Notes:
Marvin Gaye, already 10 albums into his career, decided in the fall of 1970 to write a protest album. Urban struggle and socio-economic disparity were both rife, as was environmental destruction. When Gaye presented the idea to Motown boss Barry Gordy, the latter asked why he wanted to ruin his career. Gordy remained opposed to the single’s release even after its recording. But VP of sales Barney Ales went around Gordy and commissioned a 100,000-copy pressing. It sold out in four days.
Excerpt from ‘Unreality’ — “If you don’t know what’s going on, it’s just because you don’t see anything wrong with it.”
Lyrics
Mother, mother
There’s too many of you crying
Brother, brother, brother
There’s far too many of you dying
You know we’ve got to find a way
To bring some lovin’ here today, eh eh
Father, father
We don’t need to escalate
You see, war is not the answer
For only love can conquer hate
You know we’ve got to find a way
To bring some lovin’ here today, oh oh oh
Picket lines and picket signs
Don’t punish me with brutality
Talk to me, so you can see
Oh, what’s going on
What’s going on
Yeah, what’s going on
Ah, what’s going on
In the mean time
Right on, baby
Right on brother
Right on babe
Mother, mother, everybody thinks we’re wrong
Oh, but who are they to judge us
Simply ’cause our hair is long
Oh, you know we’ve got to find a way
To bring some understanding here today
Oh oh oh
Picket lines and picket signs
Don’t punish me with brutality
C’mon talk to me
So you can see
What’s going on
Yeah, what’s going on
Tell me what’s going on
I’ll tell you what’s going on, ooh ooh ooh ooh
Right on baby
Right on baby
—
‘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.
Notes:
What goes around come around, and 31 years after its release ‘Fabulous Disaster’ is once again current; in some ways more than ever! It’s almost quaint to hear H.W. referred to as a “raving madman” given where we are now. The solution, as always, VOTE!
Excerpt from ‘Unreality’ — This was also the true point-of-origin of the long-fabled Peter Principle.
Lyrics
When the missiles are falling and the reaper comes calling
You had better kiss your ass goodbye
Atomic detonation, mass immolation
Without a warning, all your memories will die
So try to relax, face up to the facts
You’ll either die or the fallout will rot you in your tracks
There’ll be no tomorrow, only pain and sorrow
‘Cause our future’s in the hands of a raving madman
They spend all their time building missiles so people die
What kind of life do you expect for us to live?
We’re angered by fear because the time is near
When some lunatic will finally pull the plug
And forever after, you can hear the laughter
World’s being plastered by an evil bastard
Exterminating faster, devastating plaster, fabulous disaster!
Now you can see, what this all means to me
When the bomb… comes falling down!
Now the reaper has called, but do you have the balls
To sit there or stand up and fight?
Try to make a note, it’s your right to vote
To keep these fucking assholes in line
It will always be the same ’cause they lie in their campaigns
Promise through their teeth for total world peace
So we know it’s not the truth, they should call Dr. Ruth
On how to give the people the real big screw
They spend all their time building missiles so people die
What kind of life do you expect for us to live?
We’re angered by fear because the time is near
When some lunatic will finally pull the plug
And forever after, you can hear the laughter
World’s being plastered by an evil bastard
Exterminating faster, devastating plaster, fabulous disaster!
Now you can see, what this all means to me
When the bomb… comes falling down!
Down, down, fall down!
—
‘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.
Notes:
The fools in charge seek to demonize the oppressed. What they don’t realize is their methods can and will be turned against them. Preach law and order while breaking the laws. Their soft, feeble-minded underbelly is vulnerable.
Riley Gale, who wrote the lyrics below, died earlier this week at the age of 34. He was a positive force on this earth, always rooting for the little guy, openly calling out and evicting homophobes, misogynists, and racists from both his and the band’s orbit. (I personally loved the Twitter feud he had going with a herd of Proud Boy dipshits a few years back!)
This is the second (of six) Power Trip songs I’d already selected for Protest 100. They’ll all still run, and they’ll all still mean exactly what they mean. I love this band. And Riley’s presence here, doing what he did and how he did it, helped me feel both normal and empowered. I will miss him greatly.
Excerpt from ‘Unreality’ — This meant work could begin on the problem at hand and left open the possibility that some sort of headway could be established before nightfall.
