard to find an album that doesn't in some way reference the guy, which seems at a level unseen since the anti-Vietnam movement. Go figure.
What's interesting is that musicians have been rallying against Bush for so long as he's continued to get away with more and more, you're starting to see (hear) more resignation and retreat. There's been so much mellow music coming out. It's as if artists are saying, I'm tired of shouting, I'm going to to cuddle up with some tea and work on finding inner peace. There's a massive trend towards the quiet and introspective.
For example: Sky Blue Sky, Pocket Symphony, The Shins, Neon Bible, Feist, Panda Bear, Joanna Newsom, etc. etc. Everything seems to be getting dreamier and quieter, which might explain why guys like Montana bemoan the current state of music. There's not a lot of loud guitar rock in indie.
In England they've just decided to dance and dress like toddlers and codgers.
I could be reaching.
I think political art/music is more effective at capturing a moment than affecting change.
QUOTE(Duff. @ May 3 2007, 11:37 AM) [snapback]366216[/snapback]
I think political art/music is more effective at capturing a moment than affecting change.
Sure. This is why 'Fortunate Son' shows up in a Tommy Hilfiger commercial just because it goes, "Oooo, the red white and blue, owww." Meanwhile, the Vietnam war ended six years after its single release.
QUOTE(brent_D @ May 3 2007, 11:08 AM) [snapback]366180[/snapback]
In England they've just decided to dance and dress like toddlers and codgers.
They've got it right.
The older I get, the less I care for politics in music. It's my escape from politics, work, what have you. Not to mention the fact that it's getting harder and harder to say something meaningful in a non-corny way. Yeah, we all hate Bush. Shocker. Just rock the fuck out already.
There really hasn't been a political band since Rage.
Green Day/Pearl Jam/Dixie Chicks/etc can toss their hat in the ring, but their music doesn't resound with any sort of message.
Green Day/Pearl Jam/Dixie Chicks/etc can toss their hat in the ring, but their music doesn't resound with any sort of message.
QUOTE(yancy @ May 3 2007, 04:41 PM) [snapback]366477[/snapback]
Yeah, we all hate Bush. Shocker. Just rock the fuck out already.
Agreed
QUOTE(AustinMusicScene @ May 3 2007, 04:47 PM) [snapback]366481[/snapback]
There really hasn't been a political band since Rage.
Wrong.
QUOTE(brent_D @ May 3 2007, 11:08 AM) [snapback]366180[/snapback]
For example: Sky Blue Sky, Pocket Symphony, The Shins, Neon Bible, Feist, Panda Bear, Joanna Newsom, etc. etc. Everything seems to be getting dreamier and quieter, which might explain why guys like Montana bemoan the current state of music. There's not a lot of loud guitar rock in indie.
well, none of the artists mentioned (with the occasional exception of Panda Bear) were ever really known for loud rock anyway. Air putting out an anti-Bush hardcore punk album might have been cause for alarm. And there's always Fucked Up, new Les Savy Fav, Dino Jr., Jay Reatard, the Hold Steady, and so on. Same loud/quiet dichotomy as ever. In '84 there was Zen Arcade and there was Reckoning.
QUOTE(AustinMusicScene @ May 3 2007, 10:47 PM) [snapback]366481[/snapback]
There really hasn't been a political band since Rage.
Green Day/Pearl Jam/Dixie Chicks/etc can toss their hat in the ring, but their music doesn't resound with any sort of message.
Green Day/Pearl Jam/Dixie Chicks/etc can toss their hat in the ring, but their music doesn't resound with any sort of message.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_Dub_Foundation
I find that most "political music" lacks any kind of subtlety or nuance, and basically just boils down to "the incumbents suck ass save the environment down with capitalism drive a hybrid!" One of the best protest songs of the last few years IMO is Broadcast's "America's Boy"
In terms of groups who have a very pronounced political ideaology in their music, Stereolab is a good one. Their music is filled with marxist theory and other such things but it isn't overbearing. I definitely respect a group like Rage, but they were a bit hypocritical to me.
I dunno, I miss protest songs like Eugene McDaniel's "Compared to What" (check out Roberta Flack's version) and stuff like that. It's political and powerful, the lyrics aren't eye-rollingly basic, etc. Curtis Mayfield, Dylan, etc. are all great writers who actually understood the issues they were singing about and weren't just being political for the sake of it.
