His country was made up of singers, and no more right-wingers

[vovat]

There are apparently already books being published with a 2007 copyright date. What's up with that? And does that mean that they're public domain until then? Quick, someone print some cheap rival editions before January! {g}

As mentioned on the Frank Black Forum, there's a list on the Internet of the top 50 conservative rock songs. As might be expected, a lot of the choices don't make that much sense. The author's main qualification is that "[t]he lyrics must convey a conservative idea or sentiment, such as skepticism of government or support for traditional values." (Hmm, has anyone told today's self-styled conservatives that they're supposed to be skeptical of the government? :P) Here are some actual excerpts:

6. “Gloria,” by U2.
Just because a rock song is about faith doesn’t mean that it’s conservative. But what about a rock song that’s about faith and whose chorus is in Latin? That’s beautifully reactionary: “Gloria / In te domine / Gloria / Exultate.”

Um, I'm afraid you've lost me. Latin is now a conservative language?

7. “Revolution,” by The Beatles.
“You say you want a revolution / Well you know / We all want to change the world . . . Don’t you know you can count me out?” What’s more, Communism isn’t even cool: “If you go carrying pictures of Chairman Mao / You ain’t going to make it with anyone anyhow.”

Wait, aren't there some missing lyrics there? You know, "IF YOU TALK ABOUT DESTRUCTION, don't you know that you can count me out?" Doesn't that kind of alter the meaning? And is this guy trying to say that anyone who's opposed to communism (or, in this case, the totalitarianist faux-communism practiced in Maoist China) is conservative? Give me a break!

29. “Rime of the Ancient Mariner,” by Iron Maiden.
A heavy-metal classic inspired by a literary classic. How many other rock songs quote directly from Samuel Taylor Coleridge?

Um, so what? Was Coleridge a conservative? Is the implication that only conservatives appreciate classic poetry? All I really know about Coleridge is that the lost second verse of Kubla Khan was meant to tell an alien ghost how to travel back in time. {g} And while I don't know any other rock songs that quote Coleridge specifically, there are quite a few that quote or otherwise reference classic literature in general.


I got a package of mix CD's from onib in the mail today, but I probably won't get the chance to listen to them until tomorrow night at the earliest. I also received the latest issue of The Baum Bugle, which I've only briefly skimmed so far, but it looks interesting. There are articles on the early Oz films, and an interviewer with the creator of the Nomes from Return to Oz.

I'm still at work on my own mix CD's. I think I have the tracklist worked out for obsessical's, but I haven't actually burned it yet. I'm now working on rockinlibrarian's. I also said I'd make a mix for my roommate, although I really know less about her musical taste than I do about that of the people I know from the Internet.

Comments

[travspence.livejournal.com]

There are apparently already books being published with a 2007 copyright date.

It's a weird publishing thing and I used to know the exact answer. In my first cataloging job, the surpervisor insisted we change the dates to the current year when we started getting books in the summer with next year as the publication date. In my current cataloging work, I just accept the record with the 2007 date. Life's too short. And anyway I think it's misleading to have our record say 2006 when the copyright and publication date really is 2007. I can see patrons thinking it's the wrong edition. I could be wrong about this, though.

[travspence.livejournal.com]

And holy cow! Did the guy who wrote that list of 50 conservative songs misinterpret everything? "Revolution" is a hippie peace anthem. Not an anti-Communist tirade. His comment about "Brick" is just insulting. This guy twisted so much it's hard for to see this as a serious piece. Is it really a joke?

[slfcllednowhere.livejournal.com]

Haha yeh, and Bono and John Lennon are sooooo known for their conservatisim. What a dumbass.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

I always have to wonder that when seeing lists like that. It looks like the author (http://author.nationalreview.com/bio/?q=MjE2OA==) is a pretty staunch right-winger, though, so I'm inclined to think that it's not a joke. Or, if it is, it's a really good one.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Well, he DOES say, "In several cases, the musicians are outspoken liberals. Others are notorious libertines. For the purposes of this list, however, we don’t hold any of this against them." That doesn't make him any less of a dumbass, mind you, but it explains why he's including songs by artists on the opposite side of the political spectrum. I guess he sees these songs as unintentionally conservative, or something.

[rockinlibrarian.livejournal.com]

Hah, I've noticed that copyright thing before too. I don't know why. Cars also. Why are the 2007 cars out already? I could see if it was LATER in the year, the fall or some junk, but not the SPRING.

