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System of a Down -- "Boom "... I directed the video for this song. It was actually a celebration of the worldwide anti-war demonstrations of February 15, the largest single-day protests ever in history. System of a Down was there, just like they always have been. Play this song in the car and play it loud!
The Nightwatchman -- "No One Left" ...Tom Morello, guitar slayer extrordinaire of Rage Against the Machine and now of Audioslave, has an alter ego and it's The Nightwatchman. This brand new track is both beautiful and haunting -- and painfully true. Death in New York, death in Baghdad, it is all to be mourned. Tom sings, the guitar is acoustic, and I am compelled to play this song over and over.
Pearl Jam -- "Masters of War"... Damn right, Eddie Vedder! I hear every bit of your anger that we all feel right now. There is a judgment day, and I wouldn't want to be standing next to anyone in the Bush administration when the avenging angel comes a-looking. This version of the Dylan classic is so brutal, so piercing, you find yourself glancing around to see if anyone is going to arrest you just for listening to it.
Dixie Chicks -- "Travelin' Soldier"... I was not the first to call out the President when I did so on that Oscar stage. Ten days before, the Dixie Chicks did it first. How wonderfully ironic that the first blow against this madness did not come from any of the usual "lefty" places, but rather from three moms from Bush's Texas. But that is how the revolution usually starts, isn't it? Some average, everyday Joe or Jane just gets fed up and says, OK, I've had enough. I love these three women. Their courage -- and the abuse and censorship that they had to sustain and overcome -- did much to get me through this past year. In the end, they were back on top, more popular than ever (so much for that old adage of you better not rock the boat or you will lose everything). And this song, about a kid who dies in Vietnam and nobody really cares except one pigtailed girl, is a heartbreaker for all who have lost a loved one in this current worthless war.
John Fogerty -- "Fortunate Son"... Says it all. Bush, the fortunate son who didn't have to go to Vietnam, now sends the sons, not of the fortunate, but of the poor and working class. I would love to play this song at full blast outside the White House some night. And don't think I won't!
The Clash -- "Know Your Rights" ... The street fightin' men of The Clash (along with the Sex Pistols) saved rock-n-roll from certain death in the late '70s, and this song is another great anthem for all to stand up and demand the rights guaranteed to us.
