There is a strong tradition of using songs to make political points. Whther it is the bite of Pete Seeger's "Waist Deep in the Big Muddy" or the power of Billy Joel's "Goodnight Saigon" song lyrics have ofen had a capability of delivering a powerful political message.
This often most effective when done with sarcasm and/or ridicule. I am diarying about this because elsewhere on kos tonight I had occasion to look up the lyrics of one of the best, a song written by Michael Brown and performed by the Chad Mitchell Trio, called "The John Birch Society." This song was actually banned from a fair number of radio stations because of its lyrics. It is worth reading the lyrics, which I will post below the fold, and then provide an explanation of some of the references for some of our younger readers. Perhaps one of them will be inspired.
Oh, we're meetin' at the courthouse at eight o'clock tonight
You just walk in the door and take the first turn to the right
Be careful when you get there, we hate to be bereft
But we're taking down the names of everybody turning left
Oh, we're the John Birch Society, the John Birch Society
Here to save our country from a communistic plot
Join the John Birch Society, help us fill the ranks
To get this movement started we need lots of tools and cranks
Now there's no one that we're certain the Kremlin doesn't touch
We think that Westbrook Pegler doth protest a bit too much
We only hail the hero from whom we got our name
We're not sure what he did but he's our hero just the same
Oh, we're the John Birch Society, the John Birch Society
Socialism is the ism dismalest of all
Join the John Birch Society, there's so much to do
Have you heard they're serving vodka at the WCTU?
Well you've heard about the agents that we've already named
Well MCA has agents that are flauntedly unashamed
We're after Rosie Clooney, we've gotten Pinkie Lee
And the day we get Red Skelton won't that be a victory
Oh we're the John Birch Society, the John Birch Society
Norman Vincent Peale may think he's kidding us along
But the John Birch Society knows he spilled the beans
He keeps on preaching brotherhood, but we know what he means
We'll teach you how to spot 'em in the cities or the sticks
For even Jasper Junction is just full of Bolsheviks
The CIA's subversive and so's the FCC
There's no one left but thee and we, and we're not sure of thee
Oh, we're the John Birch Society, the John Birch Society
Here to save our country from a communistic plot
Join the John Birch Society holding off the Reds
We'll use our hand and hearts and if we must we'll use our heads
Do you want Justice Warren for your Commissar?
Do you want Mrs. Krushchev in there with the DAR?
You cannot trust your neighbor or even next of kin
If mommie is a commie then you gotta turn her in
Oh, we're the John Birch Society, the John Birch Society
Fighting for the right to fight the right fight for the Right
Join the John Birch Society as we're marching on
And we'll all be glad to see you when we're meeting in the John
The John, the John Birch So- ci- i- teee.
Westbrook Pegler - very rightwing journalist, who called for Eleanor Roosevelt to retire from public life, and was very supportive of Joe McCarhtjy
MCA - put together by Lou Wasserman, for a while MCA had a near monopoly as the talent agency for Hollywood
Pinky Lee -- ex vaudeville star who had a major children's tv show in the 1950's
WCTU - Women's Christian Temperance Union, the predominant prohibition group, stayed active even after Repeal, as you can see by the fact that they have a website!
John Birch was a Baptist missionary to China who was also a CIA agent.
btw the John Birch Society, founded in 1958, still exists.
and anything red or pink was considered a possible sign of communism -- which is why during the 1950's what had before and is now the baseball team known as the Cincinatti Reds was renamed the REDLEGS (I had written Redstockings, which was the original 19th century name, as was pointed out in a comment below).