Macklemore

Macklemore's song "Same Love," discusses he struggle of being homosexuals. Here is an example of his argument that  same-sex couples should be able to be themselves.

"The right wing conservatives think it's a decision
And you can be cured with some treatment and religion
Man-made rewiring of a predisposition"

These lines display how politics play in people's personal life. Same-sex marriage is an issue that we have been going back and forth on for years. It was brave of Macklemore to take a stand on such a big issue and have no shame. In my opinion, he gained a lot of respect from the same-sex community and their supporters.

American Idiot by Green Day

If you are a fellow listener of 98.7 on the radio like myself, you will have heard this song a thousand times over.  To be honest, it was not until fairly recently that I knew that this song carried a political statement! At the time of its release in 2004, President Bush had just been re-elected as president, and this song was a response to it.  Within the song, one will find phrases such as "don't wanna be an American idiot" and "Well maybe I'm the faggot America. I'm not a part of a redneck agenda." Of course, through these lyrics Green day is talking about President Bush's conservative policies and how the nation is controlled by the new, biased media.  This song entered the public sphere and took off immediately, as it won two Grammy awards and is still very popular to this day.

Political song

Bright Eyes - "When the President Talks to God" 
I first heard this song when I was a teenager. I didn't know much about politics then or read into the lyrics too much, but I could tell even then it was really angst-y. Looking over the lyrics today with (slightly) better political knowledge, I can recognize more easily that it's about issues like abortion, the war with Iraq (which was a recent issue when the song was written nine or ten years ago), and foreign oil.  Political cynicism is certainly evident here. Negative face is as well: Conor Oberst (Bright Eyes frontman) is clearly a liberal and was not happy with the choices Bush made during his presidency. Instead of grounding the rightness of his claims with sound evidence, Oberst attempts to discredit Bush by making a personal attack - insulting his southern drawl and his religion and calling his policy "bullshit".

Peruvian Coke

http://youtu.be/8sTBSKT79H8

This 'Peruvian Coke' by  Immortal Technique highlights the issue with cocaine and the people it affects. As well as the corruption involved with the American government to the people who pay the price. It is a very interesting construct of the song, where everyone involved gets to speak and allow a new perspective of the illegal cocaine round.

Political parody song

The song is entitled "This Land", it is a parody of the original  song depicting America with the same title. The song is very funny, and at times uses negative face to depict the politicians poorly. Here is a link for the song

http://www.jibjab.com/originals/this_land

Dear Mr.President by P!nk

P1nk is one of my favorite artists because she is an amazing dancer with a beautiful singer. She sings about real life situations and a great example is "Dear Mr.President". The song just speaks about how the world is so corrupt from poverty, no right to be who you are, and people struggling to live. P1nk uses this song to express and stab the President about how he can live happily when so many people are struggling to make ends meet, worrying about their loved ones out fighting, and having their homes taken away. There are so many powerful lyrics in this song that express the emotional struggle that people other than the president have to live through. "How do you sleep while the rest of us cry? How do you dream when a mother has no chance to say goodbye? How do you walk with your head held high?" The song starts off with Pink asking the president to pretend for a moment that they are equal and she continuously asks the president how he lives when people are struggling. I believe this song is 10 times better because Pink chose to have just her voice and a guitar express her feelings. No electric pop music in the background, no base, just a simple acoustic song. This song has made Pink one of the most bravest and realist singers to actually sing about real life problems other than partying, sex, and drugs.

The Times They Are a-Changin'

The Times They Are a-Changin' came out in 1964, in the midst of the civil rights movement.  Bob Dylan sings in favor of the social change that is occurring, as he warns that "you better start swimming or you'll sink like a stone".  He then speaks directly to the government singing, "Come senators, Congressmen- Please heed the call. Don't stand at the doorway, don't block up the hall".  Lastly, he speaks to the older generation, telling them that their children's ideals are different than theirs and they should accept them, rather than trying to change them.  He  says, "Your old road is rapidly agin'.  Please get out of the new one if you can't lend a hand.  For the times they are a-changing. 

Although written 50 years ago, this song is still holds meaning to the social changes that are occurring today.  Although we are in a better place than back then, people are still fighting for equality and change. 

http://music.xbox.com/Track/E1763E00-0100-11DB-89CA-0019B92A3933?action=play