I might be wrong but doesn't 'Paper Planes' by M.I.A. (#19) have some political message or other in it?

Forgot to mention one of the oddest of them all

 

OMD - Enola Gay (number 8) sounds like a love song but is about the first nuclear bomb.

 

I like the song, but something about it raises alarm in me. :unsure:

Not counting charity ones.

 

With Plan B looking likely to go top 10 this week, it seemed an appropriate time for this thread.

 

I remember The Specials 'Nelson Mandela' being #9 in the mid-80's - I hadn't even heard of hm up to that point.

 

I find it quite shocking that you hadn't heard of him in 1984, given that you were 19.

He was a very well known 'cause celebre' of the anti-apartheid movement for some time before that, didn't you have any interest in current affairs at that time?

 

Anyway, here's another South Africa related one, 'Biko' by Peter Gabriel'. Not a massive hit, but reached no. 38 in 1980. And no.49 in 1987 apparently, as I found out when I checked it's original peak on Chartstats.

I like the song, but something about it raises alarm in me. :unsure:

Same here.

I'm very scared of nuclear bombs.

Same here.

I'm very scared of nuclear bombs.

Yeah it's wasps with me!

Also would Ghost Town by the Specials not be one - it symbolised 1981 and thatchers broken britain?

I wouldn't count it as a protest/political song per se.

I don't think it was written as a reaction to any particular event, or in support of any particular cause.

Naturally, it is always associated with the 1981 riots, but that was because it happened to be in the charts at the time, rather than the riots having been the reason for it's release.

I find it quite shocking that you hadn't heard of him in 1984, given that you were 19.

He was a very well known 'cause celebre' of the anti-apartheid movement for some time before that, didn't you have any interest in current affairs at that time?

 

Anyway, here's another South Africa related one, 'Biko' by Peter Gabriel'. Not a massive hit, but reached no. 38 in 1980. And no.49 in 1987 apparently, as I found out when I checked it's original peak on Chartstats.

And also from Peter Gabriel (with added Kate Bush) Don't Give Up (number 9) was about unemployment. As was UB40's One In Ten (number 17). The Beat's Stand Down Margaret (number 22) was about a PM whose name escapes me.

I might be wrong but doesn't 'Paper Planes' by M.I.A. (#19) have some political message or other in it?

 

 

 

You are correct.

I love paper planes, so much.

But I lost faith in MIA after she was shit at big chill a few years back.

Oh, and Pills & Soap (number 16) was another Elvis Costello anti-war song.

And also from Peter Gabriel (with added Kate Bush) Don't Give Up (number 9) was about unemployment. As was UB40's One In Ten (number 17). The Beat's Stand Down Margaret (number 22) was about a PM whose name escapes me.

'One in Ten' actually reached no.7.

Eddy Grant - Gimme Hope Jo'Anna

S*M*A*S*H - (I Want To) Kill Somebody

 

And also Killing In The Name reached #1 as a protest (even though it wasn't recorded as a protest song).

I find it quite shocking that you hadn't heard of him in 1984, given that you were 19.

He was a very well known 'cause celebre' of the anti-apartheid movement for some time before that, didn't you have any interest in current affairs at that time?

 

Only in British current affairs - this was at the height of Thatcherism...

 

Same here.

I'm very scared of nuclear bombs.

 

Ah, but at least you didn't live somewhere that would have been a #1 target - Cheltenham, with GCHQ (Government Communication Headquarters)... :P

 

In any case, it's not the nuke issue that alarms me about the song, but something in the song itself - the combination of notes or whatever, just induces a feeling of anxiety in me. :unsure:

Only in British current affairs - this was at the height of Thatcherism...

 

I know she was an evil cow but I didn't know she restricted access to foreign news?

I know she was an evil cow but I didn't know she restricted access to foreign news?

 

Well, I could suggest looking up the 'General Belgrano' but that wasn't really what I meant. :P

 

I really meant that I was preoccupied with local issues at the time, and even now I take relatively little interest in foreign issues.

Only in British current affairs - this was at the height of Thatcherism...

Ah, but at least you didn't live somewhere that would have been a #1 target - Cheltenham, with GCHQ (Government Communication Headquarters)... :P

Well I was living in Leeds during the 80s which was certainly considered a big target.

Well I was living in Leeds during the 80s which was certainly considered a big target.

*Resists temptation to make obvious joke* :P

Manic street preachers - Love of richard Nixon

 

Charted at #2 in 2004

I think it only got to number 60something, but Declare Independence by Bjork has a rebellious/political/protest message to it - just another example.

Edited March 31, 201213 yr by Liаm

Would Nena's '99 Red Balloons' count?

Would Nena's '99 Red Balloons' count?

I wouldn't count it.

To me a protest/political song has to be concerning a specific event/cause rather than merely being about something like nuclear war as 99 red balloons was and Two Tribes as has previously been mentioned. Paul Hardcastle's '19' is a stronger case because it deals with the shabby treatment the vets received when they returned home, rather than generally about the war itself. That said, I'm not sure just how much of a genuine 'protest' this was, coming from a British musician commenting on a war waged by a foreign power some 8 to 10 years previously.