Which songs would you add to a playlist of 80s alternative political songs...

[NewWaveChick1981]

:bounce: :toast: These are some of my favorites. They were (mostly) written for the Reagan era, but they're even more appropriate now:

President Gas - The Psychedelic Furs
Bonzon Goes to Bitburg - The Ramones
Ship of Fools - World Party
Anarchy in the UK - The Sex Pistols (although technically this is late 70s)
Holiday in Cambodia - The Dead Kennedys
The Stand - The Alarm
War Weary World - The Call
Arabian Knights - Siouxsie and the Banshees

Pretty much anything by U2

Add away! :hi:

[TOhioLiberal]

1. Hmmm...

...how about 'It's a Mistake' by Men at Work? Or is that too mainstream?

[NewWaveChick1981]

5. I'll allow that one.

:rofl: :hi: It's a good song!

[XNASA]

2. 'Melt the Guns' - XTC

[NewWaveChick1981]

4. OMG, yes!

:hi: Forgot about that one... :D

[HoneyBee]

22. And, "Living Through Another Cuba" also by XTC

[Arugula Latte]

65. Welcome to DU, HoneyBee!

:hi:

[LynneSin]

68. I love that whole album

:woohoo:

[Richardo]

3. Party at Ground Zero

Fishbone.

[NewWaveChick1981]

6. Excellent!

:hi:

[HoneyBee]

7. Gosh... a bunch by The Dead Kennedys

"We've Got A Bigger Problem Now"

Last call for alcohol.
Last call for your freedom of speech.
Drink up. Happy hour is now enforced by law.
Don't forget our house special, it's called a Trickie Dickie Screwdriver.
It's got one part Jack Daniels, two parts purple Kool-Aid,
and a jigger of formaldehyde
from the jar with Hitler's brain in it we got in the back storeroom.
Happy trails to you. Happy trails to you.

I am Emperor Ronald Reagan
Born again with fascist cravings
Still, you made me president

Human rights will soon go 'way
I am now your Shah today
Now I command all of you
Now you're going to pray in school
I'll make sure they're Christian too

California Uber alles
Uber alles California

Ku Klux Klan will control you
Still you think it's natural
Nigger knockin' for the master race
Still you wear the happy face

You closed your eyes, can't happen here
Alexander Haig is near
Vietnam won't come back you say
Join the army or you will pay

California Uber alles
Uber alles California

Yeah, that's it. Just relax.
Have another drink, few more pretzels, little more MSG.
Turn on those Dallas Cowboys on your TV.
Lock your doors. Close your mind.
It's time for the two-minute warning.

Welcome to 1984
Are you ready for the third world war?!?
You too will meet the secret police
They'll draft you and they'll jail your niece

You'll go quitely to boot camp
They'll shoot you dead, make you a man
Don't you worry, it's for a cause
Feeding global corporations' claws

Die on our brand new poison gas
El Salvador or Afghanistan
Making money for President Reagan
And all the friends of President Reagan

California Uber alles
Uber alles California

[NewWaveChick1981]

9. Absolutely!

:hi: And I almost forgot about "When the Shit Hits the Fan" by the Circle Jerks....

[HoneyBee]

11. Yes, from the BEST soundtrack ever.... "Repo Man"!!

[NewWaveChick1981]

46. Yes, indeed!

:hi: Welcome to DU, honeybee! You've got some GREAT songs listed in this thread! :bounce: :toast:

[HoneyBee]

60. Thanks!! Also by the Circle Jerks and also that soundtrack... "Coup D'Etat"

But, that cut of "When the Shit Hits the Fan" is pure gold.

[HoneyBee]

8. Yet another Dead Kennedys

"Stars And Stripes Of Corruption"

Finally got to Washington in the middle of the night
I couldn't wait
I headed straight for the Capitol Mall
My heart began to pound
Yahoo! It really exists
The American International Pictures logo

I looked up at that Capitol Building
Couldn't help but wonder why
I felt like saying "Hello, old friend"

Walked up the hill to touch it
Then I unzipped my pants
And pissed on it when nobody was looking

Like a great eternal Klansman
With his two flashing red eyes
Turn around he's always watching
The Washington monument pricks the sky
With flags like pubic hair ringed 'round the bottom

The symbols of our heritage
Lit up proudly in the night
Somehow fits to see the homeless people
Passed out on the lawn

So this is where it happens
The power games and bribes
All lobbying for a piece of ass

Of the stars and stripes of corruption
Makes me feel so ashamed
To be an American
When we're too stuck up to learn from our mistakes
Trying to start another Viet Nam
Whilke fiddling while Rome burns at home
The Boss says, "You're laid off. Blame the Japanese"
"America's back," alright
At the game it plays the worst
Strip mining the world like a slave plantation

No wonder others hate us
And the Hitlers we handpick
To bleed their people dry
For our evil empire

The drug we're fed
To make us like it
Is God and country with a band

People we know who should know better
Howl, "America riles. Let's go to war!"
Business scams are what's worth dying for

Are the Soviets our worst enemy?
We're destroying ourselves instead
Who cares about our civil rights
As long as I get paid?

