Heard about that.
It's pretty absurd and (whoever's original idea it was) must be smirking at the attention received from such contrived silliness.
An argument could be made that each selection is liberal rock; that is, if one wants to be polemic about something as vague as "conservative" as defined by a selection basis for a rock list. (Who would want to make lists out of rock music, anyway!).
or, I describe it thusly::
How about the top 50::
Left-Conservative? -or-
Right-Liberal?
Left-leaning Centrist?
or thusly::
"Conservative" now means "whatever I define it as as long as I feel I'm tapping (numerically) into the zeitgeist". I.E., the same thing "liberal" will mean in a few years. Since the average American doesn't even
know the difference between the concept of 'left' versus the concept of 'liberal', this same readership wouldn't understand this list::
Pavement - Cut Your Hair (conservative song, no?)
NIN - Terrible Lie (same)
Radiohead - Fake Plastic Trees
God's Favorite Band - History in the Making
etc.
so we'll give em the same old....
But, all that aside, I argue that more than half that list are the same as the Top 50 Liberal Rock Songs*.
Oh, wait, that's the same argument....
I got lost when I read their new interpretation of Sympathy.
Always like
this version though.
*#1 - same rallying cry as it is for liberals
#2 - same rallying cry as it is for liberals (spend then tax plus interest versus tax first then spend, no?)
#3 - Jagger has already described his inspiration, it was neither, plus, conservative has a different meaning in Britain thereby negating any UK bands from the list
#4 - It was a quite liberal, good-natured response to Neil's 'Southern Man', no?
#5 - Equally a liberal sentiment at the time; unrequited love is unrequited love; we'll negate any of that from the list as well
#6 - Irish; Latin is the restricted domain of conservatives. WTF?
#7 - Revolution is a conservative idea. Now that's fucking hilarious. Perfect example of zeitgeist change in this country right before our eyes. You couldn't dare print that statement just one year ago. Funny how some fuckers are jumping ship like rats these days at certain media stanchions. Say, who gets paid to be the zeitgeist feeler anyway? I want that job.
#8 - ROTFLMAO!
#9 - A literal misinterpretation. Ask Lars.
#10 - UK
#11 - Funny how the National Review will align itself with the Libertarian philosophy as the need fits. Libertarianism values personal liberties first and foremost - the opposite of conservatism which values group-think. If you've seen
The Quiz, you know that the NR doesn't make a good Libertarian. Did these guys read every last Rush lyrics going "nope, that's one liberal. Nope, that one, too. Oh, here's one, sort of!". Anyway, Rush are Canadian. Conservatives there are considered Liberal here.
#12 - Dylan's a closet conservative - we all know that. Didn't he get his start writing "folk party line" songs? Plus, he's not been known to sing in character.
#13 - Same rallying cry as Liberals
#14 - The fall of the wall is, by definition, a liberal concept. To keep it up would have been the conservative choice (as c.f. from American politics, not BRD's).
#15 - Zeitgeist change. Lawless rebels are now "conservatives".
#16 - No Eagles song means anything. It's gibberish. But apparently, any pseudo-clever use of the 80s phrase "inner-child" is automatically conservative in the NR universe
#17 - Being against broken homes is a conservative outlook. We all know that Liberal philosophy hopes for broken homes!
#18 - Actually, that's not what the song means.
#19 - same
#20 - If British forces request a song it makes it conservative? Why? Because the song takes place in a Muslim country?
#21 - Again, love is apparently a conservative concept. I suppose fecal elimination is, too.
#22 - Future Shock is widely considered a machination of conservative philosophy yet here's the NR insulting the intelligence (any literary knowledge) of its readership
Enough. Fish in a barrel. Off to find challenge.
Post Edited (06-03-06 01:18)
