Best song on the Conservapaedia list of "Greaatest Conservative Songs"

"Greatest" even. I think they've rather misread some of these, myself.

"Staying Alive, by the Bee Gees. Pro-people and pro-staying alive"

voting for "Spirit in the Sky"

Phil Ochs: Love Me, I'm a Liberal

ok, um, WHAT!???

Link doesn't work, btw. Unless it's just me...

because i really would like to know what makes Kevin Ayers: Stranger in Blue Suede Shoes a conservative song....

Defends the right of businessmen to choose their customers: "we don't serve strangers in blue suede shoes".

^ sadly not a joke

"Takin' Care of Business" by Bachman-Turner Overdrive. The work ethic and promoting self-employment.

yeah, just managed to get to it via cache google.

Right: 86.Stranger in Blue Suede Shoes by Kevin Ayers. Defends the right of businessmen to choose their customers: "we don't serve strangers in blue suede shoes".
is plain bollocks.

Unless the right of the customer to then retaliate by having the businessman smoke a 'green' cig and sack himself to go travelling around the world is also defended. Then again, maybe it's his gap yeear.

48."Love Me, I'm a Liberal" by Phil Ochs. Revealing Liberal hypocrisy for what it is.

a way to get laid by the ruling conservative party?

The version by The Clash has a good tempo.

Thanks, dad.

and the topper..

16.Brothers In Arms, by Dire Straits. We're fools to make war on our brothers in arms.

DIDN'T STOP THEM DURING THE MINERS STRIKE, DID IT!!!????

This list needs more Kinks

It's funny, a lot of the ones that need defending are the ones I like the least.

Although, I have some 'sympathy' for this reading..

81.Sympathy for the Devil by the Rolling Stones. Reminds humanity that nobody is perfect and evil is present in the world and needs to be fought.

.. without necessarily completely agreeing with it (it's more than that)

Obviously the concept of irony is beyond these loons so i'm unsurprised that e.g. they think Fast Car really is about "self-help and the free market". but it still beggars belief how anyone can think Don't stop embodies "conservative themes".

Sorry about the link not working - I found the list from clicking on the first thing on the ILE Conservapaeida thread, then seeing the greatest songs listed there. But, yes, as an independent link I see it doesn't work.

would put money on this being a better compilation of songs than their liberal counterparts would come up with :(

it's between the supremes, taylor swift and fleetwood mac for me

xpost well, that would take a 'left-wing' list of songs with a bunch of songs erroneously described as 'left-leaning'...

haha i don't seem to be able to access conservapedia AT ALL! well done my internet provider. it's funny that they pick the first taylor swift song to refer to sex before marriage.

Conservapaedia is really just a big troll site for people who like being trolled tho

The inclusion of "Fast Car" is astonishing.

well the modern world is not so bad, not like the students say

^^ ROBBED

also i am not familiar with those particularly b.dylan songs but doesn't his liberal reputation precede him? actually i have no idea what i'm talking about, i don't even know if he has a liberal reputation or whether he's still alive

Dylan has a liberal reputation but commented in a 2004 interview that he 'fucks with neocon girls too'.[3]

b-dilly has been all over the map, politically

the answer, my friend, is trolling lex pretend

Many great songs, although I dispute how conservative most of them actually are. "Supper's Ready" of course. :)

http://www.conservapedia.com/Talk:Essay:Greatest_Conservative_Songs is a petri dish of idiocy

New Agey

I removed the new agey phrase of "the cycle of life, death and rebirth," for the "Lightning Crashes," by Live, but feel free to discuss here.--Andy Schlafly 15:23, 22 September 2010 (EDT)
That wasn't meant to seem "new agey" in the least, but I do understand what you're saying. The song presents a view of life as being cyclical, as the baby is being born an old woman dies, and "The confusion that was hers belongs now to the baby down the hall." I think the lyrics really speak to the significance of life (not just at childbirth), but as a whole. I don't think the song is necessarily about the old woman being reincarnated as the newborn child, but it definitely seems to speak of the circle of life.JaneX 15:56, 22 September 2010 (EDT)
Perhaps a rewording would work then? How about replacing "the cycle of life, death and rebirth" with "the joy of childbirth in contrast with the end of life"?--Andy Schlafly 18:59, 22 September 2010 (EDT)
I agree that a rewording would work, thank you for working with me. Perhaps we could just say that the song celebrates the significance of life from birth until death, almost in an as one door closes another opens kind of way? JaneX 20:00, 22 September 2010 (EDT)

the answer, my friend, is trolling lex pretend

― Morty Maxwell (crüt), Tuesday, 15 March 2011 11:49 (14 minutes ago)

niiiiice

idgi

sweet prince

Sorry? Why was my entry for The Fall's Pseud Mag Ed removed? They have always been the great deflators of liberal complacency. What is going on?

