The Leading Candidates in a Crowded Pop Field
By JON PARELES
in NY Times

Published: October 10, 2004

THE furiously contested 2004 election has had an unexpected artistic bonus: more political songs than any election since the dawn of rock 'n' roll, and more openly partisan songs than anyone might expect. In the protest-song heyday of the 1960's, songwriters devoted themselves to denouncing specific injustices and vaguely yearning for peace. This year, folkies and punks, rappers and indie rockers are taking sides and dusting off their rebel credentials by bluntly savaging the Bush administration. The pop polls are completely one-sided: although there were both pro-war and antiwar songs around the Iraq invasion, not one high-profile song currently supports the president. The music may make a political difference - the six Vote for Change tours that converge for a concert in Washington on Monday are betting that it will - or it may simply vent or preach to the converted. But rage and frustration are always fine catalysts for music, and at a time when self-absorption rules both rock and hip-hop, politics can provide a wider perspective, one that might even last beyond the current election. No matter who wins in November, here are 10 statements worth a listen.

Bad Religion

"Punk met politics a generation ago, but it has mostly been an on-and-off relationship; the election year has pushed them back together. Greg Graffin and his fellow punk die-hards in Bad Religion have always used buzz-saw chords to carry not just slogans but also critiques. "Let Them Eat War," from the band's new album, "The Empire Strikes First" (Epitaph), goes barreling along as it insists the war is a diversion from economic failures, polishing its punk fervor with bursts of vocal harmony. But it stumbles on didactic lines like "All he ever gave them was a war and a foreign enemy to deplore."

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