A smart, funny rant -- half talking, half singing. Political as any of her music, but less angry and more mocking. Very cool. Even if you don't like Ani, this one deserves a listen.



"...all the radios agree with all the tvs, and the magazines agree with all the radios and I keep hearing that same damn song everywhere I go! Maybe I should put a bucket over my head and a marshmallow in each ear, and stumble around for another dumb, numb week for another humdrum hit song to appear."

The lyrics to this song, even though they were written years ago still hold up today. Nothing has changed, which is kind of sad. This song hits you hard with it's political message with very little subtlety, but it doesn't need it because the message is so strong and so frustrated. Bad Religion's best work.

"as political a song as I got" - says Ben Folds.
a quieter bouncy jazzy song where Ben sings to his son about how fucked up the world is. they point and laugh at the ignorance and consumption of most of the world. two verses and a solo or two, a short song comes together for his EP, Sunny 16. here's hoping he'll revisit it and flesh it out with another verse for the promised album...

Early urban blues from the master of all that is politically incorrect (listen to his lyrics on most tracks regarding women). Recorded as a tribute to a friend, full recording has a 3 minute rant by Blind Willie recounting the story of writing this, andsinging it at a friend's funeral. The finest early urban blues track - playful chord progression and a perfectly sophisticated urban take on his normal country blues output. Sharp lyrics are a joy to listen to.

absolutely amazing track with great, slightly political, lyrics and the best track, in my opinion, on their fantastic album "silent alarm"

The Drops re-imagine this Dylan tune from his No Mercy release as an awesome, old-fashioned fiddle hoedown.

Bid band with violins, wind instruments (? i mean saxofons or trumpets), Curtis on guitar and everything with good arrangements.

I just try NOT to spoil this one of a kind artist with my bad english. Songs in this album pour essence from racial discrimination, political and drug problems. I think this was one of those songs that made black men to organize and to gain self-respect to reclaim their human rights.

I like the thing that you really can feel that Curtis has something on his mind, something important to tell about, not just telling how to make love and have good time. This places this song above others.

People are fucked and politicians say: "don't worry" - and still there is hope. Let's hope so.

The first track on the seminal 'Headless Heroes of the Apocalypse' LP McDaniels cut in 1971 is the most furious and energetic of the album. Spiritual afro-soul-rock with a politically aware attitude. A very 'dirty' psychedelic electric bass guitar with a top-class drummer (Alphonse Mouzon) comprise a hard-hitting rhythm section to remember. I prefer this very bluesy track over the more obvious selections from this top-notch release, e.g. the haunting Jagger the Dagger, and Freedom Death Dance.

Here is a real music man from Africa who stirred alot of contraversy by forming his own political party and using his music as a weapon against the colonial british government. He wrote Beasts of No Nation in 1986 after spending 3 years in jail without being convicted. Beautiful voice!! Influenced by American jazz and Drum rhythms of west nigeria. Many consider him the African James Brown or Bob Marley, but this is not so. Find out for yourself!

13+ minute Jam african jazz with great percussion and funk overtones....if you like it try anything of his. His Son, Femi Kuti is more avant garde african jazz...similar but with more John Coltrane influence.

Greatest instrument of this song is Marlena's voice and the story it tells about being a mother and getting along in ghetto. I haven't heard any as improvising singer than she is and I know there is not many as versatile as she is and that is the reason You need to get this song. During eight minutes that this song lasts you may find yourself singin' "I'm woman of the gheeetto...", even if you are not and you there may also raise urges to feed a baby. This is a warning.

This song goes to same category as Marvin Gaye�s and Curtis Mayfield�s political material, but what makes this different is that this song does it by the point of view of a woman. And lord that woman is strong one.

Another of my favorite indie tracks in my youth. Can I say 'indie' anymore? Ten years ago the term had meaning, but I get the impression this has faded. I'm talking about bands who recorded for small independent labels, obviously. Anyway, I have a special fondness for McCarthy, since they played at the first live show I ever attended. It was on March 3rd 1990 at the Bowen West Theatre in Bedford, England. Were you there? I know at least one member of this site was (how's it going, Phil?).

Anyway, this is another superbly evocative track for me, with layers of nicely picked guitars, and some intense drumming. The vocals are heartfelt in a way that unkind people might call 'weedy'; I think they're brilliant, needless to say. McCarthy were a superb indie band with jangly Wedding Present-style guitars and a political edge. Tim Gane later went on to form Stereolab, who I also like a lot, but in a very different way.

Another fast and furious assault with incendiary guitars! There's really not much more to say than that. They have a number of other great songs, like "The Well-Fed Point of View" (also on this LP, their third and best) the single "This Nelson Rockefeller" (which is on the compilation "That's All Very Well But"), and a handful on their first LP "I Am A Wallet". Their second LP had the best title, "The Enraged Will Inherit The Earth", but the weakest material.

The "MP" in the title means Member of Parliament, from which you can guess that McCarthy wrote mostly political songs. They were together from about 1985 to 1990, at which time they split up (Tim Gane and Laetitia Sadier went on to form Stereolab, of which I have a couple of CDs that so far do little for me).

