Music to Fight Evil
seek inspiration from 50 years of protest with Jon Ewing
featuring artists like
Bad Religion, Bruce Springsteen, Billy Bragg, Mavis Staples, Grace Petrie, The Clash, Woody Guthrie, IDLES, She Drew the Gun, Nina Simone, The Specials
Tolerance is good. There should be more of it. And whether you’re from the Left or the Right, don’t be fooled into thinking you have the monopoly on it. But we need to draw a line.
Let’s be clear: tolerance means accepting opinions and beliefs that conflict with your own. It doesn’t mean accepting prejudice in place of evidence, nor injustice in place of equality. And when the opinions and beliefs of others lead to deprivation and suffering – yours or anyone else’s – you don’t have to be tolerant any more. It’s time to rise up and act. The songs in this list shouldn’t have to exist. We should all just get along. Until that happens, seek inspiration from 50 years of protest, by way of a lot of anger and a little love.
Made An America – The Fever 333
4 September 2018
The Fever 333’s Made an America owes a mighty debt to epoch-making Nineties LA alternative rock act Rage Against the Machine, delivering music with a purpose, bringing the vicious vitality of Killing in the Name up to date for the Trump era with a song that reminds all Americans that their nation was founded on the backs of black slaves.
Charlottesville – NIGHT featuring Guillem Duquette
11 August 2018
A downbeat, trip hop giant, pregnant with heart-bursting emotion, Charlottesville is simultaneously a tribute to those who risk their lives to stand up against race hatred and a declaration of rage against right-wing extremists – especially those in the highest office.
Samaritans – IDLES
31 July 2018
The pernicious effect of keeping silent when you ought to be screaming and sobbing is explored in Samaritans, the latest track from IDLES, from forthcoming album Joy as an Act of Resistance. But this article isn’t exactly about IDLES, the intense alternative five-piece from South-West England. Instead, it’s about a group of their fans who, in the last year, have changed each other’s lives and restored their faith in humanity. And if their motto, “All is Love”, means something to you, they would like you to join them.
Poison In The Well – 10,000 Maniacs
24 July 2018
Natalie Merchant’s folksy college rock vocal is the perfect conduit for this bitter ballad about corporate negligence tearing apart the lives of helpless, ordinary people, inspired by the true story of a neighbourhood of 221 families completely destroyed by chemical contamination,…
Haters – Dead Agents
17 July 2018
Black Country alternative rock band Dead Agents remind you to stand up and fight for what you believe in in this pounding revolutionary anthem from the West Midlands of England. With the pop sensibilities of Kasabian and the gruff gravitas of Killing Joke’s Jaz Coleman, Haters urges you not to tolerate the intolerable one moment longer. “Give it up, give it up keep waging war,” sings frontman David James Foster insistently. “Suck it up and make the haters hate you more”…
Let Him Dangle – Elvis Costello
9 July 2018
In 1998, Derek Bentley was finally pardoned for his part in the death of a British police constable during a bungled burglary 46 years earlier. Bentley, who suffered from learning difficulties, was proved innocent after years of campaigning by his sister, Iris. His story is the inspiration for this chilling song by Elvis Costello…
The Kids are Alt-Right – Bad Religion
2 July 2018
Legendary Californian hardcore punks Bad Religion enter the Trump era with their first new material since 2013’s True North album, a mosh-friendly 150 second burst of upbeat agit-pop, speeding up the riff from London’s Burning by The Clash, with sneaky references to the Solomon Burke soul classic Everybody Needs Somebody and of course the Who’s mod anthem The Kids Are Alright.
Call Me Baby – Charlotte Morris
18 June 2018
Enough is enough. This anthem for the Time’s Up generation draws on a lifetime of catcalls and vulgar remarks from men who treat women like sexual objects. And this is the moment when one woman can’t take any more. “I’m a strong resilient woman who knows how to kick your ass in,” warns New York singer-songwriter Charlotte Morris. “So call me baby one more time and then we’ll see who’s walking away laughing”…
Hot Topic – Le Tigre – Every Name-Check Explained
10 June 2018
This long-lost end-of-the-century dance track is nothing less than a reading list of feminist and LGBT cultural and counter-cultural icons. A chorus of female voices chants noteworthy names to a hypnotic beat and the message to those who were still living at that time was clear and unequivocal: “Don’t you stop / I can’t live if you stop”.
Read My Rights – Mike Frazier
30 May 2018
When you think of the archetypal protest singer, the image that comes to mind is probably a weary, earnest, lank-haired folk troubadour gently strumming a battered acoustic guitar with all the energetic tempo of your geography teacher on a Monday morning. But along comes Mike Frazier to wipe the slate clean with a take-no-crap four-to-the-floor protest song powered by the Energizer Bunny with Tony the Tiger on lead guitar.
Music to Fight Evil – Year One Retrospective
23 May 2018
A little over a year ago I started adding inspirational music to a Spotify playlist. In that time I’ve been discovering emerging new artists as well as revisiting old favourites and learning about classic songs, all with one thing in common – the artists have something to say beyond boy-meets-girl, something about the state of their nation and the world…
Smalltown Boy – Bronski Beat
15 May 2018
Rejected by your family and community, your life becomes so unbearable that you would rather give up everything and run than spend another day amongst people who despise you for being who you are. That’s the story behind Smalltown Boy, a UK No.3 hit single in 1984, with an accompanying video that spelled out unflinchingly the emotional agony and physical danger of being one of society’s outcasts in an age of intolerance.
