I recall an article or a diary a couple months back. The writer wondered what happened to the great protest music that used to accompany every time of struggle. Seemed conspicuously absent in this era of creeping fascism.
The music is out there, alright. But fat chance of hearing it on your radio. I pointed out a few examples to the writer, Rilo Kiley's "It's a Hit" is one of the funniest, most sarcastic songs about W in addition to being hopelessly catchy in its refrain, "It's a holiday/for a hangin'..." Steve Earle and Green Day have been outspoken for years.
But the last few weeks have seen a wave of high-profile releases that are starting to define our generation's protest standards. Pink's "Dear Mr. President," Neil Young and his raw "Living with War" album, Bruce Springsteen's Seeger Sessions, Pearl Jam, and Elbow's "Leaders of the Free World." And you've heard all about "Nuestro Himno," but have you...heard it?
Here's where I go into shameless self-promotion mode.
Since you can't expect to hear these tracks on commercial radio, I'd like to invite you to my internet radio show tonight.
10pm et, 7pm pt
Replay Monday at 2pm/11am
Go to arsonistradio.com, click "Listen," then choose your player.
Tonight: a two-hour celebration of today's Republican brilliance featuring:
Neil Young
Bruce Springsteen
Bob Dylan
Woody Guthrie
Pete Seeger
Pearl Jam
Pink
Rush Limbaugh sings "I'm a Nazi"
George W Bush sings "Imagine"
Faithless
Tom Waits
John Lennon
Rilo Kiley
and more looney liberal malfeasance than you can shake a subpoena at! (Apologies to fans of John Ashcroft. He makes an appearance, but "Let the Eagle Soar" did not make the cut.)
So spice up your Sunday night blog scanning or whatever trouble you're getting into. It's right after Sopranos on the east coast, and right before it on the west. Or if you can stream music at work, check out the Monday rebroadcast.
It's commercial-free, free-form radio and the artists get their royalties, so everybody's happy. And if you have requests, love/hate mail, or your own music to submit to the show, drop me a note!