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War triggers music blitz
Internet stirs rush of song releases, most calling for peace
April 9, 2003
In May 1970, the supergroup Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young spent one day recording
a song about the shooting of four Kent State University students during protests
of the U.S. invasion of Cambodia. Atlantic Records rush-released it two weeks
later, and Ohio emerged as one of the Vietnam War era's most indelible protest
songs.
Thanks to the Internet, musicians can get songs into circulation as soon as
they're recorded. Around the globe, many are taking advantage of technology to
rush out new music addressing the war in Iraq -- some for it, but most against.
Songs and videos are turning up on Web sites months or even years ahead of when
they might be available in record stores.
All of the following songs can be downloaded free, and more are turning up every
day at www.protest-records.com.
Beastie Boys: In a World Gone Mad....
Long involved in the cause of Tibetan freedom, the Beasties offer up their
typically distinctive Brooklyn rap take on the conflict: "Now don't get us wrong
'cause we love America/But that's no reason to get hysterica/They're layin' on
the syrup thick/We ain't waffles we ain't havin' it."
Clint Black: I Raq and Roll
Black comes down on the pro-war side, but does so with a dollop of humor: "It
might be a smart bomb/They find stupid people, too." Even though it hasn't been
commercially released as a single, I Raq and Roll has picked up enough radio
airplay to break onto Billboard's "Hot Country Singles & Tracks" chart.
Luka Bloom: I Am Not at War With Anyone
Irish folk singer Bloom checks in with a prayer for peace for both sides: "Give
my love to Iraq, and to America/Give my love to Israel, and to Palestine/We
could live as one, between the sea and sun/I am not at war with anyone."
Chumbawamba: Jacob's Ladder (Not in My Name (www.chumba.com).
Best-known for the 1997 novelty hit Tubthumping, this British punk collective's
antiwar song is more characteristically angry: "Hellfire and brimstone/Swapped
for oil and guns/When we're pushing up daisies/We all look the same/In the name
of the father maybe/But not in my name."
Zack de la Rocha: March of Death
The former Rage Against the Machine frontman collaborates with DJ Shadow on a
fiery antiwar statement. "Lies, sanctions, and cruise missiles have never
created a free and just society," De la Rocha writes on the Web site. "Only
everyday people can do that."
Michael Franti and Spearhead: Bomb the World
The popular reggae band offers an antiwar track that will be on its next album:
"We can bomb the world to pieces, but we can't bomb it to peace."
Green Day:, Life During Wartime
An acoustic recording by guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, covering a song by
Pinhead Gunpowder.
Nanci Griffith: Big Blue Ball of War
Griffith says she was moved to do this song because of her pacifist beliefs. "An
individual cannot be a Vegetarian just between meals, and I cannot be a Pacifist
just between wars," she writes on her Web site. "I am against any war, anywhere,
anytime."
Yusuf Islam: Peace Train and Angel of War
The former Cat Stevens returns with his first pop recordings in 25 years,
remaking two of his songs from the early 1970s. Peace Train is his signature hit
single, while Angel of War updates Lady D'Arbanville.
Junoon, No More
A pop band from Karachi, Pakistan -- the city where kidnapped American
journalist Daniel Pearl was killed. With its martial tempo and anthemic hook,
this sounds like something U2 might do: "Keep yourself alive, hold on, we will
survive."
Lenny Kravitz: We Want Peace
Kravitz oversaw an all-star remake of John Lennon's Give Peace a Chance during
the 1990-91 Gulf War. A sequel of sorts, this song declares: "There won't be
peace if we don't try." Kravitz's co-writer and performing partner: Iraqi pop
star Kadim Al Sahir.
John Mellencamp: To Washington
This updates the late great Woody Guthrie's Baltimore to Washington, recast to
fit the current situation: "He wants to fight with many/And he says it's not for
oil/He sent out the National Guard/To police the world." This will be on
Mellencamp's next album, a covers collection including songs by Hoagy
Carmichael, Robert Johnson, Lucinda Williams, Willie Dixon and Skeeter Davis.
Meshell Ndegeocello: Love & Forgiveness
Ndegeocello checks in with an outtake from her 2002 album, Cookie: The
Anthropological Mixtape. Writes Ndegeocello on her Web site, "I wrote this song
following Sept. 11, 2001, and thought it might be appropriate to release now
given the present worldwide mobilization for peace."
R.E.M.: Final Straw
Recorded during for the next R.E.M. album. Writes singer Michael Stipe on the
band's Web site: "This is the strongest voice I could think of to send out
there. We had to send something out there now. We are praying and hoping for the
lives of all people involved...Safe home, all."
David Menconi, Raleigh News & Observer
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