Hello, All!
A more non-serious thread topic:
Give some examples of pieces of music (any genre) you would identify as having a libertarian feel or sound to them. Adjectives to describe it might be joyful, optimistic, hopeful, or others you think exemplify a libertarian spirit. If you want, you can explain specific elements of the piece that influenced your decision. Hopefully we can create a great playlist of music!
Here are a few of my pieces:
Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1, Mvt. 1 (Herbert von Karajan conducting)
I chose this piece because I love the sound of the ascending chords of the piano. The first few measures for me create a hopeful and joyful atmosphere; an atmosphere of freedom and personal drive.
Turandot: Act 3, "Nessun Dorma"
The translated lyrics of this piece are of a more romantic nature, but the crescendo at the end makes me think of a longing for freedom, a desire to break from political constraints.
Ever heard of the band Rush? They've been around for a long time and I think they're from Canada.
(EDIT: Apparently dont know how to post link:) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWHEcIbhDiw
This song "The Trees" sounds anti-egalitarian, like when you try to make us all equal you have to do it by force, and you wind up bringing us all down to grinding poverty. I don't really know if they're all that capitalist but it seems that way to me, anyone else know?
"and the trees were all made equal by hatchet, axe, and saw!"
Neil Peart, the drummer and lyricist, was heavily influenced by Ayn Rand. There is a libertarian and individualist spirit in many songs. Listen to Tom Sawyer.
I'm sure if I really start looking through my music I'd find more, but the first one that pops up, mainly anti-military perse, is
"Join the British Army" by the Brobdingnagian Bards
my tastes may not be as refined as ytterbium, but I believe there are many tunes that fit the bill. here are a few country/folk tunes that come to my mind.
long hair country boy - charlie daniels (rely on yourself)
puttin' people on the moon - the drive by truckers (because you can't rely on the govt)
subterannan homesick blues - bob dylan (trust no one, question everything)
the night they drove ol' dixie down - the band (but remember defiance has its price)
the theme song from fire fly: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbAaMbxdKG8 (still, you cant take the sky from me)
Ambition is a dream with a V8 engine - Elvis Presley
I don't like your examples. Optimistic is not the same as libertarian although modern libertarianism is, in its very fundamental state, what I would consider a very light hearted and optimistic ideology. However if this thread is going to really be about libertarian music it should not focus upon the attitude inspired by the melody, for such is very much open to interpretation in both the attitudes inspired by the music and the attitude inspired by the ideology, but instead focus upon lyrics combined with the tone of the music itself.
Anyway
We can work it out: The Beatles
Focuses upon the benefits of social cooperation and the need for social cooperation. It also displays the desire for experimentation with societal problems which is what anarcho-capitalists have been begging for for decades
De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da: The Police (Yes I am cool enough to write out the whole name of the song)
Focuses upon the desire of people to control others, particularly focusing on the politicians who, logically if they are attempting to control people, would be in the best position to control people because after getting into office they would be in a direct position to forcibly control people. Furthermore it focuses upon the need for independence from others ideologically (AKA respecting the value preferences of others) and the fact that just because the rhetoric that someone uses may have great intentions behind it (socialism) does not mean that it will bring about the intended results.
Then the Sting songs "Children's Crusade" and "Russians" are both fairly libertarian (although not by any means only libertarian they can be equally employed by most anti-war ideologies... And libertarianism is one of these.
The songs "Sit on My Face" by Monty Python has actually always reminded me of the United States Military... Don't ask me why... And then "piggies" by the Beatles is actually about the military and has a fairly libertarian cynicism to it on the matter.
"Neil Peart, the drummer and lyricist, was heavily influenced by Ayn Rand. There is a libertarian and individualist spirit in many songs. Listen to Tom Sawyer."
Oh yeah that is probably their most famous song. Good point.
In the song "Freewill" they say "if you choose not to decide you still have made a choice!" - sounds very Misean.
