OPINION: Songs to Save America

Mark Harris is a first-year student at Ohio University and an opinion writer at The New Political.

Please note that these views and opinions do not reflect those of The New Political.

Music has long been a tool to communicate stories, emotions and art. While some focus on love or heartbreak, some of the most powerful and popular are about social change. I could have included hundreds of songs, but for the sake of time, I have limited myself to a top 10 list. If you would like to listen to the songs I'm going to discuss, there will be an accompanying playlist that I encourage you to listen to as you read.

#10 "American Dream" by Bryce Vine

Lyrics: "And if I had a dollar every time I didn't care, I could finally die a millionaire, wanna play but I don't wanna fight fair, American dream but it's kind of a nightmare." 

The apathy that our culture has promoted toward one another is palpable. Our lust for wealth has eroded what once made us a society based on mutual respect and empathy. The America of today rewards those who game the system. This is the message of Bryce Vine's “American Dream.” The first step in solving the problem is understanding what it is. I don't believe that the true American Dream will die so easily. Those who care about one another will always find a way to overcome the short-sided nature of those who seek nothing but their own wealth and power. 

#9 "16 Military Wives" by The Decemberists 

Lyrics: "Cause America can, and America can't say no, And America does, if America says it's so, it's so, and the anchorperson on TV goes … la de da de da."

The Decemberists released this song 18 years ago, and it is a song written for its time. The song critiques the lies and war-mongering of the Bush administration. However, its portrayal of corporate news media has aged amazingly well. I particularly like how with each verse, the anchorperson says more words but never says anything meaningful. So much has changed over the years, but warmongering and manipulative tactic used by corporate media have remained prevalent.I have hope for the future as we have seen a surge in independent news media while the major news networks continue to lose their followings. 

#8 "How the World Works" by Bo Burnham

Lyrics: "The simple narrative taught in every history class is demonstrably false and pedagogically classist, Don't you know the world is built with blood?"

Bo Burnham's 2021 special “Inside” is a masterpiece that encapsulates the socio-political climate and general vibe of the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown. The second verse of the song “How the World Works,” is told through the silly voice of a sock puppet, yet it spells out the terrible state of our sociopolitical system and cultural history. Bo knows how to subvert the expectation of a fun children's sock puppet acting silly and instead makes it the mouthpiece for describing the country’s brutal reality. This juxtaposition is jarring but works well to show the sanitized world we were taught as children is far from the truth; we must question what we were told. The world is complex and often dark, but shying away from reality keeps us from addressing those issues we wish didn't exist.  

#7 "Handlebars" by Flobots

Lyrics: "My reach is global, my tower secure, my cause is noble, my power is pure."

"Handlebars" directly compares apathy towards who is in charge of our government to riding your bike without handlebars. Those in power have an interest in keeping the public from questioning whether they should wield their power in the ways they see fit. Throughout the song, different forms of control are pointed out, from money to media access, to nuclear warheads. The government’s persuasive skills affect them until they believe their actions are justified and right. As the adage goes "power corrupts, and total power corrupts totally." 

#6 "I Hate Everything" by Croy and the Boys

Lyrics: "It ain't that I'm old-fashioned, I just work for my pay, and I've always had a problem with people from money, I guess that's just how I was raised, I can't just close my eyes, and pretend that we're all the same, how you make your money matters, as much as if you give it away."

Class in America is tied to wealth; for those of us who are disgusted by the trappings of consumerism, it can seem like everything is deserving of our hate. When you fundamentally disagree with the system you live in, it can often make you feel out of place. The song subtly hints that this state of reality is something one chooses to participate in and those who choose to see the world differently are socially ridiculed for not prescribing to the system.  

#5 "Rockin' the Suburbs" (feat. William Shatner) – 'Over the Hedge' Version by Ben Folds

Lyrics: "We drive our cars every day, to and from work both ways, so we can make just enough to pay, to drive our cars to work each day."

There are two versions of this song, this version was written for the DreamWorks movie “Over the Hedge.” The plot of which pits a group of woodland animals against a newly built suburban community. The song reflects this premise by directly attacking suburban culture. It goes after the fake nature of suburban life, from the construction of suburban houses to how people interact. It talks about the economic worries of middle-class people yet exposes how much they are willing to spend to maintain the appearance of success. Suburban culture is the epitome of everything wrong with consumerism and it is incredibly funny to hear it mocked in this way. 

#4 "The Ballad of the Kingsmen" by Todd Snider

Lyrics: "You know, every 10 years or so, our country and some other little country, We start firing all our newest weapons at each other for some reason or another, right or wrong like it or not, it happens."

This song addresses the short-term memory and repetition of American culture. For generations, the youth have been attacked and blamed for the problems in society. Yet, this is not true. The song makes a case that each generation keeps repeating this process by citing fears of the past and contemporary fears tied to youth culture. The song references social confusion regarding morality; many were taught to be competitive, yet religious leaders preached being humble. The song says, "We are taught the art of more" and then told ‘only the meek will inherit the earth.’” In the final verse, the focus is on the plight of what it's actually like to grow up in a world that is so confusing and disingenuous.

#3 "Long Violent History" by Tyler Childers

Lyrics: "In all my born days as a white boy from Hickman based on the way that the world's been to me, it's called me belligerent, it's took me for ignorant, but it ain't never once made me scared just to be, could you imagine just constantly worryn' kickin' and fightin', beggin' to breathe."

This song is haunting. It asks conservative-minded rural white people to consider what it is like to live as a Black person in America. It leans into the conservative narrative of solving problems with your own personal firearms and subverts that narrative by suggesting that very few would fight back because of how futile it would be to take such action against the system itself. The song insinuates that instead, there would be a perpetual state of violent struggle, which is exactly the situation Black people find themselves in every day. The instrumentation and language used sounds just like any other bluegrass song, but the lyrics are far removed from what most people would expect from a song in the genre.

#2 "Rät" by Penelope Scott

Lyrics: "Well, I don't want to eat the rich, I'd have to eat my heroes first, and my tuition's paid by blood, I might deserve your fate or worse."

Penelope Scott aims at the tech billionaires and their acolytes. She claims that even though their ideas are based in science and academia, they are no better than traditional religious institutions because of their unethical and self-interested behavior. She goes further, saying that their actions are even more egregious because they could have used their technology to help humanity but instead, it was used against the public to benefit themselves. She says she is at fault, too, because she acted in her own interest in an attempt to follow their example. This is why she feels qualified to call them out for their behavior.

#1 "Living In America" by Aztec Two-Step

Lyrics: "Here's to the working man doing the best he can in America, Here's to the families living like refugees in America, Here's to the very young, the very old, the very many left in the cold in America, And here's to the precious few caring about them too in America, here's to the so called kooks known as the anti-nukes in America, here's to the peaceful souls fighting for gun control in America."

This is an obscure song because it shares its title with James Brown's "Living in America;" I cannot find the lyrics to Aztec Two-Step’s version anywhere online. However, I did find a video of them playing the song at Ohio University back in 1983. The lyrics focus first on the beauty of America, from its natural beauty to the vibrant culture, but the second verse focuses on the struggles of everyday Americans. The song also discusses some very contentious topics such as gun control. “Living in America” embodies the feeling of being an American more than any other piece of music I've ever heard.