Lyrics
The slumber of reason gives birth to all demons
A new battle takes form
Forced evolution to incite revolution
Rewrite the rules to play the game
As we struggle in the fight to survive
Through strange domains and vicious ways
From the darkest depths we will arise
This realm will be their demise
Their demise
They underestimated the force behind the hatred
Grown with war on our minds
Lawlessness of their nightmare has left them unaware
To the weakness they’ve exposed
We reach the summit in our climb to the top
Through strange domains and vicious ways
In the darkest depths, a planned devised
Their spite for us is their demise
Their demise
They’ve given us a devil’s playground and all his deadliest toys
We must take all we’ve learned to destroy all they know
This nightmare logic, our greatest tool
Decimate the all-righteous fool
—
‘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.
Artist: Jello Biafra & The Guantanamo School of Medicine
Song: Taliban USA
Album: Tea Party Revenge Porn (not yet released)
Producer: Jello Biafra
Label: Alternative Tentacles
Year: 2020
Notes:
Released last month (guy always had a good senses of timing), the first new music from Jello Biafra in 7 years is a ripper! Do you know what the current regime thinks of you? Jello does.
Excerpt from ‘Unreality’ — Overt displays of might, though efficient, just proved the argument of those on the outside looking in; in addition to being disenfranchised, they were oppressed.
Lyrics
[1ust watch the video]
—
‘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.
Notes:
“Today’s Big Government-Big Business tyrants are just as willing to use violence. But they do it more efficiently than the old-time fascists– with higher tech and lower costs to them. They have the best looks, politicians, celebrities, and control mechanisms that money can buy. Yes, their own conscience tells them that true democracy would be nice. But suppressing their conscience, they undermine the rights of the working and middle classes. Their operating principle is “Might, Money, Male, Murder– and also White–Make Right.” They wreck the environment. They fool you, rule you, use you, abuse you–and make you like it. They divide you by race, sex, class, and nationality. But they fear the power of the powerless. They’re afraid of what you could do if you get off the boob tube and drugs, out of the night clubs and cut-throat competition–and work with others for equal rights.” – Bertram Gross, ‘Friendly Fascism: The New Face of Power in America,’ 1980, M. Evans and Co., New York, NY.
Excerpt from ‘Unreality’ — If Amber had wanted to deal with being somebody’s girlfriend or mistress or concubine or whatever, she could have stayed up in Stillwater and kept milking those professors and doctors and stuff.
Lyrics
Welcome ladies and gentlemen to the end of the
Twentieth century and the arrival of friendly fascism.
Regrettably, millions will die as before.
But just think of the tremendous selection and savings you’ll gain.
Of course, the loss of freedom and democracy are tragedies,
I know, but consider the entertainment value contained within.
And to remind you, it is you, the people,
Who have mandated this course of our fate so please come with me…
Look at the new face of power in America
This is your future
You can never leave
Who said tyranny can’t be fun?
Friendly fascism having so much fun!
What else do you need?
You’ll learn to like what you must do
If you resist you are suppressed
You are told who to fight and when
By Bush the Nazi fascist friend
Alienating technology wipes out our sense of community.
Millions will die just as before
We disconnect and start the war
We make life a commodity
We turn animals into machines
Kinder and gentler slaughterhouse
Big business and government
Distract us through entertainment
They manufacture our consent
While we destroy the environment
[Spoken: Sample Speech of L.D. Barkley 21-year-old African American spokesman for the Attica Prisoners, killed by New York state troopers on September 13, 1971]
What had happened here
Is but a sound before the fury of those who are oppressed
All of us have realized that where ever is that struggle
There is a sacrifice!
[Spoken: Sample Speech to the Attica rebels by Herbert X. Blyden,
One of the African American leaders of The Attica Brothers prison rebellion group]
We ain’t gonna quit (aren’t going to)
You wanna know why we won’t ever quit? (do you want to know)
Because we are one!
We are one unit!
We are tired of being beaten
We are tired of being oppressed
[Spoken: excerpt of a speech sample by a bearded Scientist in John Carpenter’s 1988 movie They Live]
The poor and the underclass are growing
Racial justice and human rights are nonexistent
They have created a repressive society
And we are their unwitting accomplices
Their attention to rule rests with the annihilation of consciousness
We have been pulled into a trance
They have made us indifferent to ourselves, to others
We are focused only on our own gain
Please understand they are safe as long as they are not discovered
That is their primary method of survival
To keep us asleep, to keep us selfish, to keep us sedated
Look at the new face of power in America.
