BLOG THIS | blog.thismagazine.ca: November 2006 Archives

After a bit of a break, This Magazine's Film Club is back -- now as a monthly dose instead of weekly. Check out our December 2006 newsletter, now posted here. And, of course, you can sign up to receive the Film Club Newsletter by emailing filmclub[at]thismagazine.ca.

Highlights include December events like the Whistler Film Festival, RESFEST Toronto, and a special Montreal Massacre anniversary screening of Deepa Mehta's film Let's Talk About It. Also, info on upcoming Canadian films set to hit theatres soon, including Monkey Warfare starring Don McKellar.

Please feel free to tip me off about upcoming Canadian film releases/ festivals/ screenings by emailing me at filmclub[at]thismagazine.ca.

More entries on: Film

Black crows inspire Vancouver

Posted by mason at 01:50 PM ET | Comments (0)

If you’ve spent much time in Vancouver, especially East Vancouver, you’ve probably been captivated by the migration of crows from downtown to parts east that occurs around dusk each day. From the window of my old, top-floor apartment on East 10th, it was a comforting ritual to watch.

Now, a group of musicians are ready to launch a project, the Black Crow Project, which draws inspiration from that migration as an image of togetherness and a symbol of pulling together for a common goal. In this case, that goal is raising money for the Portland Hotel Society, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing services and assistance for those struggling with substance misuse issues, mainly in the Downtown Eastside neighbourhood.

If you’re in the region and not buried in snow, the Black Crow Project is hosting a performance and silent auction tonight at the Vancouver East Cultural Centre. Local favourites set to play include the Parlour Steps, Mark Berube and Po’ Girl (pictured), all of whom are among the artists appearing on a compilation CD inspired by those plucky crows. In addition to the music, local visual artists will be auctioning work donated to the project.

All proceeds from the event, the CD and the auction will go to the Portland Hotel Society. Sounds like a great night -- check it out!

More entries on: Activism | Ear candy | Vancouver

November 24, 2006

Andrew Potter - sewer socialist

Posted by john_d at 11:53 AM ET | Comments (0)

On Buy Nothing Day, those kids at the Torontoist blog are showing their dedication to balance by interviewing lapsed culture jammer, Andrew Potter. It's a great chat, so check it out.

I thought of Potter last night while I read an essay about the American socialist poet Carl Sandburg. I think Potter would like Sandburg. This Sandburg:

And then one day I got a true look at the Poor, millions
of the Poor, patient and toiling; more patient than
crags, tides, and stars; innumerable, patient as the
darkness of night - and all broken, humble ruins of nations.

- from Masses.

Andrew Potter has recently criticized the Left's addiction to "The Big Idea"-- see his short piece in the THIS Mag 40th Anniversary edition. The essence of his argument is this:

"The search for the big idea is the Achilles heel of the left. If it is to have any future as a serious political stance and as a viable electoral alternative, the left needs to ratchet down the rhetoric and the ambition, and learn to love the considerable virtues of the small idea."

The essay on Carl Sandburg talks a lot about big and small ideas, and shows how Sandburg's art was most effective when it stayed small. It's in the September 29th Times Literary Supplement, which is locked away behind a subscriber wall -- so, sorry no direct link today. I will, however, exercise my right under fair dealing to quote from the piece. Here's a brief passage about Sandburg's place in American socialism (emphasis mine):

Sandburg was the son of Swedish immigrants. He grew up in Galesburg, Illinois, volunteered for the Spanish-American war in an Illinois unit and, mostly, sat out the conflict in Puerto Rico - which made him a pretty typical recruit for the US socialist movement. After his stint as a stereopticon picture salesman, the Socialist Party offered him a job, and hired him as a Party organizer in Wisconsin. He contributed articles to the Milwaukee socialist newspapers, and became secretary to Milwaukee's socialist mayor. In the old language of the Left, he could be described as a "right-wing" socialist, which meant an old-school European-style social democrat, cautious and plodding. More colourfully, but equally authentically, one could say that he was a "sewer socialist" - the kind of social democrat who worried more about improving municipal services than achieving a workers' paradise.

