Songs which changed the world

[erudito]

What rock songs would you nominate which most encapsulated (any) social changes with have occurred since the start of rock'n'roll onwards?

ADDENDA Some more nominations received: Two songs that actually did change the world were written by that old communist, Pete Seeger: We Shall Overcome, and If I had a Hammer. Also, Bob Dylan’s Blowin’ in the

Comments

[pache]

The candidates which spring to my mind are "Sunday Bloody Sunday" by U2 and "Anarchy in the UK" by the Sex Pistols for individual events/periods, or "We Didn't Start The Fire" by Billy Joel for a general overview of the 50's on..

[nobble]

Brick in the wall by Pink Floyd.

[basal_surge]

'Everybody Knows' by Leonard Cohen. (So I'm feeling cynical today)

[tcpip]

I would say John Lennon's 'Imagine' and 'Give Peace a Chance', but it's stretching the definition to call these rock'n'roll.

U2's 'Sunday Bloody Sunday' was pretty important.

Song which marks the times

[anonymous]

Stephen Dawson here

There is one song which most certainly encapsulates our times, which I define as having an ambience of nitpicking, regulatory control and bureaucratic smothering.

The group is Primus. The album is 'Pork Soda'. The song is 'DMV'. First verse:

'I've been to hell. I spell it ... I spell it DMV. Anyone that's been there knows precisely what I mean./Stood there and I've waited, and choked back the urge to scream./And if I had my druthers, I'd screw a chimpanzee/--call it pointless.'

I've put the first thirty seconds of the song (~0.5MB) here for your enjoyment: http://www.hifi-writer.com/blog/download/dmvintro.mp3

Re: Song which marks the times

[erudito]

Ta. I found the full lyrics

I’ve been to hell. I spell it...i spell it dmv
Anyone that’s been there knows precisely what I mean
Stood there and I’ve waited and choked back the urge to scream
And if I had my druthers I’d screw a chimpanzee-call it pointless

When I need relief I spell it thc
Perhpas you may know vaguely what I mean
I sit back and smoke away huge chunks of memory
As I slowly inflict upon myself a full lobotomy-call it pointless

Barbecues, tea kettles, gobs of axle grease
There comes a time for every man to sail the seas of cheese
Now, life’s a bowl of bagel dogs, but there are unpleasantries
Cold toilet seats, dentist chairs and trips to dmv-call it pointless

I’ve been to hell. I spell it...i spell it dmv
Anyone that’s been there knows precisely what I mean
I’ve stood in line and waited near an hour and fifteen
And if I had my druthers I’d screw that chimpanzee-call it pointless

Re: Song which marks the times

[anonymous]

I think as far as driving rather than reflecting change is concerned, the early Dylan ("Blowin' in the Wind"; "Times they are a-changing") was important.

I wonder about stuff like Madonna's "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun"?

Re: Song which marks the times

[erudito]

As long as we realise that Girls Just Wanna Have Fun is Cyndy Lauper.