This is your future
You can never leave
Who said tyranny can’t be fun?
Friendly fascism having so much fun!
What else do you need?
[Spoken: excerpt of a speech by a Politician also from the movie They Live]
The feeling is definitely there
It’s a new morning in America
Fresh!
Vital!
The old cynicism is gone
We have faith in our leaders!
We are optimistic about what becomes of it all!
It really boils down to our ability to accept
We don’t need pessimism
There are no limits!
—
‘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.
Notes:
Business Machines’ frontman Lucas Juarez hasn’t been laying idle since the band’s late-2019 reunion. COVID-19 tore a hole right through further rock n’ roll domination, so instead he’s expressing his disaffection with the current state-of-affairs through an EDM prism. ‘Mind Control’ would have fit right in with the ‘80’s greats, but at the same time it urges us to rise above our collective past by forsaking the old norms once and for all. Here’s hoping an extended remix lands soon!
Excerpt from ‘Unreality’ — “Bradley’s mind drifted. He had long ago given up on redemption.”
Lyrics
The lights are on
The (Republican) party’s over
The mask is off
But no one knows it
Right now!! (Right now!)
Right now!! (Right now!)
Right now!!
We’re being led through the wilderness
By the light of a fucking gas lamp
With a huff and a puff
Down comes your house of cards
Wolves in sheep’s clothing
Wearing nothing at all
There’s nothing to see here
Nothing at all
If you don’t want to die don’t get involved!!!
Right now!! (Right now!)
Right now!! (Right now!)
Right now!! Mind KKKontrol!!!
Right now!! (Right now!)
Right now!! (Right now!)
They’re fucking with you!
Mind KKKONTROL!!
…now
if I were to come to yer house and tell you
“Don’t go outta your house
‘cuz there’s a man out there
with a machine gun
that’s gonna blow you away.”
Now, whether I’m telling you the truth or not
is immaterial
What really means something
is if you believe me
And if you believe me
then you act upon what I say
And I control you
It’s 2020! Not 1984!
It’s high time
We shut and lock the fucking door
On the old ways
We were born into
It’s not our choice
It’s not what we believe
The Nazis lost.
You’ll lose again
It’s time to draw your line in the sand.
I was blind but now I can see
All the ways you been fucking me!
Right now!! (Right now!)
Right now!! (Right now!)
Right now!! Mind KKKontrol!!!
Right now!! (Right now!)
Right now!! (Right now!)
They’re fucking with you!
Mind KKKONTROL!!
—
‘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.
Notes:
Want to get scared? Put your radio on the AM and start surfing. Back when there were ownership limits, changing the frequency could change the sound. But now it’s all talk, all the time. And the talk is peddling fear. And the fear is sponsored by those selling the solution. Rights? Yeah, right. Not even over your own body. Throw you in a cage while burning a cross out front. Don’t forget Rodney King. Or Ollie North.
Excerpt from ‘Unreality’ — “The average male would be able to get into his TV set, to live the dream rather than just watching it.”
Lyrics
Turn on tha radio, nah fuck it turn it off
Fear is your only god on the radio
Nah fuck it, turn it off
Turn it off, turn on tha radio, nah fuck it turn it off
Fear is your only god on the radio
Nah fuck it, your saviour’s my guillotine, crosses and kerosene
Merge on tha networks, slangin’ nerve gas
Up jump tha boogie then bang, let ’em hang
While tha paraniod try ta stuff tha void
Let’s capture this AM mayhem
Undressed, and blessed by tha Lord
Tha power pendulum swings by tha umbilical cord Shock around tha clock, from noon ’til noon Men grabbin’ they mics, and stuff ’em into tha womb Terror’s tha product ya push Well I’m a truth addict, oh shit I gotta headrush
Sheep tremble an here come tha votes
Thrown from tha throat, new cages an scapegoats
Undressed and blessed by tha Lord
Tha same devil that ran around Managua wit a sword
Check out tha new style that Ollie found
I tune in wit a bullet ta shut down tha devil sound
Shut down tha devil sound
Tha program of Vietnow
Shut down tha devil sound
Turn on the radio, nah fuck it turn it off
Fear is your only god on the radio
Nah fuck it, turn it off
Turn it off, turn on the radio, nah fuck it turn it off
Fear is your only god on the radio
Nah fuck it, your saviour’s my guillotine, crosses and kerosene
Flex tha cerebellum, fire, uh!