"One Man, One Woman" sung by ABBA. Indirectly a tribute to traditional marriage and monogamy.--TedM 12:14, 12 January 2011 (EST)
Sounds good by the title, so how about adding it where you think it would be appropriate in the list? Thanks for your insight.--Andy Schlafly 12:17, 12 January 2011 (EST)

I really think they ought to listen to the rest of the Abba catalogue before deciding where that group stood on "traditional marriage and monogamy".

LOL They were still all married in 1977. :)

Where are all the songs about "self-empowerment" and making a shit-ton of money?

The inclusion of I Fought The Law in there is just lol.

The Pet Shop Boys, hmm check their conservapedia entry...

"Sweet Home Alabama" over the Beach Boys, Tracy Chapman, Green Day, and Bobby Fuller. The funniest misappropriation (among many) is "Love Me, I'm a Liberal": extreme left-wing guy mocks part-time liberals = conservative!

Incidentally, I never took "Sweet Home Alabama" to be a show of support for Wallace.

In Birmingham they love the governor
Now we all did what we could do
Now Watergate does not bother me
Does your conscience bother you?
Tell the truth

To me, that could be interpreted as "We didn't vote for Wallace, but the rest of the state did, so what can you do?" Maybe I'm wrong--if I am, I'm not sure I want to know.

http://www.rightwingbob.com/

xp No, I think that's right. Skynyrd also had an anti-handgun song on, umm, was it Second Helping? from memory:

Handguns are made for killing
ain't good for nothing else
and if you keep one around you
you might even shoot yourself
so why don't we dump 'em, people
to the bottom of the sea
before some old fool come around here
wanna shoot either you or me

correction, it's

And if you like your whiskey
You might even shoot yourself

Re: "Sweet Home Alabama":

I've heard them talk about that verse. Listen for the "Boo! Boo! Boo!" after the word "govenor" - i.e., they don't like Wallace

Now we all did what we could do (to get rid of him)

Basically says, don't let these right-wing loonies define the whole state of Alabama for everyone. We're *not* all bigoted crooks like those in the Nixon administration then in power.

Not a conservative song at all.

For good measure, here's the National Review's Best Conservative Songs list

But my vote was for Everclear. Also not a conservative song, since in the world of the far right, abusive fathers don't exist,just authoritarian, scrict discipliners. Also, Tracy Chapman's song is about a empowered feminist girl who won't stick it out for her underwealming man, it also eschews materialism (fast cars).

I see that "anything to do with singing about God" = conservative.

"Happiness is a Warm Gun" by The Beatles. It sure is.

lol that this one stuck around for about 2 years before it got edited out.

I'm pretty sure "Sin City" is about smoking mad weed, listening to old Luke the Drifter and Louvin Brothers records, and feeling a half-ironic and half-affectionate sense of nostalgia for the days when country music was full of over-the-top fire-and-brimstone moralizing, but I wouldn't expect Conservapedia to go beyond a literal reading of the lyrics.

Re: "Sweet Home Alabama":

Yeah but he then goes on to say "Watergate does not bother me/ Does your conscience bother you, tell the truth?" So basically all the dirty hippies who thought Watergate was bad are lying to themselves.

but I must say (re: "Sin City") that "the scientists say it'll all wash away/ but we don't believe anymore" was a perfect summation of global warming denialism before such a mindset really existed.

It's the Watergate line that confuses the issue for me a bit. Alabama voted overwhelmingly for Nixon in '72.

One really annoying inclusion is Chuck Berry's "Back in the U.S.A.," which is straight (and brilliant) travelogue, leading to the conclusion that he's glad he's living in the U.S.A. So: Liberals hate America, therefore it's conservative. (And that's if you start from the premise that Berry's being 100% sincere--writing about his country in the 1950s, highly doubtful.)

Yeah but he then goes on to say "Watergate does not bother me/ Does your conscience bother you, tell the truth?" So basically all the dirty hippies who thought Watergate was bad are lying to themselves.

