Punk Politics: The Evolution of Rebellion

Rock Against Bush: 2004 and Conclusion

            In 2004, Mike Burkett put together two compilations titled Rock Against Bush as part of his Punk Voter initiative and were released with coordination of tours of the same name. These compilations were different form the 1990s and went beyond what happened in the 1980s. Instead of releasing songs on their own, this collection of fifty-two bands would voice their political positions by contributing to a work that sought to unite punks to vote George W. Bush out of office. Burkett had the connections within the punk community to organize this as he had been in a relatively well-known band in that of NOFX and had his own record label, Fat Wreck Chords.[1] This is also what separates it from other political activism movements at the time as well as aligns it within traditional punk discourse which places punk activism at the center. Although the rest of my thesis goes into this more in depth, this section will primarily look at the music aspect of these compilation albums and then provide a conclusion for everything discussed throughout the website.
            Both albums featured the same cover of George W. Bush covering his ears as a guitar amp with the word “Dissent” affixed to it emits visual indication of sound. This is a distinct connection the rhetoric of 1980s punk which tended to fixate on Reagan as the manifestation of all of society’s shortcomings. Yet this is only the outward appearance of the album which also included a DVD and essay within the liner notes, all pushing forth this message. However, the primary reason people would likely have purchased these albums was for the music.
            For the first compilation, most of the songs were punk sounding and could be construed as lyrically non-political if it were not for the context of the album. This was complicated because some of the songs were new and contributed specifically for this release while others were part of a contemporary album and was not necessarily about Bush. None More Black’s opening track on the album “Nothing To Do When You’re Locked In A Vacancy” for example is probably referring to Bush within its lyrics but without the context of the compilation it would be difficult to discern. Jason Shevchuk rough vocals belting, “scare tactics, the headlines are keeping us up tonight,” could easily be missed as a comment on the presidency.[2]
            Perhaps the most potent political song that focused on George W. Bush was written by the least punk sounding band on the album. Ministry’s metal tune “No W,” opens with the end of the national anthem followed by a clip from a George W. Bush speech where he is signing the Homeland Security Act.[3] Later, at one point directly refers to the Bush administration with the lyrics, “Ask me why you're feeling screwed / And I'll give you the answer / There's a Colin Dick & Bush / Justa hammerin' away.”[4] Ministry is direct in their approach and provides the only way to interpret their lyrics regardless of its inclusion on this album.
            Another good example of this style of directness can be seen with the track “Lion and the Lamb” from The Get Up Kids where they sing “I've never been one for war, sand we’re sinkin in as thick as oil.”[5] Although it carries more of a pop-punk sound it carries the same message of criticizing the war in Iraq.
            This would be a common theme within other tracks that would mention multiple political topics. “Overcome (The Recapitulation)” from RX Bandits weaves their disapproval of war while simultaneously critiquing capitalism, racism, and sexism in the United States. Originally released as part of their 2003 album, The Resignation, the RX Bandits’ commentary comes in the form of a slow-paced ska song with slow chords and deep vocals.[6]
            Bands also would provide songs that were much older and created under different circumstances but would try to continue this anti-war message that had been consistent throughout the album and punk as a whole. From a previous section, “Baghdad” by The Offspring was written about the 1990 Gulf War but its lyrics lend themselves to being applicable to this context as well. “Heaven is Falling,” originally produced in 1992 by Bad Religion also was repurposed to comment on the 2003 Iraq War and was covered by The Ataris. Again, the words were easy to repurpose as the original sings “For thanks to King George and his rainbow cabinet / Today murder is legal.”[7]
            The Ataris did attempt to make this cover appear more current by including sound clips from the weapons specialist who inspected Iraq prior to the war, David Kay. The sound clip has Dr. David Kay stating that “it is highly unlikely that there were large stockpiles of deployed militarized chemical and biological weapons there.”[8] Kristopher Roe’s pop-punk friendly vocals sing in an upbeat tone over a fast-strummed acoustic guitar.
            The music of the second compilation featured many of these same characteristics. Again, many of the tracks would not contain many political lyrics. One song that did specifically target Bush was titled “Favorite Son” provided by Green Day. Green Day pop-punk sound of catchy choruses and simplistic guitar power chords takes shape in this anti-Bush song which mainly critiques the Republican party for electing him.
            Billie Joe Armstrong sings through this message with the verse, “Now where's your fuckin' champion? / On a bed you laid. / He's not the All-American / That you thought you paid.”[9] While it does not mention Bush by name, it is clear that he is the target of this song as it was also a B-side to their “American Idiot” single.
            Yet again the most common theme for this compilation as was constant throughout the entire Rock Against Bush movement was the anti-war sentiments. This can be seen with Bad Religion’s “Let Them Eat War” which saw the Bush administration’s war in Iraq as an ironic solution to the poverty in America.[10] Although originally for their album released earlier that year, Bad Religion plays a more pop-punk sounding rhythm with catchy guitar riffs and palm-muted power chords.
            This album also had inclusions from international bands such as Useless I.D.’s and the Donots, tried to comment on the economic motives of the Iraq War. Useless I.D.’s sound was similar to that of Pennywise as there were moderately fast-paced and had deep vocals. Although the band hails from Israel, their song’s lyrics were still applicable to the American war in Iraq with the line “it seems there’s a lot of profit to be made from war.” [11]
            The German band, Donots, also contributed a song that claims, “they wage a war based on greed.”[12] Although their sound was more poppy, the band’s lyrics probably commented on the Iraq War given the context. Yet the generalist approach in these lyrics allowed them to be applicable to their own countries’ conflicts as well making their positions primarily anti-war and not specifically the Iraq War.
            Although this inclusion of non-American bands was new, this compilation also repurposed older songs to apply them to the current military conflicts. For example, No Use For A Name supplied an acoustic rendition of their song, “Fields of Agony,” which was originally much faster and released in 1995.[13] The lyrics of this song focus on the death toll from both sides of United States conflicts. Near the end of their song is an excerpt from a George W. Bush speech that was exclusive to this version of the song.[14] This speech was from October 8, 2002 where Bush claims that Iraq is building up weapons and that we cannot wait for “the smoking gun – that could come in the form of a mushroom cloud.”[15]
            On both albums, songs that did not comment on Bush or the Iraq War would critique the western notion of progress, the criminal justice system, revolutions, and the corporate news in America. Although not included here, other songs would not feature any political lyrics at all. These compilations did not mark the end of punk political music in this decade, nor the end of punks targeting Bush in their lyrics. However, these albums represent the culmination of the efforts to unite punks with a definable goal which sought to vote Bush out of office. Yet the most common theme as represented in their lyrics was their anti-war positions. Although punks of the 1980s often lamented the ironies of the Moral Majority and its ties to the Republican party, the 2000s punks who contributed to the Rock Against Bush albums mostly avoided the topic.
            NOFX would create a song that targeted the religious portion of America who voted for Bush. Featured in their 2006 album, Wolves in Wolves’ Clothing, “Leaving Jesusland” is Mike Burkett’s plea to those living in Christian dominated areas of the United States to come live in liberal California.[16]
            From the 1980s and into the 2000s, punk retained a diverse stylistic sound that often incorporated political thought into its lyrics. While they primarily targeted politics traditionally associated with Republicans, punks varied in what they criticized and even moved away from the political messages that were part of the creation of the subculture. As punk grew into the 1990s, it became more well-known for how its sound fit into the mainstream. In the 2000s, this allowed some punk bands that could have been considered more on the fringe to create political charged punk songs that could also be consumed by the mainstream. Yet there were still bands like Leftöver Crack who maintained a more traditional punk sound that was less likely to be popular. Green Day who became famous for their sound however introduced politics into their music during this decade. Many bands also purely focused on their disapproval of the Iraq War and Bush as president, which made their politics more compatible with the mainstream as their sound adapted too.
 
