P100 – Redneck
Artist: Lamb of God
Song: Redneck
Album: Sacrament
Producer: Machine
Label: Epic/Prosthetic
Year: 2006
Notes:
Not so much a protest as a calling out of America’s small-minded to step up and get what’s coming to them. It takes a variety of balls. Then again vocalist Randy Blythe voluntarily returned to the Czech Republic to stand trial for manslaughter after a fan died as result of injuries sustained at a Lamb of God concert, so he’s not lacking.
Blythe could have hidden behind the US flag and just never gone back. But he’s an actual man, and beyond that a feeling human, so he wanted to do the right thing. After his acquittal he had this to say: “While I am relieved that my innocence was proven and apparently I shall not be going to prison, I am in no way, shape or form a happy man right now. A young man is still dead, and his family still suffers…Now I will go home and try to see what good I can make come out the destruction that occurred here – it is the only correct thing to do.” Imagine.
Lead by example. And if you can’t do that, shut up and get out of the way.
P.S. – It’s not all po-faced groaning in LoG-land. They made an entertaining video for this song you can check out at the bottom of the post! Plus, bonus-bonus, some great live action from just last year.
Excerpt from ‘Unreality’ —
Good feelings had also led to good deeds. Someone had cleaned up the pile that was once Redneck Boy. The only thing left was the burn mark on the floor.
Lyrics
So goddamn easy to write this
You make it spill on the page
So drunk on yourself, self-righteous
A laughing stock of your own fucking stage
Oh but I ain’t one to call names
Or throw stones in a house of glass
You try me
This is a motherfuckin’ invitation
The only one you could ever need
This is a motherfuckin’ invitation
You try me
Just one time you got a reason
Heard you had nothing to lose
A blind preacher for the pin-eyed congregation
It must be easy to lose
Oh but I ain’t one to call names
Or throw stones in a house of glass
You try me
This is a motherfuckin’ invitation
The only one you could ever need
This a motherfuckin’ invitation
You try me
You can tell the same lie a thousand times
But it never gets any more true
So close your eyes once more and once more believe
That they all still believe in you
Just one time
This is a motherfuckin’ imitation
The only one you could ever need
This a motherfuckin’ invitation
Just one time
This is a motherfuckin’ invitation
Ya’ try me
Just one time (ya’ try me)
Just one time (ya’ try me)
Ya’ try me
—
‘Protest 100’s mission is two-fold: dispelling the myth that heavy metal is a brainless, socially unaware music genre, and raising awareness of the issues facing our country in the Nov. 3, 2020 election. The path won’t be exclusively metal—some punk and rap and other stuff will be in here too, including the classics—and is not a ranking. All songs are songs I’ve heard while putting this list together, ordered in a manner designed to entertain and educate.
Chris Smith, Author 