Keep in mind that just because these songs have a libertarian meaning, doesn't mean the band, the songwriters, or even the original intent of the song were consciously libertarian. Then again, in some cases, it's pretty safe to assume they were.
As usual, some of these are covers. I chose the cover versions because I like the music better, but the song itself is exactly (or virtually) identical in meaning to the original. If a song is a cover, the original writers/recorders are listed below in parentheses.
Die Toten Hosen - "Do Anything You Wanna Do"
(Eddie and the Hotrods)
So here's a song by an English pub band covered by a German punk bank in the American punk-rock style -- ain't modern culture great? From the title alone, you immediately know this is a song about individualism, doing what you think is right, and self-empowerment. But more than that, this is a powerful indictment of the mentality that is inculcated in most of by modern society -- that you have to fit in to a particular mold, do a certain job, or that you have to "fit in." Most of punk rock in general is extremely libertarian at its core -- it's about breaking down the chains of customs and mores and politics and all that crap that society puts on us and expressing ourselves however we want. Yeah, punk was, by and large, angrier about it than a lot of libertarians are willing to be, but this song isn't about wrath or rage, it's about empowerment and realizing that there are millions and millions of people like us out there, all struggling against being controlled.
"No one tells you nothing,
even when you know they know.
But they tell you what you should do;
they don't like to see you grow."
The Arcade Fire - "Intervention"
It's important to remember that the agents of tyranny aren't always governmental in nature. Organized religion, too, has played a powerful role in the psychological (and physical) enslavement of men. In this song, off of what must surely be one of the top 500 albums of the 2000's, Canadian-American band The Arcade Fire take on the relationship between the church, the state, and the military-industrial complex in one fell swoop. Like all good songwriting, it's also very much about internal, personal struggles at the same time as it is about external struggles. But the indictment in the lyrics of some of the worst byproducts of organized religion is striking, and -- along with the organ's crushing wall of sound -- drives home the key libertarian idea of emancipating yourself from those who seek to control you, even when they promise to do so for your own good.
Bruce Springsteen - "Man at the Top"
It's a testament to the ecumenical appeal of certain core libertarian ideas that even avowed left-wing people like Bruce Springsteen write songs about them. "Man at the Top" is a pretty clear song about a pretty clear idea -- that everyone, ultimately, is out for his own self interest. This doesn't, as any halfway decent libertarian will tell you, mean that everyone is selfish and self-serving. It doesn't even mean that everyone wants material gain at all. But it does mean that everyone wants to achieve his personal goals, do what he thinks is right, and be the best at what he does. This principle, as the song says, is universal regardless of race, creed, profession, or culture. It drives all of society. Now, while this song is certainly not advocating a particular point of view, it quite clearly is elucidating a very important truth that underlies all of libertarian thought. Plus, it's just an awesome song. So, onto the list it goes!
even when you know they know.
But they tell you what you should do;
they don't like to see you grow."
The Arcade Fire - "Intervention"
It's important to remember that the agents of tyranny aren't always governmental in nature. Organized religion, too, has played a powerful role in the psychological (and physical) enslavement of men. In this song, off of what must surely be one of the top 500 albums of the 2000's, Canadian-American band The Arcade Fire take on the relationship between the church, the state, and the military-industrial complex in one fell swoop. Like all good songwriting, it's also very much about internal, personal struggles at the same time as it is about external struggles. But the indictment in the lyrics of some of the worst byproducts of organized religion is striking, and -- along with the organ's crushing wall of sound -- drives home the key libertarian idea of emancipating yourself from those who seek to control you, even when they promise to do so for your own good.
"Been working for the church while your life falls apart.
Singing Hallelujah with the fear in your heart."
Singing Hallelujah with the fear in your heart."
