I think Jesus is Just Alright by the Doobie Brothers should have made the list.
I love the words to Government Cheese:
Give a man a free house and he'll bust out the windows
Put his family on food stamps, now he's a big spender
no food on the table and the bills ain't paid
'Cause he spent it on cigarettes and P.G.A.
They'll turn us all into beggars 'cause they're easier to please
They're feeding our people that Government Cheese
Give a man a free lunch and he'll figure out a way
To steal more than he can eat 'cause he doesn't have to pay
Give a woman free kids and you'll find them in the dirt
Learning how to carry on the family line of work
It's the man in the White House, the man under the steeple
Passing out drugs to the American people
I don't believe in anything, nothing is free
They're feeding our people the Government Cheese
Decline and fall, fall down baby
Decline and fall, said fall way down now
Decline and fall, fall down little mama
Decline and fall, decline and fall
Give a man a free ticket on a dead end ride
And he'll climb in the back even though nobody's driving
Too ******* lazy to crawl out of the wreck
And he'll rot there while he waits for the welfare check
Going to hell in a handbag, can't you see
I ain't gonna eat no Government Cheese
"There's nothing wrong with Capitalism / There's nothing wrong with free enterprise. . . . You're just a middle class, socialist brat / From a suburban family and you never really had to work."
Never heard of this before, but I'll have to listen to it.
End of story.
Everyone should take look at number 3, the most misinterpreted song ever. This is a good download list!
Van Zant - Get Right With the Man
What about American Pie by Don McLean? “The three men I admire most, the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost…”
Blink 182, In Living Colour, ? Barf.
Some of these songs suck.
Wonderful the unbiased left wing NY Times is mocking me....again...
my choices that were ignored
ventura highway by america
uplifting, beautiful song and that makes it conservative
many songs by John Mellancamp including jack and diane, little pink houses, cherry bomb, small town.
they are all about small town (red) america and small town values.
I hope you dance (leann womack)
this is about taking charge of your own life and being an individual or very conservative.
I'd like to get to know you-spanky and our gang
A pretty song about individualism not collectivism. Notice the title is not "We'd like to get to know them."
Saturday-Chicago
Another pretty song about being happy. And "I think it was the fourth of July."
Here's one for you:
I don't like Gretchen Wilson but this song is great.
Politically Uncorrect
I'm for the low man on the totem pole
And I'm for the underdog God bless his soul
And I'm for the guys still pulling third shift
And the single mom raisin' her kids
I'm for the preachers who stay on their knees
And I'm for the sinner who finally believes
And I'm for the farmer with dirt on his hands
And the soldiers who fight for this land
Chorus:
And I'm for the Bible and I'm for the flag
And I'm for the working man, me and ol' hag
I'm just one of many
Who can't get no respect
Politically uncorrect
(Merle Haggard)
I guess my opinion is all out of style
(Gretchen Wilson)
Aw, but don't get me started cause I can get riled
And I'll make a fight for the forefathers plan
(Merle Haggard)
And the world already knows where I stand
Repeat Chorus
(Merle Haggard)
Nothing wrong with the Bible, nothing wrong with the flag
(Gretchen Wilson)
Nothing wrong with the working man me & ol' Hag
We're just some of many who can't get no respect
Politically uncorrect
(Merle Haggard)
Politically uncorrect
So whatcha doin' tonight?
Have you heard that the world's gone crazy?
Young Americans listen when I say there's people puttin' us down
I know they're sayin' that we've gone lazy
To tell you the truth we've all seen better days
Don't need no fast buck lame duck profits for fun
Quick trick plans, take the money and run
We need long term, slow burn, getting it done
And some straight talking, hard working son of a gun. (who turned out to be Ronald Reagan)
Whatcha doin' tonight, I got faith in our generation
Let's stick together and futurize our attitudes
I ain't lookin' to fight, but I know with determination
We can challenge the schemers who cheat all the rules
Come on take pride, be wise, spottin' the fools
No more big shots, crackpots bending the rules
A fair shot here for me and for you
Knowing that we can't lose
And we'll be rockin' in Paradise
Rockin' the Paradise tonight
Rockin' in Paradise
Rockin' the Paradise tonight
Tonight, tonight...
Of course, in Meatloaf's song, he finally gives in and agrees to marry the girl before she gives in and lets him have his way. That approach is almost laughable nowadays, but it wasn't that unusual in the 70s when it came along.
A lot of the songs express more of a libertarian, "Don't Tread On Me" message, rather than anything explicitly conservative. And you could easily find songs by the Beatles, Stones, and Eagles, or Dylan, Bowie, Mellencamp, and Joe Jackson that have very "unconservative messages."
Songwriters and lyricists give vent to one side of their personality at one time and to another -- perhaps opposite -- tendency in themselves or the world at another time. The best of them don't hew to any party line, and not doing so makes them makes them better artists.
Some of what NR has found are songs by English writers and musicians who were fed up with Old Labour, socialism, and high taxation, but not at all in tune with the way things are run in the states. That's why some of them have been so quick to write anti-Bush songs.
FWIW, does the Georgia Satellites song really represent deep conviction? All the "no huggy, no kissy" may or may not be sarcastic, but it sounds a lot like a commercial hook. If it influenced 90s kids in a positive direction, that's all to the good, but I have to wonder about what the "artists' intention" was.
later ping
I didn't see Billy Joel's,
"I don't care what you say anymore, this is my life;
Go ahead with your own life - leave me alone!"