So, small-idea socialists existed one hundred years ago. Andrew Potter is in effect pointing the North American Left back to its roots.

More entries on: Lit

November 22, 2006

State of Toronto's Arts

Posted by mason at 11:37 AM ET | Comments (0)

In a year City Hall is calling the Year of Creativity for Toronto, what is needed is an honest survey of the city's arts community: From expensive productions to hidden gems, how are the arts helping to shape Toronto? This Sunday, interested parties can take a step toward answering this question by attending a day-long book launch for The State of the Arts, the second book in Coach House Press's uTOpia series. This volume cuts a wide swath, with essays considering arts from just about every conceivable angle.

The launch will be equally ambitious. Joining forces with This Is Not A Reading Series and Wavelength, it will begin with panel discussions on official culture and unofficial culture, to be followed by performances from independent musicians The Phonemes, More or Les and Scarborough A/V.

Of note: several past and present This Mag contributors have essays in the book, including RM Vaughan, Lisa Rundle, Shawn Micallef, Carl Wilson, fiction & poetry editor Stuart Ross and publisher Lisa Whittington-Hill.

If you're in the Toronto area this weekend, drop by the Gladstone Hotel anytime after 3 for a taste of Toronto arts and culture.

More entries on: Lit | Toronto

November 21, 2006

say what you want, God's got some moves

Posted by john_d at 10:19 AM ET | Comments (14)

Almost lost in the media parade recently was this fascinating debate that Time Magazine arranged on the nagging minor question of the existence of God. They put preeminent Darwinist Richard Dawkins (author of the bestselling The God Delusion) together in their board room with preeminent geneticist (and devout Christian) Francis Collins. Collins is responsible for a little thing called the Human Genome project. You may have heard of it. Very scientific stuff.

Time, never shy about using Christ as a cover model, can reasonably be expected to sit in God's corner at such a cage match, but to their credit they play this debate with remarkable fairness, asking simple questions to get things started and then letting each man define their own positions with their own words.

I think both men are brilliant scientific minds, but judging by the transcript of their discussion (clearly edited, for what that's worth), Collins has it all over Dawkins in the philosophy department. I'm kind of shocked by the really rather simple-minded argumentation from Dawkins, which begins with an attempt to link the concept of religious faith with the scientifically fallacious belief in intelligent design -- as though he forgets that he was asked to debate a fellow scientist, not the Pope, or George Bush.

Why both dudes insist on calling God "he" is an interesting side question.

Here's a sample:

COLLINS: By being outside of nature, God is also outside of space and time. Hence, at the moment of the creation of the universe, God could also have activated evolution, with full knowledge of how it would turn out, perhaps even including our having this conversation. The idea that he could both foresee the future and also give us spirit and free will to carry out our own desires becomes entirely acceptable.

DAWKINS: I think that's a tremendous cop-out. If God wanted to create life and create humans, it would be slightly odd that he should choose the extraordinarily roundabout way of waiting for 10 billion years before life got started and then waiting for another 4 billion years until you got human beings capable of worshipping and sinning and all the other things religious people are interested in.

So, God can't exist because the evidence we have of creation suggests that God takes way too much time to do things, within our concept of time?

If this were a chess match, Dawkins would already be running his king.

On the topic of fundamentalist approaches to the Christian Bible, we get this:

DAWKINS: ... It would be unseemly for me to enter in except to suggest that [Francis Collins would] save himself an awful lot of trouble if he just simply ceased to give [fundamentalists] the time of day. Why bother with these clowns?

COLLINS: Richard, I think we don't do a service to dialogue between science and faith to characterize sincere people by calling them names. That inspires an even more dug-in position. Atheists sometimes come across as a bit arrogant in this regard, and characterizing faith as something only an idiot would attach themselves to is not likely to help your case.

...annnnnd checkmate.

If, as I suspect, Dawkins' real motive in writing his book and advancing his views is to force organized religion to take responsibility for its horrifying dogmatism and the very real damage it has caused in the world of humans, he fails utterly.

What a waste.