That's the main problem I have. It's like, most of these singer-songwriters with their protest songs don't really have much to say. Same for political rappers. They don't add anything to the discourse, their observations are just so base and simple. I mean, have you heard Sheryl Crow speak?
In terms of groups who have a very pronounced political ideaology in their music, Stereolab is a good one. Their music is filled with marxist theory and other such things but it isn't overbearing. I definitely respect a group like Rage, but they were a bit hypocritical to me.
I dunno, I miss protest songs like Eugene McDaniel's "Compared to What" (check out Roberta Flack's version) and stuff like that. It's political and powerful, the lyrics aren't eye-rollingly basic, etc. Curtis Mayfield, Dylan, etc. are all great writers who actually understood the issues they were singing about and weren't just being political for the sake of it.
That's the main problem I have. It's like, most of these singer-songwriters with their protest songs don't really have much to say. Same for political rappers. They don't add anything to the discourse, their observations are just so base and simple. I mean, have you heard Sheryl Crow speak?
One of the reasons Living Colour kicked so much ass was their pointed discussion of social issues--"Funny Vibe," "Type," "Which Way to America," "Open Letter (to a Landlord)," "Pride" and "Cult of Personality" off the top of my head, are unfortunately still valid statements about living in the USA.
Here's "Compared to What?" :
I love to lie and lie to love
I'm hangin' on, they push and shove
Possession is the motivation that is hangin' up the God damn nation
Looks like we all might end up in a rut -- everybody now
Tryin' to make it real -- compared to what?
Slaughterhouse is killin' hogs
Twisted children killin' frogs
Poor dumb rednecks rollin' logs
Tired old ladies kissin' dogs
I hate the human love of that stinkin' mutt -- I can't use it
Try to make it real compared to what.
President he's got his war
Folks don't know just what it's for
Nobody gives us rhyme or reason
Have one doubt, they call it treason
We're chicken-feathers, all without one nut -- God damn it
Tryin' to make it real -- compared to what?
Church on Sunday, sleep and nod
Tryin' to duck the wrath of God
Preachers fillin' us with fright
They all tryin' to teach us what they think is right
They really got to be some kind of nut -- I can't use it
Tryin' to make it real -- compared to what?
Where's that beat and where's that honey
Where's my God and where's my money
Unreal values a crass distortion
Unwed mothers need abortion
Kind of brings to mind ol' young King Tut -- he did it now
Tried to make it real compared to what!
http://www.zshare.net/audio/01-compared-to-what-mp3.html
I love to lie and lie to love
I'm hangin' on, they push and shove
Possession is the motivation that is hangin' up the God damn nation
Looks like we all might end up in a rut -- everybody now
Tryin' to make it real -- compared to what?
Slaughterhouse is killin' hogs
Twisted children killin' frogs
Poor dumb rednecks rollin' logs
Tired old ladies kissin' dogs
I hate the human love of that stinkin' mutt -- I can't use it
Try to make it real compared to what.
President he's got his war
Folks don't know just what it's for
Nobody gives us rhyme or reason
Have one doubt, they call it treason
We're chicken-feathers, all without one nut -- God damn it
Tryin' to make it real -- compared to what?
Church on Sunday, sleep and nod
Tryin' to duck the wrath of God
Preachers fillin' us with fright
They all tryin' to teach us what they think is right
They really got to be some kind of nut -- I can't use it
Tryin' to make it real -- compared to what?
Where's that beat and where's that honey
Where's my God and where's my money
Unreal values a crass distortion
Unwed mothers need abortion
Kind of brings to mind ol' young King Tut -- he did it now
Tried to make it real compared to what!
http://www.zshare.net/audio/01-compared-to-what-mp3.html
Ted Leo's certainly been carrying this torch.
Probably my favorite political album:
A strange mix of politics, lunatic rantings and dark psychedelia. The lyric book is the largest I have ever seen. This album still rips my heart out( the soldier having to stop carrying the dying man and leaving him in WWII) and makes me laugh (alien anthropologists studying our lifeless bodies near tv sets). The combination of Jeff Beck's improvisation and Waters return to Floyd-like sonics makes for one hell of a ride.
A strange mix of politics, lunatic rantings and dark psychedelia. The lyric book is the largest I have ever seen. This album still rips my heart out( the soldier having to stop carrying the dying man and leaving him in WWII) and makes me laugh (alien anthropologists studying our lifeless bodies near tv sets). The combination of Jeff Beck's improvisation and Waters return to Floyd-like sonics makes for one hell of a ride.
