A few musings on John J. Miller’s list:
Sweet Home Alabama (#4): A good choice, though a supporter of free markets might prefer Free Bird, which also has a better guitar solo.
Revolution (#7): Mr. Miller obviously skipped the version in which the ambivalent John Lennon sang, “But when you talk about destruction, don’t you know that you can count me in.”
Don’t Tread on Me (#9): Most Metallica fans I know laugh at this song. A better choice might have been Master of Puppets, written from the perspective of an illicit drug killing the singer’s life (“Master of puppets, I’m pulling your strings/Twisting your mind and smashing your dreams/Blinded by me, you can’t see a thing/Just call my name, and I’ll hear you scream/Master! Master!”)
My City Was Gone (#13): The Limbaugh tie-in makes this one a key addition to the list. Chrissie Hynde also put forward some good conservative thoughts in Middle Of The Road, which deals with the changes linked to adulthood: (“In the middle of the road is my private cul-de-sac/I can’t get from the cab to the curb without some little jerk on my back/Don’t harass me, can’t you tell/I’m going home, I’m tired as hell/I’m not the kind I used to be/I’ve got a kid, I’m 33.”)
Get Over It (#16): I’ve always enjoyed Don Henley’s music, even though he’s a twit. He occasionally writes about the silliness of his youth, whether he realizes that’s what he’s doing or not. One of his best lines, from Boys of Summer: (“Out on the road today, I saw a Deadhead sticker on a Cadillac/A little voice inside my head said, ‘Don’t look back, you can never look back.'”)
Rime of the Ancient Mariner (#29): Two other standout Iron Maiden tunes are based on the late 1960s television show The Prisoner, a 17-episode ode to libertarian thought. Both the creatively titled tribute song The Prisoner and Back In The Village celebrate the individual in his fight against oppressive society.
Small Town (#31): Mr. Miller mercifully omits one of the silliest grammar errors in rock history in his lyric quote. The lyric is actually “No, I cannot forget from where it is that I come from.” Huh? I’ve always liked Pink Houses better, despite its ambivalence: (“Ain’t that America, for you and me/Ain’t that America, something to see/Ain’t that America, home of the free/Little pink houses for you and me.”)
Stand By Your Man (#50): I believe it was ultra-liberal rock critic Dave Marsh who noted with interest the irony of the most famous recordings of Tammy Wynette and Loretta Lynn. Wynette sang about standing by her man while taking a different course in her personal life. Lynn sang about the pill and women’s lib while staying devoted to the same man for her entire adult life.
