I want to build a "progressive" music collection. Can you help? Here are my beginning four:

[DuaneBidoux]

John Lennon: Imagine

Phil Collins: Another Day in Paradise

Sly and the Family Stone: Everyday People

Bruce Hornsby: The Way it Is


Please, add away!!!


Also while you're at it, the *single* most influential book in the development of your progressive thinking. Mine was Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle" that made me understand the conditions given the American worker by unregulated capitalism at the turn of the century.

[Rabrrrrrr]

1. I wouldn't consider any of those progressive.

Old Phil Collins' era Genesis, definitely, but absolutely not his solo stuff.

For good prog rock, gotta go with Yes, ELP, Genesis (pre-Abacab), King Crimson, Kraftwerk, Jethro Tull, Rush... and many others.

[Redbear]

3. Yeah but he means progressive, not progressive

[DuaneBidoux]

30. You don't think the message in "The way it is" is progressive?

Or "Another Day in Paradise"

why exactly?

[Rabrrrrrr]

33. I misunderstood earlier - I thought he meant progressive music,

not progressive political content in the lyrics.

[muriel_volestrangler]

43. Progressive progressive - "Get 'Em Out by Friday" by Genesis

about property development companies forcing out tenants. It's about the only progressively-messaged song by Genesis I can think of.

[opiate69]

2. Jackson Browne - "Lives in the Balance"..also..

Paul Simon - "Boy in the Bubble"
Black Sabbath - "War Pigs"
Rage Against the Machine - "Know Your Enemy"

Born with insight and a raised fist
A witness to the slit wrist, thats with
As we move into 92
Still in a room without a view
Ya got to know
Ya got to know
That when I say go, go, go
Amp up and amplify
Defy
I'm a brother with a furious mind
Action must be taken
We don't need the key
Well break in

Something must be done
About vengeance, a badge and a gun
cause Ill rip the mike, rip the stage, rip the system
I was born to rage against em

Fist in ya face, in the place
And Ill drop the style clearly
Know your enemy...know your enemy!

Yeah!

Hey yo, and dick with this...uggh!
Word is born
Fight the war, fuck the norm
Now I got no patience
So sick of complacence
With the d the e the f the I the a the n the c the e
Mind of a revolutionary
So clear the lane
The finger to the land of the chains
What? the land of the free?
Whoever told you that is your enemy!

Now something must be done
About vengeance, a badge and a gun
cause Ill rip the mike, rip the stage, rip the system
I was born to rage against em

Now action must be taken
We dont need the key
Well break in

Ive got no patience now
So sick of complacence now
Ive got no patience now
So sick of complacence now
Sick of sick of sick of sick of you
Time has come to pay...
Know your enemy!

Come on!
Yes I know my enemies
Theyre the teachers who taught me to fight me
Compromise, conformity, assimilation, submission
Ignorance, hypocrisy, brutality, the elite
All of which are american dreams

[mentalsolstice]

4. Here's one for you

"The Saints are Coming", originally by the Skids, but I like the version by Green Day/U2 which was recorded to benefit NOLA musicians.


Book: "The Quiet American" by Graham Greene. although about pre-war Viet Nam, it's very relevant today.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

5. Not sure I know what your definition is, BUT...

Birtles, Shorrock & Goble - Deep Water

Joni Mitchell - Urge For Going

Focus - Sylvia

Golden Earring - Long Blond Animal (best version- disc 1 of Last Blast Of The Century)

Harry Nilsson - Jump Into The Fire


Just a few worth looking for- trust me!

Perhaps "eclectic" would be a better word? :evilgrin:

[enigmatic]

6. "The Power And The Glory"- Phil Ochs

Nothing better:

Come and take a walk with me thru this green and growing land
Walk thru the meadows and the mountains and the sand
Walk thru the valleys and the rivers and the plains
Walk thru the sun and walk thru the rain

Here is a land full of power and glory
Beauty that words cannot recall
Oh her power shall rest on the strength of her freedom
Her glory shall rest on us all (on us all)

From Colorado, Kansas, and the Carolinas too
Virginia and Alaska, from the old to the new
Texas and Ohio and the California shore
Tell me, who could ask for more?

