[2004]
Lyrics & Music by Paul Ethix

Techy, metally, assrapingly punk..
"This one's about how military expenditure is a waste of money that could be used to help those in serious need.."

[1967]
Album “The Windows Of The World”
Parole di Hal David
Musica di Burt Bacharach

Una bellissima canzone d’amore (famosa anche nella versione di Aretha Franklin, di un anno successiva) che, nelle intenzioni del suo autore, Hal David, voleva essere la preghiera di una donna per il ritorno dell’amato dalla guerra in Vietnam (fonte: en.wikipedia). David, come dimostra pure un’altra canzone dell’album, The Windows of the World, era molto preoccupato per la guerra, anche perché all’epoca aveva due figli in età da soldato.

[1990]
Lyrics & Music by Adrian J. Pratt
Album: Passions, Pains and Protestations

"FIGHT AGAINST IT... It's a cancer in the world, breeding fear and exploitation, trampling justice into frustration... we don't need this blind, cold, calculated prejudice.
'We all can be so prejudice' We all have our 'us and them' moments. We hide names we seldom speak out loud to describe those we consider 'different'.

Maybe it's fear. Maybe it's ignorance. It's not helpful. Its like a cancer that prevents us from discovering the riches that those who are 'not the same' as us can enrich our lives with.

The song itself doesn't need much explanation. It was written not long after the Berlin Wall came down (1989)... when there was a spirit of optimism still in the air.

The sound sample is of South African Methodist Bishop Stanley Mogoba, who was imprisoned along Nelson Mandela at Robben Island,... (continua)

[1967]
Album “The Windows Of The World”
Parole di Hal David
Musica di Burt Bacharach

Hal David scrisse questa canzone ispirato da Where Have all the Flowers Gone e Blowin' in the Wind oltre che dal fatto di avere due figli maschi di età giusta per essere chiamati alle armi in piena guerra in Vietnam…
Un brano che fa senz’altro il paio con What the World Needs Now Is Love.

[2008]
Album “Anthems for the Damned”

“… Prendi dei soldati e sbattili nella sabbia, strappa via il bambino dall’uomo, non è difficile rimanere inghiottiti, George Bush ci ha fottuti, guarda le menzogne che ha seminato…”

(1993)
Parole e musica di Jean-Jacques Goldman

[2008]
Album “Anthems for the Damned”

Una canzone che pare sia stata ispirata a Richard Patrick da una lettera ricevuta da un fan, un ragazzo arruolatosi nell’esercito per potersi pagare il college e poi, proprio prima di completare il suo ciclo di studi, spedito in Iraq e là ucciso pochi giorni prima di terminare il suo periodo di servizio attivo….

[2007]
Album “Ten Feet High”

Per il suo debut album da solista la bella Aindréa Sinéad Ó Corra scrisse una canzone d’amore che si trasformò in canzone contro la guerra (e soprattutto contro il coinvolgimento britannico in Iraq e Afghanistan) dopo la lettura di “Birdsong”, racconto di vite travolte dal primo conflitto mondiale scritto nel 1993 dal giornalista britannico Sebastian Faulks.

[2006]
Album “Eraser”

Una canzone scritta dal frontman dei Radiohead per il suo debutto in solitario.
Harrowdown Hill, vicino al villaggio di Longworth nell’ Oxfordshire inglese, è il luogo in cui nel luglio del 2003 fu trovato il corpo senza vita di David Kelly, un noto scienziato britannico esperto in biotecnologie, consulente del Ministero della Difesa ed ex-ispettore dell'ONU in Iraq.

