🎷 Music League 4 - Airwolf v Blue Thunder 🚁 - Round 12 🎷 Protest Songs 🎷

I picked walking in the snow then backtracked because I wasnt sure if it met the brief of not but its totally been adopted as a protest song given the I can’t breathe lyric which was coincidental so I still don’t know if it qualifies or not

There’s gonna be some pedantry in this round, but anyone who didn’t recognise Walking in the Snow as fitting the brief for this round is just flat out wrong imo.

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not sure i’ve struck the right (musical) tone in this round :thinking:

This was my first sub but thought it would be a bit much for most users

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I’m tight on pedantry for things like punctuation or words, but protest songs are important, this is a category I wouldn’t demean with pettiness for comic effect. Anything that generally expresses dissatisfaction with the status quo and/or a desire for change is fine.

This playlist is awesome so far. A quarter in and more than half those songs will be in the running for points. Bella Ciao was on the top of my tongue for this round, realised what it was only when I saw the playlist, but it’s a delight, wish I’d played it. Also pleased to see Fela Kuti with Zombie which I had as my choice until I settled for my final pick.

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amateur

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Better for the playlist if there is a mix of tones, literally prevents monotony. A bit of righteous anger is great but there is more than one way to make a protest.

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No RATM but mercifully no Big Yellow Taxi either.

Was tempted to submit this initially as the categories were announced around the time of peak Royal bootlicking when Prince Phillip died.

Guaranteed zero though :smile:

Was very close to submitting this

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I only had one other idea for this round and it was gabber, so consider yourselves lucky.

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I had three more choices for this round, and it was a pretty close run thing.

Unwound- For Your Entertainment

I wanted to pick this since it’s an utterly devastating closer to one of their best albums and I love the message. Just missed out since I thought the lyrics were a bit difficult to understand. New Energy was in the running too.

Svalbard- Unpaid Intern

This was also on my list since it’s a great and direct “fuck-you” to its subject, just like pretty much every Svalbard song. And it’s a cracking hybrid of black metal and punk and everything that makes them one of the best bands around right now.

Converge- No Heroes

Really wanted to choose this one but thought it was so intense it would probably put a lot of people off. However, it’s definitely a pretty extreme protest, just not an explicitly political one, and one of their very best songs, which is saying a lot. “No more gods / No more graves / No more love / No more hate.”

Other ones on the shortlist:

  • Luau by Drive Like Jehu
  • New Noise by Refused
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Flutter into Prison Song catches you off guard doesn’t it.

the intro to Zombie sounds familiar

Almost chose this but wasn’t sure if him being a comedian would have messed with perceptions of the song

Woah, Hollow Point is quite the gut punch

Holy shit! Speak! Haven’t heard this in fucking ages. If the rest of the list wasn’t so good this would have been kingmakered

What’s the story behind Flutter being a protest song? It’s a great tune any way.

It was a reaction to the Criminal Justice Bill, which outlawed performances with repetitive beats.
…so they programmed the whole tune with no two bars containing the same pattern of beats.
A bit genius!

7 Likes

Big fan of that!