Yet she's only as rich as the poorest of her poor
Only as free as the padlocked prison door
Only as strong as our love for this land
Only as tall as we stand

But our land is still troubled by men who have to hate
They twist away our freedom & they twist away our fate
Fear is their weapon and treason is their cry
We can stop them if we try..

***

As for a book, probably "The Razor's Edge" by Somerset Maughm, but it has more to do w/ inward "progressive" ideas than anything else..

[LeftyMom]

7. Ministry "No W" and "NWO"

Pretty much every Rage Against the Machine song, and some of the stuff on the cover album (they do a great "Ghost of Tom Joad")
Rise Against "State of the Union"
Just about every Anti Flag song except for "Spaz's House Destruction Party"

[LSK]

8. Dixie Chicks - Taking The Long Way

As far as books go, try Howard Zinn's Peoples History of the United States

[kariatari]

9. You mean "progressive" political, not like...prog rock, right?

[DuaneBidoux]

31. Exactly...a progressive message of democracy, tolerance, peace, justice, etc.

[hibbing]

10. Bob

Dylan.....enough said...

Not sure what you are asking here. If you are asking about music with a progressive message, it may be old, but you can't go wrong with Dylan.

[kariatari]

12. "progressive rock" is....r/o

typically rock that is infused with other genres like jazz, opera, etc. It was huge in the late 60's/70's. Think Pink Floyd, Uriah Heep, some of The Who (Tommy...), Geneis to a certain extent....Radiohead could almost be classified under that umbrella. Certainly they wouldn't be around had it not been for "prog rock" bands of the 60's/70's

[fishwax]

13. but I think the OP means progressive socially, rather than prog rock as a genre

based on the sample tracks provided :)

(and I love that you put Pink Floyd in the list, because I've been attacked on more than one occasion for listing them in the progressive rock category :thumbsup: :) )

On edit: Duh, I see now that you had already pointed the prog/progressive distinction out. :silly:

[Adenoid_Hynkel]

11. anything by steve earle

.

[hellbound-liberal]

23. I agree! Steve Earle is a must have! Anti-war, anti-death penalty, and pro-union

I have Just an American Boy, his live CD containing many of his greatest hits including America 6.0, John Walker's Blues, Jerusalem, Conspiracy Theory and Christmas in Washington (written after Clinton's re-election, I believe):


Christmas In Washington

It's Christmastime in Washington
The Democrats rehearsed
Gettin' into gear for four more years
Things not gettin' worse
The Republicans drink whiskey neat
And thanked their lucky stars
They said, 'He cannot seek another term
They'll be no more FDRs'
I sat home in Tennessee
Staring at the screen
With an uneasy feeling in my chest
And I'm wonderin' what it means

Chorus:
So come back Woody Guthrie
Come back to us now
Tear your eyes from paradise
And rise again somehow
If you run into Jesus
Maybe he can help you out
Come back Woody Guthrie to us now

I followed in your footsteps once
Back in my travelin' days
Somewhere I failed to find your trail
Now I'm stumblin' through the haze
But there's killers on the highway now
And a man can't get around
So I sold my soul for wheels that roll
Now I'm stuck here in this town

Chorus

There's foxes in the hen house
Cows out in the corn
The unions have been busted
Their proud red banners torn
To listen to the radio
You'd think that all was well
But you and me and Cisco know
It's going straight to hell

So come back, Emma Goldman
Rise up, old Joe Hill
The barracades are goin' up
They cannot break our will
Come back to us, Malcolm X
And Martin Luther King
We're marching into Selma
As the bells of freedom ring

Chorus


http://www.amazon.com/Just-American-Boy-Steve-Earle/dp/B0000AOV39/ref=sr_1_18/104-3592646-8263951?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1174142979&sr=8-18

[GoneOffShore]

36. I love Joan Baez's version of that

She's a fave for me from way back.

[kariatari]

14. If you're looking at that kind of progressive...then...

Bruce Springsteen - Devils & Dust
Bright Eyes - Lifted (or the story is in the soil keep your ear to the ground);
Desaparecidos - Read Music/Speak Spanish

Come to think of it...these tracks are all really depressing and will probably make you want to gouge your eyes out. They are brilliant, but infuriating.