Un paio di mesi prima il giornalista della BBC Andrew Gilligan aveva pubblicato un articolo relativo ad una sua intervista allo scienziato in cui Kelly sosteneva la totale falsità del dossier del governo Blair sulle presunte armi di distruzione di massa in possesso di Saddam Hussein, dossier che du determinante per l’avvio della seconda guerra del Golfo e la definitiva distruzione dell’Iraq.
Lo scandalo suscitato dall’intervista determinò l’istituzione di una commissione d’inchiesta parlamentare, presieduta... (continua)

[2005]
Album “Dynamite”.
Scritta da Jason Kay, Rob Harris e Matt Johnston.
Il singolo fu lanciato attraverso un video, realizzato in computer grafica, che rende omaggio alla famosa “La linea” del cartoonist italiano Osvaldo Cavandoli.

[1982]
Lyrics & Music by Adrian J. Pratt
Album: Passions, Pains and Protestations

"Poverty breeds frustration. Frustration breeds violence. We reap what we sow.
This one recorded using Zelda and Frank... my Hofner Everything vintage guitar and Bass.... with a little help from the drum machine!"

da L'esploratore (2010)

Grazie a Pierangelo che ha trascritto il testo.

(1985)
Album: The Country Of The Blind

The jaw-dropping cynicism of Thatcher's victory parade still angers me today. It was to be an overtly jingoistic celebration. Troops who had fought were to march along with their bayonets fixed and buttons gleaming. Except the ones who'd come home with unsightly injuries. They - the ones who'd given the most for the cause - weren't invited in case they spoilt the jubilation with the horror of truth. After a media furore, some were belatedly asked along.
(Dust On The Stylus)

L'incredibile cinismo della parata della vittoria della Thatcher mi fa ancora oggi arrabbiare. Fu una celebrazione apertamente sciovinista. Le truppe che avevano combattuto dovevano marciare armate di baionette e con i bottoni scintillanti. Eccetto quelli che erano tornati a casa con ferite inguardabili. Loro - quelli che avevano dato di più per la causa - non furono invitati... (continua)

What is "You Have a Theory, I Have a Gun" about?

Well, had we wanted to compose an essay or a dissertation, I am sure that we would have, but instead we composed a song, so I am going to have to let that work stand on its own. Although not as complex or intriguing as a Joyce piece, I believe the lyrics speak for themselves, and your fine readers will be able to embrace the nuance of the work below:
Sid Jagger

La Battaglia di Shiloh, conosciuta anche come Battaglia di Pittsburg Landing, fu uno dei maggiori fatti d'arme del fronte occidentale della Guerra di secessione americana, avvenuto tra il 6–7 aprile 1862, nel SO del Tennessee. Le forze confederate sotto i Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston e Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard lanciarono un attacco a sorpresa contro l'esercito unionista di Ulysses S. Grant e furono a un passo dal vanificare la sua invasione del Tennessee. Una fiera resistenza unionista e l'arrivo di rinforzi dal Gen. Don Carlos Buell il 7 aprile fecero mutare la sorte del combattimento e le forze confederate furono costrette a ritirarsi da uno dei più cruenti campi di battaglia fino a quel momento dell'intera storia degli Stati Uniti d'America.

Interpretata anche da Mark Lanegan

[1865]
Lyrics & Music by Henry Clay Work

"Let me refer you to the song, "KINGDOM COMING, The year of the Jubilo", written by Henry Clay Work whose father spent some time in prison for helping thousands, YES THOUSANDS of slaves to freedom on the underground railway. Mr. Clay was a "fire-breathing dragon" of an abolitionist. As far as I can remember them, the words to "Kingdom Coming", which he deliberately wrote in "Darky dialect".
By the way, he was from Hartford, born in Middletown, Connecticut.."

Parole e musica di Henry Clay Work (1832–1884), compositore e songwriter americano che scrisse le sue canzoni più famose durante la Guerra civile.

Non ci si lasci ingannare dall’uso da parte dell’autore di un ridicolo inglese “da negri”: Henry Clay Work era – come tutta la sua famiglia – un fervente abolizionista. La sua casa nel Connecticut divenne una tappa sull’Underground Railroad,... (continua)

[2000]
Lyrics & Music by Rob Lincoln

"The recent bicentennial of Lincoln's birth is over, but here's a song written in 2000 that celebrates his life and legacy. It also addresses the historical revisionism with a very common sense approach. It's a simple song but has one of the best build-ups as far as an arrangements I've done thus far".