I thought the idea was less to downplay the badness of Watergate than to speculate, "hey, if Wallace got elected in 1968, none of this crookery would've gone down." it's an attack on Republicans who dared to vote for a moderate Republican like Nixon rather than a straight-talking maverick like Wallace. or maybe not.

So...you're saying it's a liberal anthem for President Wallace?

That makes sense, but that's where there's some confusion: saying "Hey, we didn't vote for Wallace" on the one hand, and "If only the country had gone for Wallace in '68" on the other.

It reads to me like "well, you didn't vote him out, so.."

So...you're saying it's a liberal anthem for President Wallace?

well no. I mean anti-Nixon ≠ pro-liberal. a better way of putting it is that the narrator is defending himself against liberals who assume that because he's conservatives, he voted for Nixon and is therefore partly to blame for Watergate. the narrator is a proud supporter of Wallace, although I wouldn't want to say the same about Skynyrd themselves, because I really don't know.

(gah, should read "because he's a conservatives")

If the song's in the voice of a Wallace supporter, then the Watergate line make perfect sense. But, again, I hear them washing their hands of both Wallace and Nixon, and that's where the inconsistency is for me. Which is fine either way--it's an amazing song. (We need Neil Young to litigate this.)

I find Don't Stop's inclusion particularly puzzling, since there's nothing political in the lyrics at all, and if you do try to impose a political meaning, it is surely anti-conservative: yesterday's gone.

Plus, Clinton's inaug, etc.

A bit like sayin "Things can only get better" is a coalition.tune

xxxpost I interpret "we all did what we could do" as "we tried to put Wallace in the White House," whereas I guess you read it as, "we didn't even want that racist shit to be Governor, but our friends in Birmingham just wouldn't listen". obviously it's open to interpretation.

Neil Young really ought to litigate all disputes on this board, in my opinion.

It's that word "Conscience" that changes things. If he'd said "Watergate" or 'it' in its place, i'd say they were saying "be honest, you don't care either".

I'm sure I read an anti-Wallace quote from Van Zandt somewhere online. And something about the group themselves being divided about what the song was about. Fuck it, it's a great riff so it probably would have got my vote had it not been for Don't Stop.

Van Zant (I expect Van Zandt was def. vs Wallace).

I don't think there's all these hidden meanings in Sweet Home Alabama. They're unambiguously against Wallace (boo boo boo). There's absolutely no way they wanted him to be President.

But they're also not outraged by Watergate. The lyrics pretty clearly say that the whole scandal is a big deal over nothing.

...if you hear that part as "boo, boo, boo"; I just double-checked, and I hear what I've always heard, which is "ooh, ooh, ooh."

Either way, there's no way it's a song of support for George "Segregation now segregation tomorrow and segregation forever!" Wallace.

Beach Boys: Wouldn't It Be Nice?

vs.

POD: Alive

(voted taylor swift)

Last word, as always, to the great god Wikipedia:

In 1975, Van Zant said: "The lyrics about the governor of Alabama were misunderstood. The general public didn't notice the words 'Boo! Boo! Boo!' after that particular line, and the media picked up only on the reference to the people loving the governor." "The line 'We all did what we could do' is sort of ambiguous," Kooper notes "'We tried to get Wallace out of there' is how I always thought of it." Journalist Al Swenson argues that the song is more complex than it is sometimes given credit for, suggesting that it only looks like an endorsement of Wallace. "Wallace and I have very little in common," Van Zant himself said, "I don't like what he says about colored people."

So, there you go.

Ross Warner sez:

...the band had serious reservations about the label they were tagged with. Particularly troubling was the Confederate flag that often hung behind the stage. In 1975, [Skynyrd lead vocalist and songwriter Ronnie] Van Zant mused, “That was strictly an MCA gimmick to start us off with some label. It was useful at first, but by now it’s embarrassing except in Europe, where they really like all that stuff because they think it’s macho American.” The “stars and bars” that eventually began popping up in the band’s crowds became more than embarrassing. It was bad enough to be portrayed as ignorant hayseeds. It was entirely another to be categorized as racist.

Their music and subsequent fame brought pride to the forgotten folks in the South, but Van Zant never condoned discrimination of those who were most forgotten. In fact, when they name-checked George Wallace in “Sweet Home Alabama” it was only meant to take a swipe at his pro-segregation stance. When Van Zant referred to Birmingham loving the governor, the back-up singers sang “Boo! Boo! Boo!” in criticism. However, listeners didn’t notice the criticism among the catchy harmony.

