U2: Bono say vote!
Say you’re watching the election returns tonight and don’t feel like listening to the chattering punditry – really, at this point, who does? All the information you need will be onscreen anyway, and if you must, there’s a neat little thing called closed-captioning most TVs have these days. Why not put on some killer election-related tunes instead? Rocks Off polled his writers and fellow Village Voice Media music editors – who, shockingly, appear to lean toward the left – for a consensus-building Election Night soundtrack.
U2, “Desire” – “She’s the promise in the year of election.”
Arcadia, “Election Day” – “Pull my shirt off and pray.”
Pretenders, “My City Was Gone” – “Hey ho, where’d you go, Ohio?”
Radiohead, “Electioneering” – “I trust I can rely on your vote.”
Alice Cooper, “Elected” – “We’re gonna rock to the rules that I make.”
Twisted Sister, “We’re Not Gonna Take It” – “We’ve got the right to choose, and there ain’t no way we’ll lose it.”
Leonard Cohen, “Democracy” – “It’s coming from the feel that this ain’t exactly real, or it’s real but it ain’t exactly there.”
Megadeth, “Peace Sells” – “What do you mean, ‘I don’t pay my bills’? Why do you think I’m broke? Huh?”
Curtis Mayfield, “Keep on Pushing” – “I know that I can make it, with just a little bit of soul.”
The Band, “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” – “Ya take what ya need and ya leave the rest, but they should never have taken the very best.”
Peggy Lee, “Why Don’t You Do Right” – “You’re sittin’ there wonderin’ what it’s all about, you got no money, they will put you out”
Geto Boys, “Damn It Feels Good to Be a Gangsta” – “Damn it feels good to be a gangsta, gettin’ voted into the White House.”
Dead Kennedys, “Moral Majority” – “If Jesus don’t save ’til we’re lining your pockets, God must be dead if you’re alive.”
Against Me!, “White People for Peace” – “There was purpose to be served, there were fortunes to be earned, before a peace could be called to stop a war.”
Re-flex, “The Politics of Dancing” – “The politicians are now DJs, the broadcast was spreading station to station, like an infection across the nation.”
Lou Reed, “Caroline Says II” – “What is in her mind? It’s so cold in Alaska.”
New Order, “State of the Nation” – “Now we turn our backs to the sea, the shame of the nation we’ll never be.”
The Hives, “Hate to Say I Told You So” – “Turn my back on the rot that’s been planning the plot, because I’m gonna.”
The Who, “Won’t Get Fooled Again” – “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.”
The Stooges, “Down on the Street” – “Down on the street where the faces shine, floatin’ around I’m a real low mind.”
Slayer, “Reborn” – “You think by killing me tonight, my powers will not rise?”
Pogues, “Body of an American” – “And he never threw a fight unless the fight was right, so they sent him to the war.”
Nas, “Black President” – “A predicate felon, a ghetto leader, lending my political genius to whoever may need it.”
Sam Cooke, “A Change Is Gonna Come” – “Then I go to my brother and I say ‘Brother, help me please,’ but he winds up knockin’ me back down on my knees.”
Jay-Z, “Minority Report” – “It’s a dirty game so whatever is effective, from weed to selling cane, gotta put that in effect.”
Jane’s Addiction, “Been Caught Stealing” – “It’s just a simple fact – when I want something, I don’t want to pay for it.”
Rolling Stones, “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” – “I went down to the demonstration, to get my fair share of abuse.” – Chris Gray
This article appears in Jul 13, 2007 – Jul 7, 2011.
