Posted on 05/26/2006 12:39:03 PM PDT by Keflavik76
Rockin' the Right
The 50 greatest conservative rock songs.
By John J. Miller
EDITOR’S NOTE: This week on NRO, we’ve been rolling out the first five and now all 50 songs from a list John J. Miller compiled that appears in the June 5 issue of National Review . Here’s a look at #1 and get the whole list—complete with purchasing links—here.
On first glance, rock ’n’ roll music isn’t very conservative. It doesn’t fare much better on second or third glance (or listen), either. Neil Young has a new song called “Let’s Impeach the President.” Last year, the Rolling Stones made news with “Sweet Neo Con,” another anti-Bush ditty. For conservatives who enjoy rock, it isn’t hard to agree with the opinion Johnny Cash expressed in “The One on the Right Is on the Left”: “Don’t go mixin’ politics with the folk songs of our land / Just work on harmony and diction / Play your banjo well / And if you have political convictions, keep them to yourself.” In other words: Shut up and sing.
But some rock songs really are conservative — and there are more of them than you might think. Last year, I asked readers of National Review Online to nominate conservative rock songs. Hundreds of suggestions poured in. I’ve sifted through them all, downloaded scores of mp3s, and puzzled over a lot of lyrics. What follows is a list of the 50 greatest conservative rock songs of all time, as determined by me and a few others. The result is of course arbitrary, though we did apply a handful of criteria.
(Excerpt) Read more at article.nationalreview.com ...
Makes sense! (lol)
Oddest places for some conservative sympathies to show up:
http://www.lyricsondemand.com/onehitwonders/werenotgonnatakeitlyrics.html
Oh We're Not Gonna Take It
no, We Ain't Gonna Take It
oh We're Not Gonna Take It Anymore
we've Got The Right To Choose And
there Ain't No Way We'll Lose It
this Is Our Life, This Is Our Song
we'll Fight The Powers That Be Just
don't Pick Our Destiny 'cause
you Don't Know Us, You Don't Belong
oh We're Not Gonna Take It
no, We Ain't Gonna Take It
oh We're Not Gonna Take It Anymore
oh You're So Condescending
your Gall Is Never Ending
we Don't Want Nothin', Not A Thing From You
your Life Is Trite And Jaded
boring And Confiscated
if That's Your Best, Your Best Won't Do
oh.....................
oh.....................
we're Right/yeah
we're Free/yeah
we'll Fight/yeah
you'll See/yeah
oh We're Not Gonna Take It
no, We Ain't Gonna Take It
oh We're Not Gonna Take It Anymore
oh We're Not Gonna Take It
no, We Ain't Gonna Take It
oh We're Not Gonna Take It Anymore
no Way!
oh.....................
oh.....................
we're Right/yeah
we're Free/yeah
we'll Fight/yeah
you'll See/yeah
we're Not Gonna Take It
no, We Ain't Gonna Take It
we're Not Gonna Take It Anymore
we're Not Gonna Take It, No!
no, We Ain't Gonna Take It
we're Not Gonna Take It Anymore
just You Try And Make Us
we're Not Gonna Take It
come On
no, We Ain't Gonna Take It
you're All Worthless And Weak
we're Not Gonna Take It Anymore
now Drop And Give Me Twenty
we're Not Gonna Take It
oh Crinch Pin
no, We Ain't Gonna Take It
oh You And Your Uniform
we're Not Gonna Take It Anymore
One of the greatest conservative songs of all time is Rush's "Heresy," which is deeply anti-communist. It is a heartbreaking look at the lives of those who had to suffer under communist rule in the former Soviet Union. "All those precious wasted years. Who will pay?"
"HERESY"
Words by Neil Peart, Music by Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson
All around that dull gray world
From Moscow to Berlin
People storm the barricades
Walls go tumbling in
The counter-revolution
People smiling through their tears
Who can give them back their lives
And all those wasted years?
All those precious wasted years --
Who will pay?
All around that dull gray world
Of ideology
People storm the marketplace
And buy up fantasy
The counter-revolution
At the counter of a store
People buy the things they want
And borrow for a little more
All those wasted years
All those precious wasted years
Who will pay?
Do we have to be forgiving at last?
What else can we do?
Do we have to say goodbye to the past?
Yes I guess we do
All around this great big world
All the crap we had to take
Bombs and basement fallout shelters
All our lives at stake
The bloody revolution
All the warheads in its wake
All the fear and suffering
All a big mistake
All those wasted years
All those precious wasted years
Who will pay?
UNBORN CHILD
(lyrics by Lana Bogan; music by James Seals, 1974)
From the album UNBORN CHILD (1974).
Oh little baby, you'll never cry, nor will you hear a sweet lullabye.
Oh unborn child, if you only knew just what your momma was plannin' to do.
You're still a-clingin' to the tree of life, but soon you'll be cut off before you get ripe.
Oh unborn child, beginning to grow inside your momma, but you'll never know.
Oh tiny bud, that grows in the womb, only to be crushed before you can bloom.
Mama stop! Turn around, go back, think it over.
Now stop, turn around, go back, think it over.
Stop, turn around, go back think it over.
Oh no momma, just let it be. You'll never regret it, just wait and see.
Think of all the great ones who gave everything
That we might have life here, so please bear the pain.
Mama stop! Turn around, go back, think it over.
Now stop, turn around, go back, think it over.
Stop, turn around, go back think it over.
"We got too many gangsters doing dirty deeds, too much corruption and crime in the streets. It's time the long arm of the law put a few more in the ground. Send 'em all to their maker and he'll settle 'em down. You can bet he'll set 'em down."
