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Conservative indie pop? Liberal country western? Election season blues...
Finding New Tunes blog ^
| 8-13-08
| Jon
Posted on 08/16/2008 2:23:19 PM PDT by lainie
It seems to me that theres money to be made for some young, enterprising, conservative musician. There arent really any conservative indie/alternative bands, but there are plenty of conservatives who like that kind of music. Can you imagine how theyd rally around a band who was outwardly conservative. And if Rush Limbaugh told his listeners about that band? Theyd be millionaires overnight.
Same, though less so, for a liberal country band. By the nature of the art form, there are more liberal musicians, in general, than conservative. But country still doesnt have too many successful liberal acts (minus the Dixie Chicks, of course). I would imagine theres a similarly good opportunity for a good liberal country band to come out and take that genre by storm.
So? Why hasnt anyone seized on these opportunities?
I started doing a little looking, and I came across an article by John Miller written for National Review [from 2006]. He offered up his top 50 conservative rock songs. Surprisingly, there were quite a few songs by real indie bands on the list. That doesnt mean they were/are conservative bands. But the songs (by virtue of being libertarian, actually) are arguably conservative. Heres his list of top 50 (there are 50 more, if you want to check those out, too).
[If you want detailed justifications for each, click through to the entire articles above...]
- Wont Get Fooled Again, by The Who.
- Taxman, by The Beatles.
- Sympathy for the Devil, by The Rolling Stones.
- Sweet Home Alabama, by Lynyrd Skynyrd.
- Wouldnt It Be Nice, by The Beach Boys.
- Gloria, by U2.
- Revolution, by The Beatles.
- Bodies, by The Sex Pistols.
- Dont Tread on Me, by Metallica.
- 20th Century Man, by The Kinks.
- The Trees, by Rush.
- Neighborhood Bully, by Bob Dylan.
- My City Was Gone, by The Pretenders.
- Right Here, Right Now, by Jesus Jones.
- I Fought the Law, by The Crickets.
- Get Over It, by The Eagles.
- Stay Together for the Kids, by Blink 182.
- Cult of Personality, by Living Colour.
- Kicks, by Paul Revere and the Raiders.
- Rock the Casbah, by The Clash.
- Heroes, by David Bowie.
- Red Barchetta, by Rush.
- Brick, by Ben Folds Five.
- Der Kommissar, by After the Fire.
- The Battle of Evermore, by Led Zeppelin.
- Capitalism, by Oingo Boingo.
- Obvious Song, by Joe Jackson.
- Janies Got a Gun, by Aerosmith.
- Rime of the Ancient Mariner, by Iron Maiden.
- You Cant Be Too Strong, by Graham Parker.
- Small Town, by John Mellencamp.
- Keep Your Hands to Yourself, by The Georgia Satellites.
- You Cant Always Get What You Want, by The Rolling Stones.
- Godzilla, by Blue öyster Cult.
- Wholl Stop the Rain, by Creedence Clearwater Revival.
- Government Cheese, by The Rainmakers.
- The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, by The Band.
- I Cant Drive 55, by Sammy Hagar.
- Property Line, by The Marshall Tucker Band.
- Wake Up Little Susie, by The Everly Brothers.
- The Icicle Melts, by The Cranberries.
- Everybodys a Victim, by The Proclaimers.
- Wonderful, by Everclear.
- Two Sisters, by The Kinks.
- Taxman, Mr. Thief, by Cheap Trick.
- Wind of Change, by The Scorpions.
- One, by Creed.
- Why Dont You Get a Job, by The Offspring.
- Abortion, by Kid Rock.
- Stand By Your Man, by Tammy Wynette.
