Live Ledge #344: The Revolution Starts Now

As long as it's existed, rock and roll has been about politics. We may hate to recognize this fact in this era of a divided country, but the musical form has always been an expression of political topics such as equality, world events, and even patriotism. It's been a way for the "little guy" to let the world know what they think is right and wrong about their community, their country, or even the world.

Tonight's show is all about tunes of this nature. From Nina Simone's 1969 rewritten version of "Revolution" to Superchunk's 2018 tune "Reagan Youth" these are all songs with a political edge. There are songs of revolution. Songs about Thatcher and Reagan. There's even a set of songs all about the premise of World War III.

It's quite an intriguing listen, and hopefully everybody discovers a track or two they've never heard before! You can find this show at almost any podcast site, including iTunes and Stitcher. Or...


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1. Steve Earle, The Revolution Starts Now
2. MC5, Kick Out The Jams
3. The Chesterfield Kings, Street Fighting Man
4. The Jam, Move On Up
5. Billy Bragg & Wilco, All You Fascists
6. The Bottle Rockets, Welfare Music 
7. Nina Simone, Revolution (Parts 1 & 2)
8. R.E.M., Revolution 
9. The Adicts, Viva La Revolution 
10. Crass, Bloody Revolutions
11. The Suburbs, World War III 
12. Ill Bill and the Spinal Chills, World War Three Ill
13. DOA, World War 3
14. The Nuns, World War III
15. T.S.O.L., World War III
16. Full Fathom Five, World War Three
17. Wild Billy Childish And The Musicians Of The British Empire, Thatcher's Children 
18. Notsensibles, I'm In Love With Margaret Thatcher
19. Ian Rubbish, Maggie Thatcher
20. The English Beat, Whine & Grine/Stand Down Margaret 
21. Ramones, My Brain Is Hanging Upside Down (Bonzo Goes to Bitburg) 
22. Superchunk, Reagan Youth
23. No Direction, Reaganomics
24. Minutemen, If Reagan Played Disco
25. Dead Milkmen, Ronald Reagan Killed The Black Dahlia
26. Sex Pistols, Anarchy In The UK
27. The Clash, The Guns of Brixton
28. Sonic Youth, Youth Against Fascism
29. Dead Kennedys, California Über Alles
30. Jello Biafra & Mojo Nixon, Love Me I'm A Liberal
31. Elvis Costello, Peace Love and Understanding
32. Patti Smith, People Have The Power
33. Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros, Redemption Song