Be Afraid

Jason Isbell and The 400 kick against the pricks.

And I don’t think you even recognize the sound of your voice
When it’s blasting through the speakers in the sky
And if your words add up to nothing then you’re making a choice to sing a cover when you need a battle cry

Do it anyway.

Phenomenal Woman

Laura Mvula, et. al., proclaim.

She battled trials and every kind of tribulation
She reveled in adventure and imagination
She never listened to no hater, liar
Breaking boundaries and chasing fire.

Stand Up

Wonderful gospel-tinged tune sung by Cynthia Erivo, co-written by Joshuah Brian Campbell.
First heard some of it on a clip from this year’s Oscars.
The tune marries a modern focus to Harriet Tubman’s work.
Erivo shows off a wondrous range in her performance in this video.

Just One Victory

Great piece by Rolling Stone about Todd Rundgren’s efforts to retool the song for every Democratic candidate to use, free of charge.

Here’s the link to the Rolling Stone story

.
I’ve long loved Rundgren’s music. His concerts are a real trip, too.
Loved the quote in the story: “Let’s go for ‘We Are the World.’ ”
The chorus is very easy to sing along, so it could very possibly be a party theme song.

 

Here’s the link to the son on Rundgren’s album.

Here’s the link to a live performance.

Babies in Cages

There’s nothing like a scruffy country-rock band getting political. Thanks Drive-By Truckers! The tuen is from their recent The Unraveling.

And are we so divided
That we can’t at least agree
This ain’t the country that
Our granddads fought for us to be?
Babies in cages.

The Shores of Normandy and 1916

Jim Radford gives a couple of live, stirring performances.

The first is a June 2014 concert at Royal Albert Hall commemerating the 70th anniversary of D Day.

The second is at The Cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday 2016.

For every hero’s name that’s known
A thousand died as well
On stakes and wires their bodies hung
Rocked in the ocean swell
And many a mother wept that day
For the sons they loved so well
Men who cracked a joke and cadged a smoke
As they stormed the gates of hell.

 

And I marched and I fought and I bled and I died,
And I never did get any older,
But I knew at the time that a year in the line,
Was a long enough life for a soldier,

People Have the Power

Patti Smith is an iconic artist of spoken word, music, in Patti’s person. This 1968 anthem remains powerful to this day.

Patti Smith tells the story of the song.

Want to sing along?

I awakened to the cry
That the people have the power
To redeem the work of fools
Upon the meek the graces shower
It’ s decreed the people rule.

Distancing

Idea

Six-feet lengths
Bamboo
Shepherd staffs
Dowels
Whatever
Can be carried.

Include peacekeepers
And officers of the law.

Fashion statement, perhaps?

Park cars.
Lock firearms.
Walk.
Fellowship
(at a safe distance).

Know Your Rights

The Clash have been a fave for me in my listening, including this early 1980’s tune. Pogo or clap along with this sarcastic little ditty.

And number two
You have the right to food money
Providing of course
You don’t mind a little
Investigation, humiliation
And if you cross your fingers
Rehabilitation

Harmony Hall

Note the indirection of this song by Vampire Weekend. Some tunes invite analysis, such as this from Atwood Magazine:
http://atwoodmagazine.com/vwhh-harmony-hall-vampire-weekend-song-review/.
The band performs the song on this video from Austin City Limits, an exclusive to Rolling Stone. The pop jauntiness mixes with the darker undertones of the song. Production values are pristine in an excellent prosentation.

A recent concert by the band on YouTube is available if you have a couple of hours.
Within the halls of power lies a nervous heart that beats
Like a Young Pretender’s
Beneath these velvet gloves I hide
The shameful, crooked hands of a moneylender