Well, I'm married to an outspoken conservative after having grown up in a family of liberals, and one thing I've noticed is that the two sides ACTUALLY AGREE on a lot of things that they'd never ADMIT they agree on. The reason is the stupid details, really. And the Labels. The Labels say "conservatives take this side and liberals take this side," and so sometimes people feel the need to ALIGN themselves without being able to see that they're on the same side. Take environmental conservation. Liberals think this is a liberal cause and that conservatives are evil nature-destroying industrial maniacs. But what about the large number of pro-gun types like my husband, the ones who love hunting and camping and "redneck games"? You'd (or, "you liberals'd") be surprised at how passionate these folks are about conserving natural resources and the like. On the other side is religion-- conservatives think they own this category-- which is ironic in my experience because my conservative husband is the agnostic, and my liberal dad is the devout Catholic; but followers of the social gospel, come ON! Jesus was definitely a liberal!

I read the list, and there were a few I think he didn't get-- a few songs where he didn't realize the singer was being sarcastic, perhaps? But many of them really ARE "conservative" statements, and I know, because I live with a "conservative" and I've heard them all. (I've been TELLING him he should love the Beatles for writing "Taxman" for ages in fact). I really love number 1, "Won't Get Fooled Again," for this, too, because it's funny how many people DON'T realize it's a conservative song. I remember my sister saying, "Wow, I was listening to 'Won't Get Fooled Again' and thought WOW, the Who are revolutionaries!" and I was like, "Wait, did you REALLY listen to that song? It's really saying that revolutions don't DO anything!"

Yet more reasons why I refuse to align myself with either label.

[rockinlibrarian.livejournal.com]

"Revolution" is a hippie peace anthem. Not an anti-Communist tirade.

Actually, it's both. John wrote it because he wanted to make a statement about the things he was seeing in youth culture. He saw the need for social change and the need for peace, but he also saw a growing bunch of militants who wanted to overthrow the system. There was a subculture of the subculture that wasn't just about peace and love, but was more about the anti-establishment stuff. There were loads of Marxists, many who had actually studied and liked the idea, but also a few who just figured Well if our governments hate the Communists so much AND they hate us, well, obviously the Communists are on the right side! And there were lots of folks who were SO militant that they'd resort to terrorism to get their points across! So John's point was really to get his fellow hippies to really THINK about what they were doing and what they wanted, and that some options really weren't the best options. Of course, anybody on a "side" is going to claim it as their own, because the side it is ACTUALLY on is the SENSIBLE one.

[arfies.livejournal.com]

I remember John Lennon explaining once (maybe it was on the Anthology?) why he sang "but when you talk about destruction/ don't you know that you can count me out- IN" instead, adding the "in," with the slower version of that song, "Revolution 1" (from the "White Album.") He also did the same with a TV performance of the faster "Revolution." But I can't remember why, though it is interesting.

[arfies.livejournal.com]

This guy's bio has got to be kidding...

"Our Oldest Enemy: A History of America’s Disastrous Relationship with France" (co-authored by Mark Molesky) Um, wasn't France our oldest ALLY, dating back to the Revolutionary War?

"The American Prospect has called Miller “one of the brightest young thinkers on the right” and the Washington Monthly has dubbed him a “rising star” among a “new generation of conservative thinkers and writers.” But these are liberal magazines and not necessarily to be trusted."

Avi duci novo, similis duci seneci

[vovat.livejournal.com]

Why are the 2007 cars out already? I could see if it was LATER in the year, the fall or some junk, but not the SPRING.

I think the point is just to make them seem new. A car from NEXT year sounds more impressive than a car from THIS year. I guess it's kind of like prices ending with 99 cents.

Take environmental conservation. Liberals think this is a liberal cause and that conservatives are evil nature-destroying industrial maniacs.

More or less, but I think it's not so much that liberals think conservatives actively want to destroy the environment as that conservatives tend to be in favor of laissez-faire capitalism, which in turn puts no limits on companies that don't take the environment into consideration if it means more money in the short run.

I'm not sure when or why the Republican Party decided that they could claim Christianity for their own. Part of it is the association of religion with "traditional values," I suppose (regardless of whether or not there's actually any accuracy to this association). And the people who buy into the current Republican philosophy of trusting the President no matter what (which could easily be argued to be totally contrary to what Republicans are SUPPOSED to stand for) fits in with trusting religious leaders no matter what. But it's obvious to anyone who actually stops and looks around that there are plenty of conservative atheists and religious liberals.

I read the list, and there were a few I think he didn't get-- a few songs where he didn't realize the singer was being sarcastic, perhaps?

Well, Humor Impairment (as Dave Barry called it) is hardly limited to any part of the political spectrum.

I remember my sister saying, "Wow, I was listening to 'Won't Get Fooled Again' and thought WOW, the Who are revolutionaries!" and I was like, "Wait, did you REALLY listen to that song? It's really saying that revolutions don't DO anything!"

Or, as Terry Pratchett put it, "Don't put your trust in revolutions. They always come around again. That's why they're called revolutions."