QUOTE
We were watching TV
Watching TV
We were watching TV
Watching TV
In Tiananmen Square
Lost my baby there
My yellow rose
In her bloodstained clothes
She was a short order pastry chef
In a Dim Sum dive on the Yangtze tideway
She had shiny hair
She was the daughter of an engineer
Won't you shed a tear
For my yellow rose
My yellow rose
In her bloodstained clothes
She had perfect breasts
She had high hopes
She had almond eyes
She had yellow thighs
She was a student of philosophy
Won't you grieve with me
For my yellow rose
Shed a tear
For her bloodstained clothes
She had shiny hair
She had perfect breasts
She had high hopes
She had almond eyes
She had yellow thighs
She was the daughter of an engineer
So get out your pistols
Get out your stones
Get out your knives
Cut them to the bone
They are the lackeys of the grocer's machine
They built the dark satanic mills
That manufacture hell on earth
They bought the front row seats on Calvary
They are irrelevant to me
And I grieve for my sister
We were watching TV
Watching TV
We were watching TV
Watching TV
She wore a white bandanna that said
Freedom now
She thought the Great Wall of China
Would come tumbling down
She was a student
Her father was an engineer
Won't you shed a tear
For my yellow rose
My yellow rose
In her bloodstained clothes
Her grandpa fought old Chiang Kai-shek
That no-good, low-down dirty rat
Who used to order his troops
To fire on the women and children
Imagine that; imagine that
And in the spring of '48
Mao Tse-tung got quite irate
And he kicked that old dictator Chiang
Out of the state of China
Chiang Kai-shek came down in Formosa
And they armed the island of Quemoy
And the shells were flying across the China Sea
And they turned Formosa into a shoe factory
Called Taiwan
And she is different from Cro-Magnon man
She's different from Anne Boleyn
She is different from the Rosenbergs
And from the unknown Jew
She's different from the unknown Nicaraguan
Half superstar, half victim
She's a victor star, conceptually new
And she is different from the Dodo
And from the Kankanbono
She's different from the Aztec
And from the Cherokee
She's everybody's sister
She's symbolic of our failure
She's the one in fifty million
Who can help us to be free
Because she died on TV
And I grieve for my sister
Watching TV
We were watching TV
Watching TV
In Tiananmen Square
Lost my baby there
My yellow rose
In her bloodstained clothes
She was a short order pastry chef
In a Dim Sum dive on the Yangtze tideway
She had shiny hair
She was the daughter of an engineer
Won't you shed a tear
For my yellow rose
My yellow rose
In her bloodstained clothes
She had perfect breasts
She had high hopes
She had almond eyes
She had yellow thighs
She was a student of philosophy
Won't you grieve with me
For my yellow rose
Shed a tear
For her bloodstained clothes
She had shiny hair
She had perfect breasts
She had high hopes
She had almond eyes
She had yellow thighs
She was the daughter of an engineer
So get out your pistols
Get out your stones
Get out your knives
Cut them to the bone
They are the lackeys of the grocer's machine
They built the dark satanic mills
That manufacture hell on earth
They bought the front row seats on Calvary
They are irrelevant to me
And I grieve for my sister
We were watching TV
Watching TV
We were watching TV
Watching TV
She wore a white bandanna that said
Freedom now
She thought the Great Wall of China
Would come tumbling down
She was a student
Her father was an engineer
Won't you shed a tear
For my yellow rose
My yellow rose
In her bloodstained clothes
Her grandpa fought old Chiang Kai-shek
That no-good, low-down dirty rat
Who used to order his troops
To fire on the women and children
Imagine that; imagine that
And in the spring of '48
Mao Tse-tung got quite irate
And he kicked that old dictator Chiang
Out of the state of China
Chiang Kai-shek came down in Formosa
And they armed the island of Quemoy
And the shells were flying across the China Sea
And they turned Formosa into a shoe factory
Called Taiwan
And she is different from Cro-Magnon man
She's different from Anne Boleyn
She is different from the Rosenbergs
And from the unknown Jew
She's different from the unknown Nicaraguan
Half superstar, half victim
She's a victor star, conceptually new
And she is different from the Dodo
And from the Kankanbono
She's different from the Aztec
And from the Cherokee
She's everybody's sister
She's symbolic of our failure
She's the one in fifty million
Who can help us to be free
Because she died on TV
And I grieve for my sister
QUOTE
You have a natural tendency
To squeeze off a shot
You're good fun at parties
You wear the right masks
You're old but you still
Like a laugh in the locker room
You can't abide change
And you're home on the range
You opened the suitcase
Behind the old workings
