There is revolution in the air.
Well, in and around North Africa anyway. We’ve had dictatorships being overthrown left, right and centre (although most dictators are usually found on the right).There’s been Mubarak in Egypt, Ben Ali in Tunisia and as we speak Col. Gaddafi is continuing to go even more mental than half the Alzheimer’s patients in the local old peoples home. The big worry is how Kim Jong-il is going to react to this new claim on his “most unstable tyrant” crown. Not so “ronery” now.
This got me thinking. Throughout history great political unrest, protests and revolutions have been accompanied by music. In fact the whole rock and roll movement was influenced by the blues music of America. Which in itself came out of slavery. Since then we’ve had folk, punk and hip hop all sticking it to The Man.
So what if you wake up one day, and think:
“You know what, I’m not going to take this anymore. I’m not going to be rejected, oppressed and manipulated by the ruling elite. I’m not going to stand for what the people in power are doing. I’m not going to sit here and do nothing, I’m going to get out there and do something.”
Then you might want some music to get you in the mood. Here are a few suggestions that have worked for people in the past.
N.W.A – “Fuck tha Police”
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LH0UuyNTakY
Not released as a single but found on the 1988 album Straight Outta Crompton. The song voiced the concerns of the excessive measures by the LAPD on black youths. The song earned the group an official FBI letter. Since 1988, the song has continued to be used against authorities such as in 1996, when a radio station in Belgrade was played for 2 days during street protests. Take that Officer.
“Fuck tha police,
Comin straight from the underground,
Young nigga got it bad ’cause I’m brown,
And not the other colour so police think,
They have the authority to kill a minority”
Sex Pistols – “Anarchy in the UK”
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8szRgIcYlY
To quote Johnny Rotten “All we are trying to do is destroy everything”. Simple message, but what an effect. The Sex Pistols debut song changed everything and started the Punk era in Britain. Surrounded by controversy and eventually pulled by the record label, the song perfectly encapsulated the anti-establishment feeling and continues to do so today. Why not play it at work and get an office moshpit on the go?
“I am an anti-christ,
I am an anarchist,
Don’t know what I want but
I know how to get it,
I wanna destroy the passer by cos I,
I wanna BE anarchy!”
Rage Against The Machine – Know Your Enemy
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVv19-ojn7w
Not wanting to do the pretty obvious Killing In The Name Of I chose RATM’s quite brilliant “Know Your Enemy”. From the self titled debut album Rage Against the Machine which was released in 1992. Dealing with the hypocrisy that America is that it is the land of the free, the band attack all the values of the so called “American Dream”.
“Word is born,
Fight the war, fuck the norm,
Now I got no patience,
So sick of complacence,
With the D the E the F the I the A the N the C the E,
Mind of a revolutionary,
So clear the lane,
The finger to the land of the chains,
What?
The land of the free?
Whoever told you that is your enemy.”
Ben Harper – “With My Own Two Hands”
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6zt3pVPoJM
Released in 2002, “With My Own Two Hands” is uplifting and empowering, making you think that in this depressing world run by the elite one man can actually make a difference. You probably can’t though, not with two hands.
“I can change the world,
With my own two hands,
Make a better place,
With my own two hands,
Make a kinder place,
With my own two hands,
With my own,
With my own two hands”
Words: Daniel Savage
