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Tuesday, 06 June 2006 13:19 |
| John North
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I was rather intrigued when I learned that in its latest issue, National Review is offering a list of the ?®top 50 conservative rock songs of all time.?∆
When I think of rock music, ?®conservative?∆ would be among the least likely concepts to spring to mind. And certainly, when conservative groups in the United States hold a gathering with a concert, usually featured are patriotic country music stars, such as Hank Williams Jr. and Lee Greenwood.
So my curiosity was piqued and I couldn??t wait to get a peek at the National Review list, as I tried to imagine some songs that might be included.
To
my surprise, listed at No. 1 is The Who??s ?®Won??t Get Fooled Again,?∆
which ends with the cynical acceptance that nothing really changes in
revolution: ?®Meet the new boss/Same as the old boss.?∆
The Who as counter-revolutionaries and skeptics of revolutionary idealism? I never had thought of The Who that way before.
Following
are listed Nos. 2 through 10 on the list of the top conservative songs
in rock, as chosen by National Review, with explanations in some cases:
2. ?®Taxman?∆ by the Beatles.
3. ?®Sympathy for the Devil?∆ by the Rolling Stones. ?®The devil is a tempter who leans hard on moral relativism.?∆
4. ?®Sweet Home Alabama?∆ by Lynyrd Skynyrd. ?®A tribute to the region of America that liberals love to loathe.?∆
5. ?®Wouldn??t It Be Nice?∆ by the Beach Boys. ?®Pro-abstinence and pro-marriage.?∆
6.
?®Gloria?∆ by U2. ?®Just because a rock song is about faith doesn??t mean
that it??s conservative. But what about a rock song that??s about faith
and whose chorus is in Latin? That??s beautifully reactionary.?∆
7. ?®Revolution?∆ by the Beatles.
8. ?®Bodies?∆ by the Sex Pistols. ?®A searing anti-abortion anthem.?∆
9. ?®Don??t Tread on Me?∆ by Metallica. ?®A head-banging tribute to the doctrine of peace through strength.?∆
10. ?®20th Century Man?∆ by the Kinks.
The list
was compiled by John J. Miller, 36, a political reporter, who said it
was meant to challenge the commonly held idea that rock??s politics are
essentially liberal.
?®Any
claim that rock is fundamentally revolutionary is just kind of silly,?∆
Miller said in a story in the May 25 edition of The New York Times.
?®It??s so mainstream that it puts them?∆ ?? liberals ?? ?®in the position of
saying that at no time has there ever been a rock song that expressed a
sentiment that conservatives can appreciate. And that??s just silly. In
fact, there are 50 of them.?∆
To the
contrary, the Times reported that longtime rock critic Dave Marsh
called Miller??s list a desperate effort by the right to co-opt popular
culture. ?®What happened was, my (liberal) side won the culture war.?∆
Miller said the
criteria for his list were broad ?? the songs had to be good and express
classically conservative ideas, ?®such as skepticism of government or
support for traditional values.?∆ The entire list, with explanations, is
on the Nation Review Web site.
I wonder,
though, about NR??s omission of a song like Bruce Springsteen??s ?®Born in
the USA,?∆ a patriotic song that Ronald Reagan liked and used during his
campaign. (I wonder what a lefty like Springsteen thought of that?)
And with
the right-wing ideals of tough love and compassionate conservativism,
how could the magazine leave off ?®Cruel to be Kind?∆ by Nick Lowe?
Also
inexplicably omitted by NR was that quintessential conservative rock
song, ?®Get a Job?∆ by The Silhouettes, a 1958 doo-wap chart-topper that
extols the virtues of work.
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