To show off the magnum
You deafened the canyon
A comfort a friend
Only upstaged in the end
By the Uzi machine gun
Does the recoil remind you
Remind you of sex
Old man what the hell you gonna kill next
Old timer, who you gonna kill next
I looked over Jordan and what did I see
Saw a U.S. Marine in a pile of debris
I swam in your pools
And lay under your palm trees
I looked in the eyes of the Indian
Who lay on the Federal Building steps
And through the range finder over the hill
I saw the front line boys popping their pills
Sick of the mess they find on their desert stage
And the bravery of being out of range
Yeah the question is vexed
Old man what the hell you gonna kill next
Old timer who you gonna kill next
Hey bartender, over here
Two more shots
And two more beers
Sir, turn up the TV sound
The war has started on the ground
Just love those laser guided bombs
They're really great for righting wrongs
You hit the target, win the game
From bars 3,000 miles away
3,000 miles away
We play the game
With the bravery of being out of range
We zap and maim
With the bravery of being out of range
We strafe the train
With the bravery of being out of range
We gain terrain
With the bravery of being out of range
We play the game
With the bravery of being out of range
To squeeze off a shot
You're good fun at parties
You wear the right masks
You're old but you still
Like a laugh in the locker room
You can't abide change
And you're home on the range
You opened the suitcase
Behind the old workings
To show off the magnum
You deafened the canyon
A comfort a friend
Only upstaged in the end
By the Uzi machine gun
Does the recoil remind you
Remind you of sex
Old man what the hell you gonna kill next
Old timer, who you gonna kill next
I looked over Jordan and what did I see
Saw a U.S. Marine in a pile of debris
I swam in your pools
And lay under your palm trees
I looked in the eyes of the Indian
Who lay on the Federal Building steps
And through the range finder over the hill
I saw the front line boys popping their pills
Sick of the mess they find on their desert stage
And the bravery of being out of range
Yeah the question is vexed
Old man what the hell you gonna kill next
Old timer who you gonna kill next
Hey bartender, over here
Two more shots
And two more beers
Sir, turn up the TV sound
The war has started on the ground
Just love those laser guided bombs
They're really great for righting wrongs
You hit the target, win the game
From bars 3,000 miles away
3,000 miles away
We play the game
With the bravery of being out of range
We zap and maim
With the bravery of being out of range
We strafe the train
With the bravery of being out of range
We gain terrain
With the bravery of being out of range
We play the game
With the bravery of being out of range
Never heard much Waters post Floyd Montana, cuz what I heard when I was younger I didn't like. But, that was a long time ago. Jeff Beck you say? Amused to death, huh?
Hmmm...
This is worth a buy for sure?
Hmmm...
This is worth a buy for sure?
QUOTE(yancy @ May 3 2007, 04:41 PM) [snapback]366477[/snapback]
QUOTE(brent_D @ May 3 2007, 11:08 AM) [snapback]366180[/snapback]
In England they've just decided to dance and dress like toddlers and codgers.
They've got it right.
The older I get, the less I care for politics in music. It's my escape from politics, work, what have you. Not to mention the fact that it's getting harder and harder to say something meaningful in a non-corny way. Yeah, we all hate Bush. Shocker. Just rock the fuck out already.
I feel the same way. The biggest problem with politics in music is that in general musicians have no fucking clue what they are talking about. And, it's not only politics, per se. It's about the state of the world, etc. And, yeah, we all know the world is fucked up. But, for the most part, in my opinion, musicians make fools of themselves because of their ignorance. See Green Day. Fucking American Idiot is right. Get a fucking GED and call me later is how I feel.
Politics in musics peaked with Dylan in the mid-60s and has been going downhill ever since. Now, it's hit rock bottom. Funny thing about Dylan is he didn't even try to be political and actually got fucking pissed when people demanded he do it again. Maybe that's why it's good. It's not direct. Not contrived. Not specific. John Brown could be about any soldier anywhere in any war. Much, much more powerful this way. Masters of War doesn't call out anybody by name.
The real problem with politics in rock is that, as yancy says, the rockers are normally pretty void with anything meaningful to say and come across as trying too hard.
But, if you are gonna do it: in my opinion, don't be specific about. Roger Waters does a good job of it and so does Dylan, but they don't do it often, and they do it artistically.