More entries on: Signs of the Apocalypse

November 17, 2006

Two legs good, four legs bad

Posted by john_d at 02:45 PM ET | Comments (0)

On human rights:

"The Chinese have since said they would like to have a meeting [with Stephen Harper], but also vowed to oppose any 'irresponsible' interference in its internal affairs."-- Globe & Mail

On the environment:

'There are some who are using the Kyoto Protocol to create divisions within our country, but we will not let that happen,' Ambrose said. -- Toronto Star

Canucks make waves internationally by claiming moral high ground on China, and by refusing to accept there is such a thing as moral high ground on the environment. Some international conventions are more equal than others.

More entries on: Harper Index

November 15, 2006

Next up: Emissions restrictions on Don Cherry

Posted by mason at 11:02 AM ET | Comments (0)

As a subscriber to The Hockey News, the last thing I expect to see is a story on global warming. But there it is, on page 51 of this week’s edition (not available online, though): a nice Adam Proteau column on NHLers whose eyes are wide open when it comes to climate change issues.

Calgary Flames defenceman Andrew Ference has to be one of the most environmentally conscious guys in pro sports—the article says he drives a hybrid car and it took one call to the hydro company to switch his home to wind power. “It shows you that all it takes is a couple minutes out of your day, or a few dollars out of your paycheque and you can have a positive effect,” he said.

Meantime, veteran forward Sami Kapanen told THN he has heard the winters aren’t as cold in his native Finland nowadays, a concern for young hockey players who develop their skills outdoors.

I fully expect to see letters in the next edition of the magazine criticizing The Hockey News for giving a forum to bleeding heart NHLers who should just shut up and play the game. The big question is, how many of those letters will be written under assumed names by Don Cherry?

PHOTO: CANADIAN PRESS

More entries on: Planet Earth | Sport

November 10, 2006

dude's week just got worse

Posted by john_d at 02:48 PM ET | Comments (1)

From the chickens have a habit of roosting department:

Donald Rumsfeld spent the early part of the week wondering why the President wouldn't phone him back. Then he watched the Republicans get booted out of everywhere but the White House -- at which point I guess he started hoping the President wouldn't call. Then the President called.

Now the soon-to-be former Secretary of Defence can take a short vacation... until next Tuesday, when some folks from his own country are going to file a complaint against him in a German court. The Center for Constitutional Rights in the US intends for this complaint to lead to war crimes charges.

From their release on the subject:

The complaint requests the German Federal Prosecutor open an investigation and, ultimately, a criminal prosecution that will look into the responsibility of high-ranking U.S. officials for authorizing war crimes in the context of the so-called "War on Terror." Former White House Counsel (and current Attorney General) Alberto Gonzalez, former Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet, and other high-ranking U.S. officials are also charged in the complaint. The complaint is brought on behalf of 12 torture victims - 11 Iraqi citizens who were held at Abu Ghraib prison and one Guantanamo detainee - and is being filed by the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), the Republican Attorneys' Association (RAV) and others...

I guess the known known coming out of this is that Rumsfeld won't be planning any trips to Germany soon.

Thanks to Talking Points Memo for the tip on this.

More entries on: War and peace

November 09, 2006

White poppies upset some veterans

Posted by mason at 02:47 PM ET | Comments (20)

Depending on the year, sometimes I buy a poppy and sometimes I don't. I guess it has something to do with what message I feel I'm sending by wearing one. This year, I've decided not to buy one -- even though I would be wearing it in remembrance of the horrors of war and the tragic losses of thousands of young men and women in battle, it seems the perception is that a poppy indicates support for Canadian military operations overseas.

As a pacifist this is unacceptable to me, but I would still like to honour the victims of war. Thanks to the white poppies for peace -- if I can find them in Toronto -- I suppose now I can.

However, distribution of the white poppies in Canada doesn't sit well with some veterans' affairs groups. The Legion is also upset, worried that the traditional red poppy is undermined by another poppy. It has even threatened legal action, claiming any depiction of a poppy is a registered mark of the Legion.