Although the song is perceived as an anthem of southern pride, “Sweet Home Alabama,” was actually intended not only as the band’s fond recollection of their first time in a recording studio but as a reminder to the rest of America that not all southerners were rednecks. When Skynyrd criticized Neil Young’s “Southern Man,” it was for the sweeping generalization of all southerners as rednecks. Don’t condemn southerners now for what their ancestors did. “We thought Neil was shooting all the ducks in order to kill one or two,” Van Zant said. “We’re southern rebels, but more than that, we know the difference between right and wrong.” In fact, the band was quite outspoken about their disdain for Wallace’s policies.

So we've established they were anti-Wallace.

But what about the "Watergate does not bother me" line...that's the real interesting one. When they say Watergate does not bother me, I take them at their word. They thought it was just a big deal over nothing. Hence, conservative.

Could it be taken as, there are bigger fish to fry? Maybe it's aimed at folks up in arms about Watergate who weren't up in arms about Republican stances on southern racism and/or Vietnam (the latter of which they came out against in "Things Goin' On").

Ugh. Too convoluted?

Really surprised "Supper's Ready" made the list, but what the hell I vote that

...weren't up in arms about Republican stances on southern racism and/or Vietnam...Ugh. Too convoluted?

Yes. For starters, without getting too Politico, the southerners who were pro segregation were--like George Wallace--Democrats. From the civil war onward, the south always voted democrat, until civil rights passed in the 60s and they switched to republican. Check it out below...

http://www.100bestwebsites.org/alt/evmaps/electoral-maps.htm

Everybody's tying themselves in knots to justify the Watergate line. Why is it so hard to believe that Skynyrd were anti Wallace, but also pro Nixon?

Less ambiguity about the politics of latter-day Skynyrd

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KVmRtEO18k&feature=related

Everybody's tying themselves in knots to justify the Watergate line. Why is it so hard to believe that Skynyrd were anti Wallace, but also pro Nixon?

Because they were also anti-Vietnam war, and later they were Carter supporters.

And Skynyrd were anti-gun, or at least anti-too easily attainable and cheap guns and/or anti-open carry. (see "Saturday Night Special")

Wonder what Green Day would think about being on this list...

Considering all the tenuous shit on this list I can't believe they left out Merle Haggard's Okie from Muskogee.

I'm trying to pull together a blog post about the best conservative songs but it's really hard, especially when I come across lists as idiotic as this. I googled the lyrics to some songs I haven't heard, like Union Sundown and Big Money, and I can't believe anybody could miss the ambiguity in them.

Because the guy in the Hollies with the umbrella wants to marry his bus stop friend he's a conservative? That seems a little flimsy.

Only liberals use mass transit.

Apparently any song that doesn't actively endorse dope, guns and fucking in the streets is conservative.

"Stayin' Alive" is anti-New York Times! "We can try to understand/the New York Times effect on man." (One of the all time weirdest couplets, btw).

A few of these are top jams of mine:

Wouldn't It Be Nice? - Could be read as a conservative take on relationships, advocating marriage before sex. I take it more as a teenager's attempt to discuss/rationalize their horniness via their own limited rhteorical tools. It's an innocent view of romance with the subtle implication that The Beach Boys subscribe to a rather more adult view of the topic. Call it the William Blake approach to teen pop.

Red Barchetta - more libertarian than straight up conservative.

Your Is No Disgrace - Huh, I don't get this one. I mean:

Shining, flying, purple wolfhound, show me wear you are

Because the guy in the Hollies with the umbrella wants to marry his bus stop friend he's a conservative? That seems a little flimsy.

"That umbrella, we employed it"

They're starting a small business together.

In a moment of reckless abandon I voted for Yours Is No Disgrace. Upon deeper contemplation I should have picked Red Barchetta.

Your Is No Disgrace - Huh, I don't get this one. I mean:

Shining, flying, purple wolfhound, show me wear you are

the purple wolfhound represents President Ronald Reagan

voted Red Barchetta

For all the equating of conservatism and Christianity on that site, they may not be aware that Seals and Crofts are Baha'i.

re: Sweet Home Alabama, I remember my 8th-grade English teacher thinking the "Does you conscience bother you?" line referring to Kent State...his take was p muddled though (he told us it was Dylan who was talking shit about Southerners) and I think he got "Ohio" confused with "Southern Man"--I still to this day hear it that way though...