...Between ourselves: did 'Honest Abe' really want to set the slaves free ?
He maybe did it strictly for politics.. He never freed any slaves.
The Emancipation Proclamation applied only to Confederate States, which did not recognize Lincoln's authority at the time because they considered themselves to be a separate country...

[1984]
Lyrics & Music by Rob Lincoln

A Civil War ballad and love story. For Civil War buffs and those who want to hear a real weeper.

"Charleston Town is my first true historical ballad, in that although it is historical fiction, it is not an allegory but a straight story. I had been inspired by reading The Red Badge of Courage and my Civil War history class at Temple as the backdrop of this tale of lost love. This version is quite a bit different than the version L&L used to perform. It also contains an additional verse. Some background – Charleston was reduced to rubble by the end of the war. This union soldier was originally stationed there prior to the war".

[1982]
Lyrics & Music by Rob Lincoln

"My first of many many historical songs, and one of a number about presidents:
"Teddy" represents one of the subjects I would return to again and again – American History. Theodore_Roosevelt
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/...
This is the first of more than half a dozen songs I've written about presidents. It's about Teddy Roosevelt, of course.
Incidentally, recently a book came out specifically about Teddy's expedition to the River of Doubt. It's called River of Doubt and it's a great read. I highly recommend it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roosevelt...
The photo is of Teddy during his almost fatal expedition to the River of Doubt.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/...

da "Californication" (1999)

[2004]
Lyrics & Music by James Earthenware

This song is partly about the tragic life of Léon Theremin, inventor of one of the of the first electronic instruments in the 1930's. He ended up owing too much money to banks to continue developing his futuristic devices. So he returned to Russia, only to be thrown into a concentration camp until he was released and forced to invent things of Military significance (such as the world's first bugging device).
I brought Albert Glinsky's biography of Theremin but I couldn't read it because it was too depressing. It is a great injustice that of the smartest people of the last 100 years could not find the freedom to pursue his dreams in either "Democratic" or "Socialist" states due to the respective economic and ideological restrictions that each culture imposed to discourage individuals them from pursuing anything idealistic or radical.
Even... (continua)

[2003]
Lyrics & Music by James Earthenware
Album: Prototype Jive

"If you ever see a compilation LP (Vinyl) called "Songs Of The Protest Era" it is absolutely one of the best records ever made. Every song features incredibly weird guitar sounds/timing changes, genius lyrics that cut to bone and most importantly the most naive and defiant melodies and harmonies ever written.
In my homage to the genre I think I got the lyrics right but my guitar playing is too post-punk and I don't have the angelic voice required to deliver the lyrical venom in a deceptively sweet voice.
People dug it when we performed this live with an ad lib harmonica solo in the middle. Don't like playing it anymore however because it doesn't fit in with the rest of the songs and it's too depressing..
and my political contention is....
The population of "democratic" countries are living under the illusion that... (continua)

[2002]
Lyrics, music, performance and recording by Doc Jazz
Album: The Musical Intifadah

Up-tempo groove calling on people to realize that Palestinians are people like everyone else, and therefore have a right to enjoy fundamental human rights.

[1978]
Album “Stranger in Town”

Una canzone che – mi pare – possa fare il paio con Working Class Hero.
Celebre anche la scena del film “Body Heat” (“Brivido caldo”) di Lawrence Kasdan (1981) dove “Feel Like a Number” viene cantata da uno splendido Mickey Rourke quasi esordiente.

[2001]
Lyrics by David Kilpatrick

"Nope, it ain't traditional: I wrote this one. But one day you'll hear someone sing it and you'll think it's been around 150 years!
Sometimes you just pull a line out of the air, and for this one, I just sang the first verse out of nowhere. After that, it was easy to get the rest together. It's not like my usual singing but this is the way I thought it should sound. The tune is either traditional or so obvious and simple it should be"