Activist Songs

M

michelle a

New member
I tend to not like it much when banRAB base their entire lyrical approach on political statements, though RATM, The Clash and Crass are some exceptions to that rule.

I do love the message of that India Arie song for obvious reasons.

Anyway. Just for the lulz.

[YOUTUBE]8NO8h_uTkdU[/YOUTUBE]

Gotta love those late 70s production values.
 
What are your favorite activist songs, which encourage people to change their views or their ways?

They might be songs about appreciating baldness, being vegetarian ;), the problems with democracy...or whatever issue you like.

Here's one I heard today: "I am not my hair" by India.Arie India.Arie - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. This song encourages people to feel good about themselves regardless what their hair is doing, or whether they have any hair at all. The first video is an audience meraber's video (which enRAB suddenly). The second video is the official one with the full song.

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Yeah same here. I like music for music, I don't care if I agree with the politics if the music doesn't interest me. And vice versa I can love a song even if the lyrical themes are not something I agree with politically.

I'm not a vegetarian and preachy vegans annoy the sh*t out of me, but Jon Anderson is a vegetarian and vegan themes are brought up in Tales From Topographic Oceans but I still love that album.

There is music I love that has very religious themes even though I'm not religious. I listen to anarchist banRAB even though I'm not an anarchist, I listen to socialist banRAB even though I'm not a socialist, I like republican banRAB even though I'm not republican. And I can go on.

I definitely draw the line with artists whose lyrics promote stuff like fascism and racism though. But I've never found a band who does that and actually makes interesting music. All those nazi punk banRAB are crap.

With sexism I dunno, there is a little bit of it in a lot of music even in great music, I mean I rant all the time about how men treat women and sh*t and I contradict myself because I listen to c0ck rock and gangsta rap all the time. :laughing:

Music comes first for me, I don't get people who reject or endorse a band entirely because they have a different point of view. A lot of punks seem to care way too much about the political message and little about the actual music.
 
I'd never heard Yes' "Don't Kill the Whale," boo boo! Love the waves. SATCHMO, thanks for sharing Bob Marley's song, "War." A great activist classic I haven't heard in a while.


Oh, I didn't say I like a band simply because they share a similar life philosophy. However, if there were two banRAB who make music that I like, and one of the banRAB writes lyrics that I appreciate while the other has opinions that I despise, I'll like the former more.

For example, here is one of my favorite activist songs of all time, as well as one of my favorite songs in general: John Lennon's "Imagine." I like the music and I like the thoughts behind it, so they work synergistically to make the song one that I love.

Now if the "Imagine" lyrics were as shown below, I would still like the sound of the music...but I doubt I would care for the song as a whole:



And now, the REAL "Imagine," which I feel is a beautiful and gentle activist song for peace...just in case a few people on rab have somehow managed to go through life without ever hearing it:

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i love that Yes song...have not heard it in years :)

i'm not really sure what kind os tunes you really enjoy VEGANGELICA...but i feel safe in assuming you are vegan :)

i think that i kind of forgoten activist band...that often gets dismissed as something else is Ministry....pretty much all of their albums (at least through Psalm 69) had at least one really good song about social issues....

Land Of Rape and Honey - Land of Rape and Honey (environmental/fascist control)
Mind Is a Terrible thing to taste - Breathe (environmental)
Psalm 69 - Hero (anti-war)
and my personal favorite The Isle Of Man
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another band that...at least politically would be right up your alley is Skinny Puppy...oGre wrote many songs that are very much anti-vivisection songs....and he also helped to release tons of industrial compilations in the 80's and earlt 90's where 100% of the proceeRAB went to stopping vivisection....their live shows were described as disturbing due to their strong stance on exposing the torture of animals their album VIVIsectVI is basically a testament of the satanic activities involved in vivisection....
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Coil is another band not well known for their activism...but more the decadence....in 1985 they remade Tainted Love and completely changed the meaning of that song for me forever....slow haunting and absolutely despondent....concentrating on the horrible treatment of AIRAB patients....the video they made (which has Marc Almond in it as a taunting lover) was actually on display at the Metro for years....and brought a good amount of money to the beginning of AIRAB research
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and hardcore music is littered with vegan/vegetarian songs....
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i love that line "I'm not trying to press my will, I'm not the first to say THOU SHALL NOT KILL! :)
 
I like spoiler tags, too! :laughing:


Yes, bob, your assumption is correct. I know with a username like VEGANGELICA it is hard to be certain about my eating habits and life philosophy, but your risky guess paid off. ;) "Vegangelica" is actually a play on the derogatory term, "vegangelical."

Thanks very much for all the group and song suggestions and the youtube videos! I'll listen to them all and check out those banRAB. I like that line, too...nicely ironic. I've never heard a Gorilla Biscuit song before, so I'm very curious!!
 
