Know Your Rights: A Playlist For Your Protest
By Samantha Abernethy in Arts & Entertainment on May 18, 2012 9:30PM
From the blunt "Fuck Tha Police" to the soft "Imagine," from the patriotic "This Land Is Your Land," to the less flattering "American Idiot," there are a lot of ways to musically show your angst and/or appreciation for your country. The folks on staff put together this eclectic mix of songs to get you through the weekend.
We tended toward the heavier end of the spectrum with plenty of punk and 90s rap, although traditional folk songs and 1960s-era anti-war songs are still well represented. And we threw in one Bob Marley song for good measure.
We kept the interpretation loose. While The Who's "Did you steal my money?" isn't about protest, the lyrics fit with the distrust of the moneyed men of Wall Street driving the Occupy movement, "Are you out there Mr no-one / Is my investment growing." When you're biting into the Vandals' "Anarchy Burger," you might want to keep in mind that some experts say it was deregulation that got us into the fiscal mess to begin with.
And yes, we did include "Fight for your right to party" because damn it, some people have different priorities.