Who can forget the Beatles song "Taxman". It includes such libertarian lyrics as
if you drive a car, car;)- I’ll tax the street; if you try to sit, sit; - I’ll tax your seat; if you get too cold, cold; - I’ll tax the heat; if you take a walk, walk; - I'll tax your feet.Taxman!'Cause I’m the taxman, Yeah, I’m the taxman.Don't ask me what I want it for, (ah-ah, mister Wilson) If you don't want to pay some more. (ah-ah, mister heath) 'Cause I’m the taxman, Yeah, I’m the taxman.
Fairly interesting, as it points out both the Labour and Conservative parties will tax you for their benefits and not some glorified notion of social justice etc.
"Man thinks not only for the sake of thinking, but also in order to act."-Ludwig von Mises
Chicago/We Can Change the World Graham Nash
snippets :
...Politicians sit yourself down,There's nothing for you here...
...Somehow people must be free, hope the day comes soon...
... if you believe in justice and if you believe in freedom let a man live it's own life, rules and regulations, who needs them?....
Where there is no property there is no justice; a proposition as certain as any demonstration in Euclid
Fools! not to see that what they madly desire would be a calamity to them as no hands but their own could bring
Actually, now that I think about it The Kinks song 20th Century man has some pretty libertarian lyrics
I was born in a welfare state Ruled by bureaucracy Controlled by civil servants And people dressed in grey Got no privacy, got no liberty Cos the twentieth century people Took it all away from me.
I have seen some people claim that 'people dressed in grey' refers to businessmen, but I hardly think that makes sense in the context of the rest of the lyrics. It is kind of strange that though, as people will do their best to make their input conform to their ideological sense.
There is an old Rising Force song called Soldier Without Faith. Malmsteen once said in an interview that Sweden has a very cold, dark mentality.
I will have to listen to that Taxman song. Do you know the song Back In The USSR? I couldn't pinpoint what the idea behind that one was.
I have always listened to that song as a satire of Cold War culture and the Beach Boys, especially their song California Girls. However the song it self shows no awarness to the totalitarian nature of the USSR really.
Caley McKibbin: Do you know the song Back In The USSR? I couldn't pinpoint what the idea behind that one was.
its certainly not political.
McCartney: I wrote that as a kind of Beach Boys parody. And "Back in the USA" was a Chuck Berry song, so it kinda took off from there. I just liked the idea of Georgia girls and talking about places like the Ukraine as if they were California, you know? It was also hands across the water, which I'm still conscious of. 'Cause they like us out there, even though the bosses in the Kremlin may not. The kids do. And that to me is very important for the future of the race
Do you know the song Back In The USSR? I couldn't pinpoint what the idea behind that one was.
It is just a fun song. But as a side effect it ends up saying that Russians are regular Joe's too and probably like the places they live in as well as anyone else.
I've always loved Arlo Guthrie's version of Tom Paxton's "I'm Changing My Name To Chrysler":
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=daBx_PBrvSE
It's a bit better now that Arlo seems to be increasingly supportive of Ron Paul. Anyone check out the quote on the back of Paul's "End the Fed"
Don't know why I didn't remember this earlier:
"Free the People" by The Dubliners:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnGvxRYDBHs
There have already been a few threads like this:
http://mises.org/Community/forums/p/4895/81877.aspx#81877
There's another one too, somewhere, which talks about lyrics.
Freedom has always been the only route to progress.
Alex,
Just listened to the taxman. Those lyrics are very truthful, here in the US as well!
Best Libertarian Lyrics
A section taken from Crass' "Bloody Revolutions" song:
You're far too much of a man for that, if Mao did it so can you What's the freedom of us all against the suffering of the few? That's the kind of self-deception that killed ten million jews Just the same false logic that all power-mongers use So don't think you can fool me with your political tricks Political right, political left, you can keep your politics Government is government and all government is force Left or right, right or left, it takes the same old course Oppression and restriction, regulation, rule and law The seizure of that power is all your revolution's for You romanticise your heroes, quote from Marx and Mao Well their ideas of freedom are just oppression now
Just found this.
