Top 5 Voting Songs

Happy voting day! Let's celebrate by taking a look at the top five songs about voting.

(Don't worry, they're not as terrible as you think)

Click read more for the music.


5. Curtis Mayfield- Move On Up

Apart from the Mayfield's lyrics- urging aspiration and optimism, yet compromise ("Take nothing less than the second best")- this song has voting significance for those who've watched 'The Wire'. It provides the soundtrack to 'Cutty' Wise's election morning run in Season 4, and one of the pivotal moments in the series' political storyline. Classic use of music in TV- perfect for the scene, and really makes you think about the lyrics. You can watch the clip here.



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4. Tokyo Police Club- Your English Is Good

It's a bitchin pop-song, and Dave Monks' lyrics shamelessly rip the piss out of Politicians half-assed attempts to act sincere. "You don't need a change- you're future's with us!" and the oh so subtle refrain of "Give us your vote if you know what's good for you". Deadly.



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3. The Who- Won't Get Fooled Again

Pete Townshend seems a bit fed of up the same old shit, and 'Won't Get Fooled Again' is practically the ultimate anti-voting anthem. Apparently a British Labour government in the 70s got into power on the back of student riots demanding change. When Labour got in, they promptly forgot about all their promises and just did whatever the hell they wanted to do. Hmm, sounds familiar...
"Meet the new boss, same as the old boss" sums up Townshend's disillusionment with 'The System', and his coda is effectively him saying 'fuck this' and buggering off to live in a commune.



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2. Stevie Wonder- You Haven't Done Nothing

Good ol' Stevie Wonder becomes the voice of the people, preaching about how much of a failure & general arsehole Richard Nixon was. And as we all know, back in the day Stevie found it nigh on impossible to do anything without being incredibly funky. The lesson is: if you can't vote, buy a clavinet and recruit a backing band- it's the next best thing.



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1.Radiohead- Electioneering

One of my favourite Radiohead tracks, you can almost feel Thom Yorke spitting with disgust as he takes pops at every aspect of fake-smile politics. As always, his disgust is articulated to perfection: "Riot shields, voodoo economics, it's just business...".

Genius.

Best song about politics ever.



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