QUOTE(tattoo @ May 3 2007, 09:20 PM) [snapback]366581[/snapback]
Never heard much Waters post Floyd Montana, cuz what I heard when I was younger I didn't like. But, that was a long time ago. Jeff Beck you say? Amused to death, huh?
Hmmm...
This is worth a buy for sure?
Hmmm...
This is worth a buy for sure?
Yes. It's really wordy though, so be warned. I did say "rantings of a lunatic".
QUOTE(Montana @ May 3 2007, 09:30 PM) [snapback]366590[/snapback]
QUOTE(tattoo @ May 3 2007, 09:20 PM) [snapback]366581[/snapback]
Never heard much Waters post Floyd Montana, cuz what I heard when I was younger I didn't like. But, that was a long time ago. Jeff Beck you say? Amused to death, huh?
Hmmm...
This is worth a buy for sure?
Hmmm...
This is worth a buy for sure?
Yes. It's really wordy though, so be warned. I did say "rantings of a lunatic".
Did you read my last post!? Rantings of a lunatic sounds about right.
To be sure, I love wordy.
Is the guitar playing great?
QUOTE(tattoo @ May 3 2007, 09:32 PM) [snapback]366592[/snapback]
Is the guitar playing great?
It's Jeff Beck.
QUOTE(tattoo @ May 3 2007, 09:25 PM) [snapback]366587[/snapback]
QUOTE(yancy @ May 3 2007, 04:41 PM) [snapback]366477[/snapback]
QUOTE(brent_D @ May 3 2007, 11:08 AM) [snapback]366180[/snapback]
In England they've just decided to dance and dress like toddlers and codgers.
They've got it right.
The older I get, the less I care for politics in music. It's my escape from politics, work, what have you. Not to mention the fact that it's getting harder and harder to say something meaningful in a non-corny way. Yeah, we all hate Bush. Shocker. Just rock the fuck out already.
I feel the same way. The biggest problem with politics in music is that in general musicians have no fucking clue what they are talking about. And, it's not only politics, per se. It's about the state of the world, etc. And, yeah, we all know the world is fucked up. But, for the most part, in my opinion, musicians make fools of themselves because of their ignorance. See Green Day. Fucking American Idiot is right. Get a fucking GED and call me later is how I feel.
Politics in musics peaked with Dylan in the mid-60s and has been going downhill ever since. Now, it's hit rock bottom. Funny thing about Dylan is he didn't even try to be political and actually got fucking pissed when people demanded he do it again. Maybe that's why it's good. It's not direct. Not contrived. Not specific. John Brown could be about any soldier anywhere in any war. Much, much more powerful this way. Masters of War doesn't call out anybody by name.
The real problem with politics in rock is that, as yancy says, the rockers are normally pretty void with anything meaningful to say and come across as trying too hard.
But, if you are gonna do it: in my opinion, don't be specific about. Roger Waters does a good job of it and so does Dylan, but they don't do it often, and they do it artistically.
Off the top of my head, Hurricane was overtly political and very specific. But I guess your point stands, as it's kind of a clunky song.
My policy on politics and music is the same as how I feel about Jesus and music: It's all good so long as the song doesn't get lost in your message. Musicians should aim to reflect the world they find themselves in, and sometimes that involves the politics. Trying to make sense of it is more important than getting it completely right everytime, and in the end it's all about how it sounds.
QUOTE(Duff. @ May 4 2007, 12:11 AM) [snapback]366653[/snapback]
QUOTE(tattoo @ May 3 2007, 09:25 PM) [snapback]366587[/snapback]
QUOTE(yancy @ May 3 2007, 04:41 PM) [snapback]366477[/snapback]
QUOTE(brent_D @ May 3 2007, 11:08 AM) [snapback]366180[/snapback]
In England they've just decided to dance and dress like toddlers and codgers.
They've got it right.
The older I get, the less I care for politics in music. It's my escape from politics, work, what have you. Not to mention the fact that it's getting harder and harder to say something meaningful in a non-corny way. Yeah, we all hate Bush. Shocker. Just rock the fuck out already.
I feel the same way. The biggest problem with politics in music is that in general musicians have no fucking clue what they are talking about. And, it's not only politics, per se. It's about the state of the world, etc. And, yeah, we all know the world is fucked up. But, for the most part, in my opinion, musicians make fools of themselves because of their ignorance. See Green Day. Fucking American Idiot is right. Get a fucking GED and call me later is how I feel.
