Song Excerpts

"Friendly Father"

North Korea song to portray Kim Jong Un as benevolent and caring parent to the entire nation

"American Bad*ss"- Kid Rock (2000's)

Homophobic, rap, punk

"American Bad*ss"- Kid Rock (2024 RNC)

Added references to Trump assassination attempt, picture with Trump fist in air, references to states

"Turn Down the What" - Lil Jon & DJ Snake (2013)

Meaning don't turn off the vibe of the party

"Turn Down the What" - Lil Jon & DJ Snake (2024)

Addition of "We're not going back" to combat racist undertones in MAGA, references to Roe v Wade, Civil rights

"Backdoor Man"- Pauline Pantsdown

Song to make fun of a Australian conservative Pauline's Hanson politics and interviews. Later taken down after Pauline Hanson won lawsuit

"Blurred Lines"- Robin Thicke

Banned by 20 student unions due to

- sexual objectification of women

- draws a woman's sexual consent into question

- concern that the song trivializes sexual assault and date rape

"Unknown Soldier" - Fela Kuti

- An example of pedagogical/didactive song

- Condemned brutal police raid on his home, that killed his mother

- Name came from the results of an investigation that blamed the violence on one unknown soldier

- Song in Nigerian pidgin to communicate w/ audience

"Stalin wasn't stallin"- Golden Gate Quartet

Celebrates Stalin's resolve, stance against Adolf Hitler and the Soviet Union's role in WW2

"That's What I Learned in School" - Pete Seeger

Critical of indoctrination in school, blind faith in police, gov, system, the glorification of war, law & order

Example of participatory music

"Passing Through"- Leonard Cohen

"The Same Old Merry-Go-Round"

"This Land Is Your Land"- Woody Guthrie

- Politically controversial verses were removed in 1947

- New version became an unofficial national anthem in the U.S.

"I ain't a-Marching Anymore" - Phil Ochs

anti war song in response to Vietnam War

"A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" - Bob Dylan

a message of widespread human suffering and impending doom

ambiguous, doesn't give an answer/solution

"The times they are A-changing" - Bob Dylan

those who try to stop change will be the ones hurt

subjective, up to interpretation and nothing confirms what the problem is

"American Party" - Chuck Aherns and the Cannonballs

Pedagogical, overt, pro law enforcement, against protests (Vietnam), regional dialect. poke fun at dems

"Okie from Muskogee" - Merle Haggard

respect authority, references hippies doing drgs, self aggrandizing, references to American flag and the vietnam war

"Welfare Cadillac" - Guy Drake

Criticism again welfare state, belief in pulling yourself by the bootstraps, people who took advantage of welfare were lazy and irresponsible (welfare queen stereotype)

"At San Quentin" - Johnny Cash

Gave voices to the incarcerated, experiences about people in prisons

"Jimmy's Road" - Willie Nelson

Protest against the Vietnam War

Whatever Happened to Peace on Earth," - Willie Nelson

Protesting the Iraq War

"Old Town Road" - Lil Nas X

Hybrid of country and southern hip-hop

"Cowboy Carter"

Album that wasn't particularly considered country but had country elements and had songs that featured country musicians

The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez

Story of someone who killed a sheriff who hurt his brother

"Flag Song"

- Used as a national anthem

- Used to open the powwow

"Black Snakes"- Prolific The Rapper & A Tribe Called Red

Protest song to fight against the Dakota Access Pipeline.

The pipeline represented by black snakes

"A Tribe Called Red" - Halluci Nation

Shows ceremonial regalia and regular native life

"John Wayne Was a Nazi" - M.D.C.

Meant to attack John Wayne for his past racist remarks

"John Wayne Was a Nazi" cover by Halluci Nation and F'ed up

Slower tempo than original and has a dubstep, heavy bass

"He's in the Jailhouse Now" - "Blind" Blake

Injected humor into the politically controversial takes (voting fraud)

"He's in the Jailhouse Now" cover by Jimmy Rodgers

Changed the reason of going to jail from voter fraud to gambling

"This is America" - Childish Gambino

- ref to gun violence

- ref to Jim crow

- choreo from african countries

- ref to death, one of the 4 horsemen

"Swing Low, Sweet Chariot" - Fisk Jubilee

Leaving enslavement, moving back to africa or dying