The blind Me-Generation
Doesn't care if life's a lie

so easily used, so proud to enforce

The stars and stripes of corruption
Let's bring it all down!
Tell me who's the real patriots
The Archie Bunker slobs waving flags?
Or the people with the guts to work
For some real change
Rednecks and bombs don't make us strong
We loot the world, yet we can't even feed ourselves
Our real test of strength is caring
Not the toys of war we sell the world
Just carry on, thankful to be farmed like worms
Old glory for a blanket
As you suck on your thumbs

Real freedom scares you
'Cos it means responsibility

So you chicken out and threaten me

Saying, "Love it or leave it"
I'll get beat up if I criticize it
You say you'll fight to the death
To save your worthless flag

If you want a banana republic that bad
Why don't you go move to one
But what can just one of us do?
Against all that money and power
Trying to crush us into roaches?

We don't destroy society in a day
Until we change ourselves first
From the inside out

We can start by not lying so much
And treating other people like dirt
It's easy not to base our lives
On how much we can scam

And you know
It feels good to lift that monkey off our backs

I'm thankful I live in a place
Where I can say the things I do
Without being taken out and shot
So I'm on guard against the goons
Trying to take my rights away
We've got to rise above the need for cops and laws

Let kids learn communication
Instead of schools pushing competition
How about more art and theater instead of sports?

People will always do drugs
Let's legalize them
Crime drops when the mob can't price them
Budget's in the red?
Let's tax religion

No one will do it for us
We'll just have to fix ourselves
Honesty ain't all that hard
Just put Rambo back inside your pants
Causing trouble for the system is much more fun

Thank you for the toilet paper
But your flag is meaningless to me
Look around, we're all people
Who needs countries anyway?

Our land, I love it too
I think I love it more than you
I care enough to fight

The stars and stripes of corruption
Let's bring it all down!
If we don't try
If we just lie
If we can't find
A way to do it better than this
Who will?

[XNASA]

10. 'Love Vigilante' - New Order

[Reverend_Smitty]

12. Born in the USA...

It's great because Reagan was too stupid to realize that it was a protest song about his own administration

on edit
not exactly alternative but I love the story behind it

[NewWaveChick1981]

13. Oh, and Life in Wartime by The Talking Heads...

:hi:

[Goblinmonger]

14. Dead Kennedys AGAIN--California Uber Alles

The best part are the various versions by various artists that update the content.

[HoneyBee]

25. Ohh... and "Kill The Poor"

The Dead Kennedys were the shit.

[slj0101]

52. 'We've Got a Bigger Problem Now" is the definitive version.

[two gun sid]

15. Billy Bragg - Between the Wars...

really, anything from Billy Bragg in the '80's.

[CBHagman]

23. I second that.

"It Says Here," from the same album, is another good one:

http://www.musicsonglyrics.com/B/billybragglyrics/billybraggitsaysherelyrics.htm

And I have to give a shout out to Martin Stephenson and the Daintees for "Left Us to Burn," from the Salutation Road album:

http://www.answers.com/topic/salutation-road

http://www.gohastings.com/catalog/artist/artist.asp?Ctrb_Id=23005237

[asthmaticeog]

16. 50,000,000 hardcore bands can't be wrong:

"I Hate Reagan" by, um, shit, just name any ol' hardcore band, they probably had a tune by that title.

[taterguy]

17. The Othermothers: Rodeo: 88 Seconds

That song about when the Klan massacred members of the CWP in Greensboro.

Will add other suggestions when not distracted by my day job

[RedStateShame]

18. A few suggestions:

"Bed are Burning" - Midnight Oil
"You Are the Government" - Bad Religion
"Common Man" - The Blasters
"The Message" - Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five
"Fight the Power" - Public Enemy

[HoneyBee]

19. "99 Luftballons," by Nena

From CNN: "In the lyrics, a boy and girl innocently release a batch of balloons into the air; confused by these flying objects, international governments panic, triggering a nuclear holocaust. "It's all over and I'm standing pretty/In this dust that was a city," lamented the band's lead singer, Gabriele Kerner."