What about Winterlong by Neil Young? Long winters = Global warming is a sham

LMAO @ pod's "alive" being on there

voted "you can't hurry love"

Pretty clear where pre-crash (ie REAL)Skynyrd stood politically, folks: just listen to Two More From the Road. A couple very pro-Jimmy Carter moments on there.

The Clash - Guns On The Roof

Guns should be everywhere: on the roof, in the foyer, garage, etc.

Wilco - I Am Trying To Break Your Heart

A prescient look at what Obamacare will do to the healthcare industry

Dinosaur Jr. - Start Chopping

A rallying cry for the lumber industry

Yeah, that Skynyrd as reactionary conservatives trope is as hoary as the Rush as right wingers trope.

Duran Duran - The Union Of The Snake

Down with those union thugs!

Inclusion of "Love Me I'm a Liberal" shows that the distinction between "liberal" and "leftist" is really 100% dead, or at least that they don't get it at all.

Stryper - To Hell With the Devil

imagine the deep level of gratification 'guilty of being white' would bring.

Wonder how they picked those three or four random country songs out of, like, hundreds.

Stand By Your Man, by Tammy Wynette. Don't expect feminists to like that one! Or Hillary Clinton!

too true, if only hillary clinton had stood by her man

Staying Alive, by the Bee Gees. Pro-people and pro-staying alive

liberals: anti-staying alive

Spirit in the Sky. Good riff, amazing rattlesnake percussion and actually conservative unlike most of the inclusions in the list which are simply moronic.

There's no way they're not trolling in there. Reminds me of the 'god hates fags' website that comes with a list of Gay Bands to be avoided and Safe Bands:

http://lovegodsway.org/GayBands
http://lovegodsway.org/SafeBands

LOOOOOOOL at the Ayers explanation

gay bands list:

Lady Gaga (tricks girls into lesbianism)
Ween (Rainbow)
Lil'Wayne
P!nK (gay family)
The Black Keys
Coldplay
SlipKnot (make-up)
RadioHead
Michael Jackson
Justin Bieber (gay bullying)
Boredoms
School of Seven Bells (gay twins)
Jason Mraz
Jonas Brothers
Rilo Kiley
Death Cab for Cutie
Sarah McLachlan
George Strait
Cold War Kids
Toby Keith (cowboy)
P-Diddy
Black People
Vampire Weekend
King Crimson
Kate Bush (kissed a girl)
Bob Dylan
Fleet Foxes
Sigur Ros (nudists)
Twisted Sister
The Spores (endorse suicide)
Scissor Sisters
Turbonegro
Rufus Wainwright
Merzbau
Ravi Shankar
The Butchies (lizbians)
Wilco
Bjork (mb)
Tech N9ne
Ghostface Killah
Bobby Conn
Morton Subotnik
Cole Porter
The String Cheese Incident
Eagles of Death Metal
Polyphonic Spree
The Faint
Interpol
Twisted Sister (jj)
Tegan and Sara
Erasure
The Grateful Dead (drugs too)
Le Tigre
Marilyn Manson (dark gay)
The Gossip
The Magnetic Fields
The Doors
Phish
Queen
The Strokes
Morrissey(?questionable?)
Metallica

Judas Priest
The Village People
The Secret Handshake
The Rolling Stones
David Bowie
Frankie Goes to Hollywood
Man or Astroman
Richard Cheese
Jay-Z
Depeche Mode
Kansas
Ani DiFranco
Fischerspooner
John Mayer
George Michael (texan)
Angel Eyes
The Indigo Girls
Velvet Underground
Madonna
Elton John
Barry Manilow
Indigo Girls
Melissa Etheridge
Eminmen
Nirvana
Boy George
Jon Brion
The Killers
Lou Reed
Lil' Wayne
Motorhead
Jill Sobule
Wilson Phillips
DMX
Wesley Willis
Lisa Loeb
Ted Nugent (loincloth)
Dogstar
Thirty Seconds to Mars
Lil' Kim
kd lang
Frank Sinatra
Hinder
Nickleback
Justus Kohncke
Bob Mould
Clay Aiken
Arcade Fire
Bright Eyes
Corinne Bailey Rae
Audioslave
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Panic at the Disco
The Cure (makeup)
Spin Doctors
The Deers
Lindsey Lohan
The Smiths
Beck
Tom Waits
The Cramps
Cannibal Corpse
Britney Spears(kissed Madonna)
Perfect Sin
The Queers
NoFx(gay punk)
Soup Dragons
Elton John(really gay)

One of the most dangerous ways Homosexuality invades family life is through popular music. Parents, please keep careful watch over your children’s listening habits. Especially in this age of Internet mp3 piracy.