"I've had nasty calls from veterans. I've been harassed," Marya Nyland of the international peace organization Women in Black told the Globe and Mail. "They feel that the red poppy should be it. Why shouldn't there be room for both?"

Harvey Shevalier, a regional president with the Royal Canadian Legion, told the Globe and Mail that Nov. 11 should not be politicized, which is what he says supporters of the white poppy are doing.

Unfortunately, politicization of the red poppies happened long before the arrival of the white poppies. When someone criticizes those who don't wear poppies, no matter the reasons, the red poppy becomes political. When people feel obliged to wear red poppies because it's the right thing to do, even if it implies something they don't support, the poppies are politicized. The very semiotics of the poppy are political.

War is a complicated thing, and there should be more than one way to remember our fallen soldiers while recognizing that peace is the ultimate goal. The white poppy seems like a good way to do that.

More entries on: War and peace

Democrats assume power, and blame

Posted by john_d at 01:46 PM ET | Comments (0)

A nasty, I believe Republican, stomach virus had me lying wretchedly in bed watching almost 24 hours of non-stop American election coverage recently -- alternating between CNN and CBCNewsworld (I like that Henry Champ -- good suits). It's an experience I cannot recommend, even for the natural audience of this blog, who would have been greatly relieved with the American voting results. Please, Stephen Harper, say something controversial so I can turn my attention back to Canada.

Anyway, here's the most interesting Canadian response to the American midterms I've seen so far -- Andrew Coyne's throw to David Warren's blog piece about how the Democratic Congress is now going to, if I understand this correctly, turn Iraq into a new Vietnam. That was fast.

My favorite part is Warren's point about how, once the Democrats screw up all of GWB's beautiful planning on Iraq, "The Americans will have cut and run after enduring less than one-twentieth of the casualties they suffered in Vietnam..."

Clearly, one-twentieth is for pussies.

More entries on: Bushfraud

November 06, 2006

kill, kill, kill

Posted by john_d at 01:05 PM ET | Comments (6)

What are we to make of Canada's official reticence in opinionating about Saddam Hussein's imminent neck-stretch?

GWB likes it. He's using it to firm up the well-documented flaccid Republican vote in tomorrow's midterm elections, and it just may work for him. US Democrats are predictably not NOT liking it, stressing that Hussein's execution is probably the correct thing to do but will not make the US safer, nor should Republicans be rewarded for it.

Tony Blair does not like it, because England opposes capital punishment (or at least he personally does) and, more than likely, because GWB does like it and now people are asking him more pesky questions about that whole business.

And Canada? Nothing from the Prime Minister that I can find, and Peter MacKay prefers to reserve judgment on Saddam's punishment until the automatic appeals process has run its course. I smell a lack of preparation. I smell a delay in order to ask the Prime Minister what MacKay's opinion is.

But surely, this question is not hard to answer. There are any number of ways to spin support for Saddam's guilt, and regret over the death sentence. And that would be fitting with Canada's official positions on these two things. I could probably write something up for MacKay by the end of the day. Really, they could just crib from Blair if they're desperate.

Are we to understand by this delay that Canada is reconsidering our position on capital punishment?

More entries on: War and peace

THIS is an Invitation

Posted by joyceb at 12:33 PM ET | Comments (0)

Time to clear your social calendars for this Wednesday, November 8 (that's only two sleeps away). THIS Magazine celebrates its 40th Anniversary at the Gladstone Hotel in Toronto.

Appropriately, 40 is the Ruby Anniversary, and admission is by donation to the Red Maple Foundation, the publisher of this enduring magazine.

I'm told there will be very special guests, Tyler Clark Burke has just been added for the musical entertainment, and doors are at 8:00.

More entries on: THIS matters

November 03, 2006

Maybe Kerry was right

Posted by mason at 11:01 AM ET | Comments (0)

Democrats can’t get away from him fast enough and Republicans hope his “botched joke” marks a turning point in the U.S. mid-term elections, but what few people are not saying about Senator John Kerry—flubbed comedic stylings or not—is that he was right on Monday when he said a lack of education will get you stuck in Iraq.

