boo boo

I tend to not like it much when bands base their entire lyrical approach on political statements, though RATM, The Clash and Crass are some exceptions to that rule.

I do love the message of that India Arie song for obvious reasons.

Anyway. Just for the lulz.



Gotta love those late 70s production values.

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It's only knock n' knowall, but I like it

http://www.last.fm/user/kingboobs

Samm

I don't understand, why would you like a band simply because they share a similar philosophy on life as you?

boo boo

Yeah same here. I like music for music, I don't care if I agree with the politics if the music doesn't interest me. And vice versa I can love a song even if the lyrical themes are not something I agree with politically.

I'm not a vegetarian and preachy vegans annoy the sh*t out of me, but Jon Anderson is a vegetarian and vegan themes are brought up in Tales From Topographic Oceans but I still love that album.

There is music I love that has very religious themes even though I'm not religious. I listen to anarchist bands even though I'm not an anarchist, I listen to socialist bands even though I'm not a socialist, I like republican bands even though I'm not republican. And I can go on.

I definitely draw the line with artists whose lyrics promote stuff like fascism and racism though. But I've never found a band who does that and actually makes interesting music. All those nazi punk bands are crap.

With sexism I dunno, there is a little bit of it in a lot of music even in great music, I mean I rant all the time about how men treat women and sh*t and I contradict myself because I listen to c0ck rock and gangsta rap all the time.

Music comes first for me, I don't get people who reject or endorse a band entirely because they have a different point of view. A lot of punks seem to care way too much about the political message and little about the actual music.

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It's only knock n' knowall, but I like it

http://www.last.fm/user/kingboobs

VEGANGELICA

I'd never heard Yes' "Don't Kill the Whale," boo boo! Love the waves. SATCHMO, thanks for sharing Bob Marley's song, "War." A great activist classic I haven't heard in a while.

Oh, I didn't say I like a band simply because they share a similar life philosophy. However, if there were two bands who make music that I like, and one of the bands writes lyrics that I appreciate while the other has opinions that I despise, I'll like the former more.

For example, here is one of my favorite activist songs of all time, as well as one of my favorite songs in general: John Lennon's "Imagine." I like the music and I like the thoughts behind it, so they work synergistically to make the song one that I love.

Now if the "Imagine" lyrics were as shown below, I would still like the sound of the music...but I doubt I would care for the song as a whole:

And now, the REAL "Imagine," which I feel is a beautiful and gentle activist song for peace...just in case a few people on MB have somehow managed to go through life without ever hearing it:

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bob.

i love that Yes song...have not heard it in years

i'm not really sure what kind os tunes you really enjoy VEGANGELICA...but i feel safe in assuming you are vegan

i think that i kind of forgoten activist band...that often gets dismissed as something else is Ministry....pretty much all of their albums (at least through Psalm 69) had at least one really good song about social issues....

Land Of Rape and Honey - Land of Rape and Honey (environmental/fascist control)
Mind Is a Terrible thing to taste - Breathe (environmental)
Psalm 69 - Hero (anti-war)
and my personal favorite The Isle Of Man


another band that...at least politically would be right up your alley is Skinny Puppy...oGre wrote many songs that are very much anti-vivisection songs....and he also helped to release tons of industrial compilations in the 80's and earlt 90's where 100% of the proceeds went to stopping vivisection....their live shows were described as disturbing due to their strong stance on exposing the torture of animals their album VIVIsectVI is basically a testament of the satanic activities involved in vivisection....


Coil is another band not well known for their activism...but more the decadence....in 1985 they remade Tainted Love and completely changed the meaning of that song for me forever....slow haunting and absolutely despondent....concentrating on the horrible treatment of AIDS patients....the video they made (which has Marc Almond in it as a taunting lover) was actually on display at the Metro for years....and brought a good amount of money to the beginning of AIDS research


and hardcore music is littered with vegan/vegetarian songs....

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A kiss is the beginning of cannibalism.

Reach out, pierce the fine fabric of the sheltering sky, take repose.

VEGANGELICA

I like spoiler tags, too!

Yes, bob, your assumption is correct. I know with a username like VEGANGELICA it is hard to be certain about my eating habits and life philosophy, but your risky guess paid off. "Vegangelica" is actually a play on the derogatory term, "vegangelical."

Thanks very much for all the group and song suggestions and the youtube videos! I'll listen to them all and check out those bands. I like that line, too...nicely ironic. I've never heard a Gorilla Biscuit song before, so I'm very curious!!

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Seltzer

XTC's Living Through Another Cuba is fantastic. The studio version is here but you're better off hearing this live version with Andy Partridge's passionate spoken intro (and another anti-war song, Generals and Majors, tacked on the end).

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VEGANGELICA

Thanks, Seltzer!

Since we are on anti-war songs, one of my favorite anti-war songs is Nena's 99 Luft Balloons. I loved the original German version, because I learned it while in high school German class. The English version of the lyrics was meh. And now, today, I learned Nena has a new version of her German song that I'd never heard before. It includes some French!:

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Bulldog

There are a bundle more Oils songs I could think of with a bit more time, but this is one of the standouts that'd fit in with this thread. I'd be lying if I said I knew a lot about Australian history, but this lyric paints a fairly grim picture of it with a very plain, anti-colonialist statement. Gives me my first genuine opportunity to use the new spoiler tags too, which is cool I guess...

VEGANGELICA

I'd never heard any Midnight Oil song other than "Beds are Burning" before your post, Bulldog. I like the sound of "Dead Heart" as well as these lyrics:
"Mining companies, pastoral companies, Uranium companies, Collected companies, Got more right than people, Got more say than people. Forty thousand years can make a difference to the state of things."

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