[1]. NOFX, The Hepatitis Bathtub and Other Stories, ed. Jeff Alulis (Boston: Da Capo Press, 2016), 288. Here, Burkett expresses that he wanted to use the tools he had as a musician to make a difference.
[2]. None More Black, “Nothing To Do When You’re Locked In A Vacancy,” in Rock Against Bush Vol 1, Fat Wreck Chords, 2004.
[3]. George W. Bush, “President Bush Signs Homeland Security Act,” 2002, accessed August 25, 2017, https://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2002/11/text/20021125-6.html.
[4]. Ministry, “No W,” in Rock Against Bush Vol 1, Fat Wreck Chords, 2004.
[5]. The Get Up Kids, “Lion and the Lamb,” in Rock Against Bush Vol 1, Fat Wreck Chords, 2004.
[6] RX Bandits, “Overcome (The Recapitulation),” in The Resignation, Drive-Thru Records, 2003.
[7]. Bad Religion, “Heaven is Falling,” in Generator, Epitaph Records, 1992.
[8]. David Kay, “David Kay Testifies Before Senate Committee,” January 28, 2004, accessed August, 25, 2017, http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0401/28/se.02.html.
[9]. Green Day, “Favorite Son,” in Rock Against Bush Vol 2, Fat Wreck Chords, 2004.
[10]. Bad Religion, “Let Them Eat War,” in The Empire Strikes First, Epitaph Records, 2004.
[11]. Useless ID, “State of Fear,” in Rock Against Bush Vol 2, Fat Wreck Chords, 2004.
[12] Donots, “Time’s Up,” in Rock Against Bush Vol 2, Fat Wreck Chords, 2004.
[13]. No Use for a Name, “Fields of Agony,” in Leche con Carne, Fat Wreck Chords, 1995.
[14]. No Use for a Name, “Fields of Agony,” in Rock Against Bush Vol 2, Fat Wreck Chords, 2004.
[15] George W. Bush, “Bush: Don’t wait for the mushroom cloud,” CNN, October 8, 2002, accessed October 2, 2017 http://edition.cnn.com/2002/ALLPOLITICS/10/07/bush.transcript/.
[16] NOFX, “Leaving Jesusland,” in Wolves in Wolves’ Clothing, Fat Wreck Chords, 2006.

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