Oh...and My progressive book - Grapes of Wrath

[ghostsofgiants]

17. "I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning" is a more poitical album than "Lifted."

[dEMOK]

15. Dylan - "The Times They Are A-Changin"...

Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone.
If your time to you
Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon
For the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who
That it's namin'.
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway
Don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There's a battle outside
And it is ragin'.
It'll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don't criticize
What you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is
Rapidly agin'.
Please get out of the new one
If you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'.

The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is
Rapidly fadin'.
And the first one now
Will later be last
For the times they are a-changin'.

[ghostsofgiants]

16. Okay, the style(s) of music might not be your cup o' tea, but... (With videos/MP3 downloads)

Bright Eyes- "When The President Talks To God"

Bright Eyes - "Road To Joy" (And most of their "I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning" album.)

Desaparecidos - "The Happiest Place On Earth" (Or basically all of their "Read Music, Speak Spanish" album.)

Desaparecidos - "Popn' Off At the F"

The (International) Noise Conspiracy - "Smash It Up" (ANd pretty much all of their other music.)

Propagandhi - "Die Jugend Marschiert" (And any of their music, really.)

Cursive -"Flag abnd Family" (And most of their "Happy Hollow" album.)

Dead Kennedys - "Kill The Poor" (Again, almost all of their stuff.)

Rx Bandits - "Overcome" (Sound quality isn't great.)

Company Flow - "Patriotism"

The Coup - "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jf_8pHCqf4">We Are The Ones" (Pretty much all of their stuff, really.)

Sweatshop Union - "The Thing About It" (The video was deleted from YouTube...fucking YouTube.)

Sweatshop Union - "US"

Sweatshop Union - "Close To Home"

Sage Francis - "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yv1H197pL8M">Slow Down Gandhi" (Set to a AMV of The Boondocks.)

Sage Francis - "Makeshift Patriot"

I could go on and on and on.

[u4ic]

18. Here's some more

Joni Mitchell - Woodstock, Big Yellow Taxi,
Buffy Ste Marie - Universal Soldier
Neil Young - Keep on Rockin' in the Free World


Pete Seeger...

[pepperbear]

19. here are but a few

what's so funny about peace love and undertanding/oliver's army/shipbuilding-elvis costello
start the revolution-jefferson airplane
power to the people-john lennon
crazy horses-the osmonds*

and of course...the consummate progressive song:

what's going on-marvin gaye


*for real...it's an anti pollution song they wrote themselves

[taterguy]

20. The Mermaid Avenue CDs by Woody Guthrie, Wilco & B. Bragg

The story behind the CDs is that Guthrie wrote a lot of lyrics at the end of his life and never got around to recording them. His estate allowed Wilco and Billy Bragg to compose new music for the lyrics. Absolutely amazing stuff. Even though some of the songs are about events that took place half a century ago it's still very timely.

[GenDem]

21. James McMurtry's -- "You Can't Make it Here Anymore"

Represents the decline of the middle class -- I think one of the most significant political/protest songs of these modern times.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTW0y6kazWM

[seemunkee]

22. Edwin Starr - War

[Drum]

24. Rage Against the Machine...."Wake Up"

and bookwise: Orwell's "1984"

[WritingIsMyReligion]

25. Anything by Bruce Springsteen.

:)

[Redneck Socialist]

26. Anything by Bruce Cockburn. n/t

[flvegan]

27. Rise Against, Anti-Flag, Rage Against the Machine

The most recent offerings from the Beastie Boys are very progressive.

As for the book, "Wherever You Go, There You Are" by Jon Kabat-Zinn helped to swing my entire mindset around.

