Perhaps it will introduce some new music to people, or help in conducting an informal study about what the general themes are that people post.
I'll begin with four that I have always felt were a significant influence [yeah ... today is a Rundgren kind of day].
Trouble Coming Every Day
Lyrics
Well I'm about to get UPSET
From watchin' my TV
Been checkin' out the news
Until my eyeballs fail to see
I mean they say that every day
Is just another rotten mess
And when it's gonna change, my friends
Is anybody's guess
So I'm watchin' and I'm waitin'
Hopin' for the best
Even think I'll go to prayin'
Every time I hear 'em sayin'
That there's no way to delay
That trouble comin' every day
No way to delay
That trouble comin' every day
Wednesday I watched the riot...
I seen the cops out on the street
Watched 'em throwin' rocks and stuff
And chokin' in the heat
Listened to reports
About the whisky pa*sin' 'round
Seen the smoke&fire
And the market burnin' down
Watched while everybody
On his street would take a turn
To stomp and smash and bash and crash
And slash and bust and burn
And I'm watchin' and I'm waitin'
Hopin' for the best
Even think I'll go to prayin'
Every time I hear 'em sayin'
That there's no way to delay
That trouble comin' every day
No way to delay
That trouble comin' every day
Well you can cool it,
You can heat it...
'Cause, baby, I don't need it...
Take your TV tube and eat it
'N all that phony stuff on sports
'N all THOSE unconfirmed reports
You know I watched that rotten box
Until my head began to hurt
From checkin' out the way
The newsmen say they get the dirt
Before the guys on channel so-and-so
And further they a*sert
That any show they'll interrupt
To bring you news if it comes up
They say that if the place blows up
They'll be the first to tell
Because the boys they got downtown
Are workin' hard and doin' swell,
And if anybody gets the news
Before it hits the street,
They say that no one blabs it faster
Their coverage can't be beat
And if another woman driver
Gets machine-gunned from her seat
They'll send some joker with a brownie
And you'll see it all complete
So I'm watchin' and I'm waitin'
Hopin' for the best
Even think I'll go to prayin'
Every time I hear 'em sayin'
That there's no way to delay
That trouble comin' every day
No way to delay
That trouble comin' every day
Hey you know something people
I'm not black
But there's a whole lots a times
I wish I could say I'm not white
Well, I seen the fires burnin'
And the local people turnin'
On the merchants and the shops
Who used to sell their brooms and mops
And every other household item
Watched the mob just turn and bite 'em
And they say it served 'em right
Because a few of them are white,
And it's the same across the nation
Black & white discrimination
They're yellin' "You can't understand me!"
And all the other crap they hand me
In the papers and TV
'N all that ma*s stupidity
That seems to grow more every day
Each time you hear some nitwit say
He wants to go and do you in
Because the color of your skin
Just don't appeal to him
(No matter if it's black or white)
Because he's out for blood tonight
You know we gotta sit around at home
And watch this thing begin
But I bet there won't be many left
To see it really end
'Cause the fire in the street
Ain't like the fire in my heart
And in the eyes of all these people
Don't you know that this could start
On any street in any town
In any state if any clown
Decides that now's the time to fight
For some ideal he thinks is right
And if a million more agree
There ain't no great society
As it applies to you and me
Our country isn't free
And the law refuses to see
If all that you can ever be
Is just a lousy janitor
Unless your uncle owns a store
You know that five in every four
WON'T amount TO nothin' more
THAN watch the rats go across the floor
And make up songs about being poor
Blow you harmonica son!
Hiroshima
This one isn't hard to figure out.
The Martyr
Lyrics
Why, why was I born
To know what I must know
I can see the sky
But I can't see the ground below
Where do I go?
Falling in a trap where traitors wait
Lost love is the bait
But the martyr never knows
He is caught in a dream of his own
When it's over where does he go
Who really knows
Who really knows
Time stands between me and my home
So long ago I can't stand to wait
But I can't force my body to go
here do I go?
Crying, he is blind to everyone
And that's how its done
And the martyr never knows
He is caught in a dream of his own
When it's over where does he go
Who really knows
Who really knows
I know in my heart
I could change the world with just this guitar
Who really knows
Falling in a trap where traitors wait
Lost love is the bait
But the martyr never knows
He is caught in a dream of his own
When it's over where does he go
Who really knows
Who really knows
Lyrics
Sometimes I don't know
I just don't know what to feel
Sometimes I don't know what to feel
Everything I thought that I knew starts to look so unreal
There's a ringing in my head that keeps me awake at night
Sometimes I don't know what is right
Today I saw a car crush my little dog under it's wheel
It did not even stop, it just sped off and out of sight
Sometimes I just feel so afraid
But I know that no one else has it made
So if I just believe in myself
I won't need no help from nobody else and I can make it alone
And everything will be cool, I got to keep on keepin' on
There's nothing else I can do
Sometimes I don't know what to do
Someone said the world's going to end and I think it's true
I thought there was some love in the world
But I guess I'm wrong
Sometimes I just feel so alone
I don't want to admit to my friends that I feel confused
I wonder what I'd do with myself if the world was gone
Something makes me stay on my feet
Don't you dare admit to defeat
And if I tell myself it's all right
I can comfort myself through the night
And watch another day dawn
And everything will be cool
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