There are multiple levels of Gay Music. Some bands are what we like to call Gateway Bands. They lure children in with Pop Grooves and Salacious Melodies leaving them wanting more. They’ll move on to more dangerous bands and the next thing you know you’ve got a homosexual for a child.

We’ve taken the time to highlight the bands that are particularly Gay. Please take the time and dissect your child’s CD / iTunes catalog. If you find 3 or more of these bands in their collection it is time to take action.
We Strongly recommend that you burn the CDs. Make sure your child is watching. Make sure they can feel the heat. It is crucial that the image remains emblazoned in their young minds. They need to know that if they continue to listen to these bands they may Burn eternally as well.

my favourite inclusion on that is probably Corinne Bailey Rae or Soup Dragons

Ummm I don't see The Frogs on that list??? WTF?

Duran Duran - The Union Of The Snake

Down with those union thugs!

― kornrulez6969, Tuesday, March 15, 2011 5:25 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark

Actually, I remember a quote from John Taylor (or Simon LeBon) in the early 80s where he said something like, "All those bands like the Jam and the Clash who tell you to march on the Houses of Parliament, you have to agree with them to be a fan. But Duran Duran is a free-enterprise band."

And now, the Safe bands:

Safe Music:
•Cyndi Lauper

•Sufjan Stevens (at request of publisher)
•The Right Brothers (bush was right!)
•Dresden Dolls
•UnderOath
•Blondie**
•Creed

•Falling Up
•Flyleaf
•Sandi Patti

•Disciple
•P.O.D
•Evanescence
•By The Tree
•Michael W. Smith
•Jars of Clay
•DC Talk
•Danielson
•Cheap Trick

surprised Chevelle isn't there...

George Michael (texan)
Ted Nugent (loincloth)

Dresden Dolls!

right?

you guys know the lovegodsway.com website is satire right

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNY98KN4p6c

Spirit in the Sky. Good riff, amazing rattlesnake percussion and actually conservative unlike most of the inclusions in the list which are simply moronic.

Plus they're probably counting this as having converted a Jew!

Could it be taken as, there are bigger fish to fry? Maybe it's aimed at folks up in arms about Watergate who weren't up in arms about Republican stances on southern racism and/or Vietnam (the latter of which they came out against in "Things Goin' On").

This makes sense to me. Nixon was an avid desegregationist, right?

Bill Martin does read "Yours Is No Disgrace" as being about Vietnam but reads it as highly anti-war ("Death defying, mutilated armies scatter the earth/Crawling out of dirty holes, their morals, their morals disappear"). If it is any sort of statement about anything, it's pretty abstract though, yeah.

Really surprised "Supper's Ready" made the list, but what the hell I vote that

It is about the Bible and Tony Banks is kind of posh. But otherwise.... yeah....

I think it's awesome that The Beach Boys are on the list for the irony contained in this aging news nugget that I remember because I was a bemused 14-year old living in the DC area at the time...

Banned on the Fourth of July
Beach Boys banned -- In 1983, politician James Watt vetoes rock at the Washington Mall concert

James Watt annoyed plenty of environmentalists as Ronald Reagan's outspoken secretary of the interior from 1981 to 1983. But their protests paled next to the howls from rock fans on April 6, 1983, when Watt indirectly banned the Beach Boys from that year's July 4 concert on the Washington Mall.

Watt, without mentioning the Boys by name, unabashedly announced that all rock bands attracted ''the wrong element'' and opted for a ''wholesome'' program with Wayne Newton. ''We're not going to encourage drug abuse and alcoholism,'' Watt sniffed, ''as was done in the past.''

The aging but perpetually upbeat Beach Boys, who had played at previous Fourth celebrations, insisted that they were wholesome: Mike Love cracked, ''We sing about patriotic themes — like 'Surfin' U.S.A.''' To his amazement, Watt found himself overnight not just controversial but the most reviled man in Washington. The White House was swamped with protesting phone calls, and even Nancy Reagan called Watt on the carpet, saying she herself was a Beach Boys mega-fan.