Eric Kirk at SoHum Parlance saw this article and decided (with some incentive from Miller) to take on the task of finding the top 50 liberal country songs. Heres his list below (follow this link to see the justifications)
- Man in Black - Johnny Cash
- The Pill - Loretta Lynn
- 9 to 5 - Dolly Parton
- We Shall be Free - Garth Brooks
- Harper Valley PTA - Jeannie Riley (and others)
- Take this Job and Shove It - Johnny Paycheck
- Devils Right Hand - Steve Earle
- Sixteen Tons - Tennessee Earnest Ford
- Rainbow Stew - Merle Haggard
- Trouble in the Fields - Nancy Griffith
- Abraham, Martin, and John (Its a Hard Life) - Emmy Lou Harris
- They Aint Makin Jews like Jesus Anymore - Kinky Friedman
- San Quentin - Johnny Cash
- America - Waylon Jennings
- Heartland - Willie Nelson
- Jesus, the Missing Years - John Prine
- Okie from Muskogee - Merle Haggard
- Conversations with the Devil - Ray Wylie Hubbard
- Travelin Soldier - Dixie Chicks
- 40 hour week - Alabama
- My Uncle - Flying Burrito Brothers
- Coal Miners Daughter - Loretta Lynn
- Ballad for a soldier - Leon Russell, aka Hank Wilson
- Fishing - Richard Shindell
- I Washed my Face in the Morning Dew - Tom T. Hall
- One Hundred Children - Tom T. Hall
- Aragon Mill - Dry Branch Fire Squads
- Workin Band - Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
- Right or Left at Oak Street - Roy Clark
- Two Story House - Tammy Wynette
- Church - Lyle Lovett
- Devil Take the Farmer - Dry Branch Fire Squads
- Blame it on the Stones - Kris Kristofferson
- Skip a Rope - Henson Cargill
- Thats the News - Merle Haggard
- A Week in Country Jail - Tom T. Hall
- Common Man - John Conlee
- Kids of the Baby Boom - The Bellamy Brothers
- Mississipi on my Mind - Jesse Winchester written, Jerry Jeff Walker performance
- Hank Williams Said It Best - Guy Clark
- Billy B. Damned - Billy Joe Shaver
- Dont you think this outlaw bits done got out of hand?- Waylon Jennings
- Lights went out in Georgia - Reba McEntire
- Peace on Earth - Willie Nelson
- High Cotton - Alabama
- Why cant we all just get a long neck? - Hank Williams
- White House Blues - Vassar Clements
- Saginaw, Michigan - Lefty Frizzell
- Copperhead Road - Steve Earle
- Hobos Meditation - Dolly Parton
In most of the cases in the rock section, the songs are written by artists who are generally liberal, but have swerved into the conservative side of an issue. The country side largely includes artists who are generally liberal.
Thus, my curiosity still stands: Could a good indie/alternative band who was conservative gather a critical mass of fans? I think it goes deeper than that. I think the question really is do people like songs because of the lyrics, melody, instrumentation, vocals, etc. (obviously, all of the above is an option, too)?
Can you love a song which endorses a philosophy to which you are vehemently opposed?
TOPICS: Music/Entertainment
KEYWORDS: conservativerock; countrymusic; indie; music
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To: lainie
Stand by.... Greatful dead U.S. Blues coming up
21
posted on
08/17/2008 2:08:32 PM PDT
by
mylife
(The Roar Of the Masses Could Be Farts)
To: lainie
22
posted on
08/17/2008 2:10:44 PM PDT
by
mylife
(The Roar Of the Masses Could Be Farts)
To: Cheapskate
23
posted on
08/17/2008 2:16:00 PM PDT
by
mylife
(The Roar Of the Masses Could Be Farts)
24
posted on
08/17/2008 2:33:19 PM PDT
by
mylife
(The Roar Of the Masses Could Be Farts)
To: Cheapskate; mylife
I don’t doubt it.
But mark my words, the time is coming when a hippie looking pair or group of girls are going to come out of Nashville, out and proud of their lesbianism and daring anyone in country music to call them out. Their music will probably be mediocre but they’re be huge stars. Gare-on-tee.
25
posted on
08/17/2008 3:24:30 PM PDT
by
lainie
(Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.)
To: lainie
Aint that the Indigo Girls?
26
posted on
08/17/2008 3:28:08 PM PDT
by
mylife
(The Roar Of the Masses Could Be Farts)
To: mylife
No I mean country artists, whether southern-fried or just folkie.
27
posted on
08/17/2008 3:34:24 PM PDT
by
lainie
(Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.)
To: lainie
Aint that the Dyksie Chicks? ;)
28
posted on
08/17/2008 3:39:43 PM PDT
by
mylife
(The Roar Of the Masses Could Be Farts)
To: mylife
Good point. They proved that Nashville wasn’t ready for it. But the day’s still coming.. I’d bet $ on it.
As for socially & fiscally conservative rockers making it big? I think cheaps is right. Even if they were boosted by Sean Vanity or Limbaugh, it would be a constant uphill battle in a sea of haters. Self-described “tolerant” haters. :) There already is a Christian rock genre, so [shrug].
29
posted on
08/17/2008 3:56:01 PM PDT
by
lainie
(Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.)
To: lainie
Yer prolly right.
Lots of conservative views get out in rock but it rarely hits main stream.
Punk was full of them. Sex Pistols is an example.
Though they were more anarchist than conservative
30
posted on
08/17/2008 3:59:28 PM PDT
by
mylife
(The Roar Of the Masses Could Be Farts)
To: mylife
yah I agree. Whoever is ‘in charge’ — they’re against that. Allegiances switch when the power structure shifts.
kinda sad, huh
31
posted on
08/17/2008 4:00:42 PM PDT
by
lainie
(Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.)
To: lainie
Meh...? Rock tends to be contrarian
32
posted on
08/17/2008 4:02:21 PM PDT
by
mylife
(The Roar Of the Masses Could Be Farts)
To: lainie
I’m willing to bet any conservative rock band would be a special kind of awful. On the other hand liberal country works better. Hell Steve Earle has been doing it for a while and give me him over pretty much any other country artist any day of the week.
33
posted on
08/17/2008 4:10:19 PM PDT
by
Mr. Blonde
(You ever thought about being weird for a living?)
To: mylife
Isn’t U.S. Blues kinda just lefty rockers singing lefty stuff?
34
posted on
08/17/2008 5:02:43 PM PDT
by
lainie
(Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.)
To: Mr. Blonde
You’re probably right. Hate the man/power-to-the-people protest stuff just doesn’t go with conservatism very well, and rock has that chaotic vibe whether the song’s about politics or not.
35
posted on
08/17/2008 5:04:26 PM PDT
by
lainie
(Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.)
To: lainie
It dont sound that left to me. GD is pretty rooted in conservative stuff. For Hippys :)
Did they ever write a protest song?
36
posted on
08/17/2008 5:06:10 PM PDT
by
mylife
(The Roar Of the Masses Could Be Farts)
To: mylife
Oh Lord? are they still hangin around drawin a check?
37
posted on
08/17/2008 5:07:58 PM PDT
by
Cheapskate
(Still backing Hunter"I refuse to be fitted with collar and chain, and given a pat on the back")
To: Mr. Blonde
Steve Eaele is sooo left of the dial.
That said. He absolutely rocks
38
posted on
08/17/2008 5:10:07 PM PDT
by
mylife
(The Roar Of the Masses Could Be Farts)
To: Mr. Blonde
Steve kicks! I can put with libs if they’re good!
39
posted on
08/17/2008 5:10:31 PM PDT
by
Cheapskate
(Still backing Hunter"I refuse to be fitted with collar and chain, and given a pat on the back")
To: mylife
Got me. I don’t know any of their stuff except Truckin’ and Touch of Grey.
40
posted on
08/17/2008 5:11:47 PM PDT
by
lainie
(Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.)
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