Bruce Springsteen - "Man at the Top"
It's a testament to the ecumenical appeal of certain core libertarian ideas that even avowed left-wing people like Bruce Springsteen write songs about them. "Man at the Top" is a pretty clear song about a pretty clear idea -- that everyone, ultimately, is out for his own self interest. This doesn't, as any halfway decent libertarian will tell you, mean that everyone is selfish and self-serving. It doesn't even mean that everyone wants material gain at all. But it does mean that everyone wants to achieve his personal goals, do what he thinks is right, and be the best at what he does. This principle, as the song says, is universal regardless of race, creed, profession, or culture. It drives all of society. Now, while this song is certainly not advocating a particular point of view, it quite clearly is elucidating a very important truth that underlies all of libertarian thought. Plus, it's just an awesome song. So, onto the list it goes!
"Rich man, poor man, beggar man, thief,
doctor, lawyer, Indian chief,
one thing in common they all got:
everyone wants to be the man at the top."
Marc Broussard - "Inner City Blues"
(Marvin Gaye)
In one fell swoop, this fantastic song by Marvin Gaye goes after taxes, inflation (which a good economist knows is really just another form of taxation), abuse of the police power, the military draft, and government spending on useless projects. Pretty damn impressive! It's also a beautiful and heart wrenching description of the many, many struggles that poor people have to overcome to have a chance -- struggles that are caused because governments put up impediments for the poor in the name of helping them. Taxes are supposed to benefit the lowest among us, and yet they end up hurting that group the most. The police are supposed to protect the downtrodden, yet they are the ones who do the most treading. And inflation and the political machinations of our so-called leaders only obfuscate the issues and make the poor who struggle to understand and escape their predicament that much worse off. Wonderful, funky sort of song that crawls into your heart and hoists a picket sign, I chose this cover version by Marc Broussard because I find the vocal a tad clearer than Gaye's original, and because the recording is sharper.
doctor, lawyer, Indian chief,
one thing in common they all got:
everyone wants to be the man at the top."
Marc Broussard - "Inner City Blues"
(Marvin Gaye)
In one fell swoop, this fantastic song by Marvin Gaye goes after taxes, inflation (which a good economist knows is really just another form of taxation), abuse of the police power, the military draft, and government spending on useless projects. Pretty damn impressive! It's also a beautiful and heart wrenching description of the many, many struggles that poor people have to overcome to have a chance -- struggles that are caused because governments put up impediments for the poor in the name of helping them. Taxes are supposed to benefit the lowest among us, and yet they end up hurting that group the most. The police are supposed to protect the downtrodden, yet they are the ones who do the most treading. And inflation and the political machinations of our so-called leaders only obfuscate the issues and make the poor who struggle to understand and escape their predicament that much worse off. Wonderful, funky sort of song that crawls into your heart and hoists a picket sign, I chose this cover version by Marc Broussard because I find the vocal a tad clearer than Gaye's original, and because the recording is sharper.
"Inflation. No chance. To increase finance.
Bills pile up. Sky high. Send that boy off
to die."
John Mayer - "Who Says"
I happen to know that John Mayer is himself politically libertarian, so his work is a fairly obvious choice to include on this list. Mayer takes a lot of crap for his approach to songwriting, what some people see as his housewife-targeted commercialism, and just the fact that he's popular. This song, though, I think is atypical of his somewhat more romantic, introspective stuff: it simply celebrates the fact that an individual can do whatever the hell he pleases when no one is watching over his shoulder. It also, in a somewhat oblique way, argues for the libertarian stand against prohibition (of drugs, one assumes, in this case). Hell, it even throws in a little subliminal ad for Mayer's website in the middle of the lyrics -- capitalism, what could be more libertarian than that?