Politics in musics peaked with Dylan in the mid-60s and has been going downhill ever since. Now, it's hit rock bottom. Funny thing about Dylan is he didn't even try to be political and actually got fucking pissed when people demanded he do it again. Maybe that's why it's good. It's not direct. Not contrived. Not specific. John Brown could be about any soldier anywhere in any war. Much, much more powerful this way. Masters of War doesn't call out anybody by name.
The real problem with politics in rock is that, as yancy says, the rockers are normally pretty void with anything meaningful to say and come across as trying too hard.
But, if you are gonna do it: in my opinion, don't be specific about. Roger Waters does a good job of it and so does Dylan, but they don't do it often, and they do it artistically.
Off the top of my head, Hurricane was overtly political and very specific. But I guess your point stands, as it's kind of a clunky song.
My policy on politics and music is the same as how I feel about Jesus and music: It's all good so long as the song doesn't get lost in your message. Musicians should aim to reflect the world they find themselves in, and sometimes that involves the politics. Trying to make sense of it is more important than getting it completely right everytime, and in the end it's all about how it sounds.
Forgot about Hurricane. Yeah that was overtly political and seemed forced. And, Dylan actually got that wrong and I think that a person in the song won a law suit a few years ago after being persecuted for years in the song and actually being innocent.
On political songs about subjects of actual controversy: MTV will not play this shit, nor will radio without subjecting it to a heavy screening process first. I know that we're all still hearing "Holiday" regularly, maybe 3 years after it came out, but that only slipped through because hey, it was Green Day. I can't really think of anything else that made any kind of a significant impact, but you also just say that "Holiday" is nothing but empty sloganeering (see also: SoaD) and doesn't count anyway. For all of the "political" music being made, hardly any of it is still breaking through to a large audience. It might get lots of press, especially online, but not much is breaking through to a large audience.
On the Internet: The Internet, ironically, is the first front on the war against this stuff. The second that an artist opens their mouth to denounce Bush or Blair, the blogs and the webzines light up to start mocking them for trying. I don't understand this behavior. Do people have a need to prove that they're "above" this kind of expression, that music and politics "don't mix" and that anyone who tries to force them to is just an opportunist? Yeah, that does happen but now it's just a knee-jerk reaction that I see from people online. I mean, look at this stuff:
http://www.stylusmagazine.com/reviews/tran.../liberation.htm
Give me anyone who knows Trans Am (quite a few people after TA, I guess) and their music who really thinks that album is garbage. I mean, really.
(see also: the fall of indie rap and the rise of trap/crunk)
On benefits: Look at how Live 8 was mocked on this board. These kind of events should have made a difference but we turn it around on the artists and accuse them of a pitiful kind of cultural paternalism that borders on actual racism. Wow. There probably should have been more African artists on the bill, but that doesn't change the fact that the concerts raised a lot money and a lot of awareness about the plight of Africa. And yet, we still think that there was something wrong with this.
On "shut up and rock!": Meaningless statement in general.
On the Internet: The Internet, ironically, is the first front on the war against this stuff. The second that an artist opens their mouth to denounce Bush or Blair, the blogs and the webzines light up to start mocking them for trying. I don't understand this behavior. Do people have a need to prove that they're "above" this kind of expression, that music and politics "don't mix" and that anyone who tries to force them to is just an opportunist? Yeah, that does happen but now it's just a knee-jerk reaction that I see from people online. I mean, look at this stuff:
http://www.stylusmagazine.com/reviews/tran.../liberation.htm
Give me anyone who knows Trans Am (quite a few people after TA, I guess) and their music who really thinks that album is garbage. I mean, really.
(see also: the fall of indie rap and the rise of trap/crunk)
On benefits: Look at how Live 8 was mocked on this board. These kind of events should have made a difference but we turn it around on the artists and accuse them of a pitiful kind of cultural paternalism that borders on actual racism. Wow. There probably should have been more African artists on the bill, but that doesn't change the fact that the concerts raised a lot money and a lot of awareness about the plight of Africa. And yet, we still think that there was something wrong with this.
On "shut up and rock!": Meaningless statement in general.
QUOTE(Duff. @ May 4 2007, 12:11 AM) [snapback]366653[/snapback]
Musicians should aim to reflect the world they find themselves in
BAM. The day I realized in college that true art came from experience changed me forever. Once I started writing poetry from experience: it grew exponentially in quality. Then, I got writer's block.
