Difference between revisions of "Essay:Greatest Conservative Songs"

Revision as of 09:01, November 26, 2010

There are many brilliant -- and popular -- conservative songs. Here is our growing list:

1. "Wouldn't It Be Nice" by the Beach Boys. Pro-marriage.
2. "You Can't Hurry Love (You Just Have to Wait)". Abstinence for rock fans. The versions by The Supremes and Phil Collins were popular.
3. "Fast Car" by Tracy Chapman. Self-help, free market, division of labor, and a criticism of alcohol.
4. "Have You Forgotten?" by Darryl Worley. Patriotic response to September 11, 2001 attacks.^[1]
5. "Still the One" by Orleans (1976), is a tribute to fidelity in relationships.
6. "Sweet Home Alabama" by Lynyrd Skynyrd. A response to hippie culture. Defends Southerners from stereotyped attacks by liberal rocker Neil Young.
7. "Stand By Your Man," by Tammy Wynette. Don't expect feminists to like that one! Or Hillary Clinton!
8. Lee Greenwood's rendition of Battle Hymn of the Republic. "As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free."
9. "My Love" by Petula Clark. Christian love in secular form.
10. "I Fought the Law (and the Law Won)". Its title says it all. The version by The Clash has a good tempo.
11. "You Light Up My Life" by Debbie Boone. One of the biggest hits ever, but liberals omit that this song is about Jesus.
12. "Pomp and Circumstance" (Land of Hope & Glory) By Freedom gain, by Truth maintain...
13. "Jerusalem" Don't let the sword sleep in the hand.
14. "Brothers In Arms" by Dire Straits. We're fools to make war on our brothers in arms.
15. "The Ascent of Stan" by Ben Folds. Tells the story of a former "textbook hippie man" who realizes that he has become everything that he was protesting against.
16. "Starting All Over Again" by Petula Clark. Keep moving onward, even in the most difficult of times.
17. "Thank You My Lord" by Petula Clark. The title says it all.
18. "Brick" by Ben Folds Five. Shows the regret involved in abortion.
19. "Alive" by P.O.D.: About being thankful for the gift of life.
20. "Gotta Serve Somebody" by Bob Dylan. "It may be the devil or it may be the Lord."^[2]
21. "Jesus Take The Wheel" by Carrie Underwood. A gospel-themed hit from the American Idol winner.
22. "Red Barchetta" by Rush. Tells the story of a future with excessive regulation, where even driving is illegal.
23. "Father of Mine" by Everclear. A reminder of the importance of good parenting. Everclear singer Art Alexakis wrote much of his material from his own perspective of a troubled childhood. At the end of the song, Alexakis promises to be a better father than his own had been.
24. "The Taxman" by The Beatles. George Harrison said, "Taxman was when I first realized that even though we had started earning money, we were actually giving most of it away in taxes." ^[3]
25. "Back in the U.S.A." by Chuck Berry. A patriotic song about missing life in the U.S.A.
26. "Government Cheese" by The Rainmakers. Humorous spoof of welfare.
27. "Angry Young Man" by Billy Joel. The doctrinaire leftist radical with "his fist in the air and his head in the sand" comes in for biting criticism.
28. "Gimme Back My Bullets" by Lynyrd Skynyrd. The name says it all.
29. "Let My People Go" by The Pursuit of Happiness. "How will you free us with your hate? How many heads will smash when you smash the state? You say march, I think I'll wait." An anti-protest song.
30. "Don't Let 'Em Take Your Gun" by Grand Funk Railroad. A father gives his son some sage advice.
31. "Something For Nothing" by Rush. "You can't get something for nothing, you can't have freedom for free."
32. "Neighborhood Bully" by Bob Dylan. Israel's right to exist and defend itself.
33. "Get It Right the First Time" by Louisiana's Le Roux. Wealthy Georgia politician is placed in high office and turns out to be a puppet with no ideas of his own. Released in 1980 when Jimmy Carter was up for re-election.
34. "Only The Young" by Journey. "The shadows of a golden age, a generation waits for dawn, the brave carry on, the bold and the strong". An anthem for the Reagan Generation.
35. "Yours Is No Disgrace" by Yes. Written to, and about, the troops headed for Vietnam.
36. "Fair Exchange" and "Sparks of the Tempest" by Kansas. Warnings about totalitarian governments who want to take away your freedom in the name of utopia. Also much of their early 80s material, which has Christian lyrics.