"Who" by Mat Ames:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DRedNC6p4U
It's pretty catchy, and quick.
My cousin put in one of his Metallica cd's today and I heard this song. Made me think of this thread.
Feel no pain, but my life ain't easy I know I'm my best friend No one cares, but I'm so much stronger I'll fight until the end To escape from the true false world Undamaged destiny Can't get caught in the endless circle Ring of stupidity [chorus:] Out for my own, out to be free One with my mind, they just can't see No need to hear things that they say Life's for my own to live my own way Rape my mind and destroy my feelings Don't tell me what to do I don't care now, 'cause I'm on my side And I can see through you Feed my brain with your so called standards Who says that I ain't right Break away from your common fashion See through your blurry sight [chorus] See them try to bring the hammer down No damn chains can hold me to the ground Life's for my own to live my own way
In States a fresh law is looked upon as a remedy for evil. Instead of themselves altering what is bad, people begin by demanding a law to alter it. ... In short, a law everywhere and for everything!
~Peter Kropotkin
Very many. Including:
Anthem, 2112, Something For Nothing, Farewell To Kings, Closer To The Heart, The Trees, The Spirit of Radio, Free Will, Tom Sawyer, Witch Hunt. Am sure there are others I cant think of at the moment.
Closer to the Heart:
"And the men who hold high places
Must be the one's who start.
To mold a new reality.
Closer to the heart."
This does not sound libertarian. Also,
"Philosophers and ploughmen, each must know his part". Sounds Marxist, doesn't it? It reminds me of the four stars in the Chinese Communist flag. I do not believe Neil Peart or Rush are Marxist, I'm just saying the above words are not libertarian.
Also, The Trees. Depends on one's perspective. I'm not sure if Peart is saying it is a good thing or bad thing to keep those trees equal. Then there's Bastille Day...again, I'm not sure about the perspective here.
I would agree that the other songs imply a sense of liberty.
"The market is a process." - Ludwig von Mises, as related by Israel Kirzner. "Capital formation is a beautiful thing" - Chloe732.
The most obvious choices off the top of my head: Beethoven's 3rd "Eroica" symphony and Dvorak's 9th "New World" Symphony
KRS-One's verse in C.I.A.
Need I say the C.I.A. be Criminals In Action Cocaine crack unpackin, high surveillance trackin Prominant blacks and whites givin orders for mass slaughters I want all my daughters to be like Maxine Waters When they flooded the streets with crack cocaine I was like Noah, now they lower cause the whole cold war is over Communism fell to the dollars you were grabbin it All the assault and batterin in the name of intelligence gatherin? Now it's karma you battlin, a losin fight I chose the mic to recite ignite light in the night, aight? We should beat em, President Clinton should delete em it's not hard, the C.I.A. simply has no more job Oh my Goddess, mother, you can fix this We rock over mixes not six six sixes Yo this is, the message, to all that can hear it If you got secret information now's the time to share it Call your Congresswoman, your senator, your mayor It's time for all the scholars to unite with all the players Rearrangin, see times are definitely changin G They used to tap the phone, now they tappin while you pagin me It's crazy B, yet it's plain to see, who the enemy Who's left the NRA? The ATF, the AMA? Okay okay, it's all irrelevant, cause in the new millenium there'll be no Central Intelligence
I observed...that the more public provisions were made for the poor, the less they provided for themselves... on the contrary, the less was done for them, the more they did for themselves... Benjamin Franklin
Zack De la Roca, verse from Renegades of Funk
From a different solar system many many galaxies away We are the force of another creation A new musical revelation And we're on this musical mission to help the others listen And groove from land to land singin' electronic chants like Zulu nation Revelations Destroy our nations Destroy our nations
There's this and this.
And also this and it's sequel.