Somebody gotta shell ’em
These evil angels lists, hittin’ tha AM playlist
Paid ta say this
That one inhuman, illegal, single woman
Tha one wit out a room
The transmissions wippin’ our backs
Yeah, comin’ down like bats from Stacy Coon
Terror’s tha product ya push
Well I’m a truth addict, oh shit I gotta headrush
Tha sheep tremble an here come tha votes
Thrown from tha throat, new cages and scapegoats
One caution tha mics a detonator unwound
Ta shut down tha devil sound
Shut down tha devil sound
Check tha heads bow in vietnow
Shut down tha devil sound
Is all tha world jails and churches?
Is all tha world jails and churches?
Is all tha world jails and churches?
Is all tha world jails and churches?
Is all tha world jails and churches?
Radio, nah fuck it, turn it off
Fear is your only god on tha radio
Nah fuck it, turn it off
Turn it off, turn on tha radio, nah fuck it turn it off
Fear is your only god on tha radio
Nah fuck it, your saviour’s my guillotine, crosses and kerosene
Fear is your, fear is your, fear is your only god
Fear is your, fear is your, fear is your only god
Fear is your, fear is your, fear is your only god
Fear is your, fear is your, fear is your only god
—
‘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.
Notes:
Dead Kennedys make one thing clear on their second album, ‘Plastic Surgery Disasters’: rich people and the government both suck. Jello and Co. do a great job with ‘Riot’ of building the tension and letting it linger. The adrenaline, the self-destructiveness, the state acting with impunity…it’s almost like you’re there!
Excerpt from ‘Unreality’ — “Anyone inside the machine who might have opposed such measures was branded unpatriotic and drummed out at the next opportunity.”
Lyrics
Rioting, the unbeatable high
Adrenalin shoots your nerves to the sky
Everyone knows this town is gonna blow
And it’s all
Gonna blow right now
Now you can smash all the windows that you want
All you really need are some friends and a rock
Throwing a brick never felt so damn good
Smash more glass
Scream with a laugh
And wallow with the crowds, watch them kicking peoples’ ass
But you get to the place
Where the real slave-drivers live
It’s walled off by the riot squad aiming guns right at your head
So you turn right around
And play right into their hands
And set your own neighborhood
Burning to the ground instead
Ah, ha-ha
Ah, ha-ha
Ah, ha-ha
Ah, ha-ha
Riot, the unbeatable high
Riot, shoots your nerves to the sky
Riot, playing right into their hands
Tomorrow you’re homeless, tonight it’s a blast
Get your kicks in quick
They’re callin’ the National Guard
Now could be your only chance to torch a police car
Climb the roof, kick the siren in and jump and yelp for joy
Quickly, dive back in the crowd, slip away, now don’t get caught
Let’s loot the spiffy hi-fi store, grab as much as you can hold
Pray your full arms don’t fall off, here comes the owner with a gun
Ah, ha-ha
Ah, ha-ha
Ah, ha-ha
Ah, ha-ha
Riot, the unbeatable high
Riot, shoots your nerves to the sky
Riot, playing right into their hands
Tomorrow you’re homeless, tonight it’s a blast
Yee-ah!
Yee-ah!
Yee-ah!
Yee-ah!
Yee-ah!
Shit!
The barricades spring up from nowhere
Cops in helmets line the lines
Shotguns prod into your bellies
The trigger fingers want an excuse
Now!
The raging mob has lost its nerve
There’s more of us but who goes first?
No one dares to cross the line
The cops know that they’ve won
It’s all over but not quite, the pigs have just begun to fight
They club your heads, kick your teeth
Police can riot all that they please
Ah, ha-ha
Ah, ha-ha
Ah, ha-ha
Ah, ha-ha, yeah!
Riot, the unbeatable high
Riot, shoots your nerves to the sky
Riot, playing right into their hands
Tomorrow you’re homeless, tonight it’s a blast
Riot, the unbeatable high
Riot, shoots your nerves to the sky
Riot, playing right into their hands
Tomorrow you’re homeless
Tonight it’s a blast
Tomorrow you’re homeless
Tonight it’s a blast
Tomorrow you’re homeless
Tonight it’s a blast
Tomorrow you’re homeless
Tonight it’s a blast
Tomorrow you’re homeless
Tonight it’s a blast
Tomorrow you’re homeless
Tonight it’s a blast
Tomorrow you’re homeless
Tonight it’s a blast
—
‘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.
