TROOPTrax helps you to send them music.

Speaking of CDs, protestors are now smashing Dixie Chicks disks. I think what they said was stupid. But if I was pissed I wouldn’t try and put words in their mouths and destroy them. Doesn’t this remind you of Fahrenheit 451? If you havn’t read the book… now is the time. Quote:

“It didn’t come from the Government down. There was no dictum, no declaration, no censorship, to start with, no! Technology, mass exploitation, and minority pressure carried the trick, thank God. Today, thanks to them, you can stay happy all the time, you are allowed to read comics, the good old confessions, or trade journals.”

“It happened when a tape of Lee Greenwood’s song Proud To Be An American was playing. Some rodeo fans were standing and others were sitting down.” Read the rest here.

Reuters: the Dixie Chicks are finding out that criticizing President Bush’s plans for war in Iraq can cost you air play.

Have you seen Musicians United to Win Without War?

Update: Atrios shares a letter from a radio station that has principals.

Update: They apologized and still stations, listeners, and advertisers have walked away from them.

Bob Dylan is a great songwriter but his voice has always annoyed me. It seems designed to push away people more interested in performance then lyrics. That’s why his songs have always made good covers: musicians recognize a good song from him and put a more accessible performance to it. Which “All Along The Watchtower” do you listen to? Be honest.

I know many of you feel the way I do. His voice sounds like chalk raked across blackboard. I can’t take it.

There is an alternative: Woody Guthrie. Dylan was inspired by him, his songwriting was just as, if not more powerful, and he can sing!

“Do Re Mi.” – Woody Guthrie, 1937

Lots of folks back East, they say, is leavin’ home every day,
Beatin’ the hot old dusty way to the California line.
‘Cross the desert sands they roll, gettin’ out of that old dust bowl,
They think they’re goin’ to a sugar bowl, but here’s what they find —
Now, the police at the port of entry say,
“You’re number fourteen thousand for today.”

CHORUS:
Oh, if you ain’t got the do re mi, folks, you ain’t got the do re mi,
Why, you better go back to beautiful Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Georgia, Tennessee.
California is a garden of Eden, a paradise to live in or see;
But believe it or not, you won’t find it so hot
If you ain’t got the do re mi.

You want to buy you a home or a farm, that can’t deal nobody harm,
Or take your vacation by the mountains or sea.
Don’t swap your old cow for a car, you better stay right where you are,
Better take this little tip from me.
‘Cause I look through the want ads every day
But the headlines on the papers always say:

If you ain’t got the do re mi, boys, you ain’t got the do re mi,
Why, you better go back to beautiful Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Georgia, Tennessee.
California is a garden of Eden, a paradise to live in or see;
But believe it or not, you won’t find it so hot
If you ain’t got the do re mi.

What? Couldn’t take a complicated, but overall optimistic, post yesterday? Here goes some more:

Garret has asked, “where are the protest songs?”.

So has The Boston Globe, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and The NYTimes.

My answer has been in two parts: 1. They are on the way. 2. They are underground.

To support my first point: it took years before the 60s peace movement had great songs behind it. Years before muscians even noticed. Today we expect an instant artistic response.

Well it almost has been. Musicians have been making statements, both for and against war. Sometimes in very public ways. Even Bon Jovi recently took the state in a “Gore/Liberman 2000” Campaign t-shirt for example. In Washington D.C.

But my guess is, where you will find true protest (pro and con) music, isn’t on the pop charts. Look to country, metal, and hip-hop. If you’re still looking for pop music – fughetaboutit. Isn’t going to happen unless we venture into Vietnam territory. Although I wouldn’t put it past someone like Pink to put out an R & B inspired plea for peace.

Beastie Boys: In A World Gone Mad. There ya go.

And Alwin found a pro-war one too.

Time to start up a database. Anybody want to contribute?

Here goes some more good news: Oliver Willis takes note of The Rise of Patriotic Liberalism.

Sacramento Bee: The Rise of Patriotic Liberalism.

Related Link: The Metaphor Project.

The Metaphor Project reminds me of how Newt Gingrich molded the language of the GOP with his memo, “Language, a mechanism for control.”. Yes, you read that title correct. Gingrich was the GOP equivalent to Clinton. When you hear GOPers use the words mentioned – THINK.