Music is a window into our show. The bumpers we play are integral to what we do – whether it’s interviewing guests, celebrating participatory democracy, or yakking about Republican hackery and misinformation. Often our guests will have their own theme song, but when we meet them on the show we know we’re only getting to know one tiny bit of a complex and interesting person.
Because we want to know a little bit more of what makes our guests tick, Liberadio(!) is happy to introduce a new feature, Guest Playlists.
Our inaugural list is from Nashville Post reporter, Ken “Punk Rock in the” Whitehouse. With his playlist and commentary, the Oscar Madison of State political correspondents gives us a little more insight into what’s going on in that baseball-capped head of his. Punk rawk, indeed.
Which Side Are You On? – Dropkick Murphys (Album: Sing Loud, Sing Proud!) Written by Florence Reece in 1931. She was the wife of a union organizer in Harlan County, Kentucky. She wrote the song one night after company men came a ransacked her house looking for her husband during a strike. This version is the Celtic/Punk version of the song.
Baby, I’m an Anarchist! – Against Me! (Album: Reinventing Axl Rose) Love song between an anarchist and a “spineless liberal.” Line of the song that sums it all up is, “We marched together for the eight-hour day and held hands in the streets of Seattle, But when it came time to throw bricks through that Starbucks window, You left me all alone.â€
Walk Away – Tom Waits (Album: Orphans: Brawlers) If only I could write that well and sing that bad.
Mao Tse Tung Said – A3 (Album: Exile on Coldharbour Lane) You know this band for the theme song of The Soprano’s, but this song is a bone chilling statement on power at the point of a gun. It uses clips from the Rev. Jim Jones final recorded speech in the jungles of Guyana. Don’t let anyone who likes Kool-Aid near your speakers when playing this.
Start Wearing Purple – Gogol Bordello (Album: Gypsy Punks; Underdog World Strike) New York band that has a Gypsy/Ukrainian sound. Lead singer bounces back and forth between Russian and English, I think this song could be about monarchical inbreeding throughout Europe but not sure. No matter, your kids will like it for reasons they won’t understand.
Amsterdam – Jacques Brel (Album: Enregistrement Public à l’Olympia 1964) Brel is the only thing stopping the world from placing economic sanctions on Belgium for giving us Jean-Claude Van Damme. The song is about sailors on shore leave in Amsterdam and though sung in French you can understand the emotion of every word.
Tower of Song – Leonard Cohen with U2 (Album: I’m Your Man) A homage of sorts to Cohen’s influences and the art of songwriting. You also might want to check out the Emmylou Harris cover of Cohen’s “Ballad of a Runaway Horse.”
Last Kind Deal – David Johansen (Album: Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus soundtrack) Former New York Dolls front man gets in touch with his Delta side.
If I Ever Leave This World Alive – Flogging Molly (Album: Drunken Lullabies) Everyone needs an epilogue and mine would be this line “If I ever leave this world alive The madness that you feel will soon subside So in a word don’t shed a tear I’ll be here when it all gets weird If I ever leave this world alive”
Sample Full Playlist (will launch iTunes)
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