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Conservative Politics & Rock Music

The National Review has published a list of the 50 all time top conservative rock 'n' roll songs. #1 is The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again". Other artist on the list include Beatles, Stones, U2, Rush, Aerosmith, Creed, Metallica, Beach Boys, Dylan and the Kinks.

Here's a link to the list.

I'm not familiar with every song on the list, but I do have a few observations. I find it incredible that only a single non-white artist made the list. A number of the songs have a very cynical bent ("Revolution", "Sympathy For the Devil", "Won't Get Fooled Again", etc.). Is cynicism a purely conservative trait? "Wouldn't It Be Nice" - I always thought it was a spoof of the Ossie & Harriet lifestyle. "I Fought the Law" - the fact that the law won doesn't make this song politically conservative. It's the verbal equivalent of a Born To Lose tattoo. It's giving the system the finger. Also, there are a number of songs that are about abortion, but only one is by a woman. Maybe the slogan should be changed to "Sex, Drugs, Rock 'n' Roll & Birth Control".

Rock music encompasses a vast number of musical styles and it only stands to reason that it would also include a wide spectrum of political beliefs. Rather than actually debating politics per se, I'm interested in responses to particularly songs being on the list and whether you see them a political or apolitical.
onhwy61

Showing 1 response by dgarretson

dgarretson
2,612 posts
 
In 1971, a very conservative high school buddy of mine who joined the YAF and read Pravda for laughs like I read National Lampoon, expressed loathing for The Who & rock music in general, but grudging admiration for the cover art of Who's Next (depicting the band zipping up after pissing on a cement monolith). At age 15 my conservative schoolmate often remarked that in truly free society rid of government intrusion, any citizen would be allowed to drop trow in a public place and urinate as he pleased. As this conversation between us boys typically occurred under pressure of a full blatter after caging liquor from his dad's wetbar, I confess that despite my liberal bias I tended to agree with his priciples. So today I must conclude that in 1971 I was a closet conversative.

Yeah, thanks National Review, now I get it: the Walrus was Richard Nixon. No doubt the underlying convervatism of The Who is also proved by the use of "Happy Jack" in the soundtrack of the Hummer commercial-- perhaps even more so by Pete Townshend's recent brush with the law over kiddie porn.

Dave
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