Yngwie Malmsteen recently released a song called Magic City. It's obviously about him being fed up with Sweden in the 80's and moving to the U.S.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhMO9azmKNU
Well my name's John Lee Pettimore Same as my daddy and his daddy before You hardly ever saw Grandaddy down here He only came to town about twice a year He'd buy a hundred pounds of yeast and some copper line Everybody knew that he made moonshine Now the revenue man wanted Grandaddy bad He headed up the holler with everything he had It's before my time but I've been told He never came back from Copperhead Road Now Daddy ran the whiskey in a big block Dodge Bought it at an auction at the Mason's Lodge Johnson County Sheriff painted on the side Just shot a coat of primer then he looked inside Well him and my uncle tore that engine down I still remember that rumblin' sound Well the sheriff came around in the middle of the night Heard mama cryin', knew something wasn't right He was headed down to Knoxville with the weekly load You could smell the whiskey burnin' down Copperhead Road I volunteered for the Army on my birthday They draft the white trash first,'round here anyway I done two tours of duty in Vietnam And I came home with a brand new plan I take the seed from Colombia and Mexico I plant it up the holler down Copperhead Road Well the D.E.A.'s got a chopper in the air I wake up screaming like I'm back over there I learned a thing or two from ol' Charlie don't you know You better stay away from Copperhead Road Copperhead Road Copperhead Road Copperhead Road
I don't know...an anti-government song isn't necessarily libertarian. Someone can be mad at the government for not giving "free" handouts or for not pandering to collectivisms like race or sexual orientation. Sounds like the opposite of libertarian, actually.
I recently discovered Threshold. They are a Prog Metal band from the UK. I haven't heard all of their songs yet but here are two examples:
Mission Profile
can we go on can we be strong we've got a system you're going to use it we call it freedom and you are free to choose it if you're not against it you've got to be for it neutral is dangerous and you cannot ignore it can we go on forcing our hand can we be strong till others understand can we go on to save our wounded land can we be wrong we've got the money we're going to spend it peace is our mission we'll murder to defend it sooner or later you'll get the picture we're the creator and you were just created devastation is where we're heading if we follow this illusion escalation of all the hurting that is borne of our confusion unrelenting as we persist in putting everyone beneath us never ending until we understand our honesty deceives us there is still one truth on which we can depend we've started something we can never end we know although we try to justify the means the truth behind the end remains unseen and while we all assume we all agree we're giving up the freedom to be free disillusion is always possible but we've got propaganda mass confusion is always better than the threat of understanding we'll deceive you we've got so many ways to make you stand behind us if we need to we'll use them on ourselves to constantly remind us there is just one lie that we can still defend we've started something we can never end we know although we try to justify the means the truth behind the end remains unseen and while we all assume we all agree we're giving up the freedom to be free there is still one truth on which we can depend we've started something we can never end we know although we try to justify the means the truth behind the end remains unseen and while we all assume we all agree we're giving up the freedom to be free
The Art of Reason
can you give me a reason why you shone for a season then you turned to deceiving (i don't believe that it's right) you pretend you can hear us but you won't come near us now it's all got serious (i don't believe that it's right) we thought you'd do your best for future generations but all you left was a mounting debt (i don't believe that it's right) we thought your peace could flow like water through the nations but you shut down the fountainhead (i don't believe that it's right) can you give an account now as the truth's coming out now it's the end of the countdown (i don't believe that it's right) now we've lost all our patience with your forced liquidation of our land of our nation (i don't believe that it's right) we thought you'd right the wrongs that others brought upon us but you sold off our right to choose (i don't believe that it's right) we thought you'd fight for us but you just fought among us and you sold off your servitude (i don't believe that it's right) no more tries and no more chances no more lies to pass as answers no more smiles and false relations no more world indoctrination sorry for being angry sorry for being numb sorry for all the dreaming i really should have done i thought that i was blameless i thought that i was safe i thought that a happy ending would happen anyway i can't believe we never noticed i can' believe it took so long for us to turn around the future by standing up for what we all believed in all along it was there right before our eyes we were blind not to realise in the rush to be globalised we signed away our freedom we forgot how to criticise we were scared to be demonised as the truth was neutralised we lost the art of reason shallow the crusader and shallow their crusade but deep the ideology that brings them into play political correctness a foil for our minds a false exoneration to cover up their crimes i can't believe we never noticed i can't believe it took so long for us to turn around the future by standing up for what we all believed in all along it was there right before our eyes we were blind not to realise in the rush to be globalised we signed away our freedom we forgot how to criticise we were scared to be demonised as the truth was neutralised we lost the art of reason
Also Sons Of Liberty should be mentioned here. A side-project from Iced Earth's Jon Schaffer. The lyrics are openly anti-NWO and pro-liberty but see for yourself.
