Sounds in search
of sanity
With a little help from my friends,
here’s a concert of some tunes
that show today’s music far from dead
By John Kaminski
skylax@comcast.net
How we gon' fight to keep freedom when we ain't got it?
you wanna stop terrorists?
start with the u.s. imperalists
ain't no track record like america's, see
bin laden was trained by the c.i.a
but I guess if you a terrorist for the u.s
then it's okay
uh huh
Dead Prez, Know your enemy
http://www.heartbone.com/various/BurningBush.html
(click download; it’ll play)
It took me awhile to find this free link, but here it is, kicking off a
concert of free music you are not likely to hear on mainstream radio.
After my recent remark that popular music is dead, hundreds of
musicians and music fans sent me their prime cuts — definitely
conscious stuff. The point of most who wrote was that corporate media
won’t play any of these songs, because they focus on humanity rather
than profits, and see the fascist warmaking America we confront today
with the searing vision of people craving love and peace and witnessing
only needless death and destruction.
Music dead? I stand corrected, no question about it. Of course, we
should all boycott Clear Channel’s lobotomized radio stations. The
music is on the Internet. Dig it out and dig it.
So let’s just imagine we’re all hanging with our closest friends in a
lovely grove with a bodacious sound system and plenty of good stuff to
eat and drink. Kick back and listen to this inspiring array of funky
passion from principled musicians who, like us, are very worried about
the state of the world, and know how to sing about it.
Let’s start with a Grammy award winner ...
The revolution starts now
When you rise above your fear
And tear the walls around you down
The revolution starts here
Steve Earle, The Revolution Starts Now
http://www.steveearle.net/discography/revolution.php
(click the appropriate choice inside the link)
... then move on to a statement of the basic situation in the hearts of
people everywhere ....
... what if you saw
All of the things that’s wrong
Would you stand tall and strong?
Or would you turn and walk away...
Paris, Sonic Jihad
http://www.guerrillafunk.com/audio/paris/Sonic_Jihad/
what_would_you_do.wav
Damn few artists have had the courage to say anything about 9/11. Check this out and see if your chest doesn’t tighten up ....
Take away our Play Stations and we are a Third World nation.
Under the thumb of some blueblood royal son
who stole the Oval Office in that phony election . . . .
3000 some poems disguised as people
on an almost too perfect day
should be more than pawns
in some asshole's passion play
so now it's your job
and it's my job
to make it that way
to make sure they didn't die in vain
sshhhhhh....
— Ani Difranco, Self Evident
http://www.righteousbabe.com/self_evident.mp3
The wonderful folks who wrote me and tried to clue in this aging square
(me) about what was both hip and worthwhile at this time in our history
mentioned two artists more than any other: Steve Earle and David
Rovics. First, here’s another one from Steve (and links to many other
tunes by him).
Steve Earle, Rich Man’s War
http://www.steveearle.net/discography/revolution.php
And then from David plenty of reasons why people seek him out:
David Rovics
“After We Torture Our Prisoners”
“Operation Iraqi Liberation”
http://www.soundclick.com/pro/default.c ... tent=music
(seventh one down, click play)
A new one from one of the architects of the legendary band Pink Floyd
..
Roger Waters, “To kill the child”
http://www.roger-waters.com/
Somewhere between salsa and swing, this checklist of American woes ...
1,000 Paper Cranes, Baghdad Suite
http://www.sonicyouth.com/prmp3/Baghdad_Suite.mp3
Now let’s get really bleak ...
Soylent Gringo, Let’s Start a War, Part 2
http://www.soylentgringo.com/movingpictures.htm or
http://www.soylentgringo.com/Let%20Star ... 0(Part%202)%20-
%20Soylent%20Gringo.mp3
And from a popular West Coast peacenik ...
“We can bomb the world to pieces,
but we can’t bomb it into peace.”
Michael Franti and Spearhead, Bomb the World
http://www.spearheadvibrations.com/medi ... the_world-
armageddon.mp3
Some country with clear vision ...
James McMurtry, We Can’t Make It Here Anymore
http://www.digitalvisionmedia.com/compa ... t_Band.mp3
I defy you to classify this one ...
Iron Sheik, Neocon Lovesong
http://www.ironsheik.biz/Music/NEOCONLUVSONG.mp3
Has a little bit about 9/11 ...
Chumbawamba, Jacob’s Ladder (Not In My Name)
http://www.peace-not-war.org/Music/Chumbawamba/
And this will make you laugh, no question ...
Uncle Harold & the Due Rights, Fascist Nation
http://iresist.com/myth/FascistNation.html#Track1
And another response I received to my last essay saying I couldn’t find
any good music was from T. C. Smythe.
You want the truth, but The Truth is Expensive (or, "Hey Asshole,
Where's My Penny?")
In your article you're asking the choir to sing — well, we've been
singing, but even the independent media won't play us. They won't come
to the church. Then you have the temerity to call me an asshole and
tell me to write a song. We didn't leave the American public — they
left us.
The ugly truth is that it's the artists who *don't* need to get paid
that can afford to publish the songs you are waiting for. Thousands of
songwriters all over the country play these songs for free at political
rallies, marches, protest events and open mics. Some of the songs are
subtle, others more graphic, but they tell the truth. Trouble is,
you'll never see us on tour or in concert venues because the truth
doesn't sell beer or insurance. Night clubs won't hire us and we have
no distribution outlet.
When we DO manage to get the nerve to write a really good one, we lose
our jobs, friends, or the songs get pirated and sold behind our backs
by the same folks who cry for it. How many unlicensed MP3s are on
*your* hard drive? 10? 100? These recordings cost thousands of
dollars to produce. Without a job or an avenue for income, how are we
to continue? Writing/recording a good song takes practice, months of
editing/re-writing and lots and lots of money. I still have to pay the
rent, so this profession goes way beyond a hobby for me.
If you can come up with a viable method of helping us, we'd certainly
appreciate it. Tell your friends if they can find the song, they can
find the songwriter — send them the measley 1/15th of a cent they're
supposed to get from downloads.
http://www.smytheandtaylor.com/unholyland.mp3
If you can produce one penny from the use of this song, you'll be way
ahead of me. Even Dylan needed to eat. We are the solution — not the
problem.
And for you thrash fans, check out ...
Sado Nation, Nuke Up Now
http://myspace.com/sadonation
Here’s an obvious message phrased in a catchy way ....
Loudmouth, Deluge
http://www.unet.univie.ac.at/~a0107361/Deluge.mp3
And of course, the obligatory blast from the past, contemporized ...
Country Joe MacDonald, Support the Troops
http://www.countryjoe.com/epitaph.htm
And no decent concert today would omit perhaps the only mainstream
artist who has managed to galvanize millions with a conscious message
that actually has been played (if not frequently) on mainstream outlets
...
Eminem, Mosh
http://mosh.eminem.com/video/
even though I didn’t like the ending, because voting didn’t do a damn
bit of good. It never will as long as Republican criminals control the
companies that count the votes
•••
The mother lode of interesting antiwar songs is here ...
http://hotburrito.100megsfree5.com/iraqwar/songs.html
and here ...
Music Against the War
http://maritimes.indymedia.org/news/2003/11/5364.php
And lastly, but not leastly, my favorite of all the songs I received
does not have a link. But ... you can hear it ....
Splitting the Sky, United
by writing John Boncore at ...
splittingthesky@yahoo.com
and he’ll send it you. Don’t miss it.
Thanks to all those musicians and music lovers who sent lyrics and
poems. They were all very inspiring and if I can figure out a way to
put them all together in a viable way, I will. But right now I have
enough to make a book out of them. Hope you enjoy the music. Share it
with your friends.
Normally, my listening fare is somewhere between Rachmaninoff and
Debussy. But I must say, I’m becoming a real fan of Dead Prez, so let’s
close this out with another pointed message.
The Coup (featuring Dead Prez), Get Up
http://www.heartbone.com/various/BurningBush.html
(near the bottom of the list)
Wait, don’t go yet. One more thing. You know that video you’ve been
wanting to watch, but haven’t been able to afford. Chances are good you
can find it here.
http://www.heartbone.com/various/RedPillVideos.html
Peace.
John Kaminski’s Internet essays can be seen on hundreds of websites
around the world. They have been collected into two anthologies, the
latest of which is titled “The Perfect Enemy,” about how the
Zionist-controlled U.S. government created the terrorist group known as
al-Qaeda. His booklet “The Day America Died: Why You Shouldn’t Believe
the Official Story of What Happened on September 11, 2001” was written
especially for those who cling to the government’s false explanation of
the events of that tragic day. For more information go to
http://www.johnkaminski.com/