But, check this: if you ain't LIVING the artistic life you want to live you'll always be a big ass fake. You know? If you ain't Joey Ramone, you ain't Joey Ramone. A non musical analogy: Rex Grossman is still gonna be Rex Grossman when he takes the field this fall. And, if he wrote a book about being Walter Payton it wouldn't be a very good book at all.
But, if a musician or artists lives on the edge and then reflects that into their art: they become legendary. When they fail to live on this edge anymore, see any number of bands, they fail. See Billy Corgan for evidence of this.
However you get to the edge is up to you. But, I know Jack White knows how to live on it, and that's why he is great. Like Lou Reed.
AMEN
This is a funny review of 'Amused to Death' I found on another board.
QUOTE
So I bought this CD, last week and I finally got around to listening to it, and I gotta say what a godawful peace of shit it is!
I went into it expecting "The Final Cut Part 2" or something, and that would have been great because I love that album but it was anything but!
First we get a lame instrumental with a bunch of talking people that I dont care about. Jeff Beck does some guitar soloing, and while he's a great guitarist, all he's doing here is imitating David Gilmour and it's LAME. If I want to hear a David Gilmour style guitar solo there only one person who I want to hear play it and that's David Gilmour (or Snowy White maybe). Every time Jeff Beck appears on this album he's doing this lame-ass soloing and I hate it.
Then "What God wants" starts with some female vocals which are OK at first, but when Roger starts singing it's clear his voice is shot. NONE of his vocals on here have the same impact as any of his PF stuff. And as for the female vocals, they seem OK at first but then I noticed that they were splattered all over nearly every song. And all these vocals are in the same wailing style of "Great Gig in the Sky", and it gets really obnoxious, and they don't blend with Roger's voice very well at all.
Why are there so many parts that rip off stuff Waters did before? One song has the "Echoes" PING noise, another has the "get you're filthy hands off my desert" bomb, another has the birdsong from "Grandchester Meadows", One song does that chugging guitar rhythm from "Run Like Hell". An homage or reference is OK, but this just screams "Hey remember when I had original ideas? Well I dont anymore!"
And what with all the goddamn cricket noises! Those things are fucking annoying! And like every single song had stupid "TV" dialogue in the background at some point
And what the hell is this album about anyway? It's obviously a concept album, because of all the unnecessarily multi-part songs, and Roger is incapable of writing a non-concept album, but I have no clue what he's on about. At first I thought it was about how people rely on technology (like TV) too much and don't take anything seriously any more, but there are a ton of war references and the songs dont seem to have a lyrical thread.
Speaking of lyrics, they're awful for the most part, and whenever they approach decency Roger's singing completely kills them. "You dont have to be a jew to disprove of murder" Wow Roger, what insight! "It's only two Humans Being" Wow Roger, what creative wordplay!
And the length! Why are the songs so freaking long? The title track is by far the best track, lyrically musically and otherwise, but its 9 damn minutes long! And all the two or three part songs should only have ONE part, the other parts add nothing!
And the thing that bugged me most is that nearly EVERY song on here sounds like its shitty gospel music. The arrangements are horrible! Half of the songs on here start with some piano and then the organ come in and then some lady starts wailing, and I expect her to start sings "OOOHH! the BIBLE SAYYS AAAMMENN!! PRAISE BE TO JEEEESUSS!!" but then Roger starts singing and its different than that, but DAMN this sucks.
And whats with the references to monkeys? Monkeys dont make me think "hhmmm what a serious song", Monkeys make me laugh because Monkeys are funny.
Ricky did you say that this was one of your favorite albums?? Cus it's terrible! Even disregarding the lyrics.
It's made even worse by the fact that there are some moderately OK melodies and other things on the album, but it's hard to focus on them because of all the bullshit that roger loads on.
And FUCKING DON HENLEY?? What the hell is he dong here!? Get that asshole off my CD!
the liner notes say that this album was made with "QSound" and that it should sound like some dog is barking in the neighbors yard if I position myself inbetween the speakers properly, but I don't hear any dumbass neighbor dog! I'm listening on headphones and it sounds like completely normal stereo sound. "The Final Cut" had awesome Quadraphonic sound and it showed by its awesomeness, but The audio on here sounds totally normal and not special at all.
And the Genie voice on that one song is totally retarded!
ANd this album sounds like SHITTY GOSPEL MUSIC.
I went into it expecting "The Final Cut Part 2" or something, and that would have been great because I love that album but it was anything but!
