Debunking the "50 greatest conservative songs", part 7 - Das Kapital

All of the following songs are what the NRO claims are songs about the fall of Communism. The funny thing is, Communism lives on in many countries. I think it’s funny that the NRO equates the fall of the Soviet Union to the fall of Communism. Hey Miller you may want to check, but the last time I looked China was still a Communist nation. Sure, you wouldn’t know it by the way you conservatives have buddied up to them, but yep, I’m pretty sure they are.

Miller wants to give his slanted viewers the impression that liberals are all for the Communism. He wants to lead them to believe that we didn’t cheer at the fall of the Berlin wall. Well, I think that there is one thing that concerns us a lot more than Communism and that oppressing a nation of people of their basic liberties and that is exactly what’s going on in China. I sometimes think that the conservatives look at the situation there and want to model it. Does China have a Patriot Act?

14. “Right Here, Right Now” – Jesus Jones

NRO Take: The words are vague, but they’re also about the fall of Communism and the end of the Cold War: “I was alive and I waited for this. . . . Watching the world wake up from history.”

DL Take: Miller’s explanation is vague, but what I think he is trying to say is that he is a conservative hack under a deadline so there’s no harm in taking lyrics out of context. Funny irony to this is the name of the band, Jesus Jones. What would the religious right think of you, Mr. Miller for praising a band whose name is blasphemous?

The song is about the end of the 80’s and how good it was to start a new decade with so much change happening in the world. Yes, it’s about the fall of the Berlin wall and the end of the Soviet Union, but it’s also about more – it’s about positive change happening in the world. The first verse of this song is my favorite:

A woman on the radio talked about revolution
when it's already passed her by
Bob Dylan didn't have this to sing about you
you know it feels good to be alive

What happened to the positive change in the world? Maybe we need a resurrected Jesus Jones 2008.

24. “Der Kommissar” – After The Fire

NRO Take: On the misery of East German life: “Don’t turn around, uh-oh / Der Kommissar’s in town, uh-oh / He’s got the power / And you’re so weak / And your frustration / Will not let you speak.” Also a hit song for Falco, who wrote it.

DL Take: Did you know that, “Der Kommissar” was a German television show about a group of detectives in a Berlin homicide division? Yep. Kind of like, “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” (in German, CSI: Verbrechen-Szene Untersuchung).

If you actually read the lyrics to the song, you will find that it is about a bunch of kids running around Germany trying to have some fun but apparently a police officer is on their ass and giving them a hard time. Now, you can say that’s it’s about living in misery in East Berlin but how many of us as teens and college students had the police give us a hard time because they thought that we were up to no good?

25. “The Battle Of Evermore” – Led Zeppelin

NRO Take: The lyrics are straight out of Robert Plant’s Middle Earth period — there are lines about “ring wraiths” and “magic runes” — but for a song released in 1971, it’s hard to miss the Cold War metaphor: “The tyrant’s face is red

DL Take: That is absolutely hilarious! To take a song about black magic and sorcerers and pull one line out of it because they mention, “tyrant” and “red” is just stretching it! Can’t you see man? That whole black magic thing is a cover up for their anti-communistic message! Don’t you get it man? I swear, even in my days of hanging around potheads, I never heard such a ridiculous argument about the meaning of a Led Zeppelin song. Believe me, back in the day you got stoned, listened to some Zeppelin and tried to find the true meaning of the songs. Oh yea, and you played them backwards too. Hey Miller, I bet if you play, “The Battle Of Evermore” backwards you will hear them laughing at your fucking ridiculous comments!

46. “Wind Of Change” – The Scorpions

NRO Take: A German hard-rock group’s optimistic power ballad about the end of the Cold War and national reunification: “The world is closing in / Did you ever think / That we could be so close, like brothers / The future’s in the air / I can feel it everywhere / Blowing with the wind of change.”

DL Take: As much as I would hate to say this, Miller did get this one right. He must be an avid Scorpions fan. I can just see him with his lighter in the air and screaming, “Scorps!” at the top of his lungs.

But once again, Miller is trying to make it out that it is a conservative message to be against Communism and repression. Just remember, before Reagan said, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall” Kennedy said, “Ich bin ein Berliner.” Heck, they liked that speech so much they put up a plaque in front of the Rathaus Schöneberg.