I’m not one to be highly critical of a person’s political beliefs; however, if I’m being honest, I have been known to judge a person on their music collection. LPs or CDs, 45s or cassette tapes, mp3s or 8-tracks: I’ve always figured that the soundtrack playing in your head reflects what’s going on in your heart.
“ROCK ‘N’ ROLL HIGH SCHOOL” by the RAMONES vs. “ANOTHER BRICK IN THE WALL, PART TWO” by PINK FLOYD: Here’s an idea that once struck me as profound concerning the political spectrum of rock music. I wish I could remember where I first came across this so I could give credit where it belongs, but I’m going to guess it was some staffer writing record reviews published in the late, great Creem magazine during its heyday. Anyway, it goes something like this: punk is politically left and metal is politically right. For example, punk addresses social issues and group actions; metal centers on the wants and needs of the individual. Furthermore, punk doesn’t require any degree of virtuosity because anyone can play it; metal is usually about superlatives like who is the fastest, loudest, and gets the most chicks.
Yeah, overly simplistic, and believe me, the original writer did a better job of explaining the point, but as someone who was interested in both punk and metal, I always thought it was an interesting dichotomy to explore.
Keeping these parameters in mind, it ought to be easy to differentiate the policy positions of punk progenitors the Ramones and their song “Rock ‘n’ Roll High School” and Pink Floyd performing “Another Brick in the Wall.” (Yes, I know that Pink Floyd isn’t metal, but after all, U.K. punks the Sex Pistols did identify them as the enemy when they wore the infamous “I Hate Pink Floyd” t-shirts.)
“I don’t care about history,” belts out Joey Ramone. I guess we should all be thankful his first career choice wasn’t to become an educational consultant. Pink Floyd responds with their famous opening line, “We don’t need no education.” The double negative here should if nothing else disqualify them from attaining an “O”-level certificate. So far, neither band seems qualified to be running any department of education as a matter of principle.
“I just want to have some kicks/I just want to get some chicks.” Wait a minute: “get some chicks” in this paradigm is fundamentally right leaning, isn’t it? Also, it turns out that guitarist Johnny Ramone was a hardcore conservative, and on tour he ran his band like a tight military operation.
WINNER: Pink Floyd. I saw Rock ‘n’ Roll High School and thought it was a pretty funny B-movie. The Wall was a different matter: For the first time in my life, I saw audience members walking out in the middle of the show – powerful stuff. Apparently, they didn’t need no education either.
“OKIE FROM MUSKOGEE” by MERLE HAGGARD vs. “WOODSTOCK” by CSNY: Another mystery I’ve been puzzling over recently is this: Whatever happened to the Woodstock Generation? One would think at first glance all those hippie chillen would have tipped the entire world toward mostly left-of-center policies, at least if record sales counted for anything. Which we know isn’t the case at all.
I’m starting to think that maybe rednecks and hippies are actually two sides of the same coin. Think about it: Both want to be left alone without government interference so they can, um, do their own thang, y’all. “White lightning’s still the biggest thrill of all,” sings Merle Haggard, while he extolls the simple life where even “squares can have a ball.” Meanwhile, Crosby Stills Nash and Young (and songwriter Joni Mitchell) are watching the bomber jet planes “turning into butterflies,” so you know there was some kind of mind-altering experience going on there as well.
WINNER: Lots of layers to work through here, but the winner is “Woodstock.” Even though the Woodstock festival actually took place at Max Yasgur’s farm in Bethel, N.Y., at least no one has ever mistaken the song for satire – as has sometimes been the case with “Okie from Muskogee.”
“A APOLITICAL BLUES” by LITTLE FEAT vs. “WON’T GET FOOLED AGAIN” by THE WHO: “I don’t care if it’s John Wayne/I just don’t want to talk to him now,” and same goes for Chairman Mao in this Lowell George classic. But Roger Daltrey brings the full passion of Pete Townshend’s lyric to bear with the opening line, “We’ll be fighting in the street/With our children at our feet.” For the Who, the stakes are much higher than celebrity name dropping.
But Little Feat keep hammering away at their point: “I got the apolitical blues/And it’s the meanest blues of all.” Under the constant bombardment of social media trolling and the 24-hour news cycle it shouldn’t be surprising that some 50 years later, it seems many people feel like this. Still, despite the ubiquitous nature of “Won’t Get Fooled Again” on classic rock radio, it’s easy to forget the Who were at the peak of their self-important, loudest-band-in-the-world glory, and it’s almost impossible to get past the anthemic quality of the truly meanest blues of all: “Meet the new boss/Same as the old boss.”
WINNER: The Who, of course. Anyway, wherever you live, go do your civic duty.
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