Wasn't sure where I should post this, but as it references politics, I thought it's better to be safe than sorry. ;)

 

Do you have any particular favourites?

 

Personally I'm not that keen on political songs, as I listen to music to escape from, not be reminded of, news in general. :mellow:

 

[Cue speculation on what ulterior motives I have for posting this. :rolleyes: ]

 

I don't understand people who criticise bands for never writing political songs. When Sparks wrote (Baby Baby) Can We Invade Your Country (a not very subtle critique on Bush and Iraq) they used to introduce it at gigs by referring to people who had asked why they never wrote political songs. But why should they if they don't want to?

 

That said, political songs can be used to raise awareness of an issue. Nelson Mandela's profile was raised massively by the Specials song Free Nelson Mandela.

idk anything specific to UK politics but for US I remember Jeezy releasing this as a Single after Obama got elected

 

 

also obligatory plug for this

 

 

(unrelated but RIP Nipsey Hussle)

'Dear Mr President' by Pink is a cute political song, I'm sure Lily has a few that lean that way too and of course 'Chained To The Rhythm'.

 

 

As political songs go, it's hard to beat this

 

 

 

That said, political songs can be used to raise awareness of an issue. Nelson Mandela's profile was raised massively by the Specials song Free Nelson Mandela.

 

True - I didn't know who he was before that song!

Does anyone remember this surprise UK hit from 2012, not really political but addressing an important issue

 

 

Also this great drum and bass hit from 2005

 

Edited January 30, 20205 yr by The S***e

I like some Billy bragg songs about the unions!

I'm quite the fan of bands that put political messages in their songs, and it doesn't even have to be explicit, the first example I always think of is Muse's Uprising which is essentially an anarchist call to action turned into stadium rock. I often see that Tory MPs list Muse as one of their favourite bands which always seems ironic as the trio of The Resistance/The 2nd Law/Drones have been conceptually about anti-state control, dissatisfaction with the current system (hell, 'Unsustainable' outright says it, 'an economy based on endless growth is...') and the dangers of slipping into a dystopia.

 

Then also when I think of the early 2010s and politics, you have iLL Manors from Plan B, which dealt with the riots in 2011 in an absolutely excellent way.

 

I also love The Cranberries' takes on Irish politics, for better or worse, 'Zombie' will always make me painfully aware of the sad things that have happened there over the past 100 years.

 

Political songs are often what MAKES a song for me, as I love to have a reason to love a song, that the song feels like it has a reason to exist, and that generally makes it better for me (note it doesn't have to be politics, the other option is something personal to the musician or something of a general epic feeling in the lyrics but on a broader perspective message songs always sit well with me). E.g. above I think 'Chained To The Rhythm' is absolutely the best of Katy Perry's recent songs because of that, and because of how ironic it is that it becomes what it is detracting.

I'm quite the fan of bands that put political messages in their songs, and it doesn't even have to be explicit, the first example I always think of is Muse's Uprising which is essentially an anarchist call to action turned into stadium rock. I often see that Tory MPs list Muse as one of their favourite bands which always seems ironic as the trio of The Resistance/The 2nd Law/Drones have been conceptually about anti-state control, dissatisfaction with the current system (hell, 'Unsustainable' outright says it, 'an economy based on endless growth is...') and the dangers of slipping into a dystopia.

 

Political songs are often what MAKES a song for me, as I love to have a reason to love a song, that the song feels like it has a reason to exist, and that generally makes it better for me (note it doesn't have to be politics, the other option is something personal to the musician or something of a general epic feeling in the lyrics but on a broader perspective message songs always sit well with me). E.g. above I think 'Chained To The Rhythm' is absolutely the best of Katy Perry's recent songs because of that, and because of how ironic it is that it becomes what it is detracting.

 

IIRC Paul Weller got pretty peed off when David Cameron said he liked 'Eton Rifles', as 'he totally didn't get what it was really about'. :rolleyes:

 

For me, if a song sounds good, the message, if any, is very much secondary. OTOH, if a song is terrible (e.g. Band Aid) I simply won't buy it, no matter how worthy the cause - I'd rather just drop money in a collection box instead.

Edited January 31, 20205 yr by vidcapper

I think the biggest issue with political songs - in general - is that the people writing them are often insulated in their own little bubbles and they can come off as quite ignorant, even if you agree with the issue at hand. Then again, it depends on how you define political too - is championing for human rights "political" or is "political" just restricted to specific issues?

 

With that said, I've always liked Kirsty MacColl's Free World: