Rockin’ the Right - The 50 greatest conservative rock songs

National Review ^ | June 5, 2006 | John J. Miller

[Alas Babylon!]

NOTE: This is a fifteen year old article, but the songs are timeless

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.

[sageburn]

or, she’s contemplating suicide. Or, it’s because she led a life of greed (which is one explanation by Robert Plant).

[bgill]

Twisted Sister’s, “We’re not Gonna Take It”, should be every HS graduation song.

List is also missing songs by Journey, The Cars, ELO, AC/DC, Aretha and Tina.

[eyedigress]

The story of AC/DC and their rise to the top is amazing.

[Oshkalaboomboom]

Robert Plant said the song was made up on the spot as Jimmy Paige played musical pieces. It was pure improv with no storyline.

[SlipperySlope99]

Plus Johnny Rotten called out Jimmy Savile years before his crimes were exposed and got banned from appearing on the BBC for his troubles.

https://www.scotsman.com/news/uk-news/bbc-banned-johnny-rotten-jimmy-savile-remark-1494695
___________________________________________________________________
Lydon, better known as Johnny Rotten, has referred to an interview he did in 1978, in which he said Savile was “into all sorts of seediness. We all know about it but we’re not allowed to talk about it”.

[Getready]

Good choice! Old nightclub unreleased song...Echoes of Heroes...by Gordon Lightfoot...on youtube when last accessed.

[Rainbow Rising]

Iced Earth is a metal band that has some great conservative songs. "When The Eagle Cries" is a ballad about 9/11. "Declaration Day" is about the Founding Fathers declaring their independence from England. "Ghost Of Freedom" is about the ghost of a fallen solider telling his son that he watches over him and all our fighting men. It has a rousing choir singing "Don't tread on me! Live free or die!" that gives me goosebumps every time. One of my favorite bands.

The guitarist and principal songwriter Jon Schaffer was recently arrested for participating in the so-called "insurrection" on January 6th at the Capitol. The FBI featured him on a poster seeking help in identifying protesters. He attended Trump rallies in the past and he once described the federal government as a "criminal enterprise". I haven't heard anything about his case recently, just that he's facing six charges. I wonder if he's being held in solitary confinement like some of the others who were arrested.

[Michael.SF.]

The Crickets recorded it shortly after Buddy Holly died. Bobby Fuller was a big fan of Holly. His death was initially ruled a suicide, later changed. It is now believed to have been a mob hit that was interrupted before they torched him in his car.

Fuller was pretty much beat up and then put into his car. He was soaked with gasoline.

[Pajamajan]

Silent Running

Perfect song for the time we live in.

[COBOL2Java]

Gimme Three Steps-Lynyrd Skynyrd

[left that other site]

Van Morrison’s latest Record Project. Volume 1 & 2.

[bigbob]

“Rockin in the Free World” Because the lyrics are still right and it because it pisses Neil Young off.

“Fortunate Son” by CCR

And how could you leave out:

“You Can’t Always Get What You Want” by the Stones? aka Trump’s closing theme

[a fool in paradise]

Ever read up on Jim Morrison’s dad? And supposedly there are other musicians who’s families had ties to the intelligence community etc.

[Fiji Hill]

Here are a few of my favorites.

• "Six Days On the Road" by Dave Dudley (1963)--Not exactly rock and roll, but it's my favorite song from the Sixties. It celebrates individual freedom and monogamy as well as contempt for bureaucratic regulators.

• "God, Country, and My Baby" by Dorsey Burnette (1961)--At the height of the 1961 Berlin crisis, a serviceman is ready to be shipped "across the Rhine" to to defend the West.

• "West of the Wall" by Toni Fisher (1962)--This song about the Berlin wall was a chart hit that remained a popular "oldie" in some markets.

• "Take the Time" by the Shangri-Las (1967)--This pro-Vietnam War record was the last to be released by The Shangri-Las, a vocal group that had a string of hits in the mid-1960's.

• "Wish You Were Here, Buddy" by Pat Boone (1966)--Boone's send-up of the war protesters got some airplay in this area in the fall of 1966.

• "The Universal Coward" by Jan and Dean (1965)--Taking a break from singing about surfing and hot rods, Jan and Dean came up with a devastating rebuttal to Buffy Sainte Marie's egregious "Universal Soldier."

• "The Dawn of Correction" by The Spokesmen (1965)--A powerful rejoinder to Barry Maguire's "Eve of Destruction."

• "Love That Bomb" by Dr. Strangelove & The Fallouts (1964)--a paean to nuclear weapons.

• "Tennessee" by Carl Perkins (1955)--Perkins reminds listeners that the first atomic bomb was built in Tennessee.

• "The Ballad of Pancho Lopez" by Lalo Guerrero (1955)--Guerrero's tale of a poor Mexican boy who rises from poverty to success through hard work and entrepreneurship sold well in Los Angeles.

• "Midnight Mary" by Jerry Cole (1963)--A song that celebrates the American dream. An ambitious young man finds a job and then sets out to make money, acquire a home, and marry his girl friend. An antidote to songs about losers such as the Four Seasons' "Dawn" and Dickie Lee's "Patches" that, for some reason, were big hits at the time.

• "Welfare Cheese"--Emmanual Lasky (1963)--Government agencies used to provide huge chunks of cheese to the needy. The singer is asking JFK to give him some.

• "Shake it Over, Sputnik"--Billy Hogan & the Twi-Lighters (1958)--"Well, move over, Mr. Muttnik, you've got to make room; yeah, shake it over, Sputnik, for the US moon. Rockin' 'round the globe at a terrible pace, Alabama's contribution to the conquest of space."

[Jane Long]

What a great list!

Thanks, so much, for posting.

[bigbob]

Red White and BLue by Lynrd Skynyrd
Born in the USA by that commie sumbitch Bruce Springsteen
Rockin in the USA by Kiss
ROCK in the USA by John Cougar Militarycamp
Livin in the USA by the Steve Miller Band
America by Simon and Garfinkel
Back in the USA by Linda Ronstadt because I don’t shivagit about her politics
We’re an American Band by Grand Funk Railroad
I Won’t Back Down by TP and the Heartbreakers

and topping anyones list should be:

The Star Spangled Banner by Jimi Hendrix

[DallasBiff]

I also believe "The End" by the Doors (1967) is about the coup d'etat that overthrew government of South Vietnam in 1963--the killer is the coup leader Duong Van Minh, the father is President Ngo Dinh Diem, the sister is his sister Tran Le Xuan, etc.

Well Jim Morrison's father was a higher up in the Navy, I can believe that.

But your "Eleanor Rigby" theory is way out there. I actually saw the name "Eleanor Rigby" on a grave in Liverpool, England, when taking a Beatles tour five years ago.

The tour guide said John and Paul would take a shortcut through the graveyard to get where they wanted to go.

[I-ambush]

I like the Kinks’ song, “Living On A Thin Line, although it’s about Britain, not the US.
Also, “Lawyers, Guns and Money,” by Warren Zevon is the theme song for Hunter Biden.

[joethedrummer]

I hadn’t heard that.

I thought Harry was still working at the bank when he wrote that one. Living alone and heard him say the idea came when he got a busy signal on the phone one day.

[MHT]

They missed “Johnny Get Angry”.... “I want a brave man, I want a cave man...”