There was little doubt that there was going to be some brouhaha following JOHN L. MILLER’s National Review feature on the 50 Greatest Conservative Rock Songs. The ensuing discussion has been interesting, although the primary focus has been on whether songs such as THE WHO’s “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” THE BEATLES’ “Revolution” or any of the songs on Miller’s list can truly be considered “conservative” or, if certain of those songs can be considered conservative, whether they can also be considered any good.

Certain conservative ideals make undeniable appearances in the list, such as taxation levels in The Beatles’ “Taxman” and the libertarian valorization of the individual over the collective in RUSH’s “Anthem.” However, it is probably a stretch to consider “Won’t Get Fooled Again” (the #1 song on the list) as conservative (“Meet the new boss/Same as the old boss…”) when the sentiment expressed is likely closer to disillusionment than to a rejection of all revolutions.

In almost every online discussion (such as althouse, volokh conspiracy, blogcritics, and ten billion others), it seemed as though a significant number of those conversant considered themselves to be liberal, so there was no shortage of people willing to point out the shortcomings of the list. Iconic rock critic and “avowed lefty,” DAVE MARSH comments, “What happened was, my side won the culture war, in the sense that rock and related music is the dominant musical form, not only in the U.S. but around the world.” Why the antagonism and triumphalism? Also, if one side won the culture war, does that mean that most of the greatest “rock and related music” is of, by, and about the viewpoints of that side? Is there a compelling reason for politics to enter the issue at all?

Rolling Stone has its own list of the 500 Greatest Songs. While RS might not be considered the authority it once was, and while it may give short shrift to more recent songs, it’s list is the closest thing we have to a consensus and historical overview. Here is its Top 10:

  1. BOB DYLAN – “Like a Rolling Stone”
  2. THE ROLLING STONES – ”(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”
  3. JOHN LENNON – “Imagine”
  4. MARVIN GAYE – “What’s Going On”
  5. ARETHA FRANKLIN – “Respect”
  6. THE BEACH BOYS – “Good Vibrations”
  7. CHUCK BERRY – “Johnny B. Goode”
  8. The Beatles – “Hey Jude”
  9. NIRVANA – “Smells Like Teen Spirit”
  10. RAY CHARLES – “What’d I Say”

How many of these songs are ‘liberal?’ How many are even political? “What’s Going On” is the only overtly political song of the ten with “Imagine” being political in a more abstract sense. Other than those, the rest are all personal and address love, sex, identity, and the ‘meaning of life.’ I’ve only gone through the top 100, but I estimate that the percentage of political songs in the RS greatest list hovers at around 10% (with a peak of three such songs between numbers 11-20). And most of the political songs do not necessarily espouse liberal or conservative viewpoints as much as state that the artist sees something sub-optimal in the world or that there should be some undefined ‘change.’ Either way, the overwhelming number of songs considered to be the greatest the past 50 years (“Born to Run,” “Georgia On My Mind,” “Stairway to Heaven,” “God Only Knows,” etc.) address such issues as freedom of the soul, unlocking the mysteries of the universe, finding meaning, purpose, beauty, identity, connectedness—in essence, humanity.

Apparently, the songs that endure, the songs that most people (even the pollsters at Rolling Stone) feel to be most resonant are predominantly songs that have nothing to do with anything ‘liberal’ or ‘conservative’ at all. Tangentially, there don’t even have to be words: classical and jazz music can move people to incredible emotional levels without necessarily being ‘about’ anything. If this greatest song list is any indication, politics don’t have much to do with great songs or attaining a sublime connection to them. If anything, politics is probably more of a distraction. More likely, as we are seeing now, it serves as just another antagonist keeping people from each other, from themselves and, apparently, even from music.