Speaking of Zappa, I thought of this one:
Flakes
Flakes! Flakes!
Flakes! Flakes!
They don't do no good
They never be workin'
When they oughta should
They waste your time
They're wastin' mine
California's got the most of them
Boy, they got a host of them
Swear t'God they got the most
At every business on the coast
Swear t'God they got the most
At every business on the coast
They got the Flakes
Flakes! Flakes!
They can't fix yer brakes
You ask 'em, "Where's my motor?"
"Well it was eaten by snakes . . ."
You can stab 'n' shoot 'n' spit
But they won't be fixin' it
They're lyin' an' lazy
They can be drivin' you crazy
Swear t'God they got the most
At every business on the coast
Swear t'God they got the most
At every business on the coast
[Take it away, Bob. . .]
I asked as nice as I could
If my job would
Somehow be finished by Friday
Well, the whole damn weekend
Came 'n' went, Frankie
[Wanna buy some mandies, Bob?]
'N'they didn't do nothin'
But they charged me double for Sunday
You know, no matter what you do
They gonna cheat 'n' rob you
Then they'll send you a bill
That'll get your senses reelin'
And if you do not pay
They got computer collectors
That'll get you so crazy
Til your head'll go through th' ceilin'
Yes it will!
I'm a moron 'n' this is my wife
She's frosting a cake
With a paper knife
All what we got here's
American made
It's a little bit cheesey,
But it's nicely displayed
Well we don't get excited when it
Crumbles 'n' breaks
We just get on the phone
And call up some Flakes
They rush on over
'N' wreck it some more
'N' we are so dumb
They're linin' up at our door
Well, the toilet went crazy
Yesterday afternoon
The plumber he says
"Never flush a lampoon!"
This great information
Cost me half a week's pay
And the toilet blew up
Later on the next day ay-eee-ay
Blew up the next day WOO-OOO
We are millions 'n' millions
We're coming to get you
We're protected by unions
So don't let it upset you
Can't escape the conclusion
It's probably God's Will
That civilization
Will grind to a standstill
And we are the people
Who will make it all happen
While yer children is sleepin',
Yer puppy is crappin'
You might call us Flakes
Or something else you might coin us
But we know you're so greedy
That you'll probably join us
We're comin' to get you, we're comin' to get you
We're comin' to get you, we're comin' to get you
We're comin' to get you, we're comin' to get you
We're comin' to get you, we're comin' to get you
~ Zappa
"The KKK took my baby away" -- The Ramones
For those that don't know their history, this was the song Joey Ramone wrote about Johnny Ramone after Johnny stole (and then married) his girlfriend.
Not really conservative, I just really like the Ramones.
Don't know if that qualifies as a rock song. There are a lot of country songs that could go. Notice for Stand By Your Man they cited the Motorhead version.
I'd like to see Red Barchetta shoot to the top.
Here's another song by Tom Petty, although I prefer the Johnny Cash version) -- "I Will Stand My Ground"
Also missing from the list are any Ted Nugent songs. Stormtroopin' and Kiss My Ass are classics.
I prefer the Blues Brothers' version!
how about "Get Over It" by the Eagles?
"Get Off This" - Cracker
All these cats with holey jeans, dirty hair and titty rings,
Say what your scene man, we got these questions.
I is it true that you have sold your soul? I say hey man, I don’t know
Lend me a quarter won’t you, I’ll call my ac-c-countant.
Chorus:
Let’s get off this, and get on with it,
If you wanna change the world shut your mouth and start to spin it
Get off this, get on with it
If you wanna change the world shut your mouth and start this minute
Petty little ayatollah come around to judge and stone ya
All we’re trying to do is make a fortune
Yeah we ain’t got no government loans, and no one sends a check from home
And get this: we’re just doin’ what we wanna
The Kinks : Village Green Preservation Society
We are the village green preservation society
God save donald duck, vaudeville and variety
We are the desperate dan appreciation society
God save strawberry jam and all the different varieties
Preserving the old ways from being abused
Protecting the new ways for me and for you
What more can we do
We are the draught beer preservation society
God save mrs. mopp and good old mother riley
We are the custard pie appreciation consortium
God save the george cross and all those who were awarded them
We are the sherlock holmes english speaking vernacular
Help save fu manchu, moriarty and dracula
We are the office block persecution affinity
God save little shops, china cups and virginity
We are the skyscraper condemnation affiliate
God save tudor houses, antique tables and billiards
Preserving the old ways from being abused
Protecting the new ways for me and for you
What more can we do
God save the village green.
*
Sgt. Barry Sadler's "The Ballad of the Green Berets" ought to have been included .
Remember the Heroes - Sammy Hagar
Dead Kennedy's "California über alles" I am governor jerry brown My aura smiles And never frowns Soon I will be president Carter power will soon go away I will be fhrer one day I will command all of you Your kids will meditate in school California über alles über alles california Zen fascists will control you 100% natural You will jog for the master race And always wear the happy face Close your eyes, cant happen here Big bro on white horse is near The hippies wont come back you say Mellow out or you will pay California über alles über alles california Now it is 1984 Knock knock at your front door Its the suede/denim secret police They have come for your uncool niece Come quietly to the camp Youd look nice as a drawstring lamp Dont you worry, its only a shower For your clothes heres a pretty flower Die on organic poison gas Serpents eggs already hatched You will croak, you little clown When you mess with president brown California über alles über alles california
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