Sam Graham-Felsen of The Notion lays it all out:

No, the troops are not stupid, but let’s state the obvious: a great many of them join the military because college isn’t an option.

The military recruiters know this. That’s why they specifically target inner-city and rural schools, and stay away from places like Phillips Andover, where you can go to Yale even if you get crappy grades—where you never have to make a choice to potentially sacrifice your life for financial reasons.

It’s a shame when reactionary Republicans and their supporters can frame this news item as an outrageous slight against brave soldiers, when any way you slice it Kerry had a point. When, in the current issue of This, Murray Dobbin said that “those who successfully frame the issues will almost always win the battle of ideas,” he wasn’t kidding.

More entries on: Bushfraud

Ahem...

Posted by mason at 12:53 AM ET | Comments (3)

Sorry, Sarah Polley, I have a new girlcrush.

More entries on: Film

November 01, 2006

How long must we sing this song? 40 years of resistance music

Posted by mason at 09:52 AM ET | Comments (26)

The struggle for social justice has always had a rousing soundtrack—from solidarity-inspiring union hymns to folk songs to hardcore anthems. To mark This’s 40th anniversary, we’ve put together a list of 40 essential “songs of resistance,” starting with 1966 and going right up to the present. After the jump, see the list, check out clips of the songs and chime in with your comments!

---------------------------

“Love Me, I’m a Liberal,” Phil Ochs (1966)
Sardonic and satirical, this song from Ochs’s terrific live album takes a piercing shot at the soft left.

“Respect,” Aretha Franklin (1967)

Aretha’s No. 1 hit became the defining anthem of the feminist movement, reversing the original message as written by Otis Redding.

“Say It Loud – I’m Black and I’m Proud,” James Brown (1968)

Following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., Brown wrote a song to instill pride and self-confidence in African-Americans.

“Revolution,” The Beatles (1968)

John Lennon draws the line in the sand in his support for revolutionary movements, espousing non-violence and deriding dictatorships. The song’s use in a 1987 Nike ad was seen as one of the most sacrilegious sins against music by the advertising industry, even 20 years after the fact. Check out the video version with Paul’s carefree backing vocals:

“Give Peace A Chance,” John Lennon and the Plastic Ono Band (1969)

It’s not much as far as songs go, but the fact that it was record during a bed-in for peace at Montreal’s Queen Elizabeth Hotel gives it that protest song heft. Plus it’s always been a great thing to sing at peace marches. (Unfortunately, the message still needs to be shouted.)

“Big Yellow Taxi,” Joni Mitchell (1970)

It’s been 36 years, but they’re still putting trees in tree museums, paving paradise in favour of parking lots and farming with harsh chemicals. But at least Mitchell articulated our outrage.

“War,” Edwin Starr (1970)

This stirring protest song is most remarkable for the energy conveyed in Starr’s outrageous performance, but the message sticks, too.

“What’s Going On,” Marvin Gaye (1971)

Gaye turned heads with his heartfelt, compassionate plea that “War is not the answer” — a surprising protest tune from a long-time sex symbol. View the topical video below:

“The Revolution Will Not Be Televised,” Gil Scott-Heron (1971)

Scott-Heron was one of the first to combine soul and jazz music with spoken word in a precursor to rap, and this cautionary poem over music reminds listeners to take action if change is what they seek. Video for the condensed edit of the song:

“The Harder They Come,” Jimmy Cliff (1972)

This song and film helped bring reggae — the music expressing the struggles and realities of living in Jamaica’s slums — into the public consciousness. A video, featuring clips from the film:

“Manifiesto,” Victor Jara (1974)

The story of revolutionary Chilean folk singer Victor Jara is a tragic one, ending shortly after he writes and records “Manifiesto.” Jara was rounded up in General Augusto Pinochet’s 1973 coup and taken to a boxing stadium, where he was beaten for four days and had his fingers broken before being shot to death. In “Manifiesto,” he sings: “My guitar is not for the rich, no, nothing like that. My song is of the ladder we are building to reach the stars.”

