American Revolution Rock?

February 3, 2011 4:52 PM

OK, so for a history project, looking for (modern rock/pop) songs that would be relevant to the American Revolutionary War, in the same kind of vein that "Run to the Hills" by Iron Maiden is about the American-Indian conflict.

Civil War, easy. World War I or II, sure. Vietnam war, forgetaboutit. Rock/pop songs that reference the time period and happenings around 1776 are hard to come by. Sons of Liberty "Don't Tread on Me" is as close as I could find so far.

posted by rich to Society & Culture (17 answers total)

Best answer: The Glorious Burden is an album by Iced Earth about American military history, including the Revolutionary War.
posted by rhapsodie at 5:01 PM on February 3, 2011

Well, there's the George Washington Rap, which is awesome, but probably not what you're looking for.
posted by phunniemee at 5:05 PM on February 3, 2011

David Rovics' Berkshire Hills is about Shays' Rebellion, which was directly part of the fall out of the American Revolutionary War, and one of the things that produced the Constitution as we know it. It also lead to a massive backlash against the "Revolutionary Spirit" as it were.
posted by strixus at 5:13 PM on February 3, 2011

Does parody count? Too Late To Apologize: A Declaration
posted by Captain_Science at 5:16 PM on February 3, 2011 [1 favorite]

Best answer: What about modern folk? Barret's Privateers wold be an original choice since the narrator is not the typical narrator for an American Revolution song.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 5:17 PM on February 3, 2011 [1 favorite]

Johnny Cash's "Paul Revere."
posted by Dee Xtrovert at 5:33 PM on February 3, 2011

Anything from the musical 1776 work for you?
posted by CathyG at 6:24 PM on February 3, 2011

Johnny Horton's Battle of New Orleans is always fun.
posted by Ideefixe at 6:31 PM on February 3, 2011

Battle of New Orleans is the War of 1812.
posted by Slap*Happy at 6:34 PM on February 3, 2011

Does Schoolhouse Rock count?
posted by Miko at 6:39 PM on February 3, 2011 [1 favorite]

There's an awesome old broadside ballad called Paul Jones. Wish I could find you a good vidoe rendition. It's rousing.
posted by Miko at 7:19 PM on February 3, 2011

Paul Revere and the Raiders - Midnite Ride
posted by various at 9:45 PM on February 3, 2011

Best answer: The Lost Riots by Hope of the States is pretty much exactly what you want - a rock album which draws inspiration from the Revolutuonary War. Try George Washington or The Red The White The Black The Blue for starters.
posted by greycap at 11:12 PM on February 3, 2011

Best answer: I think pretty much anything on the new Muse CD would serve your purposes pretty well. The song Uprising might work for you. It goes:
"Rise up and take the power back, it's time that
The fat cats had a heart attack, you know that
Their time is coming to an end, we have to
Unify and watch our flag ascend, so come on

They will not force us
They will stop degrading us
They will not control us
We will be victorious, so come on

They will not force us
They will stop degrading us
They will not control us
We will be victorious, so come on"

The first verse is honestly not so easy to work with, but as long as you sound confident in your answer and glue it all together with BS. Or just omit the whole first verse. Whatever works. Good luck! Hope this is helpful!
posted by AlisonNicole at 11:48 PM on February 3, 2011

Best answer: The Evaporators - United Empire Loyalists. It's about the colonists who fought for the British and fled to Canada. It has one of the best lines ever...
"One day, while cruising through the history books. I cam upon a civil war. The year was 1776, and Americans were chucking bricks... at each other.
posted by kendrak at 7:09 AM on February 4, 2011

Best answer: "Trouble Hunters", off of the album Pomegranate by Astronautalis

Brother Benjamin is off in France
We're taking Trenton back again
The garrison of Hessians will fall
They say Delaware will freeze a man

We chasin' sovereigns
Across the Styx and dodging ice-flows
It's all on Honeyman
Our mole inside the ivy that grows
posted by nulledge at 4:28 PM on February 4, 2011

Response by poster: All fantastic and wonderful suggestions. Thanks all. The ones that work for the project were more along the lines of nulledge, AlisonNicole, greycap (and I think I have a new band added to the playlist for my daily commute there!), and rhapsodie (I knew about Iced Earth, but right on track!)

Everyone else - thanks much.. George Washington Rap is totally wrong in all the best ways.

The other perspectives were pretty cool.. just didn't fit with the final aim - although I intentionally left the topic murky to extract more from the Hive.

Thank you!
posted by rich at 6:07 AM on February 5, 2011