Sons Of Liberty
hmmm... I'm just gonna go with a SUPER obvious Libertarian song here...
Aimee Allen's Ron Paul Anthem
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6U0-38K5qW8
Aimee Allen has an awesome voice, always loved her song Revolution. She was also almost killed- beaten with a crobar, singled out from a group of others and the attackers didn't steal anything.
dub fx - society gates
serj tankian - unthinking majority
serj tankian - saving us serj tankian - Praise The Lord And Pass The Ammunition system of a down - deer dance system of a down - boom
:D
Big Time in the Jungle- Old Crow Medicine Show
Ronnie James Dio was a pro-capitalitic person... I believe he even helped fund the Atlas movie. Yet i do not believe any of his songs are political....
but as far as music that displays criticisms for the State, I would have to point out Dave Mustaine (Megadeth). I love to point out the similarities between his song "Symphony of Destruction" and Hayek's Road to Serfdom.
"Peace Sells, But Who's Buying?" "Holy Wars" "Gears of War" "The Right to Go Insane" to name a few more.
My Blog: http://www.anarchico.net/
Production is 'anarchistic' - Ludwig von Mises
"In the song "Freewill" they say "if you choose not to decide you still have made a choice!" - sounds very Misean Kantian."
Eating Propaganda
What do you mean i don't care how your day was?!
" - sounds very Misean Kantian."
I guess Mises was heavily influenced by Immanuel Kant? I don't know jack about philosophy - that quote really striked a chord with me after I read ~300 pages of Human Action. (Then he started talking about prices and the book got a little out of my league, I should probably start it up again after reading some introductory books around here.)
I know very little of Mises, but I know Kant when I see him, and not acting as a choice is definitely Kant.
The paranoia is in bloom,The PR transmissions will resume,They'll try to push drugs to keep us all dumbed down,And hope that we will never see the truth around,SO COME ON!Another promise, another seed,Another packaged lie to keep us trapped in greed,With all the green belts wrapped around our minds,And endless red tape to keep the truth confined,SO COME ON!They will not force us,They will stop degrading us,They will not control us,And we will be victorious!SO COME ON!Interchanging mind-control,Come, let the revolution take its toll,If you could flick a switch and open your third eye,You'd see that we should never be afraid to die,SO COME ON!Rise up and take the power back,It's time that 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!SO COME ON!They will not force us,They will stop degrading us,They will not control us,And we will be victorious!SO COME ON!OI OI OI OI OIThey will not force us,They will stop degrading us,They will not control us,And we will be victorious!SO COME ON!COME ON!OI OI OI OI
From Wikipedia of (lead singer) Matt Bellamy:
Many of his songs display revolutionary views as well as a dislike of political corruption. "Assassin" and "Uprising" are two notable songs with obvious revolutionary sentiments. In an interview with Q Magazine, Bellamy stated that he is a libertarian.[13] In 2006 Bellamy said that he believed the 9/11 attacks were an "inside job".[14] However, in 2009 he told Rolling Stone that he did not believe this: "There is loads of stuff on the Internet suggesting 9/11 was an inside job. But that is not my belief.”[15]
On 17 September 2009 Bellamy discussed being politically influenced by reading "Confessions of an Economic Hitman" by John Perkins. He explains the book helped inspire the song "Uprising" and expressed his views that he feels lobbyists have undue influence on politicians as well as the political system. He states that "when people become powerful they often have a disregard for public opinion."[16]
"I know that it is a hopeless undertaking to debate about fundamental value judgments."-Albert Einstein