Notes:
Another lasting impression from my mid-80s patronage of Numbers nightclub/concert venue in Houston (along with Love & Rockets’ version of ‘Ball of Confusion’), this absolute floor filler by Afrika Bambaataa and John Lydon knew what it was talking about. The KGB was going to get us by way of our own screens and military tactics would be employed to control the nation!
Excerpt from ‘Unreality’ — “Phillip was just the latest hotshot with a two-bit theory, and they wanted to see it played out.”
Lyrics
Speak about destruction
Speak about destruction
Speak about destruction
This is a world destruction, your life ain’t nothing
The human race is becoming a disgrace
Countries are fighting in chemical warfare
Not giving a damn about the people who live
Nostradamus predicts the coming of the Antichrist
Hey, look out, the third world nations are on the rise
The democratic communist relationship
Won’t stand in the way of the Islamic force
The CIA is looking for other tactics
The KGB is smarter than you think
Brainwash mentalities to control the system
Using TV and movies – religions of course
Yes, the world is headed for destruction
Is it a nuclear war?
What are you asking for?
Eins, zwei, drei, vier
This is a world destruction
Your life ain’t nothing
The human race is becoming a disgrace
The rich get richer
The poor are getting poorer
Fascist, chauvinistic government fools
People, Muslims, Christians and Hindus
Are in a time zone just searching for the truth
Who are you to think you’re a superior race?
Facing forth your everlasting doom
We are Time Zone
We’ve come to drop a bomb on you
World destruction, kaboom, kaboom, kaboom
This is the world destruction, your life ain’t nothing
The human race is becoming a disgrace
Nationalities are fighting with each other
Why is this? Because the system tells you
Putting people in racist categories
Knowledge isn’t what it used to be
Military tactics to control a nation
Who wants to be a president or king? Me!
Mother Nature is gonna work against you
Nothing in your power that you can do
Yes, the world is headed for destruction
You and I know it, ’cause the bible tells you
If we don’t start to look for a better life
The world will be destroyed in a time zone
I’m in a time zone
I’m in a time zone
I’m in a time zone
Speak about destruction
I’m in a time zone
I’m in a time zone
I’m in a time zone
Speak about destruction
Time zone
I’m in a time zone
I’m in a time zone
I’m in a time zone
Destruction
Destruction
Time zone
I’m in a time zone
I’m in a time zone
I’m in a time zone
I’m in a time zone (destruction)
I’m in a time zone
No
I’m in a time zone
I’m in a time zone
—
‘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.
Notes:
Know that it doesn’t have to be how it is. Get incensed. Rise above.
The first track on the band’s first album, it reprised this role in 2002 as the lead-off titular track to ‘Rise Above: 24 Black Flag Songs to Benefit the West Memphis Three.’ Recorded by the Rollins Band the tribute album featured rotating guest vocalists including Chuck D, Iggy Pop, Dean Ween, Mike Patton, Corey Taylor, Lemmy, Tom Araya, Ryan Adams and lots of others.
Excerpt from ‘Unreality’ — “Household’s next words, much to his surprise and contentment, came naturally.”
Lyrics:
Jealous cowards try to control
Rise above, we’re gonna rise above
They distort what we say
Rise above, we’re gonna rise above
Try and stop what we do
Rise above, we’re gonna rise above
When they can’t do it themselves
Rise above, we’re gonna rise above
We are tired of your abuse
Try to stop us, it’s no use
Society’s arms of control
Rise above, we’re gonna rise above
Think they’re smart, can’t think for themselves
Rise above, we’re gonna rise above
Laugh at us behind our backs
Rise above, we’re gonna rise above
I find satisfaction in what they lack
Rise above, we’re gonna rise above
We are tired of your abuse
Try to stop us, but it’s no use
We are tired of your abuse
Try to stop us, but it’s no use
We’re born with a chance
Rise above, we’re gonna rise above
I am gonna have my chance
Rise above, we’re gonna rise above
We are born with a chance
Rise above, we’re gonna rise above
And I am gonna have my chance
Rise above, we’re gonna rise above
We are tired of your abuse
Try to stop us, it’s no use
Rise above
Rise above
Rise above
We’re gonna rise above
We’re gonna rise above
We’re gonna rise above
‘…West Memphis Three’ version
—
‘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 