Watt admits now that he hadn't even heard of the Beach Boys at the time. ''If it wasn't 'Amazing Grace' or 'The Star-Spangled Banner,''' he says, ''I didn't recognize the song.''

The Beach Boys were eventually invited to play, but, ironically, they couldn't accept: The controversy had given them such a huge boost in popularity that they were booked in Atlantic City on the Fourth. Watt, by contrast, was forced to resign in October 1983, after he described one of his advisory committees as ''a black, a woman, two Jews, and a cripple.''

Today the Beach Boys, having weathered the drowning of Dennis Wilson late that year and legal battles over Brian Wilson's ability to manage his affairs, are still a perennial concert draw. Watt, now 55, is a visiting professor of political science at the University of Wyoming, and is often introduced as ''The Man Who Had the Courage to Ban the Beach Boys.'' And though he didn't, specifically, he wonders, ''Do I try to correct the record or do I take the applause?'' He says, ''I take the applause!''

Entertainment Weekly

I remember that too, and seriously, the fucker had never heard of the Beach Boys? I mean, granted, certain areas of culture weren't as pervasive as they are now, and he probably wasn't the type to turn on a music station, but how could he not even know of their existence?

(That Halloween, I went as James Watt. I was 11.)

Watt admits now that he hadn't even heard of the Beach Boys at the time. ''If it wasn't 'Amazing Grace' or 'The Star-Spangled Banner,''' he says, ''I didn't recognize the song.'

Yeah, this is self-mythologizing bullshit...

This makes sense to me. Nixon was an avid desegregationist, right?

ahahaha what no, you are kidding right, Nixon didn't give a shit about segregation one way or the other and basically told Southern states (in code) that if they voted for him he would stall the Justice Department as long as he possibly could

Hm, OK, I guess I'd thought that because of the extensive school desegregation that took place in his first term. But I'm reading some of the other perspectives on this now. Still, he was more progressive on this than Wallace, yes?

Oh yeah, totally.

Mine.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Hollies: Bus Stop

Actually, I'm surprised they didn't choose "Stop stop stop", in which the singer gets over-excited at the sight of 'exotic' dancers, tries to grab one and gets thrown out of the establishment. Signifying that the oh I don't know what...

I referred unflatteringly to Stop Stop Stop in a Guardian article and had some very irate boomers shocked at my "political correctness" - it's a song about restraining yourself from molesting dancers, you see, and therefore perfectly admirable.

There's a good cover version from around 1979, where the song stops at the point of the guy getting thrown out onto the street, where the sounds of a scuffle and bins/bottles smashing ends the track.

Man, this list needs some Texas.

The state, but even the band would be a nod in the right direction.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

The link in the initial post doesn't work anymore. Judging from some of the quotes above, I guess Conservapedia.com may have been against the rules of their provider regarding racist and/or homophobic material.

Playing "Song title connections" with these results...

Supremes: You Can't Hurry Love 9
Genesis: Supper's Ready 6
Beach Boys: Wouldn't It Be Nice? 5

Taylor Swift: Mine 3
Yes: Yours Is No Disgrace 3

Rolling Stones: Sympathy for the Devil 2
Flying Burrito Brothers: Sin City 2
Hank WIlliams: I Saw the Light 2

Geir, I refer you to my prev comment:

Link doesn't work, btw. Unless it's just me...

― Mark G, Tuesday, 15 March 2011 11:08 (2 weeks ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

I had to use 'google cache' to get any c'pedia content.

Maybe the whole thing's been sacked?

The thing did contain its share of racism and homophobia, so no wonder if it was sacked.

Dunno, that "Forbidden" page leads me to believe it's blocked out to anyone that hasn't got the special 'cookie' or some such.

You know how these sort of sites like to engender discussion and debate amongst people who already agree with their viewpoints.....

Any road, back to the music,.

the link still works for me

ahahaAAA!!!

"Gematria (The Killing Name)" by Slipknot. This song is about what the liberals of America, that can get REALLY annoying sometimes.

wtf

I relly liked Stop Stop Stop but I've only heard it over the PA of the gas station I used to work at...didn't read the lyrics too closely so the whole "molesting exotic dancers" thing is news to me!