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Brief vocal and musical compositions

A song, most broadly, is a single (and often standalone) work of music that is typically intended to be sung by the human voice with distinct and fixed pitches and patterns using sound and silence and a variety of forms that often include the repetition of sections. The word "song" is widely used by people in the popular music industry to describe any musical composition, whether sung or played only by instruments. Written words created specifically for music or for which music is specifically created, are called lyrics. If a pre-existing poem is set to composed music in classical music it is an art song. Songs that are sung on repeated pitches without distinct contours and patterns that rise and fall are called chants. Songs in a simple style that are learned informally are often referred to as folk songs. Songs that are composed for professional singers who sell their recordings or live shows to the mass market are called popular songs. These songs, which have broad appeal, are often composed by professional songwriters, composers and lyricists. Art songs are composed by trained classical composers for concert or recital performances. Songs are performed live and recorded on audio or video (or, in some cases, a song may be performed live and simultaneously recorded). Songs may also appear in plays, musical theater, stage shows of any form and within operas.

Articles

Gil's Libertarian Mix Tape, by Gil Guillory, 6 Jan 2007
Proposed "mix tape" (or playlist) of songs illustrating libertarian ideas; includes lyrics to the 18 selected songs; broken into categories of Economics (five songs), Fight the Man (four), Omnipotent Government (six) and The Promise of Freedom (four)
Some of the unwritten rules of making a mix tape are:
  • songs must be good
  • tapes are limited to about 90 min running time
  • try to pick songs that are unlikely to have been heard by the listener
  • tell a story or pick a theme
  • track sequencing is important—must have good flow
  • the selections should reflect your personality.
Doing my best to adhere to these rules, I present my own libertarian mix tape below. The point is to demonstrate and explain libertarian ideas, so I will comment on or explain each song.
Related Topic: Libertarianism
"Meet the New Boss. Same as the Old Boss", by Sheldon Richman, The Goal Is Freedom, 11 Jan 2008
Examines politics, including slogans such as "hope", "change" (Barack Obama) and "straight talk" (John McCain) in the 2008 United States presidential campaigns, and explains why politicians cannot be expected to lead the way to liberty
Note the dominant themes in the current campaign: hope, change, experience, straight talk.
Hope for what?
Change toward what?
Experience at what?
Straight talk about what?
It doesn't matter. These terms, and there are others, are not meant to inform. They are meant to seduce. Unfortunately, most voters are waiting to be seduced ... The Who's old song "Won't Get Fooled Again" seems cynical, but its political realism is hard to deny: "Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss."
"The Police Force Is Watching the People", by Sheldon Richman, The Goal Is Freedom, 22 Aug 2014
Argues that the facts are crucial when identifying "the agressor and victim in particular cases" such as occurred in the fatal shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and separately, that the role of police forces must be re-examined
The system has long cultivated an us-versus-them attitude in the police. It's nothing new, even if the "them" has come to include more people. Police don't even regard themselves as civilians, as I believe they once did. We are the civilians. They are our watchers keeping us in line. Who doesn't do a quick self-survey when a police officer approaches? As Steppenwolf sang in its 1969 hit "Monster": "The police force is watching the people, and the people just can't understand."
The Top 25 Liberty Songs, by Bill Winter, Libertarian Party News, Aug 2001
List of 25 "Liberty's Best Songs" chosen from over 200 suggestions, each with a short summary and highlighted lyrics, and a supplementary list of 25 runners-up
It's been said that popular music—whether rock, rap, pop, folk, or country—is the soundtrack by which we live our lives. If that's [so], Libertarians want to sing along to a soundtrack that reflects their most fundamental value: Liberty. That's why we came up with "Liberty's Best Songs"—25 songs that celebrate human freedom, civil liberties, resistance to tyranny, or just plain old all-American "I did it my way" individualism ... Our goal was to include a wide variety of musical styles, so you'll find everyone from crooner Frank Sinatra to punk rockers ... to the original Fab Four, the Beatles.

Videos


Won't Get Fooled Again, by Pete Townshend, 1979
One of the runners-up to the "Top 25 Liberty Songs," in a live performance on acoustic guitar

The introductory paragraph uses material from the Wikipedia article "Song" as of 13 Oct 2018, which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.