I know we're all busy right now with updates from Nevada, South Carolina, etc., but even political junkies need the occasional break from the rat race. Therefore, I am putting together a list of the 100 greatest liberal/progressive songs of all time, and I NEED YOUR HELP!!!
See below the fold for details...
A few years ago, John J. Miller of the National Review infamously compiled a list of the 50 greatest conservative rock songs. The list sucked something awful. Therefore, I want to put together a list of the 100 greatest liberal or progressive songs. I found a similar list here, but thought it focused too heavily on older music a limited number of artists (thanks FischFry, this is a better explanation of that list's problem). Old, new, mainstream, independent, punk, metal, folk, hip-hop, soul, country; I WANT THIS LIST TO BE AS DIVERSE AS IT IS INSPIRING. So post your suggestions in the comments! If you see your suggestion already commented on, recommend it (so that the comments thread isn't filled with duplicates). Some rules/requests:
- Include the name of the song, the artist, the year the song was released, and a few lines of lyrics you feel best exemplify the song's progressive message
- Please don't suggest a song whose meaning needs to be stretched to find a progressive theme. Example: The National Review considered "Janie's Got a Gun" by Aerosmith to be about gun rights. Songs on the list can contain general progressive themes such as peace and tolerance or more specific topics such as the Iraq war, worker's rights, feminism, etc.
- Songs should be by artists with a substantial following. This does NOT mean that the artist must be mainstream or on a major label. Example: Fugazi - ok; Bedouin Soundclash - try harder.
- Songs should be good representatives of the progressive community. Don't recommend songs advocating violence, destruction of property, anarchism, Communism, etc. That being said, songs on the list need not be "family friendly." Public Enemy and Rage Against the Machine songs are welcome.
Please recommend this post so I can get a high number of suggestions! I look forward to hearing from all of you.