YOU ARE HERE: zharth.net / Zharth's Music Log / Week 110 (Bearing Arms)
(Originally finalized on November 22, 2024)
Preface: It's not my intention for this music log to get political, although I will highlight topics of social import that interest me. And I am not against broaching controversial subjects - even ones that I do indeed find deplorable - if I think it'll make for a good playlist. The truth is, I'm a sex-positive pacifist, so I am far more supportive of the First Amendment than the Second - the freedom to bare arms (and legs, and other parts of human anatomy) over the right to carry a deadly weapon. But that doesn't mean I don't think it would be fun to spend a week listening to songs about guns!
Monday: The Amboy Dukes - Loaded For Bear [Migration, 1969]
Comments: This song comes from an interesting period in The Amboy Dukes' history. They had just scored a hit with the psychedelic anthem Journey To The Center Of The Mind, but Ted Nugent, dominant personality that he is, was on the verge of steering the band in a new - and less acid-drenched - direction. By 1975, The Amboy Dukes would become little more than Ted's backing band, which he'd drop to start a successful solo career. Although he's justifiably drawn a lot of criticism for his abrasive support of gun rights and other conservative causes, it can't be denied that Ted Nugent is a talented guitarist.
Tuesday: AC/DC - Shoot To Thrill [Back In Black, 1980]
Comments: For some reason - like rock 'n' roll - this is another theme that recurs in a lot of AC/DC's songs. There's also Fire Your Guns from 1990's The Razors Edge. And if you prefer the Bon Scott years, I point you to Shot Down In Flames from Highway To Hell, which precedes Back In Black, as well as both Gimme A Bullet and Gone Shootin' from 1978's Powerage. Looks like you can take your pick of the litter!
Wednesday: Lynyrd Skynyrd - Gimme Back My Bullets [Gimme Back My Bullets, 1976]
Comments: One would think that, even moreso than AC/DC, singing about guns would be on brand for Southern rockers Lynyrd Skynyrd. But in Saturday Night Special, singer Ronnie Van Zant calls them good for nothin', and asks, "why don't we dump 'em to the bottom of the sea?" This title track - from the band's penultimate album before tragedy would strike, precipitating a 14 year hiatus - would seem to be an anthem for stand-your-ground gun nuts in mortal fear of phantom "libruls" coming to take their guns away. But there is evidence to suggest that the song's not actually about guns at all. Consider that the term "bullets" refers to rising hits on the Billboard charts. Essentially, the band is declaring its intention for a comeback, following a slump plagued by personal issues, drug abuse, and a couple of lineup changes.
Thursday: Neil Young & Crazy Horse - Powderfinger [Rust Never Sleeps, 1979]
Comments: You're probably sick of listening to Neil Young & Crazy Horse after the last two themes we did, but this song - a tragic portrait of a young man killed in battle on the homefront, considered for my Story Songs theme - is another one of my favorites, and another one that I can play on guitar. It was actually offered to Lynyrd Skynyrd in a gesture of good will (tragedy struck before they had a chance to record it), after the band name-dropped Neil in their song Sweet Home Alabama, which was in turn a response to Canadian-born Neil's scathing takedown of the South's heritage of slavery in Southern Man and Alabama. Sometimes you just gotta Bite The Bullet. "Shelter me from the powder and the finger. Cover me with the thought that pulled the trigger."
Friday: Aerosmith - Janie's Got A Gun [Pump, 1989]
Comments: One of Aerosmith's most mainstream hits - it even won a Grammy Award - my memory of this song, growing up in the '90s, relates to the fear of kids getting a hold of guns, sometimes even bringing them to school (a problem that's only grown more widespread over the decades). But a more careful listen reveals a sympathetic motive for Janie shooting her abusive daddy. Nevertheless, it's a problematic narrative - and not only because people tend to focus on the titillation factor of there being a sexual element, when it's the accompanying physical and psychological abuse that does the real damage (i.e., perverts and abusers are not synonymous). Taking justice into your own hands introduces its own complications, internally and externally. But maybe that's the point - to highlight the utter hopelessness of this nightmare scenario, and raise awareness in an attempt to reduce the likelihood of it happening in the first place.
Saturday: U2 - Bullet The Blue Sky (Live) [Rattle And Hum, 1988]
Comments: I'm not the biggest fan of U2, but if I had to pick a favorite song, this would be it. It's the definitive live version of a song that appeared a year earlier on The Joshua Tree (which, speaking of the Grammys, won Album of the Year). This album reflected the Irish band's fascination with America. More specifically, this song was written after Bono visited El Salvador, in response to the effect of the United States' military intervention (an all too common refrain) - a prime example of the band's reputation of not being afraid to step into the realm of humanitarian politics.
Sunday: Jimi Hendrix - Machine Gun (Live) [Band of Gypsys, 1970]
Comments: And while we're on the subject of political protest songs, here's a great one from the Vietnam era! Every theme on this music log has a genesis - a kernel of thought that blossoms into a mature concept. I knew I wanted to feature this song somehow, and that's what lead me to look for other songs that mention guns. With Billy Cox on bass and Buddy Miles providing drum fills imitating machine gun fire, this is the best thing Jimi Hendrix ever recorded without the Experience - and not long before his untimely death.