Libertarian Songs (Part 2)

by Gerard Emershaw

In the previous post, ten Libertarian songs were featured. This post will feature another ten songs that liberty lovers should consider putting on their playlists. Like the first list, these songs are listed in no particular order.

1. “Who’ll Stop the Rain” Creedence Clearwater Revival (1970)

John Fogerty’s Creedence Clearwater Revival was always difficult to categorize. They originated from San Francisco in the 1960s but rather than play folk music or psychedelia, they defied expectations by playing a bluesy form of slightly countrified southern rock. Instead of singing about free love, drugs, or the hippie culture, CCR sang about the mighty Mississippi and the bayou, selling over 25 million records in the process.

Politically, John Forgerty has also always been complex. While bothered by gun violence, he is a gun owner and hunter. Fogerty, like many artists in the late 1960s and early 1970s, opposed the Vietnam War. However, unlike many antiwar protesters at the time, Fogerty also opposed the welfare state. He identifies himself as a Democrat, but said in a 2013 interview: “I’d still loosely call myself a Democrat, but you know, I realize I’m probably a lot more like some kind of libertarian or something.”

The greatness of “Who’ll Stop the Rain” is its simplicity. A two and a half minute acoustic folksy number with a long thirty second fade out, the lyrics of the song succinctly critique government:

I went down Virginia, Seekin' shelter from the storm.
Caught up in the fable, I watched the tower grow.
Five year plans and new deals, Wrapped in golden chains.
And I wonder, Still I wonder Who'll stop the rain.

The “tower” of government grows bigger and bigger, and its effectiveness is seen as a “fable.” The rain—symbolic of social problems—cannot be solved by big government. “Five year plans” has a very totalitarian ring to it, evoking images of the Soviets or Maoist Chinese. “New deals,” of course, evokes images of progressive politics and FDR’s welfare state. Despite all its promises, all that government provides, in the opinion of CCR, is “golden chains.” This suggests something beautiful which winds up enslaving. The words of statist leaders are always beautiful, but their promises inevitably just end up taking more freedom away from the people.

2. “Get Up, Stand Up” Bob Marley and the Wailers (1973)

 

Many immediately think of marijuana when they hear Bob Marley or even when they hear reggae in general. While there is no denying that Mr. Marley occasionally liked to partake of cannabis, “Get Up, Stand Up” is not a song about drug legalization. The song is instead a rousing anthem about the importance of theists taking political action to defend their rights. Many religious believers—e.g. Christian fundamentalists—are so concerned about the hereafter that they wind up embodying a kind of learned helplessness in which they refuse to stand up for their earthly rights. Tyrants often take advantage of this. For example, Hitler urged Christian leaders in Germany to preach about Romans 13:

Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. ² Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. ³ For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil.

In essence, if believers can be convinced to accept what governments do—no matter how harmful or evil—and to focus solely on getting into heaven, then tyranny will inevitably thrive.

Marley, who was part of the Rastafari movement before being baptized a Christian shortly before his death, warns about ignoring earthly tyranny by focusing solely upon heavenly deliverance:

Most people think,
Great God will come from the skies,
Take away everything
And make everybody feel high.
But if you know what life is worth,
You will look for yours on earth:
And now you see the light,
You stand up for your rights. Jah!

Regardless of one’s beliefs on the topic of religion, one must stand up for his or her rights. Marley explains that human beings have a right to life and that they must tirelessly defend it:

Get up, stand up! (Get up, stand up!)
Don't give up the fight! (Life is your right!)
Get up, stand up! (So we can't give up the fight!)

Not only is Marley aware of how obsessing about the hereafter can adversely affect the here and now, but he also realizes that religion can divide the people:

We sick an' tired of-a your ism-skism game -
Dyin' 'n' goin' to heaven in-a Jesus' name, Lord.
We know when we understand:
Almighty God is a living man.
You can fool some people sometimes,
But you can't fool all the people all the time.

When the people are divided according to religious ideology, tyranny will always triumph. Thus, people of all religious creeds—and also of no religious creed at all—must “get up” and stand up for their natural rights to life, liberty, and property.

3. “Minority” Green Day (2000)

Many punk purists have scoffed at Green Day since the pop punk band first made it big with their album Dookie in 1994. However, when it comes to anti-authoritarian anthems, few punk songs are as successful as “Minority.” In the song, Green Day celebrate individualism despite the fact that it often entails standing alone. The song embraces individualism against the authority of the state and the democratic tyranny of the majority:

I want to be the minority
I don't need your authority
Down with the moral majority
'Cause I want to be the minority

The song celebrates individualism not for the sake of anything but simply for its own intrinsic value:

I pledge allegiance to the underworld
One nation underdog
There of which I stand alone
A face in the crowd
Unsung, against the mold
Without a doubt
Singled out
The only way I know

According to Green Day, it is only the individualist who can inspire and create in a world that is often filled with darkness:

One light, one mind
Flashing in the dark

Ultimately, it does not matter that the unique and visionary individualist is such a “minority” because such a strong person needs no corroboration for his or her ideas:

A free for all
F@#$ 'em all
You're on your own side

4. “Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)” Pink Floyd

 

What more can a libertarian or a music fan in general ask for? An anti-authoritarian anthem with a disco beat and a school choir by a psychedelic band turned prog rockers? What is not to love? “Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)” is about students who protest against their abusive teachers. The song is part of The Wall—a concept album about isolation. Lyrically, the song consists of but one verse sung by Roger Waters and then repeated in full by a group of Islington Green School students:

We don't need no education
We don't need no thought control
No dark sarcasm in the classroom
Teachers leave them kids alone
Hey teacher leave them kids alone
All in all it's just another brick in the wall
All in all you're just another brick in the wall

When many hear the song, they wrongly interpret the first lyric as meaning that students do not need education. This is incorrect. The lyric means that the children do not need “education” when what is meant by that is indoctrination. This “education” is “thought control” rather than the kind of knowledge and skills than enrich a person. Such propagandists disguised as educators should “leave them kids alone.” The Department of Education should have this song blasted outside its offices on a continuous loop from now until the day that the unconstitutional bureaucratic body is abolished. The “education” that such social engineers provide constitutes yet one more part of the alienation which threatens to isolate human beings.

5. “Liberty” Interrupters (2012)

To many libertarians, Aimee Allen, the lead singer of the punk/ska band Interrupters, is best known as the songstress who wrote and performed “The Ron Paul Anthem.” However, there is far more to Aimee Allen. A chameleonic talent, Allen is as skilled in acoustic folk pop as she is in snarling punk. “Liberty” is two minutes of punk perfection. Well, 1:55 anyway. The lyrics need no interpretation:

Drones in the sky
Government lies
Keeping an eye out
Tell me why they violate rights
Blue and red lights
Billyclub fights on my street at night

Where did my liberty go?
Now they're taking over and they got complete control
Where did my liberty go?

Poverty's high
Barely get by
They want you to suffer before you die
There's no movin' up
Too many mouths to feed
Take all they want from the ones who need

Better quiet down
Don't speak your mind
Nod your head like everything's fine
Don't verbalize it
Cause if they hear you
They'll hunt you down and disappear you

They took it away, they got complete control
Where did my liberty go?

6. “Long Haired Country Boy” Charlie Daniels Band (1974)

 

When one thinks of country music, it is easy to think of a right-wing statist attitude. However, Charlie Daniels has always been a unique individual. Politically, Daniels has been all over the map, supporting Jimmy Carter in 1977 and defending George W. Bush’s Iraq Policy in the early 2000s. Regardless of where he may stand, his song “Long Haired Country Boy” is a delicious country fried slice of libertarian individualism:

Daniels sings of the judgments that society makes about those who do not fit the mould:

People say I'm no good, and crazy as a loon
'Cause I get stoned in the mornin', I get drunk in the afternoon
Kinda like my old blue tick hound, I like to lay around in the shade
And I ain't got no money, but I damn sure got it made

However, since Daniels is not asking for society or for the government to take care of him, he states forcefully that society has no right to bother him:

'Cause I ain't askin' nobody for nothin'
If I can't get it on my own
If you don't like the way I'm livin'
You just leave this long haired country boy alone

Daniels also recognizes how many religious leaders abuse their position and use the alleged authority of God to enrich themselves:

Preacher man talking on TV, puttin' down the rock and roll
Wants me to send a donation, 'cause he's worried about my soul
He said, "Jesus walked on the water.", and I know that it's true
But sometimes I think that preacher man, would like to do a little walkin' too

In the final verse, ole Charlie gives one last insult to drug prohibition:

A drunkard wants another drink of wine, and a politician wants your vote
I don't want much of nothing at all, but I will take another toke

The timeless libertarian message of “leave me alone” has never been delivered in quite the way that Charlie Daniels delivers it.

7. “I Won’t Back Down” Tom Petty (1989)

Those who espouse liberty and refuse to be enslaved by the government or any other powers-that-be will always face potential bullying. Tom Petty’s 1989 rock classic from his first solo album is the ultimate vow of perseverance:

Well I won't back down, no I won't back down
You could stand me up at the gates of hell
But I won't back down

Long before that kid who used to be on “Degrassi” said YOLO, Tom Petty understood that human beings have but one life. He also recognizes that the world is always going to attack those who stand up for their beliefs:

Well I know what's right, I got just one life
In a world that keeps on pushin' me around
But I'll stand my ground and I won't back down

The life of truth and of liberty is always difficult, but like Petty, we should all stand our ground:

Hey baby there ain't no easy way out
Hey I will stand my ground
And I won't back down
No, I won't back down

8. “Cult of Personality” Living Color (1988)

Charismatic leaders can inspire the people. This is true whether that leader has nefarious intentions like Hitler or saintly ones like Gandhi or Martin Luther King, Jr. Such charismatic figures inspire because they experience—or at least simulate—empathy:

Look in my eyes, what do you see?
Cult of personality
I know your anger, I know your dreams
I've been everything you want to be
I'm the cult of personality
Like Mussolini and Kennedy
I'm the cult of personality

The following song lyric is frighteningly prescient:

Neon lights, Nobel Prize
When a mirror speaks, the reflection lies

Charismatic leaders often become so beloved by the people that these leaders are still beloved even when they exploit the people:

I exploit you, still you love me
I told you one and one make three
I'm the cult of personality
Like Joseph Stalin and Gandhi

Unfortunately, even those who know better tend to praise charismatic leaders who seek to increase their power. Dull and colorless American Presidents such as Harding, Coolidge, Cleveland, and Tyler are dismissed despite how they stood up for Constitutional sized small government while charismatic tyrants on both sides of the political spectrum like Lincoln, Wilson, and FDR are lionized. As lovers of freedom, we must resist giving away our freedom to anyone, regardless of the justification and regardless of the hypnotic charisma that that individual may possess:

You gave me fortune
You gave me fame
You gave me power in your God's name
I'm every person you need to be
I'm the cult of personality

9. “Uprising” Muse (2009)

In 2009, the veteran British rock group Muse delivered a conspiratorial bass thumping anthem aimed right at the heart of the New World Order. In just a few words, “Uprising” begins by setting the listener in a dystopian society:

Paranoia is in bloom,
The PR, transmissions will resume
They'll try to, push drugs that keep us all dumbed down
And hope that, we will never see the truth around

As Orwellian and fantastical as this sounds, it is far more real than we might like to believe. The mainstream media at this point hardly gives unbiased news anymore. Now it is really nothing but government “PR” that is given to us electronically in “transmissions.” And with fluoride, Ritalin, and countless psychiatric medications that have proliferated, it is easy to see how we are all being dumbed down.

In addition, the government encourages consumerism. Shop, shop, shop, or the terrorists win! It also keeps the truth from us with bureaucratic red tape. Unless one is willing to jump through all the hoops to successfully file a Freedom of Information Act request, one is unlikely to be able to learn anything about the government’s machinations. And when a whistleblower dares to tell us the truth, he or she will invariably wind up imprisoned or exiled.

Another promise, another seed
Another, packaged lie to keep us trapped in greed
And all the, green belts wrapped around our minds
And endless red tape to keep the truth confined

In this growing technological totalitarian age, a patriot must be awake and must be willing to sacrifice and fight for his or her freedom:

Interchanging mind control
Come let the, revolution takes its toll
If you could, flick the switch and open your third eye
You'd see that, we should never be afraid to die

Unlike many dystopian works of art, “Uprising” is optimistic that those espousing truth and freedom will prevail:

Rise up and take the power back
It's time the, fat cats had a heart attack
You know that, their time's coming to an end
We have to, unify and watch our flag ascend

A rousing alternative rock cross between the theme from “Doctor Who” and Black Sabbath’s “Children of the Grave,” Muse’s “Uprising” inspires:

They will not force us
They will stop degrading us
They will not control us
We will be victorious
So come on

10. “War Pigs” Black Sabbath

 

Popular music is filled with war protest songs. Many of these were written by hippie types during the Vietnam War. None of these can match the unadulterated power of Black Sabbaths' “War Pigs.” The opening track from their debut album Paranoid created a chugging heavy metal analogy between war and black magic:

Generals gathered in their masses,
just like witches at black masses.
Evil minds that plot destruction,
sorcerers of death's construction.
In the fields the bodies burning,
as the war machine keeps turning.
Death and hatred to mankind,
poisoning their brainwashed minds...Oh lord yeah!

It is amazing that nobody prior to Geezer Butler had compared generals to witches at black masses. The truth of the matter is that while “witches” who were tortured and executed were innocent women who were scapegoated by misogynists, militarists who sacrifice the lives of others for their own narrow and selfish aims are the true Satanic forces. These violent despots sacrifice the lives of others while never putting themselves in danger:

Politicians hide themselves away
They only started the war
Why should they go out to fight?
They leave that role to the poor

Time will tell on their power minds
Making war just for fun
Treating people just like pawns in chess
Wait `till their judgment day comes, yeah!

The song concludes with Ozzy presenting the warmongers as damned creatures who will finally face judgment for their evil deeds. Unfortunately, this metaphor, while attractive, is only a metaphor. The only way that the War Pigs can be defeated is by refusing to give them the power to wage their wars. Unfortunately, Congress has unconstitutionally given the President power to wage war like an Emperor and the people have willingly allowed this by ignoring this when the President was from their favored party. When President Bush was acting like a dictator, Republicans yawned. Now that President Obama is doing it, Democrats are yawning. Unless the people put principles ahead of party, then “War Pigs” will continue to triumph.

Now in darkness, world stops turning,
as you hear the bodies burning.
No more war pigs of the power,
hand of god has struck the hour.
Day of judgment, god is calling,
on their knees the war pigs crawling.
Begging mercy for their sins,
Satan, laughing, spreads his wings...Oh lord, yeah! 

(For a detailed discussion of an array of libertarian issues, read my new book The Real Culture War: Individualism vs. Collectivism & How Bill O’Reilly Got It All Wrong. Available now on Amazon in both print and Kindle.)