Punk

Artist:          The Clash

Song:           Clampdown

Album:        London Calling

Producer:    Guy Stevens

Label:          CBS

Year:           1979

Notes:
Problems and solutions are presented in an increasingly binary manner. Us or them. Freedom or security. Socialist or fascist. Red or blue. This is not just a gross over simplification of existence; it’s a trap, set by those in control to maintain the status quo. It’s not even true that you must either be a revolutionary or work for the clampdown. But finding the middle ground and building your own world within it requires effort. Lose focus and the machine will swallow you.

Excerpt from ‘Unreality’ —
Sarge’s main dilemma was what he’d find on the other side of the door.

Lyrics:
The kingdom is ransacked
The jewels all taken back
And the chopper descends
They’re hidden in the back
With a message written on a half-baked potato
The spool goes ’round
Sayin’ I’m back here in this place
And I could cry
And there’s smoke you could click on

What are we gonna do now?

Taking off his turban, they said, “is this man a Jew?”
‘Cause they’re working for the clampdown
They put up a poster saying: “We earn more than you
We’re working for the clampdown
We will teach our twisted speech
To the young believers
We will train our blue-eyed men
To be young believers”

The judge said, five to ten, but I say double that again
I’m not working for the clampdown
No man born with a living soul
Can be working for the clampdown
Kick over the wall ’cause government’s to fall
How can you refuse it?
Let fury have the hour, anger can be power
Do you know that you can use it?

The voices in your head are calling
Stop wasting your time, there’s nothing coming
Only a fool would think someone could save you
The men at the factory are old and cunning
You don’t owe nothing, boy, get runnin’
It’s the best years of your life they want to steal

But you grow up and you calm down
And working for the clampdown
You start wearing blue and brown
You’re working for the clampdown
So you got someone to boss around
It make you feel big now
You drift until you brutalize
Make your first kill now

In these days of evil Presidentes
Working for the clampdown
But lately one or two has fully paid their due
For working for the clampdown
Ha! Get along! Get along! (working for the clampdown)
Ha! Get along! Get along! (working for the clampdown)

Yeah, I’m working hard in Harrisburg
Working hard in Petersburg
Working for the clampdown
Working for the clampdown
Ha! Get along! Get along!
Beggin’ to be melted down

Work, work, work
And I’ll give away no secrets
Work, work, more work, more work
Work, work, work, work, work

Who’s barmy now?

 —

‘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.

P100 – Racists

Artist:          Anti-Flag

Song:           Racists

Album:        American Fall

Producer:    Benji Madden

Label:          Spinefarm

Year:           2017

Notes:
Pittsburgh’s Anti-Flag wrote and released this song in the wake of the 2017 violence in Charlottesville, Va., later including it on their ‘American Fall’ album. “We stand in solidarity with those fighting racism and fascism in the streets of Charlottesville and beyond. We believe it is time for the removal of all monuments to the confederacy and the racism for which they stand. We must put these symbols of white supremacy into places where the proper context can be provided for what they actually are; outdated, backwards, and antithetical to what we believe the values of humanity should be. It is past time to have real conversations on systemic racism and America’s history of it. There are museums memorializing the Holocaust all across Europe, while America continues to try to hide from its racist and murderous past and present.” – Anti-Flag

Excerpt from ‘Unreality’  —
He dug the idea of restitution and didn’t care one way or the other what the fate of any of the individuals on the ship was, but he was in no way down with blanket racism.

Lyrics
It’s in the things that you say and you don’t say
You don’t know it ’cause you’re such a fucking cliche
The way you define them and us
Those you fear and those you trust

You know a black guy and he’s very articulate
You know a mexican and she’s honest and diligent
You don’t see color
But some people need discipline
And thug is a thug
Some people need to learn a lesson

Your justifications
One dead give away
Your qualifications
One dead give away
You’d never endorse the Jim Crowe days
But the malice in your voice is a god damn give away

Just ’cause you don’t know you’re racist
A bigot with a check list
Just ’cause you don’t know you’re racist
You don’t get a pass when you’re talking your shit
Just ’cause you don’t know you’re racist
A bigot with a check list
Just ’cause you don’t know you’re racist
You don’t get a pass, get a pass for your ignorance

Black lives matter and you don’t know why
And reverse racism isn’t a real thing
No, you weren’t alive in the time of slavery
But that’s no excuse to ignore its legacy
Not afraid of refugees
But don’t want a mosque built on your street
Offended by the claim of bigotry
More than the racism in your face

Your justifications
One dead give away
Your qualifications
One dead give away
You’d never endorse the Bull Connor days
But the malice in your voice is a god dams give away

Just ’cause you don’t know you’re racist
A bigot with a check list
Just ’cause you don’t know you’re racist
You don’t get a pass when you’re talking your shit
Just ’cause you don’t know you’re racist
A bigot with a check list
Just ’cause you don’t know you’re racist
You don’t get a pass, get a pass for your ignorance

You fly the flag of the confederacy
You say to celebrate your history
The south was fighting to save slavery
To preserve and protect white surpremacy

