Politics is a difficult and touchy subject. It may be even stickier than religion and blood runs hot when its discussed. Often, most people (liberal and conservative) hate it when artists speak their political beliefs and I can understand this. It's not easy to change someone's mind when your life and your views have been forged from an early time in your life and your own unique experience. With that being said, I often don't find artists to get political enough. I don't care which way you swing, but I find the art to come from it to be much more vivid, real and potent.One artist whose career was cut short due to politics was Little Steven Van Zandt. You know him best as Springsteen's right hand man or Tony Soprano's...but beneath both of those roles is a vital and blood brimming artist who wears his heart on his sleeve. His first two solo discs are magnificent and it's a shame they are both out of print. With that being said, the greatest song he ever wrote and it's not pro-liberal as you may expect, but more importantly, it brims with genuineness. It's beautifully poetic and is one of my favorite songs from the last quarter of a century. Once again, beneath the ugliness of this world, we once again find solace in music.
"I Am A Patriot"
And the rivers shall open for the righteous (X2)
And the rivers shall open for the righteous,someday
I was walking,with my brother
And he wondered,oh,how I am
I Said what I believe with my soul
Ain't what I see with my eyes
And there's no turning back this time
I am a patriot, I love my country
Because my country is all I know
I wanna be with my family
People who understand me
I got no place else to go...
I am a patriot...
I went was,with my girlfriend
She looked so fine,I said,"Baby,what's on your mind?"
She said,"I wanna run like the lions
Released from the cages
Released from the rages burning in my soul tonight"
I am a patriot, I love my country
Because my country is all I know
I wanna be with my family
People who understand me
I got no place else to go...
And I ain't no communist
And I ain't no socialist
And I ain't no capitalist
And I ain't no imperialist
And I ain't no democrat
Sure ain't no republican either
I only know one party,and that is freedom
I am,I am,I am...
I am a patriot,and I love my country
Because my country is all I know
And the rivers shall open for the righteous (X2)
And the rivers shall open for the righteous,someday
Someday,someday,someday...
Eddie Vedder's version