I really don't see that as so much a liberal or a conservative idea as just an observation on human nature. But then, unrealistic utopian philosophies have been embraced by both the Left (Marxism) and the Right (the concept of a Golden Age in the recent past when things were so much better because people had Values). Personally, I sometimes describe myself as an idealistic pessimist, in that I have lofty ideas that I think COULD work if people weren't so ridiculous, but I realize they never actually WILL.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

"Our Oldest Enemy: A History of America’s Disastrous Relationship with France" (co-authored by Mark Molesky) Um, wasn't France our oldest ALLY, dating back to the Revolutionary War?

Well, see, the fact that the title goes against the generally accepted facts is supposed to get you to read the book. {g}

"The American Prospect has called Miller “one of the brightest young thinkers on the right” and the Washington Monthly has dubbed him a “rising star” among a “new generation of conservative thinkers and writers.” But these are liberal magazines and not necessarily to be trusted."

Yeah, I couldn't quite figure out whether that was meant in a tongue-and-cheek manner or not. It seems too ridiculously exaggerated to be totally serious, but then, I've been known to underestimate how dumb and humorless some people can be.

[vovat.livejournal.com]

There were loads of Marxists, many who had actually studied and liked the idea, but also a few who just figured Well if our governments hate the Communists so much AND they hate us, well, obviously the Communists are on the right side!

Yes, it's the same ridiculous "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" idea that's led to all kinds of stupid alliances throughout history. ("Stalin is against Hitler? The Taliban is against the Soviet Union? Saddam Hussein is against Iran? They MUST be good guys! Wait, now they hate US, too?")

Re: Avi duci novo, similis duci seneci

[rockinlibrarian.livejournal.com]

Personally, I sometimes describe myself as an idealistic pessimist, in that I have lofty ideas that I think COULD work if people weren't so ridiculous, but I realize they never actually WILL.

Hey, that sounds like me, too.

Other Song Choice Annoyments

[onib.livejournal.com]

9. “Don’t Tread on Me,” by Metallica

There's a difference between pro-America and conservative. Contrary to popular belief, liberals are not anti-America. Also, what of the line "Never begins it." That obviously no longer holds true since we wage pre-emptive wars.

18. “Cult of Personality,” by Living Colour

So...based on his description, it's the conservative position that killing JFK was the right thing to do?!?

28. “Janie’s Got a Gun,” by Aerosmith

Holy shit. I quote: "How the right to bear arms can protect women from sexual predators." So...conservatives believe in vigilantism? If someone wrongs you in a hideous way, it's your right to hunt the down and kill them?


Yeah, in all many of these song choices annoyed be as did his definition of conservatism. He claims "skepticism of government" as a major belief. I have to say the conservative platform encourages people to trust the government. The only skepticism, traditionally speaking, is of "big" government and of government programs for the underprivileged. I also get angry at his tone in a couple of places such as how he implies that the underprivileged deserve their plight. I also find it interesting that he publishes things trying to advance his agenda when he clearly states over and over in his song descriptions that he doesn't believe that radical change is possible.

Anyhow, I just think he's one more person who states his own feelings as the beliefs of the cause with whom he's aligned himself. He also obviously cannot understand the concept of "unreliable narrator," and mistakes centrist, libertarian, or otherwise balanced views as supporting his cause.

I feel in a debate of these issues, it would be immature and inappropriate to just call him a dumbass, so I won't.

Re: Other Song Choice Annoyments

[vovat.livejournal.com]

I can't recall having heard #28, so I figured from the description in that list that it was about a woman shooting a guy who was trying to rape her (i.e., self-defense), which IS a good argument in favor of gun ownership. If it's true that she actually hunted down and killed him, though, that's a different story.

I get the impression that, because this guy considers himself conservative, he figures that any idea he supports is one that conservatives in general support.

I also find it interesting that he publishes things trying to advance his agenda when he clearly states over and over in his song descriptions that he doesn't believe that radical change is possible.

I think that, sometimes, people are able to hold contradictory positions such as this because they don't think their own agenda IS radical. The Religious Right, especially, seems to have the idea that their beliefs are ones that ALL Americans (or at least all Americans who counted) held, before the country lost its way. And the guy who compiled this list appears to buy into that philosophy. So it isn't HIS ideas that are radical. They're Traditional Values! It's everyone who thinks differently who's radical.

Re: Other Song Choice Annoyments

[onib.livejournal.com]

#28 is about a girl who is raped by her father, and noone believes her. Now, while I believe that this is about the most dispicable act I could imagine, I cannot condone the belief that when the law fails you, you have the right to take the law into your own hands. Would I personally want to hunt the bastard down and kill him? Damn straight. Do I believe that such an action should be used as a reason we should all have access to guns? No way.

I guess my problem with listing it is that I don't feel condoning criminal actions for the purpose of enacting vengence on others for their criminal actions should be anyone's political position. There is still a difference between morally right & legally right.