[terrya]

28. Anything by Billy Bragg

[Burma Jones]

29. This suprised me, but From the Pointer Sisters....Neutron Dance

I don't want to take it anymore
I'll just stay here locked behind the door
Just no time to stop and get away
'Cause I work so hard to make it everyday

Whoo oooh
Whoo oooh

There's no money falling from the sky
'Cause a man took my heart and robbed me blind
Someone stole my brand new Chevrolet
And the rent is due, I got no place to stay

Whoo oooh
Whoo oooh

(Chorus:)
And it's hard to say
Just how some things never change
And it's hard to find
Any strength to draw the line
I'm just burning doin' the neutron dance
I'm just burning doin' the neutron dance

Industry don't pay a price that's fair
All the common people breathing filthy air
Roof caved in on all the simple dreams
And to get ahead your heart starts pumping schemes

Chorus

Whoo oooh
Whoo oooh
I'm on fire
I'm on fire

Chorus

I know there's a pot of gold for me
All I got to do is just believe
I'm so happy doin' the neutron dance
And I'm just burning doin' the neutron dance
I'm so happy doin' the neutron dance
I'm just burning doin' the neutron dance




The Book that had the most to do with becoming "Progressive" - The Bible - Particularly the Gospels.

[leftofthedial]

32. Brucke Cockburn

Stealing Fire

and/or

Big Circumstance

[Arugula Latte]

34. Ship of Fools by World Party

Kingdom Come by World Party

Streets of Philadelphia by Bruce Springsteen

What's So Funny (About Peace Love and Understanding) by Elvis Costello

Town Called Malice by The Jam

In Dulce Decorum by The Damned

One by U2

Peace Train by Cat Stevens

[Mojambo]

35. You could get some Bad Religion in there. n/t

[Goblinmonger]

37. Green Day "American Idiot"

Sex Pistols for some real punk.
Anything from the Dead Kennedys. "Kill the Poor" was mentioned, but the multiple versions of "California Uber Alles" are good
Disposable Heroes of Hip Hopracy (am I spelling that band title right"
Digable Planets
Arrested Development
NoMeansNo
Fugazi

[MAGICBULLET]

38. Anti-war Soul - Roberta Flack - Compared To What

written by Eugene McDaniels and performed by many - Roberta's version is great

<http://play.rhapsody.com/robertaflack/firsttake/comparedtowhat?didAutoplayBounce=true>

Love the lie and lie the love
Hangin' on, with a push and shove
Possession is the motivation
that is hangin' up the God-damn nation
Looks like we always end up in a rut (everybody now!)
Tryin' to make it real — compared to what?

Slaughterhouse is killin' hogs
Twisted children killin' frogs
Poor dumb rednecks rollin' logs
Tired old ladies kissin' dogs
Hate the human, love that stinking mutt (I can't stand it!)
Try to make it real — compared to what?

The President, he's got his war
Folks don't know just what it's for
Nobody gives us rhyme or reason
Have one doubt, they call it treason
We're chicken-feathers, all without one gut (God damn it!)
Tryin' to make it real — compared to what? (Sock it to me, now)

Church on Sunday, sleep and nod
Tryin' to duck the wrath of God
Preacher's fillin' us with fright
Tryin' to tell us what he thinks is right
He really got to be some kind of nut (I can't use it!)
Tryin' to make it real — compared to what?

Where's that bee and where's that honey?
Where's my God and where's my money
Unreal values, crass distortion
Unwed mothers need abortion
Kind of brings to mind ol' young King Tut (He did it now)
Tried to make it real — compared to what?!

[Richardo]

39. Geez you kids: Buffalo Springfield "For What It's Worth"

CSNY: 'Ohio'
Chicago: 'It Better End Soon'
Paul Simon: 'America' and 'American Tune'
Steely Dan: 'King of the World'
Temptations: 'Ball of Confusion'


Just off the top of my head.

[WritingIsMyReligion]

41. "King of the World" is excellent, but not totally progressive.

Anti-nuclear-war perhaps...

:D

[Swede]

40. What it's like - Everlast

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4z9f9Eybv4I

[Bjorn Against]

42. Roger Waters - Amused to Death

In my opinion it is the greatest album of all time. It may take a few listens before you really get into it, but once you do you will want to hear it over and over again. The lyrics are absolutely incredible, and very relevant to what is going on today.

[NewJeffCT]

44. U2, REM

definitely progressive messages.

[NashVegas]

45. Tracy Chapman - Talkin' bout Revolution