Songs about living under curfew and military occupation.

April 29, 2015 6:43 AM

Hanging out here in Baltimore. What are some songs about curfew and military occupation? Any genre, any language welcome.
posted by josher71 to Media & Arts (29 answers total)

You already know this one, but Barbed Wire Love by Stiff Little Fingers is pretty much the best.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 6:46 AM on April 29, 2015 [1 favorite]

Hello, fellow Balmorean. Try "Curfew Must Not Ring Tonight" by Rose Hartwick Thorpe. I have heard this set to music but I couldn't find it on youtube. Still, I'm sure you could sing it. I'd suggest we meet in a bar to try it together, but the bars in my neighborhood are all closed...
posted by ubiquity at 6:50 AM on April 29, 2015 [1 favorite]

Won't Get Fooled Again
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 6:51 AM on April 29, 2015 [1 favorite]

Life During Wartime
posted by elf27 at 6:52 AM on April 29, 2015 [2 favorites]

The Stranglers - Curfew
posted by Jairus at 6:55 AM on April 29, 2015 [1 favorite]

Land of Confusion - Genesis
posted by Sassyfras at 6:57 AM on April 29, 2015 [1 favorite]

Wire - Reuters
posted by sobarel at 7:00 AM on April 29, 2015 [2 favorites]

Pogues' Streets of Sorrow/Birmingham Six, possibly also The Colours by Men They Couldn't Hang
posted by runincircles at 7:02 AM on April 29, 2015 [1 favorite]

and not 100% applicable but of course: Ghost town
posted by runincircles at 7:04 AM on April 29, 2015

I think Invisible Sun by The Police could be interpreted this way.
posted by bondcliff at 7:09 AM on April 29, 2015 [2 favorites]

This is the right link for Streets of Sorrow
posted by runincircles at 7:10 AM on April 29, 2015 [1 favorite]

Everyday Combat - LOSTPROPHETS
posted by Nanukthedog at 7:25 AM on April 29, 2015

If want something a bit less whimsical, try NWA's 100 Miles and Runnin.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 7:27 AM on April 29, 2015 [1 favorite]

Shostakovich, in particular Symphony #7. And #5 in my opinion.
posted by Dashy at 7:28 AM on April 29, 2015 [1 favorite]

From another angle, check out John Holt's Police in Helicopter and Junior Murvin's Police and Thieves.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 7:45 AM on April 29, 2015 [1 favorite]

Red Sector A by Rush.
posted by jbickers at 7:57 AM on April 29, 2015 [1 favorite]

The Clash - Guns of Brixton, their cover of Police and Thieves, Know Your Rights, and White Riot
posted by ChuraChura at 8:00 AM on April 29, 2015 [1 favorite]

This Is Radio Clash - The Clash

There must be others, too, but I have this song stuck in my head now.
posted by Room 641-A at 8:01 AM on April 29, 2015 [1 favorite]

Clamp Down by The Clash
posted by Captain_Science at 8:18 AM on April 29, 2015 [2 favorites]

Bob Marley, "Burning And Looting"
posted by thelonius at 8:35 AM on April 29, 2015

The soundbite that's stuck out most to me was early on in the rioting when some teen said something like, "This is just a taste of what it's like for us every day." I don't think that I fully believe that - in the sense that it doesn't seem to reflect how most people feel - but I take the point that the chaos is in some sense an amplified version of the chaos that a set of black folks in Baltimore live, and in many ways this crazy lockdown is another aspect of that, a heightened version of the police occupation that always exists in the city's black neighborhoods. As such, some nineties rap about life in Bmore may be in order. Some good ones: Sparrow's "Physics," Norm Skola's "Park Heights," Mr. Ruckuz's "Senselezz Murderz," K Mack's "In Baltimore,", Da Porkchop "Unda Pressha," Trife Wound's "What We Need," Madd Syco's "Nuthin Ta Play Wit," Starvin Art Clique's "Charm City."

Oh, and you might try The Criminal Minds' "Police State" or "Urban Warfare." Gnarly UK rap from 1990, slightly more thematically on, sonically just right. Da Dysfunkshunal Familee's "Slippin" just seems right, too. Their M.O. is a really nice midpoint between conscious and gangsta, though this leans pretty conscious.
posted by vathek at 9:10 AM on April 29, 2015 [2 favorites]

Just put on every Phil Ochs album you can find.

Problem solved.
posted by zizzle at 9:43 AM on April 29, 2015

Suicidal Tendencies "Fascist Pig" from 1983. Warning: Thrash.

Tense atmosphere in the air
Riot written everywhere
Time to go home if you're square
Riot squads coming from over there

posted by zenon at 10:10 AM on April 29, 2015

Janelle Monae's Dance or Die.

And the last part of Q.U.E.E.N.:

Are we a lost generation of our people?
Add us to equations but they'll never make us equal
She who writes the movie owns the script and the sequel
So why ain't the stealing of my rights made illegal?
They keep us underground working hard for the greedy
But when it's time pay they turn around and call us needy
My crown too heavy like the Queen Nefertiti
Gimme back my pyramid, I'm trying to free Kansas City
Mixing masterminds like your name Bernie Grundman
Well I'mma keep leading like a young Harriet Tubman

Gang of Four, Guns Before Butter.

Mekons, Snow ('the burnt out homes/of left wing names/tell us all where power remains....When it starts, I don't go outside/I'm afraid to go out to the pub')
posted by Frowner at 10:38 AM on April 29, 2015 [2 favorites]

"For What It's Worth" by the Buffalo Springfield.
posted by mule98J at 10:46 AM on April 29, 2015 [1 favorite]

"Riot" by the Dead Kennedys.
posted by saladin at 11:32 AM on April 29, 2015 [1 favorite]

Tir An Airm by Runrig
posted by Serene Empress Dork at 4:16 PM on April 29, 2015 [1 favorite]

All Along the Watchtower
posted by mon-ma-tron at 7:14 PM on April 29, 2015 [1 favorite]

Mike and the Mechanics - Silent Running
posted by Sassyfras at 11:04 PM on June 2, 2015