Songs to Co-Opt for Libertarian Ends (As Best You Can)
by Stag
- “Suspect Device” by Stiff Little Fingers; sample lyrics to sing loudly, but extra loudly during G-20 or other jackbooted thuggery life moments are “they take away our freedom/in the name of liberty/why can’t they all just clear off/why can’t they let us be? they make us feel indebted/for saving us from hell/and then they put us through it/ it’s time the baaaaaaaaaastards fell”
- “Riot Squad” by Cock Sparrer; “he’s in the riot squad/the shoot on sight squad”
- “Ain’t No Nobody’s Bizness If I Do” by Bessie Smith and other folks; fuck, it’s already downright libertarian with such lyrics: “If I should take a notion, to jump into the ocean/Ain’t nobody’s business if I do.”
- “Copperhead Road” by Steve Earle; libertarian fantasy lyrics “now the DEA’s got a chopper in the air/I wake up screaming like I’m still over there/I learned a thing or two from Charlie don’t you know/you better stay away from Copperhead road”
- “Ain’t It Enough” by Old Crow Medicine Show; if only for “let the prison walls crumble and the borders all tumble”
- “See How We Are” by X; for “there are men lost in jail/crowded 50 to a room” and other prisony lyrics.
- “Ruby Ridge” by Peter Rowan; non-racist, non-heavy-handed look at real human/government tragedy; “I got a wife and kids on Ruby Ridge/ please don’t shoot me down”
- “For An Old Kentucky Anarchist” by Erik Petersen/Mischief Brew/The Orphans; Do your own thing: “I never cared much for any government/ I got my Jesus for me when the time is right”
- “Fuck Tha Police” by NWA; shame about the sexism and homophobia, but: “searchin’ my car/lookin’ for the product/Thinkin’ every nigga is sellin’ narcotics”
- “Washington Bullets” by The Clash; it scorns the U.S. and wretched lefty regimes with “N’ if you can find a Afghan rebel/That the Moscow bullets missed/Ask him what he thinks of voting Communist/Ask the Dalai Lama in the hills of Tibet/How many monks did the Chinese get?”
- “Holiday in Cambodia” by the Dead Kennedys; slanders fashion rebels in the U.S. and tries to point out the heinousness of the Khmer Rouge: “Well you’ll work harder/ With a gun in your back/For a bowl of rice a day/Slave for soldiers/Till you starve/Then your head is skewered on a stake”
- “Minority” by Green Day; your basic I am me and I rule: “I don’t need your authority/Down with the moral majority/Cause I want to be the minority”
- “Bye Bye Policeman” by Jim Jackson, covered by the Carolina Chocolate Drops: I am never sure if the narrator kills the policeman or just waves him away from his gambling: “He said, “Stop there, boy! I’m the law, I command you!”/I said, “I ain’t thinkin’ ’bout that law you’re tryin’ to hand me”/
Lord, I was pickin’ ‘em up, layin’ ‘em down/Curvin’ in and curvin’ ’round/Policeman, bye-bye”
Any more suggestions? Depends on how loose you want to get with libertarianism, and how much shitty music you are willing to tolerate?
And, of course, how much you like Rand or Rush.
“Authority Song” by John Mellencamp.
“Well, I fight authority, Authority always wins
Well, I’ve been doing it since I was a young kid
I come out grinnin’
Well, I fight authority, Authority always wins”
That’s basically the whole song.
“Sunshine” by Jonathan Edwards.
“He can’t even run his own life
I’ll damned if he’ll run mine… (sunshine)”
Simple Song of Freedom by Bobby Darin:
Come and sing a simple song of freedom
Sing it like you’ve never sung before
Let it fill the air
Tell the people everywhere
We, the people here, don’t want a war
Also, all disco music. Ever.
+5 libertarian-suave points.
“Stairway to Heaven” by Led Zeppelin
“When she gets there she knows, if the stores are all closed
With a word she can get what she came for.”
Wink, wink. Nudge, nudge.
“National Hum” by the Constantines
They say ‘I hate that sound!
When the porcine jamboree hits my town,
I’ve got a few words for the graceless herd!
The state ain’t my shepherd!’
My three favorite libertarian songs, whenever this comes up (not in order):
“1 %”–Jane’s Addiction (recognizes govt as criminal gang to which people give fealty for the benefits it grants them)
“Beehive State”–Randy Newman (cold-eyed and sadly funny summation of what representative democracy is really like, and for)
“Why Can’t We Be Friends?”—War (bizarre series of non sequitors that manage to be anti-CIA, anti-welfare state, and anti-authority in an economic sense all in one song that most people don’t notice is any of those things)
“4th of July” by Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers
…
Did you ever think that if you’re not happy it’s because of you
And this, this is my life
On the 4th of July
It isn’t much, but at least it’s mine
Glad someone else has heard of SLF, and appreciates X.
Green Day has the serious drawback of inducing vomit. I should NEVER have gone to see them.
Not really for co-opting, but useful sometimes: Anarchy Burger by the Vandals.
DK has a few, of course. Ever heard the Mojo Nixon/Jello Biafra collaboration album, Prairie Home Invasion? If you don’t have Mojo Nixon then your shelf could need some fixin’.
I like Rush; maybe it’s because they have always been off on their own trip, and defy classification — and they’re good on so many levels. Otherwise, give me some Clash, X, etc.
Also, any Oingo Boingo BEFORE Dead Man’s Party is highly recommended, just because.
I’ve always thought the Clash’s “Know Your Rights” is one of the better libertarian anthems. “You have the right to free speech… as long as you’re not dumb enough to actually try it.”
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