“Hurricane,” Bob Dylan (1976)

Dylan didn’t write many protest songs in the late ’60s or early ’70s, but this song telling the story of wrongfully convicted boxer Rubin Carter proves he hadn’t lost his sense of narrative — or of justice.

“God Save the Queen,” The Sex Pistols (1977)

Taking dead aim at Queen Elizabeth and the decline of the British empire, to much outcry and a BBC ban, Johnny Rotten has said the lyrics reflect loving the English and being “sick of seeing them mistreated.”

“Zombie,” Fela Kuti and Afrika 70 (1977)

The popularity of this song and album – a critique of the Nigerian military – resulted in soldiers beating Kuti and fatally injuring his mother in a raid on his artists’ commune. Listen to a 30-second clip of the song at Fela Kuti’s last.fm page.

“London Calling,” The Clash (1979)

Angst toward the direction in which Britain and the world were headed fuelled Joe Strummer’s ominous lyrics about humankind authoring its own demise, and the menacing, chaotic music fit perfectly.

“Redemption Song,” Bob Marley & the Wailers (1980)

“Emancipate yourself from mental slavery,” Marley urges on the final track of the last album released before his death.

“Kill the Poor,” Dead Kennedys (1980)

Jello Biafra spits pure sarcasm on the Kennedys’ defining track about annihilating the unemployed so the rich can party.

“Sunday Bloody Sunday,” U2 (1983)

The military drumbeat and The Edge’s trademark soaring guitar set the mood for this outcry against the horrific cycle of violence in Northern Ireland. No resistance song is more stirring, especially if you ignore the whole “tax haven” thing.

“Nelson Mandela,” The Special A.K.A. (1984)

Mandela had been in prison for more than 20 years when this side project of Specials frontman Jerry Dammers released the single that helped propel the fight against Apartheid. Predictably banned by the South African government, the song became a rallying cry around the world and helped put the spotlight on Mandela and other political prisoners. Dig the dancing in the video:

“Born in the U.S.A.,” Bruce Springsteen (1984)

Reagan tried to use this song in an election campaign, but it’s heart and soul is a story of a veteran broken by war and abandoned by his country.

“There is Power in a Union,” Billy Bragg (1986)

Take your pick from the Billy Bragg catalog, but this one’s a rousing version of the traditional union song. In the following clip, Bragg gets a receptive audience at the AFL-CIO building in Washington in 2002:

“Beds Are Burning,” Midnight Oil (1987)

Australian rockers address the injustices suffered by Aborigines, but their cry is applicable in North America, too, obviously.

“You Must Learn,” Boogie Down Productions (1989)

No wonder they call KRS-One “The Teacher.” Today’s lesson: Black history. The video is an alternate version of the song, but no less incendiary.

“Fuck Tha Police,” N.W.A. (1989)

Impossible to ignore as a bellwether of gangsta rap and an indicator of black frustration at the time, “Fuck Tha Police” also helped make it possible for a generation of expressive, creative rap radicals — including Dead Prez, The Living Legends and The Coup — to be heard. The video below is a live performance of the song in more recent times:

“Fight the Power,” Public Enemy (1989)

Confrontational and furious, this song became P.E.’s hallmark at a time when lower class and non-white frustrations were about to boil over. Check out the uncut version of the Spike Lee-directed video for the song, below:

“Save This House,” Spirit of the West (1989)

If Joni Mitchell’s “Big Yellow Taxi” was a metaphoric articulation of the threats to the natural world, “Save This House” goes one step further, issuing a desperate plea to rescue the planet “before we trash this place.”

“Wake Up,” Rage Against the Machine (1992)

So many of this seminal protest rap-rock band’s songs are essential, but none work a listener up like this funk-heavy exposé on the deaths of dark-skinned revolutionaries. Hearing it again, it’s actually chilling. The sound on the following video clip is a bit rough, but it’s worth it to see a young Zach De La Rocha simply on fire:

“TV, Drug of the Nation,” Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy (1992)

Michael Franti critiques our dependence on the idiot box and gives an indication of his future direction with Spearhead. The song goes especially well with the video, below:

“La Femme Fetal,” Digable Planets (1993)

If only every MC treated women with the respect Butterfly does on this mellowed-out, personal tale of the difficulties of abortion and the importance of the right to choose.

