I made a joke playlist prior to the election called ‘2016 Playlist’, where all 16 songs were just this one particular song. If I had known just how prophetic I was going to be that day I would have bought lottery tickets.
I can’t help thinking that Madness wrote this song about Donald Trump. After all, Trump talks nonsense, incites fear, has far-right tendencies, redirects attention away from the issue at hand, lies through his teeth, and otherwise perfectly represents all that’s wrong with modern politics; just like in this song.
It is no surprise that Trump’s main voters were white Americans. Slightly more surprising is the fact that he was endorsed by the KKK themselves. Random Hand, on the other hand, have had a long history of opposing bigotry, as evidenced by this track from their first album, Another Change of Plan. Their latest album, Hit Reset, is about the aftermath of a nuclear attack, which is also relevant (but I’m not putting an entire ska-core album in here).
I added this track with Donald Trump himself in mind. He has never held a political position. His campaign was based largely off shouting, not feasible policies or experience. When he finds that he has to actually do work, he might get a nasty surprise and crumble under the new expectations.
I have seen numerous people say that Trump’s presidency will bring in the greatest Meme Age the world has ever known. So at least we can look at rare Pepes and develop a new wave of ‘post-post-irony’ from the depths of our concrete bunkers, while singing our Vault children to sleep with the traditional lullaby ‘All Star’.
Green Day are one of those bands that will blame the government for anything, but this song is particularly aimed at politicians that deliberately put down gay people (for example) to win the votes of the traditionalists.
This one song is about a man that spends his life after the apocalypse spying, stealing, and basically scraping by. If Trump ever gets involved in nuclear warfare, this song may become a reality. I hope you like peanuts.
This song comes as a statement of hope. If people fight back against Trump’s laws, they can influence the outcome. With the right attitudes, 2016-2020 can just be a setback for American society, instead of a regression.
While Education, Education, Education & War may not have been the best received of albums, it does make a point on the realities of war and the political machinations behind it. Imagine that the little poem at the end of this song is about Afghanistan, and you get a glimpse of the recent (and likely future) US foreign policy.
‘Nellie the Elephant packed her trunk and said goodbye to the circus. Off she went with a trumpety-trump, Trump Trump Trump!’
The entire playlist is available on Spotify. Simply search “Playlist of Doom” and look for Donald Trump’s face.