Thanks for posting the Rage Against the Machine and NWA songs, Raust. And thank you, Bob, for sharing the Consolidated song!

Freebase, I'd never heard of the punk/heavy metal group Propagandhi and this song and video! I didn't know there was such an activist group out there that was singing about almost everything I'm interested in.:love:

I looked them up and learned that "both in their lyrics and hanRAB-on activism, the band's merabers champion various anarchist causes and veganism, and have taken an active stance against human rights violations, sexism, racism, homophobia, imperialism, capitalism and religion."

And, to make it even better, "Propagandhi was well-known for lengthy political speeches and rants during live performances." Propagandhi - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Swoon!!!! Can you imagine a better fit for me?? I have come home! :p:

Seriously, though, I've started listening through their many many songs to find others I like. Thanks for posting their video, Freebase.
 
XTC's Living Through Another Cuba is fantastic. The studio version is here but you're better off hearing this live version with Andy Partridge's passionate spoken intro (and another anti-war song, Generals and Majors, tacked on the end).

Living through another Cuba
It's 1961 again and we are piggy in the middle
While war is polishing his drum and peace plays second fiddle

Russia and America are at each other's throats but don't you cry
Get on your knees and pray, and while you're down there, kiss your arse goodbye

We're the bulldog on the fence while the others play their tennis overhead
It's hardly love all and somebody might wind up red or dead
Pour some oil on the water quick it doesn't really matter where from
He loves me, he loves me not, he's pulling fins from an atom borab

This phenomenon happens every 20 years or so
If they're not careful your watch won't be the only thing with a radioactive glow
I'll stick my fingers in my ears and hope they make it up before too late
If we get through this lot alright they're due for replay, 1998

[youtube]-6SdxDQ6MrM[/youtube]​
 
I had never heard "Living through another Cuba" before! Thank you for posting the song, Seltzer. I especially like this line: "While war is polishing his drum and peace plays second fiddle."

I always enjoyed "Generals and Majors," which came next in the live performance video. "Generals and Majors" has a catchier tune and more popular sound than the "Cuba" song, I feel. I can actually remeraber "Generals and Majors" from closer to when it was released. My guess is the Cuba song never became very popular due to its more rarabling sound, which may be the reason I never heard it until today. Or, maybe it's just because I am sadly deficient in music knowledge, which is probably the real reason! ;)
Thanks, Seltzer!

Since we are on anti-war songs, one of my favorite anti-war songs is Nena's 99 Luft Balloons. I loved the original German version, because I learned it while in high school German class. The English version of the lyrics was meh. And now, today, I learned Nena has a new version of her German song that I'd never heard before. It includes some French!:
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There are a bundle more Oils songs I could think of with a bit more time, but this is one of the standouts that'd fit in with this thread. I'd be lying if I said I knew a lot about Australian history, but this lyric paints a fairly grim picture of it with a very plain, anti-colonialist statement. Gives me my first genuine opportunity to use the new spoiler tags too, which is cool I guess...

[YOUTUBE]PY75i4I2KaM[/YOUTUBE]​

We don't serve your country
don't serve your king
Know your custom don't speak your tongue
White man came took everyone

We don't serve your country
Don't serve your king
White man listen to the songs we sing
White man came took everything

We carry in our hearts the true country
And that cannot be stolen
We follow in the steps of our ancestry
And that cannot be broken

We don't serve your country
We don't serve your king
Know your custom don't speak your tongue
White man came took everyone

We don't need protection
don't need your hand
Keep your promise on where we stand
We will listen we'll understand

We carry in our hearts the true country
And that cannot be stolen
We follow in the steps of our ancestry
And that cannot be broken
We carry in our hearts the true country
And that cannot be stolen
We follow in the steps of our ancestry
And that cannot be broken

Mining companies, pastoral companies
Uranium companies
Collected companies
Got more right than people
Got more say than people

Forty thousand years can make a difference to the state of things
The dead heart lives here
 
Well the video itself isn't their official video, as I think it was a youtube user that put their song to a PETA video if I understand correctly, but it's in their ballpark anyway so it's just the same.

I've listened to Propagandhi since I was 15 or so and I can definitely vouch for the fact that you won't be disappointed regarding their message. ;)
You are quite welcome.
 
Sorry to state the obvious here in most cases, but these are tracks that I've been coming back to my whole life.

1. Public Enemy's Fight the Power
2. Public Enemy's entire It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back album
3. Marvin Gaye's What's Goin' On?
4. Bob Dylan's The Times They Are a-Changin'
5. Neil Young's Southern Man
6. Stereolab's Wow and Flutter
 
I'd never heard any Midnight Oil song other than "BeRAB are Burning" before your post, Bulldog. I like the sound of "Dead Heart" as well as these lyrics:
"Mining companies, pastoral companies, Uranium companies, Collected companies, Got more right than people, Got more say than people. Forty thousand years can make a difference to the state of things."
 
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