Obviously, not every song with a libertarian message was written with that message consciously in mind -- or at least not only that message. As I've said multiple times in this blog, this song is among my top 100 songs ever written, and it is, really, not about a political message. But it does, very poignantly and in Newman's classic, sardonic way, point out the utter uselessness of the government during the Great Flood of 1927 in Louisiana. The song doesn't make it clear, but during that flood, levees were intentionally dynamited by the government so that the lands of poor white farmers (referred to here as "crackers" by President Coolidge) would be flooded and and destroyed rather than those of the richer city dwellers below them. It didn't really work, and neither did the government's lukewarm cleanup effort. Not much else to be said -- much like Katrina so many years later, government was responsible for the construction, then demolition, then reconstruction of the levees, and it all sucked.
The Dropkick Murphys - "Fields of Athenry"
(Traditional)
Rebellion against government intervention in your life is easier to get behind when you don't consider the ruling body to be legitimate on your soil at all. Such is the case with a whole hell of a lot of colonized territories around the world. Ireland certainly falls into that category, at least during the period in which it was governed in its entirety by Britain. It's no surprise then that punk rock, a form of music inherently hostile to authority in any form, should mesh so well with traditional Irish forms and lyrics. The Dropkick Murphys are just one Celtic Punk band that's made that fusion work. This song, a traditional Irish ballad that will be instantly familiar to fans of Scotland's Celtic F.C., is about a poor Irishman who poached some corn from a farm owned by a British civil servant in order to feed his starving children and, as a result, was sent on a prison ship to Australia, is particularly powerful. Apart from the outright injustice of the situation -- it was, the song implies, the British civil servants who'd left the man's family in a starving state in the first place -- it also demonstrates the ways in which even downtrodden individuals can show pride and belief in themselves in the worst of circumstances.
N.W.A. - "Fuck tha Police"
As with the Irish, oppressed minorities in other countries tend to demonstrate the worst things about the state, and put in stark relief that for all the state's high-minded propaganda about protecting and serving the people, the truth is that the machinery of the state (that is to say, the use of force) is in the hands of people. Often, very flawed people. The LAPD certainly is a good example of how state control of violence can be used for perverse purposes. If, for example, the LAPD had been a private organization in competition with other private organizations for the tax revenues of the neighborhoods it was tasked with protecting, does anyone imagine that the L.A. riots would have happened? Let alone the history of racism and violence and corruption in the LAPD stretching back almost 100 years. Of course not, instead, people in black and Hispanic neighborhoods would've fired the LAPD and hired another police force more likely to protect them. That's how the market deals with racists, for example. This is also a song that extols the very important libertarian virtue of citizen weapons ownership and the need to ensure always that the state fears its citizens, and not the other way around.
Stevie Ray Vaughan - "Taxman"
(George Harrison)
The absolute classic of classic libertarian songs was written by a guy who probably would've considered himself anything but libertarian. But hey, the views of libertarianism are pretty much universal when it gets down to the man messing with your money! Bottom line: nobody, however much he convinces himself that socialism works, approves of getting 70+% of his money taken away (the tax bracket George Harrison was in when he wrote this) just because he's better at making money -- i.e., better at producing something people want to buy -- than anyone else. That's just asinine. This song speaks for itself, no need to belabor the issue at all, but I do particularly like this version by Stevie Ray Vaughan because it a) shows that the phenomenon of getting taxed and hating it is not limited to Englishmen from the 1960's, and b) because Stevie Ray Vaughan was the greatest guitarist ever and I want you to hear at least a little of his music!
Huey Lewis and the News - "It's Alright"
(Curtis Mayfield)
A big part of libertarian philosophy is built upon a different type of mindset from either conservatism or so-called liberalism. Those political ideologies are predicated on the idea that the world, or more specifically humanity, is inherently stupid or foolish or flawed or evil or prurient or whatever. But libertarians, ultimately, believe that mankind is pretty much a-okay (except, of course for the annoying tendency to want to be controlled by authority figures) and the world is pretty much a fine place. Libertarians don't believe in sensationalist claims of environmental disaster or corruption of youth or any of that crap because we understand that the real truth is that people do just fine when left alone. It's important to realize this, and to appreciate that life is going to be okay, if we just get out of the way and let everybody else live how they want to live -- and they'll do the same for us. So, I thought I'd close with this positive song with a positive message for a positive political philosophy. I chose this particular a capella version by Huey Lewis and the News instead of the original Curtis Mayfield track because, believe it or not, it just sounds like the guys are having more fun than Curtis did when he recorded it. Whatever version you listen to, though, this is one of the best, most put-a-smile-on-your-face tracks you'll ever hear. Be happy, my liberal and conservative friends!