Where is the soul of America? - In these times of warring political factions putting the government in unproductive grid lock Mike Stout asks what happened to the driving American spirit that united Americans to do great things. In this bluesy slide guitar driven tune a big chorus of singers asks:
�Where is the soul of America? Where is the spirit that made you great? Where is the soul of America? We need it now more than ever today. Where�s the will, that brought the Bill of Rights to stay, The ways and means to bring about our common dreams�now?�

Hear it at http://www.reverbnation.com/mikestout/song/18784586-where-is-the-soul-of-america

The best political song ever written, "We're Still Free" concerns the famous tragedy of a Korean passenger jet shot down by fighter planes when it strayed into Soviet airspace. Yet in recounting this act of barbarism on the part of the Soviets, it also implicates the righteousness of the American side of the Cold War ("We're still free here in America"). The song sets up a chilling contrast in the singing of the two performers, with Frith crying out almost desperately against believing what the media tell us, while Tom Cora gently croons the part of the Soviet air controllers as they decide to destroy the plane. Skeleton Crew was a two-man band with both performers playing drums with their feet along with electronics and strings. Here they set a contrast between the grand, arcing lines of the cello and a homey picking of the violin that's almost shockingly sweet and funny. Critical of anti-democratic trends in the West, Skeleton Crew was criticized by fans in Eastern Europe for taking freedom for granted.

Great funk/soul track with a healthy dose of political and social commentary circa 1970 set to a killer bass line - it's scary how much of it is still relevant today. "A ball of confusion, that's what the world is today..."

I love the Clash. I love the way they were four disparate individuals each bringing their own stuff to the mix. Topper's excellent drumming, Simonon's cool, Mick Jones musicality and street smarts, and Joe Strummer's....umm...Strummer-ness.

I love the fact they didn't play Top of the Pops. I love the fact that Strummer admitted that this was mainly 'cos he was crap at miming rather than out of any significant political stance or anything.

I love how gooood they were live. And I love the fact that I was lucky enough to see them.

I love the fact that Strummer picked 'Crawfish' as his favourite Elvis song. I also love the fact that sometimes, to my mind, they got things badly wrong, sounded a bit gauche or wrongheaded or worse. I'm thinking of Red Brigade t-shirts, using Belfast as a photo opportunity, and maybe singing about ghettos and Brixton, for the 'romance' of it when they weren't necessarily the closest to either. I dunno. That side makes me feel uneasy at times, but that's fine - makes me think.

This song is great. Reggae influenced rock, Strummer belting out 'one more time in the ghetto...'.

Its been so sad losing Joe, Johnny (Cash) and John (Peel) over the last couple of years. Good men, you feel.

�Something Better Change� was released in July of 1977 as the first single from The Stranglers upcoming second album No More Heroes which would appear in mid September. Along with the albums title track, �Something Better Change� would signal a move in a more overtly pop direction that was only hinted at on the group�s first album and would manage to peak at #9 on the U.K. singles chart. This is not to say that The Stranglers abandon their reputation as caustic agitators as No More Heroes was littered with politically contentious tracks such as �I Feel Like A Wog�, �Bring On The Nubiles� and �Bitching�, but the song�s infectious guitar riff and winning melody suggests a tenuous party rock atmosphere. It�s left to singer J.J. Burnel�s particularly gruff vocal performance to keep thing in the punk zone as he alternates between a gnarly throated delivery and a melodic toned timbre. Pumping organ and a buoyant mid-tempo rhythmic romp keep the energy high as he confronts the status quo with a tirade against stifling apathy, flaunting the punk new order with the taunting second verse, �Don�t you like the way I dance? / Does it bug you? / Don�t you like the cut of my clothes? / Don�t you like the way I seem to enjoy it? / Stick my finger right up your nose!� The bridge becomes a jubilant anthem where Burnel voices a punk battle cry to a flurry of organ runs and a growling bass line, �Something�s happening and it�s happening right now / You�re too blind to see it / Something�s happening and it�s happening right now / Ain�t got time to wait�. The chorus is a simple statement, Burnel demanding �Something better change!� with support from the boys in the band who join in for a group shout. Ironically, the arrangement also shows signs of classic rock moves, including a stinging guitar solo and an old school build up of the chorus late in the track.
(AMG)

We had a good time in the eighties,we really did.Unemployment,strikes,kids inculcated with the Thatcher mantra of making money which has depoliticized the youth of today.Fortunately the hypocrisy of Blair has encouraged a few students to tear themselves away from their business studies and take to the streets.Revolution revives art;it happened in the late 50's and 60's when teenagers rebelled against the staidness of post war England,
and again in the bleak mid 70's when youth rebelled against the poor prospects on offer.Fashion,music and literature are never healthier than when faced with intransigence.
In 1981 the post punk landscape was a glorious directionless quagmire.Record labels littered the nation,some only managing a few releases.Lowther International was home to the Vital Disorders who were angry but not too angry to write a great tune.
The Prams EP contains three slices of political pop,domestic and general.Prams is a scream of feminist outrage,of how women have their dreams ruptured,trapped by the drudgery of daily life,the omnipotent cry of the tyrannical baby squashing their ambitions.

"Lets talk about prams and washing machines,
Lets talk about the end of childhood dreams".

That is the chorus,sung with increasing vitriol as the song progresses,until you can almost feel the phlegm hit your face,as Tina Pilchards spits out those words one final time.Sizzling.

I know next to nothing about Willie Tee, but I became obsessed with this track. The song contains the kind of politically incorrect lyrics that were accepted back in the day without the batting of an eye lid. Willie Tee tells his woman how she should be spending her time ("Concentrate on loving me; activate this fire in me") and suggests a reward ("You've got to place your trust in me; I'll satisfy your fantasy"). These were the days when men were men, and women were letting them believe that they were in control. This track is definitely one for late nights with that special woman who apparently needs to be told what she should be spending her time thinking about.