Artist: Sacred Reich
Song: The American Way
Album: The American Way
Producer: Bill Metoyer
Label: Metal Blade
Year: 1990
Notes:
Straight into the deep end! Sacred Reich bassist and main songwriter Phil Rind has a wide social justice streak in both his craft and in general and brought it to the fore with his band’s second full-length album, ‘The American Way.’ The record is one of most overtly political thrash releases ever and stacks up with the very best musically as well.
Excerpt from ‘Unreality’ (now seeking publisher!) –
“All the reactionary freaks in the American Civil Liberties Union and associated organizations had ended up being right. Freedom had been traded for security.”
Lyrics:
Truth and honor, faith and pride
All conviction’s surely died
Honesty’s time has passed
Time for lies is here at last
Truth is false, I’m so fed up
How did we come to be so fucked
Hate, fear, pain, death
All our country has got left
Talk to children hear them say
Daddy left again today
Brother steals and mommy lies
Future lost before their eyes
The sun was lost behind the clouds
They wrapped it up and blacked it out
Acid rain fell today
It came and washed our hopes away
This was once the land of dreams
Now these dreams have turned to greed
In the midst of all this wealth
The poor are left to help themselves
A capitalist’s democracy
Why no one said that freedom’s free
Lady liberty rots away
No truth, no justice, the American way
Don’t look past your TV
All of us are what you see
A looking glass into our lives
What we watch is what we buy
Priorities are out of whack
Who is next to stab our back
Doesn’t it make you mad
To have lost all that we’ve had
This was once the land of dreams
Now these dreams have turned to greed
In the midst of all this wealth
The poor are left to help themselves
A capitalist’s democracy
Why no one said that freedom’s free
Lady liberty rots away
No truth, no justice, the American way
Doesn’t it fill you with disgust
That there’s no one left to trust
Is this happening, is this real
My body numb, I cannot feel
Are you happy? Are you sad?
Are emotions a thing of the past
I have no tears, I cannot cry
No one mourns for a world that’s died
This was once the land of dreams
Now these dreams have turned to greed
In the midst of all this wealth
The poor are left to help themselves
A capitalist’s democracy
Why no one said that freedom’s free
Lady liberty rots away
No truth, no justice, the American way
—
‘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 