5 Songs with which to Spark a Revolution

May 11th, 2009

During the late sixties and early seventies, each and every rockstar worth their salt considered themselves to be the new Che Guevara. They communicated with the masses via soundbites of revolutionary rhetoric -- more often than not from the comfort of their three storey mansion or tax exile in the South of France -- and once the imminent uprising that had been promised burned itself out, they retired to count their money.

Revolution was, after all, big business.

So in honour of some of these Che charlatons who turned tail and fled as soon as the going got tough, Head Full of Snow brings you 5 songs with which to spark a revolution (or not).

The Rolling Stones -- Street Fighting Man

An absolute stormer of a track and one that was written at a time when the anti-Vietnam war protests had spread as far afield as London, sparking riots and encouraging Mick Jagger himself to take to the streets and… stand on the sidelines taking photos of the ensuing chaos. Jagger was perhaps the biggest pretender to the revolutionary throne, toying with the imagery during the era of Beggars Banquet and Let It Bleed, but soon getting bored and leaving it all behind to concentrate on becoming the mucky little devil we all know today. ‘Street Fighting Man’ appears on 1968′s Beggars Banquet.

The Pink Fairies -- Right On, Fight On

In contrast to Jagger and his cronies, The Pink Fairies (nee The Deviants) at least made some attempt at revolutionary zeal. As part of the Ladbroke Grove underground scene, along with with the likes of The Edgar Broughton Band and Hawkwind, they would play free concerts and benefits for various good causes, sometimes even turning up uninvited and playing, just to further their anarchist agenda of ‘free music for the people’. ‘Right On, Fight On’ comes from their 1972 album What a Bunch of Sweeties and sounds like the precursor to social upheaval, the morning prior to the revolution, so to speak.

Jefferson Airplane -- Volunteers

Jefferson Airplane were quick to place themselves behind every single right-on movement going during the lates 60s -- Grace Slick famously blacking up for a performance of ‘Lather’ on the Smothers Brothers show, in support of the Black Panther Party. However, when it came to leading from the front they were a little less forthcoming, content to encourage uprising from the stage before buggering off in their chauffeur-driven Cadillacs. Their commitment was spelt out as little more than youthful rebellion when, once revolutionary fervour had died down, songwriter and rhythm guitarist Paul Kantner said, “We were all punks in high school and we were always rebelling against authority.” The culmination of all this political bravado and revolutionary-chic comes with ‘Volunteers’ from the album of the same name, a sonic call to arms for revolutionaries the world over.

Thunderclap Newman -- Something in the Air

It’s pretty safe to say that Thunderclap Newman were never going to be the band that kickstarted the revolution. Not unless sedition and social equality were to be brought about by a man who looked like a chartered accountant and a schoolboy. Nevertheless, Pete Townshend’s proteges had a crack of the whip in 1969 with this post-psychedelia standard that’s been used to advertise everything from British Airways to mobile phones… Hand out the arms and ammo, indeed.

Joan Baez -- Joe Hill

Quiet revolutions are often the most effective, shunning the drawn-out battles in favour of change that happens overnight. The Russian revolution has gone down in history as a spectacular event culminating in the storming of the Winter Palace, whereas in reality there was little, if at all any, bloodshed. The real Joe Hill was a Swedish immigrant trade union activist, executed by firing squad on trumped up charges in the United States. His name has since gone on to reach almost mythological proportions within the labour movement, largely thanks to a number of folk songs highlighting his plight. This particular one was written in 1936 and is here performed by Joan Baez -- who was at least prepared to go to jail for her beliefs, as she did for her anti-war activism. It doesn’t need the cannons firing and guns blazing to invoke passion. ‘Joe Hill’ settles for the quieter revolution.

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