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.
Click for mp3
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.
Click for mp3
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.
Click for mp3
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.
Click for mp3
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.
Click for mp3
Top 5 Voting Songs
Top 5 "Impostor" Songs a.k.a. Songs I always thought were by a different artist
Ever heard a song that you've been familiar with for years and years or at least knew it well enough to hum along to but then you find out, "Holy Shit, I always thought somebody else did it". Well I have on a few occasions in my life and so I introduce my Top 5 "Holy shit so thats who does the song".
You might look at these and wonder how I ever got these confused but with some of them there is definitely reasoning in my brain thoughts for why I would have made the mistake.
Click in the read more for the list
5. Stuck in the Middle With you - Stealer's Wheel
Scottish band Stealers Wheel were one hit wonders in the early 70's with this track before breaking up after three albums in 1975. This song, which gained more popularity from its use in Reservoir Dogs, was their one big hit in 1973. Former member Gerry Rafferty is also famous for his huge hit "Baker Street". "Stuck in the middle...has a folksy rock and roll, acoustic led riff with a husky whiny voice that spouts rambling but oddly poetic lyrics, all reminiscent of a certain singer-songwriter
Download here
I Always Thought It Was...Bob Dylan
Well I mean its obvious really. Not to mention that Steven Wright even describes it as a "Dylan-esque slice of Bubble-gum Pop" in Reservoir Dogs.
4. Love My Way - The Psychedelic Furs
Around the 80's there were quite a number of bands who sounded not unlike the The Psychedlic furs mainly due to the fact that the music is quite wishy-washy, distinctly 80's electro and with croaky vocals not unlike a certain great white duke.
Download here
I always thought it was...David Bowie
Some people can't hear what I'm hearing in this or why I thought it was Bowie for so long but there's just something there. It might be because tonally it sounds quite like Bowie's "China Girl (or vice versa actually as "Love My Way" was out first"). I dunno. It just seems to make sense to me.
3. Candy Girl - New Edition
Featuring a young Bobby Brown before he married Whitney and became a coked out mess (probably), New Edition were one of the proto-type boy-bands in so far as they sold shit-load of records, had hoards of screaming fans and are remembered by few. Because they were very young, were all boys, were all black and not to mention their sound was deliberately designed as such they were hailed/reviled as the next level to a certain other all boy, all young, all black band. And thats where the confusion lay.
Download here
I Always Thought It Was...The Jackson 5
Its probably because I only ever heard it in TV and Movie soundtracks I never picked up on the Electro intro or the little kind-of-rap at the beginning. It might also be because it sounds a lot like "I Want You Back" by The Jackson 5 but allegedly that was the point all along. Either way it caused me to go "Who the fuck are New Edition?" when I saw the video finally on some VH1 classics show.
2. Horse With No Name - America
Sounds so like the person I thought it was that America even addressed this fact in their anthology liner notes. There's no doubt whatsoever who it sounds like.
Download here
I Always Thought It Was...Neil Young
While the chorus is more Simon and Garfunkel than Neil Young the rest of the song from the rhythm to the vocals are reminiscent of Canada's finest export. While the song is quite catchy and is actually a classic in its own right (especially in comparison to the rest of the shite that "America" released), the lyrics are too banal for Young and are often ridiculed sometimes famously. Randy Newman said that "the song is about a kid who thinks he's taken acid" while the late comedian Richard Jeni said "You're in the desert. There's nothing to do. Why don't you name the freakin horse". The irony of this whole matter is that the song itself knocked Neil Young's "Heart of Gold" off the Number One spot in the US.
1. Layla - Derek and the Domino's
Waily guitars, screamy blues-rock vocals. People know either two versions of "Layla". The original recorded by this Super-group in 1971 and used to great effect by Martin Scorsese in Goodfellas or the slower, practically re-written version from the MTV Unplugged performance in the early 90's.
Download here
I Always Thought It Was...Eric Clapton
Well okay yeah this cheats a little bit because of course it was Eric Clapton but until a few years ago I had no idea about Derek and the Domino's and had no idea that Clapton had starred in yet another super-group. Still props to the man for the Unplugged performance practically doing a cover version of his own song.
*Incidentally if its unclear as to why Matt Damon's image is at the top of the post then I suggest you Watch The Talented Mr. Ripley and all should become clear.