Bills pile up. Sky high. Send that boy off
to die."
John Mayer - "Who Says"
I happen to know that John Mayer is himself politically libertarian, so his work is a fairly obvious choice to include on this list. Mayer takes a lot of crap for his approach to songwriting, what some people see as his housewife-targeted commercialism, and just the fact that he's popular. This song, though, I think is atypical of his somewhat more romantic, introspective stuff: it simply celebrates the fact that an individual can do whatever the hell he pleases when no one is watching over his shoulder. It also, in a somewhat oblique way, argues for the libertarian stand against prohibition (of drugs, one assumes, in this case). Hell, it even throws in a little subliminal ad for Mayer's website in the middle of the lyrics -- capitalism, what could be more libertarian than that?
"Who says I can't get stoned?
Turn off the lights and the telephone --
me in my house alone.
Who says I can't get stoned?"
Randy Newman - "Louisiana 1927"Turn off the lights and the telephone --
me in my house alone.
Who says I can't get stoned?"
Obviously, not every song with a libertarian message was written with that message consciously in mind -- or at least not only that message. As I've said multiple times in this blog, this song is among my top 100 songs ever written, and it is, really, not about a political message. But it does, very poignantly and in Newman's classic, sardonic way, point out the utter uselessness of the government during the Great Flood of 1927 in Louisiana. The song doesn't make it clear, but during that flood, levees were intentionally dynamited by the government so that the lands of poor white farmers (referred to here as "crackers" by President Coolidge) would be flooded and and destroyed rather than those of the richer city dwellers below them. It didn't really work, and neither did the government's lukewarm cleanup effort. Not much else to be said -- much like Katrina so many years later, government was responsible for the construction, then demolition, then reconstruction of the levees, and it all sucked.
"President Coolidge came down on a railroad train,
with a little fat man with a notepad in his hand.
President said: 'Little Fat Man, ain't it a shame
what the river has done to this poor cracker's land?'"
with a little fat man with a notepad in his hand.
President said: 'Little Fat Man, ain't it a shame
what the river has done to this poor cracker's land?'"
The Dropkick Murphys - "Fields of Athenry"
(Traditional)
Rebellion against government intervention in your life is easier to get behind when you don't consider the ruling body to be legitimate on your soil at all. Such is the case with a whole hell of a lot of colonized territories around the world. Ireland certainly falls into that category, at least during the period in which it was governed in its entirety by Britain. It's no surprise then that punk rock, a form of music inherently hostile to authority in any form, should mesh so well with traditional Irish forms and lyrics. The Dropkick Murphys are just one Celtic Punk band that's made that fusion work. This song, a traditional Irish ballad that will be instantly familiar to fans of Scotland's Celtic F.C., is about a poor Irishman who poached some corn from a farm owned by a British civil servant in order to feed his starving children and, as a result, was sent on a prison ship to Australia, is particularly powerful. Apart from the outright injustice of the situation -- it was, the song implies, the British civil servants who'd left the man's family in a starving state in the first place -- it also demonstrates the ways in which even downtrodden individuals can show pride and belief in themselves in the worst of circumstances.
"By a lonely prison wall, I heard a young man calling:
'Nothing matters, Mary, when you're free!
Against the famine and the Crown, I rebelled, they cut me down.
Now you must raise our child with dignity.'"
'Nothing matters, Mary, when you're free!
Against the famine and the Crown, I rebelled, they cut me down.
