One of my all-time favorite movie quotes comes from the movie The Wild One.
Mildred: What’re you rebelling against Johnny?
Johnny (played by a young Marlon Brando): Whaddya got?
This was, without a doubt, the easiest playlist I have ever assembled. I’ve always been a rocker and that means I’ve always been a rebel. Rebellion and Rock ‘N Roll just go together like peanut butter and jelly. With that said here are 10 of my favorite songs about rebellion:
- I Fought the Law – Bobby Fuller Four: “Just after “I Fought The Law” became a top ten hit, Bobby Fuller was found dead in his parked automobile near his Los Angeles home. The police considered the death an apparent suicide, however many people still believe Fuller was murdered. The investigation was botched from the start. The crime scene was not secured and no fingerprints were obtained. A witness also claimed seeing a police officer throw a can of gasoline found at the scene into the trash. Fuller was found with multiple wounds all over his body and covered in gasoline leading many to speculate that the perpetrators fled before they could set the car on fire. Police later changed the cause of death to “Accidental asphyxiation” citing no evidence of foul play. Despite the official cause of death stated by authorities, rumors and speculation still surround Fuller’s mysterious death.” This is just another example of the man trying to keep us and our rebellion down. Oh wait, I take that back. Since I am THE MAN it happened just the way it says it did in the autopsy report.
- Private Revolution – World Party: WP has always been one of my favorite “groups”. They’re about as much of a group as The Cure only in this case you get Karl Wallinger instead of Robert Smith. Sinead O’Connor who had not yet been discovered sings backing vocals on this. Karl Wallinger at one time was the musical director for the West End production of The Rocky Horror Show.
- Anarchy In the U.K. – The Sex Pistols: I don’t think of this song in terms of its lyrics as much as I think about the anarchy it created in the music industry. The Pistols totally changed the direction of music from high production disco back to from the gut, garage band rock ‘n roll which had been lacking. This song is so important it even merits its own entry on wikipedia. In fact, the song Spirit of ‘76 by The Alarm is actually about the punk rock movement in England in 1976. If you go to the video link you should note this song was released before Sid Vicious was a member of the group.
- Revolution – The Beatles: You didn’t really think I could omit this one, did you? This single was a stark contrast to all earlier Beatles singles. So the question is were The Beatles rebelling against The Beatles? The original version was released as the b-side of the single, Hey Jude.
- Renegades Of Funk – Rage Against the Machine: These guys really want to rebel. Much of their message will be about social justice issues. Did I mention I can beat Tom Morello on guitar hero? Did I mention I can only do this on the easy level? This song is so good even some white people like it.
- Street Fightin’ Man – The Rolling Stones: The song was originally titled Did Everyone Pay Their Dues? I contains some of Mick Jagger’s best lyrics, “Well now what can a poor boy do, ‘Cept to sing for a rock ‘n roll band?, Cause in sleepy London town, There’s just no place for a street fightin’ man!”
- Get Up, Stand Up – Bob Marley & the Wailers: Alright, I’m really hoping this selection causes a revolution among my “called” friends. The song is about the rastafarian belief that Haile Selassie I (a/k/a Ras Tafari — where the name rastafarian comes from), the Emperor of Ethiopia, was in fact, God on Earth. Please note I did not say anything like the Son Of God, I said God. This is also not to be confused with the second coming. They just believed God was amongst us. Here is a link for the “called” to read before sending me their diatribe on this subject. See if you read my stuff carefully you sometimes learn something.
- Rebel, Rebel – David Bowie: I always assumed this song was about rebelling against sexual identity. Turns out it is Bowie’s farewell to glam rock. Once again artist rebels against self. (and my movie quote looks more and more brilliant by the moment)
- I Won’t Back Down – Tom Petty: Just a man and his convictions. He obviously doesn’t care what the rest of the world thinks, because he is convinced he is correct. I don’t know why I identify with this song on some level, but I do.
- Fight For Your Right – The Beastie Boys: I was concerned I was becoming too serious with all this talk about rebelling. So I thought I would lighten things up with the boys a/k/a Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (for those of you who want to argue with me about their names make sure you first look at their song of the same name).
Obviously a lot of these songs pose great theological questions and I’ve always thought this would make for a great theology class. I say this even though a friend of mine named Ted once told me that I thought everything ever written had a theological element in it on some level. Well Ted you are correct, but the reason I think, uhhh believe, this is because it is true. I really do tire of being correct on most subjects.
I also left out a number of great songs: Breakin’ the Law by Judas Priest, Another Brick In the Wall by Pink Floyd, Revolution Rock by The Clash, Sexx Laws by Beck, Blaze of Glory by Bon Jovi, We’re Not Gonna Take It by Twisted Sister, Authority Song by John Mellencamp (an obvious rip-off of I Fought the Law), Talkin’ Bout A Revolution by Tracy Chapman. If you have others you think should be considered feel free to leave them in the comments.
Now go out there and rebel against something!
Tags: Beastie Boys, Beatles, Beck, Bob Marley, Bobby Fuller Four, Bon Jovi, David Bowie, Disco, Ethiopia, God, haile Selassie, Haile Selassie I, John Mellencamp, Judas Priest, Karl Wallinger, Pink Floyd, Punk Rock, Ras Tafari, Rastafarian, Rebel, Rebellion Playlist, Rocky Horror Show, Rolling Stones, Sex Pistols, Shadrach Meshach and Abednego, Sinead O'Connor, Songs About Rebellion, Ted, The Alarm, The Clash, The Man, The Wailers, The Wild One, Theology, Tom Petty, Tracy Chapman, Twisted Sister, World Party
