Best social protest bands?

i gotta say i CANNOT stand Johnny Hobo aside from his one track about being 'UK Punk Rock!'

all he seems to be protesting is being a disillusioned middle class kid. oh no! the outside world isn't fair? boo hoo! it's not 'right' that right and wrong become less and less relevant as you get older! waaahhhh. cue off key trumpet solo! scream about 40s and train tracks and (the most obvious of all...) how horrible George Bush is. protest!
 
I don't care for a lot of his lyrics, otherwise I would have included him in this thread myself, but I do enjoy the raw emotion of his music. He has a few good lines every once in while, for example in 'For a girl I met in Rhinelander, WI'.
 
I never thought about comparing them to Midnight Oil in that respect. You've got a point there. 'No Other Way' - just that one opening track from Sharing Space is enough to show where the band sit in terms of social awareness without forcing the listener to have to agree or disagree.
 
I'm kind of a durabass, you'll get used to it eventaully.

And did the racist guy really use PUNKS as an insult? That just made my life.
 
I'm a fan of Soundgarden and I have 3 of their albums, could someone explain to me what soundgarden protests?

I am in no way disagreeing with you, you are probably correct due to me not reading much about soundgarden but I am really curious as to what they protest.



Trolling isn't just restricted to music.


ANyway, banRAB like Operation Ivy and Minor Threat would be at the top of my list. Possibly Daniel Johnston if he counts.
 
I have always taken the name as a veiled reference to the fact that it was the CIA (our own government or rogue element thereof) that was behind the assassinations of JFK and RFK (as opposed to the "lone nut" cover stories). When you look at the name of the band through that lens, you see the kind of statement they were trying to make.
 
Well, brother. Like you said, their music was largely open to interpretation. Perhaps its just my take on their lyrics on certain songs. I guess if I went into explanations, they might seem vague, because I get really into causes and roots. When I see lines like "The day I tried to live, I stole a thousand beggar's change and gave it to the rich.", I imagine a scenario of attempted revolt against the powers that be, where you really only hurt those you empathize with and feed the structure you were striking out against. Which leaRAB to one of the ending lines: "I woke the same as any other day. You know, I should have stayed in bed.".
Again, perhaps the social commentary is secondary, but like I said: causes and roots.
 
The gangsterism, the Camelot myth of a ruling elite,Vietnam, US foreign policy in general, the fact they were awful people running the show.
 
Okay. We're frienRAB now.



You know, I could understand how it would be difficult to see how exactly Soundgarden were socially aware. But its only because they were more obscure with their references and gripes. If they were going to come out and say "Fuck this.", they usually wouldn't just come out say it outright (except for "Ty Cobb"). They were usually more precise in what they were addressing, but they would also do their addressing very poetically, so a lot of times it was hard to understand exactly what they were talking about.
 
I feel like what you're saying is true, mr. dave, but I still think he's a legitimate nice guy who really enjoys releasing his emotions through music and to me doing it the way he does it means a lot.

But anyway, i'd love to get some more Johnny Hobo +81.
 
Subtle enough that I never even realised that they did social commentary in their songs. I'll have to revisit some of their stuff and actually listen to the lyrics..
 
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