“Anti-Manifesto,” Propagandhi (1993)

In which Winnipeg’s punk troubadours let loose on those who see them as simple entertainers instead of revolutionaries with a purpose. Live performance below:

“Not A Pretty Girl,” Ani Difranco (1995)

As far as artists go, Difranco probably had a hand in politicizing more young women than any singer of her generation. In “Not A Pretty Girl,” it’s easy to see (or hear) why—few songs do the job of empowering women like this one. Listen to a 30-second clip of the song at Ani Difranco’s last.fm page.

“April 29, 1992 (Miami),” Sublime (1996)

Brad Nowell and company insist the riots in L.A. following the Rodney King verdict were more about class struggle than race issues. Note: the song’s title refers to the date and place Nowell wrote the song, not the day or place of the events in question.

“Clandestino,” Manu Chao (1998)

This could be the anthem for the “No one is illegal” movement, as Chao sings a lyric that translates roughly into “My life is forbidden/So says the authority.”

“Your Revolution,” DJ Vadim with Sarah Jones (1999)

Playing on a hip hop classic, Jones opens with the line, “Your Revolution will not happen between these thighs,” and proceeds to pointedly tear a strip off every black rapper who is hyper-aware of race issues but remains deeply misogynistic. Listen to a 30-second clip of the song at DJ Vadim’s last.fm page.

“Hot Topic,” Le Tigre (1999)

Roll call time! Le Tigre gives a quick lesson on who to pay attention to if you’re woman-positive. Listen to a 30-second clip of the song at Le Tigre’s last.fm page.

“Confessions of a Futon-Revolutionist,” The Weakerthans (1999)

A song about despair, angst and, eventually, hope for over-educated twentysomethings offers stunning lyrics, including: “Swear I way more than half believe it when I say that somewhere love and justice shine/Cynicism falls asleep/Tyranny talks to itself/Snappy slogans all come true/We forget to feed our fears.”

“Ban Marriage,” The Hidden Cameras (2003)

Toronto’s Joel Gibb gives a big middle finger to the institution of marriage in the midst of the same-sex marriage debate: “We aren’t fools to fall in love, but let coupledom die.” Live performance of the song below:

“Mosh,” Eminem (2004)

That the king of tasteless rap would write a forceful condemnation of a war that has torn apart inner-city families was a surprising indication of how pervasive anti-Bush sentiment was leading up the 2004 election. Check out the incendiary video that circulated around the internet in 2004:

“When the President Talks To God,” Bright Eyes (2005)

Blog This commenter Adrian called this song “pointed and inspiring,” and I’m not one to argue. The mock back-and-forth between God and Bush says it all. Check out how uncomfortable Jay Leno is after Bright Eyes performs this song on his show:

“Let’s Impeach the President,” Neil Young (2006)

Young broke into this modern classic in his appearance on “The Colbert Report,” but devoted “Republican” Stephen Colbert cut him off. The “flip/flop” segment interspersed with Bush sound clips is fabulous.

More entries on: Ear candy

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THIS MAGAZINE. BECAUSE EVERYTHING IS POLITICAL

Please note that all writers hold the copyright for their pieces and it is illegal for any portion of them to be copied or distributed without their expressed permission. So please don't steal.

THIS MAGAZINE: BECAUSE EVERTHING IS POLITICAL

November 27, 2006

Film Club: Back with a vengeance

Black crows inspire Vancouver

November 24, 2006

Andrew Potter - sewer socialist

November 22, 2006

State of Toronto's Arts

November 21, 2006

say what you want, God's got some moves

November 17, 2006

Two legs good, four legs bad

November 15, 2006

Next up: Emissions restrictions on Don Cherry

November 10, 2006

dude's week just got worse

November 09, 2006

White poppies upset some veterans

Democrats assume power, and blame

November 06, 2006

kill, kill, kill

THIS is an Invitation

November 03, 2006

Maybe Kerry was right

Ahem...

November 01, 2006

How long must we sing this song? 40 years of resistance music