Just ’cause you don’t know you’re racist
A bigot with a check list
Just ’cause you don’t know you’re racist
You don’t get a pass when you’re talking your shit
Just ’cause you don’t know you’re racist
A bigot with a check list
Just ’cause you don’t know you’re racist
You don’t get a pass, get a pass for your ignorance

Just ’cause you don’t know you’re racist
Just ’cause you don’t know you’re sexist
Just ’cause you don’t know you’re fascist
You don’t get a pass for your ignorance
Just ’cause you don’t know you’re racist
Just ’cause you don’t know you’re sexist
Just ’cause you don’t know you’re fascist
You don’t get a pass, get a pass for your ignorance

—

‘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:          Dead Kennedys

Song:           Riot

Album:        Plastic Surgery Disasters

Producer:    Thom Wilson & East Bay Ray

Label:          Alternative Tentacles

Year:           1982

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.

Artist:          Black Flag

Song:           Rise Above

Album:        Damaged

Producer:    Spot

Label:          SST

Year:           1981

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.

 

 

Artist:          The Clash

Song:           White Riot

Album:        The Clash

Producer:    Mickey Foote

Label:          CBS

Year:           1977 (US 1979)

Notes:
The Clash’s debut single lets you know what they had in store: short, sharp examinations of class divisions in a multiethnic world. It was written following Joe Strummer and bassist Paul Simonon’s experiences during the 1976 Notting Hill Carnival riots. The UK’s 1975 inflation rate was higher than 20%. Notting Hill was still working-class and inhabited by a mix of poor whites and Jamaican immigrants. The tinder was dry and heavy-handed policing of the annual event provided the spark.

As Strummer told NME: “The only thing we’re saying about the blacks is that they’ve got their problems and they’re prepared to deal with them. But white men, they just ain’t prepared to deal with them—everything’s too cosy. They’ve got stereos, drugs, hi-fis, cars. The poor blacks and the poor whites are in the same boat.”

Excerpt from ‘Unreality’  —
“Anyone inside the machine who might have opposed such measures was branded unpatriotic and drummed out at the next possibility.”

Lyrics:
White riot, I want to riot
White riot, a riot of our own
White riot, I want to riot
White riot, a riot of our own

Black man gotta lotta problems
But they don’t mind throwing a brick
White people go to school
Where they teach you how to be thick

And everybody’s doing
Just what they’re told to
And nobody wants
To go to jail

White riot, I want to riot
White riot, a riot of our own
White riot, I want to riot
White riot, a riot of our own

All the power’s in the hands
Of people rich enough to buy it
While we walk the street
Too chicken to even try it

And everybody’s doing
Just what they’re told to
And nobody wants
To go to jail

White riot, I want to riot
White riot, a riot of our own
White riot, I want to riot
White riot, a riot of our own

Hey, you, standing in line
Are we gonna sign an agreement?

White riot, I want to riot
White riot, a riot of our own
White riot, I want to riot
White riot, a riot of our own

—

‘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:          FEAR

Song:           Let’s Have A War

Album:        The Record

Producer:    Gary Lubow

Label:          Slash

Year:           1982

Notes:
Though better known for such sophomoric gems as ‘Beef Boloney’ and ‘Gimme Some Action,’ as well as pissing everyone they could off, both onstage and in-person, there is no denying ‘Let’s Have A War’ (to ‘jack up the Dow Jones…we can blame it on the middle class!’) as documentation of who’s behind our conflicts and who suffers.

Excerpt from ‘Unreality’  —
“Fuck it. Let’s just bliss out.”

Lyics:
There’s so many of us
There’s so many of us
There’s so many
There’s so many of us
There’s so many of us
There’s so many [Repeat: x2]

Let’s have a war
So you can go and die!
Let’s have a war!
We could all use the money!
Let’s have a war!
We need the space!
Let’s have a war!
Clean out this place!

It already started in the city!
Suburbia will be just as easy!

There’s so many of us
There’s so many of us
There’s so many
There’s so many of us
There’s so many of us
There’s so many [Repeat: x2]

Let’s have a war!
Jack up the Dow Jones!
Let’s have a war!
It can start in New Jersey!
Let’s have a war!
Blame it on the middle-class!
Let’s have a war!
We’re like rats in a cage!

It already started in the city!
Suburbia will be just as easy!

There’s so many of us
There’s so many of us
There’s so many
There’s so many of us
There’s so many of us
There’s so many [Repeat: x2]

Let’s have a war!
Sell the rights to the networks!
Let’s have a war!
Let our wallets get fat like last time!
Let’s have a war!
Give guns to the queers!
Let’s have a war!
The enemy’s within!

It already started in the city!
Suburbia will be just as easy!

There’s so many of us
There’s so many of us
There’s so many
There’s so many of us
There’s so many of us
There’s so many [Repeat: x2]

There’s so many of us
There’s so many of us
There’s so many
There’s so many of us
There’s so many of us
There’s so many [Repeat: x2]

—

‘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.