37. "In America" by the Charlie Daniels Band. Patriotism makes a comeback in response to the Iran hostage crisis and Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
38. "Storm the Embassy" by the Stray Cats. Another conservative song about the Iran hostage crisis.
39. "We Must Take America Back" by Steve Vaus. Became an underground country music hit in 1992 after RCA dropped him and took the album out of print due to the political lyrics.
40. "Renegade" by Steppenwolf. John Kay's childhood escape from Communist East Germany.
41. "Capitalism" by Oingo Boingo. There's nothing wrong with free enterprise.
42. "Unborn Child" by Seals and Crofts. This pro-life song was a hit single in 1974, but for some reason gets left off the Seals and Crofts greatest hits albums.
43. "Bad Rap (Who You Tryin' To Kid, Kid?)" by Steve Taylor. Takes aim at LA and NY hipsters, the Village Voice, abortion, and "the left-wing band with their head in the sand".
44. "Last Kiss" by Wayne Cochran and the C.C. Riders, covered by other artists. "Oh where oh where can my baby be; The Lord took her away from me; She's gone to heaven so I got to be good; So I can see my baby when I leave this world"^[4]
45. "Love Me, I'm a Liberal" by Phil Ochs. Revealing Liberal hypocrisy for what it is.
46. "America USA" by [1]Joey Sudyka. Not very well known, perhaps, but a good patriotic song.
47. "Red White and Blue" by Lynyrd Skynyrd.
48. "Simple Man" by Charlie Daniels. A song about how drugs and poor politics are a result of people putting their bibles down. Also a strongly pro death penalty song.
49. "That Smell" by Lynyrd Skynyrd. A very strong anti-drug use song by Americas most prestigious southern rock band.
50. Virtually anything by Toby Keith, but especially "Courtesy of the Red, White & Blue (The Angry American)".
51. "Under God" by Pat Boone.
52. "Christmas Shoes" by NewSong - a Christmas song by a Christian band.
53. "God Bless the USA" by Lee Greenwood.^[5]
54. "God Bless America" Words and music by Irving Berlin.
55. "No Opportunity Necessary, No Experience Needed" Yes ...I know your cross is heavier With every step Every step But I know a man who'd walk miles for you...
56. Supper'sReady Genesis There's an angel standing in the sun, and he's crying with a loud voice, "This is the supper of the mighty one", Lord of Lords, King of Kings, Has returned to lead his children home, To take them to the new Jerusalem.
57. "Your Love Is Extravagant" Casting Crowns
58. "What If His People Prayed" Casting Crowns
59. "King Without a Crown" by Matisyahu - A Hasidic Jew raps about God as the source of happiness and salvation from the things of this world: "If you're drowning in the waters and you can't stay afloat ask Hashem for mercy and He'll throw you a rope."
60. "Take Me Home, Country Roads" by John Denver (and others). Celebrates Southern country landscape and traditions.
61. "Sin City" by the Flying Burrito Brothers. Attacks modern decadence and predicts divine punishment for sin.
62. "I Saw the Light" by Hank Williams (and numerous cover versions). Redemption from sin through faith.
63. "No Son of Mine" by Genesis.
64. "Don't Stop" (Thinking About Tomorrow) by Fleetwood Mac.^[6]
65. "Lightning Crashes" by Live. The joy and significance of childbirth.
66. "Takin' Care of Business" by Bachman-Turner Overdrive. The work ethic and promoting self-employment.
67. "Cat's In The Cradle" by Harry Chapin. The importance of traditional families and responsible fatherhood.
68. "The Devil Went Down To Georgia" by Charlie Daniels. A deeper message here, as Daniels explains.
69. "Big Money" by Rush - Pro-capitalism
70. "Real American" by Rick Derringer - patriotic anthem, known as Hulk Hogan's pre-fight song

Please add your best conservative picks.

References

1. ↑ http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=15568
2. ↑ http://www.bobdylan.com/songs/serve.html
3. ↑ http://home.att.net/~chuckayoub/Taxman_Lyrics.html
4. ↑ http://www.songmeanings.net/lyric.php?lid=14
5. ↑ http://www.scoutsongs.com/lyrics/proudtobeamerican.html
6. ↑ Used by Bill Clinton as his campaign theme song in 1992, but liberals often try to appeal to conservative themes for elections.