Please share the ones you know.
Any language, instrumentals etc.
Some socialist-aligned songs I know of
Joe Hill
- Covered by High Kings - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qc78EADQYCk
- Paul Robeson singing it to Scottish miners (1949) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0bezsMVU7c
Malayalam
ബലികുടീരങ്ങളെ | Balikudeerangale - Memorials of Martyrs/Sacrifice
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4Xiau7E8Y0
It’s a song by Vayalar Ramavarma about the 1857 Indian Revolt.
The ending line: With the armor from the fields of struggle where you stood… We come to the soil of the Malanaadu(land of mountains) and today gain the new red flag.
References Kerala’s communist movement.
As a bit of trivia, Marx had reported about the 1857 Revolt: https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1857/09/16.htm
Do you know any such songs(including modern covers)?
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Yeah I’m a communist, how did you know I was into Pete Seeger, Phil Ochs, Joe Hill, Billy Bragg, Joe Glazer, and Woody Guthrie?
Knee Cap are pretty good if you want something Irish
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLDHQVJZuGQ
spoiler
[Verse 1: Móglaí Bap]
Mad one for ya, that happened last night
I met an Englishman, the atmosphere was tense
He was a bit quare
Had a funny way of talkin’
But then we taught him
All about the gangs of Fenians
No animosity, eight hundred years
We watch The Wind That Shakes the Barley
History time that’s my type of party
[Verse 2: Mo Chara]
Mo Chara the Republican
Who’s this wee bold boy?
Mix of James Connolly and Clannad
Bandit, like a wee Western movie
No more snuff, all they want is politics
But not that kind that will get ya locked up
Mind, stuff about the United Kingdom
Buzzwords, headlines until you’re finished
[Bridge]
F-E-F-E-F-E-F-E-N-I-A-N
[Verse 3: Mo Chara]
I’ll huff, I’ll puff, I’ll blow your housе up
Me and the Fianna out dancing
Bonfires, gеt it doused up
Cross community partying is what we’re about but
Every sort of removed about after me
Big coat on me, Dick Dastardly
“Ya wee green Fenian bastard ye”
“United Ireland soon?” - Mate possibly
[Verse 4: Móglaí Bap]
Come with me and we’ll go for a dander
A couple of jokes, sectarian banter
That’s a good sign for a strong friendship
We’ll take a supand say a prayer
Here comes the tipsy aunts
Giving this text with political rants
How to make a few bob off the government grants
But we’re all one together for Republican chants
[Chorus]
F-E-F-E-F-E-F-E-N-I-A-N
F-E-F-E-F-E-F-E-N-I-A-N
F-E-F-E-F-E-F-E-N-I-A-N
F-E-F-E-F-E-F-E-N-I-A-N
F-E-F-E-F-E-F-E-N-I-A-N
F-E-F-E-F-E-F-E-N-I-A-N
F-E-F-E-F-E-F-E-N-I-A-N
F-E-F-E-F-E-F-E-N-I-A-N
F-E-F-E-F-E-F-E-N-I-A-N
F-E-F-E-F-E-F-E-N-I-A-N
[Verse 5: Mo Chara]
Mythology, see I love all of that
The Salmon of Knowledge, big lad Setanta
What fuckin’ legend thought of that?
This is party talk
With Kneecap, we are full of shite
Fuck knows what or who we’re laughin’ at?
(“Tiocfaídh ár lá”) Somebody sample that
[Verse 6: Móglaí Bap]
Take me back to Gleanntáin Ghlas Ghaoth Dobhair
With Rónán Mac Aodha Bhuí on a mad one
In the place where it all started
I think I lost my head in Teach Hiudai Beag
At the cabaret, in a good way
Signor Bari and half the county
Very grateful we never stopped fighting
And thank God that we are Irish
[Chorus]
F-E-F-E-F-E-F-E-N-I-A-N
F-E-F-E-F-E-F-E-N-I-A-N
F-E-F-E-F-E-F-E-N-I-A-N
F-E-F-E-F-E-F-E-N-I-A-N
F-E-F-E-F-E-F-E-N-I-A-N
F-E-F-E-F-E-F-E-N-I-A-N
F-E-F-E-F-E-F-E-N-I-A-N
F-E-F-E-F-E-F-E-N-I-A-N
F-E-F-E-F-E-F-E-N-I-A-N
F-E-F-E-F-E-F-E-N-I-A-N
Liar’s Tale, Carnival, Occupied 6 off that same album are also all good stuff. Their older stuff is less politically developed but the same sentiments are still there.
I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:
Unironically: Chumbawamba! They have a huge discography of left and left-adjacent music and experimented with a bunch of different genres
Here ya go! I could probably pick many songs by some of these artists, but here’s a selection:
- Pig Feet by Terrace Martin and Denzel Curry
- Head Like a Hole by NIN
- The Iron Wall by Infinity Knives and Brian Ennals
- Walk like a warrior by Dead Prez
- Planet B by King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard
- I hear you calling by Bill Fay
- I hate the capitalist system by Barbara Dane
- Death Cult Zombie by Genesis Owusu
- What keeps mandkind alive by Tom Waits (Brecht cover)
- Workingman’s Blues by Bob Dylan
- Luang Praband by Dave Van Ronk
- Pieces of a Man by Gil Scott-Heron
- Blood on Your Hands by Killing Joke
- Hunger Games by Bob Vylan
- Pirate Jenny by Nina Simone (Brecht cover again)
- Model Village by IDLES
- Walkin by Denzel Curry
- For Her by Fiona Apple
- Deja Vu by Roger Waters
- My Little Armalite by The Irish Brigade
- Pressure by Little Simz
- The Tramp on the Street by Joan Baez
- The It Man by John Cooper Clarke
- Malcom’s Theme by Kamasi Washington
- Just Cool by Obongjayar
- Born in a Prison - US Girls
- The Gunner’s Dream by Pink Floyd
- Tragic Heroin by Ashenspire
I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:
I mean, anything Pete Seeger or Paul Robeson is a good start. David Rovics is also great.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYKaLs7A4zM
I found YouTube links in your comment. Here are links to the same videos on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:
Link 1:
Link 2:
Link 3:
Seconding Phil Ochs
Roger Waters generally aligns himself with socialism but at the same time it also seems like he genuinely just enjoys being a contrarian, like when he opposed the ban on fox hunting.
La Raíz is a Valencian rock + rap-adjacent band which makes lefty songs, ranging from more eat-the-rich lyrics such as their song Jilgueros, to more explicitly antifascist songs such as Entre Poetas Y Presos. Most songs are in Spanish, with others in Catalan and even a bit of Portuguese at times.
Boikot is a Spanish punk rock band, their song Korsakov for example condemns the dismantling of the eastern block and the immense misery it caused, and tells the Cuban people to resist.
You could also listen to some incredibly epic Soviet songs from the Great Patriotic War such as в путь or полюшка поле (the YT channel called Hakushin Channel has wonderful versions of both) or more sad ones like Катюша or тёмная ночь
Windborne is an a capella quartet which mostly sings songs associated woth the workers movement. I specifically like:
I found YouTube links in your comment. Here are links to the same videos on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:
Link 1:
Link 2:
Carsie Blanton
No$hu
I found YouTube links in your post. Here are links to the same videos on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:
Link 1:
Link 2:
Link 3:
Incendiary
Billy Bragg from the UK
Bandista (Turkish anarchist collective)
