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This week’s prompt: Protest Songs

Hey y’all! The government has been shut down for over a month! We have a racist, fear-monger for a president! The new klan hood is a red cap with four idiotic words embroidered in white that you can buy for 25 bucks with the option to give another 25 direct to the gibbering pustule that birthed that vapid dog-whistle from his fetid, puckered maw. Times like this, one thing that can lift my spirit out of despair is a good protest song. My go to is the Minutemen. If ever there was a band that stood strong against fascism and tyranny, it’s them. My favorite of theirs is “Themselves”. It’s a call to action and a condemnation of the selfish and greedy. Have a listen and sing along:

All these men who work the land
Should evaluate themselves and make a stand
Can’t they see beyond the rhetoric?
The lies and promises that don’t mean shit

And all the men who learned to hate them
And all the men who learned to hate them

They keep themselves hidden away
They keep themselves upon the hill
Afraid that they’ll have to pay
For all the crimes upon their head

And all the men who learned to hate them
And all the men who learned to hate them

And I wanna give a shout out to the unions past and present. Protest songs are a fundamental part of the union movement. As long as we have unions, we have hope for a better future. My current favorite union boostin’ tune is from Baltimore band Nectar&Trilogy called “The Breaking Line”. Have a listen, won’t ya?

Feel free to sing along too:

We haven’t forgotten that this land is our land.
We know what the powerful do if we don’t join up with hand in hand.

To anybody that thinks our comittment to the working man has gone soft,
It’s such a mess. We’ll go to the fresh.

Their memory is lacking, if they don’t know there’s a breaking line.
Once it’s crossed, it’s not a matter of if, it’s only a matter of time.

It’s only a matter of time until our resolve and our commitment to the working man
unravels the damage of their short term goals and selfish plans.

And when we break their choking grip
The skies will shine and the seas will shift
And we’ll regain what was always ours.

Ain’t no mistaking those sentiments. This one goes straight to my core.

So, what are some of your favorite protest tunes? Do you like ’em overt or subtle? Angry or uplifting? However you like ’em, stand tall and proud, y’all. Sing those protest songs out loud enough to shake their towers to dust. Or just share whatever sounds are ticklin’ yr earballs right now. And, as always, rock out with yr guac out.