[HoneyBee]

20. Depeche Mode - "People Are People"

The video depicted marching Russian soldiers.

[HoneyBee]

21. "Wild Wild West," by Escape Club

"Sitting in the back room waiting for the big boom" "Gotta live it up, live it up, Ronny's got a new gun."

[taterguy]

24. The Replacements Gary's Got a Boner

Best song ever written about someone who missed their chance to be President because of Donna Rice and hanky panky

[Strawman]

26. that's a great one

"Gary's got a soft-on. But not for very long long long"

[momophile]

27. 19

by Paul Hardcastle.

you remember. the song about the average age in Vietnam War as 19.

[fudge stripe cookays]

39. No, it's "N-N-N-N-N-N-Nineteen"

:D

[momophile]

28. Ball of Confusion as covered by Love and Rockets

[momophile]

29. New Dress by Depeche Mode

[momophile]

30. The Lebanon by Human League

[HoneyBee]

31. "Die For Your Government" by Anti-Flag

[momophile]

32. Everybody Wants to Rule the World

Tears for Fears

[Strawman]

33. Almost anything by Midnight Oil

[HoneyBee]

34. "Join the Army" - Suicidal Tendencies

[HoneyBee]

35. Last one, I swear!!! And it's a good one.

The Violent Femmes - "Old Mother Reagan"
Old mother reagan
And her crew
Took away
From me and you
I hope she goes far away
She better go far away
Yknow it aint right
When its all wrong
This is the old mother reagan
Protest song
Old mother reagan
Shes so dumb
Shes so dangerous
How come...
Old mother reagan went to heaven
But at the pearly gates
She was stopped!

[blogslut]

36. I did a lot of drugs back then, so my brain is fried

Regardless, I'll do my best to add songs not already mnntioned:

"Two Tribes" - Frankie Goes to Hollywood
"World Destruction" - John Lydon & Afrika Bambaataa
"Free Nelson Mandela" - The Specials
"Sun City" - Artists United Against Apartheid
"O Superman" - Laurie Anderson
"Bonzo Goes to Washington" - Bootsy Collins
"Angels of Deception" - the The
"Burn Down the Malls" - Mojo Nixon
"Land of Confusion" - Genesis
"Talkin' Out the Side of Your Neck" - Cameo
"Nineteen" - Paul Hardcastle
"If I had a Rocket Launcher" - Bruce Cockburn

There's more but my brain is tired. :)

[SecularMotion]

37. Rockin' the Casbah - The Clash

[Beausoleil]

45. Pretty much anything by The Clash!

n/t

[masshole]

38. Little Boy Soldiers - The Jam

Its funny how you never knew what my name was,
Our only contact was a form for the election.
These days I find that you don't listen,
These days I find that we're out of touch,
These days I find that I'm too busy,
So why the attention now you want my assistance -
What have you done for me.

You've gone and got yourself in trouble,
No you want me to help you out.

These days I find that I can't be bothered,
These days I find that its all too much,
To pick up a gun and shoot a stranger,
But I've got no choice so here I come - war games.

I'm up on the hills, playing little boy soldiers,
Reconnaissance duty up at 5:30.
Shoot shoot shoot and kill the natives,
You're one of us and we love you for that.

Think of honour, Queen and country,
You're a blessed son of the British Empire,
God's on our side and so is Washington.

Come out on the hills with the little boy soldiers.

Come on outside - I'll sing you a lullaby,
Or tell a tale of how goodness prevailed.

We ruled the world - we killed and robbed,
The fucking lot - but we don't feel bad.

It was done beneath the flag of democracy,
You'll believe and I do - yes I do - yes I do -
yes I do -

These days I find that I can't be bothered,
To argue withthem well what's the point,
Better to take your shots and drop down dead,
then they send you home in a pine overcoat

With a letter to your mum

Saying find enclosed one son - one medal and a note -
to say he won.

[NewWaveChick1981]

40. These are all great!

Thanks! :bounce: :toast: :woohoo:

[VOX]

41. "The Walls Came Down" by The Call. Eerily prophetic...