Now you must raise our child with dignity.'"
N.W.A. - "Fuck tha Police"
As with the Irish, oppressed minorities in other countries tend to demonstrate the worst things about the state, and put in stark relief that for all the state's high-minded propaganda about protecting and serving the people, the truth is that the machinery of the state (that is to say, the use of force) is in the hands of people. Often, very flawed people. The LAPD certainly is a good example of how state control of violence can be used for perverse purposes. If, for example, the LAPD had been a private organization in competition with other private organizations for the tax revenues of the neighborhoods it was tasked with protecting, does anyone imagine that the L.A. riots would have happened? Let alone the history of racism and violence and corruption in the LAPD stretching back almost 100 years. Of course not, instead, people in black and Hispanic neighborhoods would've fired the LAPD and hired another police force more likely to protect them. That's how the market deals with racists, for example. This is also a song that extols the very important libertarian virtue of citizen weapons ownership and the need to ensure always that the state fears its citizens, and not the other way around.
"To the police I'm saying: 'Fuck you, punk!'
Readin' my rights and shit, it's all junk.
Pullin' out a silly club so you stand
With a fake-ass badge and a gun in your hand."
Readin' my rights and shit, it's all junk.
Pullin' out a silly club so you stand
With a fake-ass badge and a gun in your hand."
Stevie Ray Vaughan - "Taxman"
(George Harrison)
The absolute classic of classic libertarian songs was written by a guy who probably would've considered himself anything but libertarian. But hey, the views of libertarianism are pretty much universal when it gets down to the man messing with your money! Bottom line: nobody, however much he convinces himself that socialism works, approves of getting 70+% of his money taken away (the tax bracket George Harrison was in when he wrote this) just because he's better at making money -- i.e., better at producing something people want to buy -- than anyone else. That's just asinine. This song speaks for itself, no need to belabor the issue at all, but I do particularly like this version by Stevie Ray Vaughan because it a) shows that the phenomenon of getting taxed and hating it is not limited to Englishmen from the 1960's, and b) because Stevie Ray Vaughan was the greatest guitarist ever and I want you to hear at least a little of his music!
"Let me tell you how it will be:
There's one for you, nineteen for me.
'Cause I'm the taxman."
There's one for you, nineteen for me.
'Cause I'm the taxman."
Huey Lewis and the News - "It's Alright"
(Curtis Mayfield)
A big part of libertarian philosophy is built upon a different type of mindset from either conservatism or so-called liberalism. Those political ideologies are predicated on the idea that the world, or more specifically humanity, is inherently stupid or foolish or flawed or evil or prurient or whatever. But libertarians, ultimately, believe that mankind is pretty much a-okay (except, of course for the annoying tendency to want to be controlled by authority figures) and the world is pretty much a fine place. Libertarians don't believe in sensationalist claims of environmental disaster or corruption of youth or any of that crap because we understand that the real truth is that people do just fine when left alone. It's important to realize this, and to appreciate that life is going to be okay, if we just get out of the way and let everybody else live how they want to live -- and they'll do the same for us. So, I thought I'd close with this positive song with a positive message for a positive political philosophy. I chose this particular a capella version by Huey Lewis and the News instead of the original Curtis Mayfield track because, believe it or not, it just sounds like the guys are having more fun than Curtis did when he recorded it. Whatever version you listen to, though, this is one of the best, most put-a-smile-on-your-face tracks you'll ever hear. Be happy, my liberal and conservative friends!
"When you wake up early in the morning,
feeling sad like so many of us do,
hum a little soul, and make life your goal,
and surely something's gotta come to you.
And you gotta say it's all right."
feeling sad like so many of us do,
hum a little soul, and make life your goal,
and surely something's gotta come to you.
And you gotta say it's all right."
Okay, CrossChop fans, there's ten songs to support liberty for ya. Did I leave anything off the list? Think I'm way off base for what's on here? Leave a comment and let me know!
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment