Songs for an Election

Songs for an Election

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Posted 2020-11-05 by Steven Gfollow
As I write this, the US elections are on a knife-edge. Now, this really only affects a small proportion of the world directly, but the US President has global influence through the slow Americanisation of our world. Who runs the US affects all of us. Unfortunately.


So, to get us in the mood for election season that will be screened on all our TVs for the next month (or more), here are ten songs about elections. I have tried to avoid songs about specific politicians and specific political issues (hence a lack of Midnight Oil and Bob Dylan). This is about generalities – general complaining, general politicians, general voting stuff… generally speaking. Yes, some of these are protest songs (of course), and some were written with a specific era in mind, but with the world the way it is, maybe all of them are still relevant.

Okay, admission – this was a request from a regular reader. I avoid politics even in my own country like the plague. I'm not even going to indicate where on the political spectrum I sit. These are just ten general songs about election time that I like and which I thought might make for an interesting play-list.

Hope you enjoy it… at least more than the elections themselves.
'Gimme Some Truth' by John Lennon (1971)

Okay, a cheat. Not quite about politics or anything like that, but it is the cry of every single voter everywhere – "Gimme some truth!" You can't help but think this was written with world leaders in mind. I mean, the opening lines – this could have been written yesterday.
'Elected' by Alice Cooper (1972)

A great track from Alice Cooper, from the point of view of a would-be politician. This still rings true. "I wanna be elected!" Not do good or anything else, just be elected. In the late 90s, early 2000s a version was done by Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden with Mr Bean (Rowan Atkinson) (as Smear Campaign, in 1992) which was good but… strange.

'Vote For Me' by Chicago (1978)

With music that I think tells you straight away this is going to make fun of the election process, this is a fun song that just parodies the empty promises made by every politician throughout history. And yet this is still a really good track.
'Know Your Rights' by The Clash (1982)

Basically, a call to people to be more aware of what their rights are in the political landscape. Maybe it is a little UK-centric, but it does talk across nations and political spectra. Mid-era Clash, when their reggae roots were becoming less evident, and with a spaghetti Western theme feel, this is a pounding track that just drives along like a train.
'Vote (That Ma Out)' by Little Steven (1984)

Okay, in this track, Little Steven (of Springsteen's E-Street Band) was singing about Reagan, but it was co-opted to go against both Bush presidents and has really been played to go against Trump. Talk about a universal song! The sentiments echo back across time from many different walks of life. The guitar is great and he is singing as he did on the 'Sun City' track, with wonderful females backing him.
'Election Day' by Arcadia (1985)

When two members of Duran Duran went off to form Power Station with Chester Thompson and Robert Palmer (magnificently), the rest of the band formed Arcadia… and this is the only song of theirs anyone remembers. It's a good song, yes, and their best song by a long, long margin.
'Call It Democracy' by Bruce Cockburn (1986)

A call to vote and, at the same time, a pro "let's be nice to everyone else" song. Then lyrics are incredible ("Let's make the gun a sacrament…") and the music is really strong as well. Cockburn is a vastly under-rated song-writer. Tracks like this should be better known.
'Democrazy' by– Chaka Khan (1998)

With help from Prince, this song questions just what democracy is and what it means to the underprivileged. Chaka Khan's output from across her career has been awesome and this is another to add to that, with all horns and synths and her voice on top of it all. Great.
'Democracy?' by The Damned (2001)

Yes, the Damned, in all their three-chord pop-punk glory, even at this later stage of their career. And, like all good, traditional punk, it is railing against something – in this case, that democracy may not be available to everyone. The Damned released so many great songs, and this is just another one.
'Dear Mr President' by P!nk with the Indigo Girls (2006)

A more passionate song, begging the president whoever they may be to have a proper look around the world and what's really going on. It is a sad and depressing song, sung as if P!nk knows this is futile. Sorry to be a downer, but it is still a great song.
So, there you are – ten songs to help you cope with the never-ending news cycle of the election. Interesting to note that most of these are Reagan era, and a few are Bush era. And yet all of them are relevant to the Trump era? Maybe?

Anyway, I hope you all survive and that the world finally gets a chance to calm down.


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84612 - 2023-06-11 06:56:48

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