Well they blew the horns
And the walls came down
They'd all been warned
And the walls came down
They just stood there laughing
They're not laughing anymore
The walls came down

Sanctuary fades
Congregation splits
Nightly military raids
The congregation splits
It's a song of assassins
Ringin' in your ears
We got terrorist thinking
Playing on fears

Well they blew the horns
And the walls came down
They'd all been warned
But the walls came down
I don't think there are any Russians
And there ain't no Yanks
Just corporate criminals
Playin' with tanks

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

42. "51st State" by New Model Army -nt

[jus_the_facts]

43. Cult of Personality ~ Living Color

Look into 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
Cult of Personality
Cult of Personality

Neon lights, A Nobel Prize
The mirror speaks, the reflection lies
You don't have to follow me
Only you can set me free
I sell the things you need to be
I'm the smiling face on your T.V.
I'm the Cult of Personality
I exploit you still you love me

I tell you one and one makes three
I'm the Cult of Personality
Like Joseph Stalin and Gandi
I'm the Cult of Personality
Cult of Personality
Cult of Personality

Neon lights a Nobel Prize
A leader speaks, that leader dies
You don't have to follow me
Only you can set you free

You gave me fortune
You gave me fame
You me power in your God's name
I'm every person you need to be
I'm the Cult of Personality
Look into 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
Cult of Personality
Cult of Personality

Neon lights, A Nobel Prize
The mirror speaks, the reflection lies
You don't have to follow me
Only you can set me free
I sell the things you need to be
I'm the smiling face on your T.V.
I'm the Cult of Personality
I exploit you still you love me

I tell you one and one makes three
I'm the Cult of Personality
Like Joseph Stalin and Gandi
I'm the Cult of Personality
Cult of Personality
Cult of Personality

Neon lights a Nobel Prize
A leader speaks, that leader dies
You don't have to follow me
Only you can set you free

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

[jobycom]

51. That's an all-time great. nt

[jus_the_facts]

55. Loved the video back in the day too...

:hi:

[fudge stripe cookays]

44. Here's a few...

"Stand Down Margaret"- English Beat (about Margaret Thatcher)
"Going Down to Liverpool"- Bangles (& Katrina and the Waves)- discusses the unemployment in Britain

[speedoo]

47. Dylan: "Political World"

Not sure if it's alternative, but it's certainly political. (It's on "Oh Mercy")

We live in a political world,
Love don't have any place.
We're living in times where men commit crimes
And crime don't have a face

We live in a political world,
Icicles hanging down,
Wedding bells ring and angels sing,
clouds cover up the ground.

We live in a political world,
Wisdom is thrown into jail,
It rots in a cell, is misguided as hell
Leaving no one to pick up a trail.

We live in a political world
Where mercy walks the plank,
Life is in mirrors, death disappears
Up the steps into the nearest bank.

We live in a political world
Where courage is a thing of the past
Houses are haunted, children are unwanted
The next day could be your last.

We live in a political world.
The one we can see and can feel
But there's no one to check, it's all a stacked deck,
We all know for sure that it's real.

We live in a political world
In the cities of lonesome fear,
Little by little you turn in the middle
But you're never why you're here.

We live in a political world
Under the microscope,
You can travel anywhere and hang yourself there
You always got more than enough rope.

We live in a political world
Turning and a'thrashing about,
As soon as you're awake, you're trained to take
What looks like the easy way out.

We live in a political world
Where peace is not welcome at all,
It's turned away from the door to wander some more
Or put up against the wall.

We live in a political world
Everything is hers or his,
Climb into the frame and shout God's name
But you're never sure what it is.

[Initech]

48. Flaming Lips - "Jesus Shooting Heroin"

[ceile]

49. "Seeds of Love" Tears for Fears

Most of their stuff was anti Thatcher.

[slj0101]

50. "Reaganomics" by DRI

Corrosion of Conformity- "Tell Me"
DOA- Fucked Up Ronny
Circle Jerks- Paid Vacation
Black Flag- Rise Above

[jobycom]

53. Three non-alternative ones: End of the Innocence, Land of Confusion, Civil War

by Don Henley, Genesis, and Guns n Roses, in order.

Surely REM had a couple...

[xmas74]

59. Like Orange Crush?

[NewJeffCT]

54. "Turn on the News" by Husker Du

and, most of their "Zen Arcade" album...

[MissMillie]

56. Probably not alternative enough for you

but I like Jackson Browne's "Lives in the Balance"

also Bruce Cockburn's "If I Had a Rocket Launcher"

[jus_the_facts]

57. Once In A Lifetime ~ Talking Heads

And you may find yourself living in a shotgun shack
And you may find yourself in another part of the world
And you may find yourself behind the wheel of a large automobile
And you may find yourself in a beautiful house, with a beautiful
wife
And you may ask yourself-Well...How did I get here?

