Artist: Tree
Song: Freedom Rock
Album: Plant A Tree or Die
Producer: Don Muscatelli
Label: CherryDisc
Year: 1995
Notes:
Enviro-core! Boston-based Tree made saving the Earth its main mission. But the group also kept an eye on other aspects of life in America, in this instance conjuring the ol’ “love it or leave it” trope to wonder how it is our leaders can lie with impunity while the rich get richer off the people’s backs. Maybe there’s a connection.
Excerpt from ‘Unreality’ —
Freedom of assembly on the part of the nation’s youth was legislated against to the extent that any person wishing to host a group bigger than 100 people 16-years or older had to first register the event and then accept criminal liability for any misdeeds.
Lyrics:
Love it or leave it that’s what they say
Love it or leave it the American way
I love this country I love this land
But tolerance for liars I won’t stand
Not a ring of truth in the political lies
The rich get richer while the innocent die
Love it or leave it that’s what they say
Change it, believe it
It could happen today
If our founding fathers were alive today
They’d all be rounded up and be locked away
Stripped of all the rights that they created
And everything they own would be confiscated
Love it or leave it that’s what they say
Change it believe it
It could happen today
FOR THE PEOPLE BY THE PEOPLE
ALL OF US CREATED EQUAL
RISE!!
—
‘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 