This second list of fifty more conservative rock and roll songs — a sequel to the first such list, released a few weeks ago — was just as disappointing as its predecessor. Sure, it included right-wing standard ballads such as The Artist’s “Little Red Corvette,” a paean to Reagan’s refusal to enact higher CAFE standards, and “Holiday in Cambodia” by the Dead Kennedys. (Oh, how we all remember the flak from the left over the relatively lower popularity of Noam Chomsky’s tune My East Timor Getaway.) Another yawner: the inclusion of Yusuf Islam’s family values anthem. The left has predictably bleated that rock and roll is not right wing, excepting the work of Ted Nugent, Bob Seger, and Charles Manson, that Ann Althouse needs to learn more about art than is contained in her Guggenheim membership bulk mail flier, and that Jonah Goldberg should just shut up.
That last one is a cheap shot, of course: Goldberg has not to my knowledge weighed in on whether Rush is actually Ayn Rand-inspired, and secondly, who doesn’t want him to shut up? Even his own mother has been rolling her eyes. Incidentally, writer John Miller, who compiled the lists of songs, does not indicate clearly whether he understands that Rush is a Canadian 1970s-era high voice metal hair band with no connection to the hydrocodone spokesmodel of the same name.
In any event, if it really is about the original intent of the songwriters, as opposed to the cynical left-wing spin that generations of starstruck teens have attached to the likes of Dylan and Hendrix, I’m stunned that the National Review yet again omitted this song, which I’m sure you will agree merits designation as The Right-Wing Rock Anthem.
Nice post.
Even if this fragment confused a bit:
as opposed to the cynical left-wing spin that generations of starstruck teens have attached to the likes of Dylan and Hendrix
Isnt’ “starstruck” a bit almost cliché-begging these days, or if nothing much else an over-easy target? (To whom is it really addressed, I wonder, in other words).
With so much love for the Kinks i can’t image why Miller didn’t remind us of how enamored of Lola, You Really Got Me, now. I on the other hand can’t stop sobbing. And for a group of people who supposedly hate relativism, Turn Turn Turn and My Back Pages:
Half-wracked prejudice leaped forth
“Rip down all hate,” I screamed
Lies that life is black and white
Spoke from my skull. I dreamed
Romantic facts of musketeers
Foundationed deep, somehow.
Ah, but I was so much older then,
I’m younger than that now.
Girls’ faces formed the forward path
From phony jealousy
To memorizing politics
Of ancient history
Flung down by corpse evangelists
Unthought of, though, somehow.
Ah, but I was so much older then,
I’m younger than that now.
Interesting that they quote a few lyrics out of context from Seger, Rod Stewart and the Byrds and claim that these songs are conservative. Each song in its entirety does not support that contention. “Rock and Roll Never Forgets” is about nostalgia for rock music as opposed to disco, Ecclesiastes, from which “Turn, turn, turn” is taken, is decidedly ambiguous in its view of human nature and life, and Rod Stewart can only be construed as conservative insofar as he encourages the protagonist to finish school and do something constructive with her life. That is not an exclusively conservative value.
=v= Saul Zaentz will burn in Hell forever for selling an out-of-context lyric snippet of “Fortunate Son” to people making jingoistic ads.
It’s amazing what conservatives think of lefties/liberals/progressives. Two songs in particular jumped out at me:
The inclusion of Holiday in Cambodia as a “conservative” song (rather than a human rights song!) holds the implication that somehow progressives support mass murder.
The inclusion of The Smith’s “This Night has Opened my Eyes” (given a very narrow interpretation of the song as about infanticide or adoption). The song’s opening, “In a river the colour of lead, you smashed the baby’s head”, might lead a naive listener to think the song was about infanticide. The next line appears more likely to be about adoption rather than abortion (“wrapped her up in the news of the world, dumped her on a doorstep, girl”), however, again only to a naive listener. Nonetheless, we’re left with the impression that Miller claims infanticide as a conservative issue rather than a human rights issue.
The focus would certainly be different based on where one lies on the political spectrum. I’m sure there are conservatives who believe infanticide should be dealt with harshly, perhaps with capital punishment (it isn’t murder if the state commits it!). And as a bleeding-heart, I would try to determine the socio-politico-economic reasons yadda yadda before assigning guilt/blame punishment/rehabilitation etc.
By the way, why the dig at Goldberg?