Letting the days go by/let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by/water flowing underground
Into the blue again/after the money's gone
Once in a lifetime/water flowing underground.

And you may ask yourself
How do I work this?
And you may ask yourself
Where is that large automobile?
And you may tell yourself
This is not my beautiful house!
And you may tell yourself
This is not my beautiful wife!

Letting the days go by/let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by/water flowing underground
Into the blue again/after the money's gone
Once in a lifetime/water flowing underground.

Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...
Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...
Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...

Water dissolving...and water removing
There is water at the bottom of the ocean
Carry the water at the bottom of the ocean
Remove the water at the bottom of the ocean!

Letting the days go by/let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by/water flowing underground
Into the blue again/in the silent water
Under the rocks and stones/there is water underground.

Letting the days go by/let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by/water flowing underground
Into the blue again/after the money's gone
Once in a lifetime/water flowing underground.

And you may ask yourself
What is that beautiful house?
And you may ask yourself
Where does that highway go?
And you may ask yourself
Am I right?...Am I wrong?
And you may tell yourself
MY GOD!...WHAT HAVE I DONE?

Letting the days go by/let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by/water flowing underground
Into the blue again/in the silent water
Under the rocks and stones/there is water underground.

Letting the days go by/let the water hold me down
Letting the days go by/water flowing underground
Into the blue again/after the money's gone
Once in a lifetime/water flowing underground.

Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...
Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...
Same as it ever was...Same as it ever was...

[NewJeffCT]

Not sure how political it is, but "Nemesis" by Shriekback

I've loved the song since 1985, but still don't fully understand the lyrics.

[jus_the_facts]

58. One Thing Leads To Another ~ The Fixx

The deception with tact, just what are you trying to say?
You've got a blank face, which irritates
Communicate, pull out your party piece
you see dimensions in two
State your case with black or white
But when one little cross leads to shots, grit your teeth
You run for cover so discreet, why don't they:

Do what they say, say what you mean
One thing leads to another
You told me something wrong, I know I listen too long
But then one thing leads to another

The impression that you sell
Passes in and out like a scent
But the lung face that ynu see comes from living close
to your fears
If this is up then I'm up but you're running out of sight
You've seen your name on the walls
And when one little bump leads to shock miss a beat
You run for cover and there's heat, why don't they:

Do what they say, say what they mean
One thing leads to another
You told me something wrong, I know I listen too long
But then one thing leads to another.
One thing leads to another

Then it's easy to believe
Somebody's been lying to me
But when the wrong word goes in the right ear
I know why you've been lying to me
It's getting rough, off the cuff I've got to say enough's enough

Bigger the harder he falls
But when the wrong antidote is like a bulge on the throat
You run for cover in the heat why don't they

Do what they say, say what they mean
One thing leads to another
You told me something wrong, I know I listen too long
But then one thing leads to another
One thing leads to another

[Richard Steele]

61. "If I Had a Rocket Launcher", Bruce Cockburn. nm

[Richardo]

62. Perfect

:thumbsup:

[gbate]

73. That one is perfect. nm

[Arugula Latte]

63. In Dulce Decorum by the Damned

Lemme think of some others ...

[Arugula Latte]

64. Okay I'm back ... Others:

Free Nelson Mandela by the Specials

Sunday, Bloody Sunday by U2 (they were kinda alternative in the first part of the 80s)

Oliver's Army by Elvis Costello

Games Without Frontiers by Peter Gabriel

[NewJeffCT]

66. "John Wayne was a Nazi" by MDC

and just about anything else from their "Millions of Dead Cops" album. (I'm sure just the album name alone causes Freepers to have a stroke)

Corporate Deathburger
Multi-Death Corporation
etc, etc

[Redbear]

67. Two faves - REM's "Exhuming McCarthy"

and Elvis Costello's "(What's so Funny about) Peace,Love,and Understanding

[TheBaldyMan]

69. Killing an Arab by The Cure

along with all the other songs banned from being broadcast in Gulf War I.

[kysrsoze]

70. Consolidated - Friendly Fascism (the entire album) Lyrics sound like they were written today

Actually, it's from '91, but it's an awesome album, in the vein of Meat Beat Manifesto and extremely political. They trash Bush Sr. but it's even more appropriate today.

[kysrsoze]

71. Also check out Emergency Broadcast Network's "Commercial Entertainment Product"

[dembotoz]

72. army dreamers by Kate Bush