First we get a lame instrumental with a bunch of talking people that I dont care about. Jeff Beck does some guitar soloing, and while he's a great guitarist, all he's doing here is imitating David Gilmour and it's LAME. If I want to hear a David Gilmour style guitar solo there only one person who I want to hear play it and that's David Gilmour (or Snowy White maybe). Every time Jeff Beck appears on this album he's doing this lame-ass soloing and I hate it.
Then "What God wants" starts with some female vocals which are OK at first, but when Roger starts singing it's clear his voice is shot. NONE of his vocals on here have the same impact as any of his PF stuff. And as for the female vocals, they seem OK at first but then I noticed that they were splattered all over nearly every song. And all these vocals are in the same wailing style of "Great Gig in the Sky", and it gets really obnoxious, and they don't blend with Roger's voice very well at all.
Why are there so many parts that rip off stuff Waters did before? One song has the "Echoes" PING noise, another has the "get you're filthy hands off my desert" bomb, another has the birdsong from "Grandchester Meadows", One song does that chugging guitar rhythm from "Run Like Hell". An homage or reference is OK, but this just screams "Hey remember when I had original ideas? Well I dont anymore!"
And what with all the goddamn cricket noises! Those things are fucking annoying! And like every single song had stupid "TV" dialogue in the background at some point
And what the hell is this album about anyway? It's obviously a concept album, because of all the unnecessarily multi-part songs, and Roger is incapable of writing a non-concept album, but I have no clue what he's on about. At first I thought it was about how people rely on technology (like TV) too much and don't take anything seriously any more, but there are a ton of war references and the songs dont seem to have a lyrical thread.
Speaking of lyrics, they're awful for the most part, and whenever they approach decency Roger's singing completely kills them. "You dont have to be a jew to disprove of murder" Wow Roger, what insight! "It's only two Humans Being" Wow Roger, what creative wordplay!
And the length! Why are the songs so freaking long? The title track is by far the best track, lyrically musically and otherwise, but its 9 damn minutes long! And all the two or three part songs should only have ONE part, the other parts add nothing!
And the thing that bugged me most is that nearly EVERY song on here sounds like its shitty gospel music. The arrangements are horrible! Half of the songs on here start with some piano and then the organ come in and then some lady starts wailing, and I expect her to start sings "OOOHH! the BIBLE SAYYS AAAMMENN!! PRAISE BE TO JEEEESUSS!!" but then Roger starts singing and its different than that, but DAMN this sucks.
And whats with the references to monkeys? Monkeys dont make me think "hhmmm what a serious song", Monkeys make me laugh because Monkeys are funny.
Ricky did you say that this was one of your favorite albums?? Cus it's terrible! Even disregarding the lyrics.
It's made even worse by the fact that there are some moderately OK melodies and other things on the album, but it's hard to focus on them because of all the bullshit that roger loads on.
And FUCKING DON HENLEY?? What the hell is he dong here!? Get that asshole off my CD!
the liner notes say that this album was made with "QSound" and that it should sound like some dog is barking in the neighbors yard if I position myself inbetween the speakers properly, but I don't hear any dumbass neighbor dog! I'm listening on headphones and it sounds like completely normal stereo sound. "The Final Cut" had awesome Quadraphonic sound and it showed by its awesomeness, but The audio on here sounds totally normal and not special at all.
And the Genie voice on that one song is totally retarded!
ANd this album sounds like SHITTY GOSPEL MUSIC.
That review is hilarious! Maybe even more so because I can definitely get what the guy is saying, despite the fact that I like the album. From what I've heard of Waters' solo work, it's quite likely the best. It borders between a "return to form" and "ripping off past ideas", but I don't get too hung up about that--hell, they were referencing themselves on the Wall. And yeah, I'm not really entirely sure what the "concept" is--you have the monkey thing, and the alien anthropologist thing, and the war thing. And yeah, Beck sounds like Gilmour. But I still like it.
Speaking of, in the Margarat Thatcher stuff, the Final Cut can get added to that list. Along with a whole host of other world leaders from 1982.
And does political music make a difference? I'd love to think it did, but no. Political music goes over well when the audience and artist already agree on an issue. When they don't, you end up with the Dixie Chicks episode. It's fine to be inspired to create something as a result of world events--we see a lot of worthy work mentioned in this thread--but don't think it's necessarily going to change anyone's mind on things. Just my 2 cents.
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