Scenes of angry white supremacists holding Tiki torches and shouting racist epithets under cover of night on the University of Virginia campus seems to bring Costello’s “Night Rally” directly into the present day again. It’s been a theme he’s often returned to throughout his songwriting catalog-in both literal and metaphorical employment-but the closing track to his sophomore album This Year’s Model feels the most immediately relevant in light of the recent “Unite the Right”white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va. Oswald with the swastika tattoo” from 1977’s “Less Than Zero”), Elvis Costello let everyone know he was comfortable trafficking in outspoken anti-fascist themes. With the very first line of his very first single (“Calling Mr.
To help the president and his administration find the right words and actions for the next (inevitable) opportunity to call out (and do something about) fascism in its various incarnations (including those found within their own ranks), here are 15 anti-fascist anthems from some of our most important and influential musicians. As violent Nazis, unhooded klansmen, flag-waving neo-Confederates, anti-Semitic white nationalists and armed militias openly walked the streets of Charlottesville, Va., during the recent “Unite the Right” rally, it’s more important than ever to find inspiration, education and motivation in the calls to action of songs that champion anti-fascist ideals and values.
METAL SONGS ABOUT TRUST ISSUES FULL
This administration, among countless other missteps and failures, has repeatedly found it difficult to condemn Nazis and the KKK by name (on the first attempt) with any shred of conviction (on the second attempt) or to the full extent of any heinous actions and ideologies spread (if we can even call that one a third attempt). Everything old is new again, as songs about fascism, dictators, Nazis, government-sanctioned oppression and racially-motivated violence are frustratingly relevant.