I teach a high school course called Rebellion and Revolution. I'm frequently asked what its all about and what the syllabus looks like. Essentially, it is a look at the past 100+ years of American history through the lens of music. As the saying goes, "History is what happens, art is how we feel about it." That is the focus.
Here is the track listing for the class. Feel free to add any suggestions.
you can't blame the youth - bob marley and the wailers
Television The Drug Of The Nation - The Disposable Heroes Of Hiphoprisy
Help Save the Youth of America - Billy Bragg
Intro – Chuck Klosterman Story
I Don't Need No Doctor - Humble Pie
I'm a Cuckoo - Belle and Sebastian
In The Meantime –Helmet
Nightswimming - R.E.M.
Since U Been Gone -Kelly Clarkson
Always On My Mind (2003 - Remaster) -Pet Shop Boys
What’s Your Favorite Song Essay
Reason To Believe - Bruce Springsteen
King Creole - Elvis Presley
Black Pear Tree - The Mountain Goats
TV Casualty - The Misfits
Pass The Mic (2009 Digital Remaster) - Beastie Boys
What Can Pop Songs Teach Us?
No Surrender -The Pinkerton Thugs
How Does Music ‘Speak’?
Early in the Morning – 22
The Story of the Blues (1925) -Langston Hughes
Rosie - Alan Lomax
Inside - Looking Out - The Animals
Sing A Simple Song - Sly And The Family Stone
Sound Of Da Police - KRS-One
Five To One - The Doors
Fame (1999 Digital Remaster) - David Bowie
Takeover- Jay-Z
What More Can I Say - DJ Danger Mouse
If I Had My Way - Reverend Gary Davis
Monologue - The B-L-U-E-S - Son House
Grinnin' In Your Face - Son House
Death Letter Blues - Son House
Death Letter - The White Stripes
Death Letter Blues - Wild Billy Childish
I Believe I'll Dust My Broom - Robert Johnson
32-20 Blues - Robert Johnson
Hell Hound On My Trail - Robert Johnson
John Hardy Was A Desperate Little Man - The Carter Family
The Little Log Hut In The Lane - The Carter Family
Elevator Papa, Switchboard Mama - Butterbeans & Susie
Gin Mill Blues - The Hokum Boys
Rabbit in the Garden - Ace Johnson
Midnight Special – Leadbelly
The Midnight Special - Creedence Clearwater Revival
In The Pines - Bill Monroe and His Bluegrass Boys
In The Pines - Charlie Feathers
Where Did You Sleep Last Night - Lead Belly
Where Did You Sleep Last Night (Live) – Nirvana
Bourgeois Blues - Woody Guthrie and Lead Belly
Bourgeois Blues - Pete Seeger
Smokin Reefers - Cab Calloway
Black and Blue - Louis Armstrong
I love my Man - Billie Holiday
Gloomy Sunday (1932) - Billie Holiday
Strange Fruit (1939) - Billie Holiday
Spike Driver Blues - Mississippi John Hurt
Legend of John Henry - Johnny Cash
A Mansion On The Hill - Hank Williams
Lost Highway - Hank Williams
My Bucket's Got A Hole In It - Hank Williams
I'll Never Get Out Of This World Alive - Hank Williams
Do Re Me - Woody Guthrie
Dust Bowl Blues - Woody Guthrie
John Henry - Woody Guthrie
Pretty Boy Floyd -Woody Guthrie
Vigilante Man - Woody Guthrie
Song To Woody (1962) - Bob Dylan
Interview from No Direction Home - On meeting Woody Guthrie
Which Side Are You On - Billy Bragg
Which Side Are You On - Pete Seeger
Which Side Are You On? (Album Version) - Dropkick Murphys
This Land Is Your Land - Woody Guthrie
This Land is Your Land - Woody Guthrie
This Land Is Your Land - Pete Seeger
This Land is Your Land - Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band
Gonna Be A Blackout Tonight - Dropkick Murphys
This Land Is Your Land - Mojo Nixon
Hound Dog - Big Mama Thornton
Hound Dog - Elvis Presley
Dream - Etta James
Devil Doll - Roy Orbison & The Roses
Ooby Dooby - Roy Orbison & The Teen Kings
Bang Bang - Janis Martin
I Fought The Law - Bobby Fuller Four
Straight A's In Love - Johnny Cash And The Tennesee Two
Folsom Prison Blues - Johnny Cash & The Tennessee Two
I Walk The Line - Johnny Cash & The Tennessee Two
It'll Be Me - Jerry Lee Lewis
Great Balls Of Fire - Jerry Lee Lewis
Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On - Jerry Lee Lewis
Breathless - Jerry Lee Lewis
Bo Diddley - Bo Diddley
I'm a Man - Bo Diddley
Peggy Sue - Buddy Holly
Not Fade Away - Buddy Holly
Interview from No Direction Home - On his first introduction to music
Interview from No Direction Home - On understanding folk musicMan Of Constant Sorrow (1962) - Bob Dylan
Interview from No Direction Home - On performing and the Village clubs
Interview from No Direction Home - On the response to the electric sound
Interview from No Direction Home - On fame
Blowin' In The Wind (1963) - Bob Dylan
Gates Of Eden (1965) - Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan's 115th Dream (1965)
Masters Of War (1963) - Bob Dylan
Talking World War III Blues - Bob Dylan
Hey Bobby (Remix) - Sage Francis
All Along The Watchtower - Bob Dylan
All Along The Watchtower - The Jimi Hendrix Experience
Mississippi Goddam (1964) - Nina Simone
House Of The Rising Sun - The Animals
Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood (1965) - The Animals
If I Could Not Be an Indian - Peter La Farge
Ira Hayes (Ballad of Ira Hayes) - Peter La Farge
Apache Tears - Johnny Cash
Here's To The State Of Mississippi - Phil Ochs
I Ain't Marching Anymore (1965) - Phil Ochs
I Kill Therefore I Am (1965) - Phil Ochs
Outside Of A Small Circle Of Friends (1965) - Phil Ochs
In Conditional Support Of Beauty - Dave Van Ronk
Lyndon Johnson (1965) -Tom Paxton
Crow on the Cradle - Pete Seeger
Waist Deep In The Big Muddy - Pete Seeger
Little Boxes - Pete Seeger
Little Boxes - Randy Newman
Little Boxes - Rise Against
Super Bad (Parts 1 & 2) - James Brown
Say It Loud - I'm Black And I'm Proud (Pt. 1) - James Brown
Say It Loud! I'm Brown and I'm Proud (Pe-Remx) - El Vez
It's A Man's, Man's, Man's World - James Brown
Taxman - The Beatles
Eleanor Rigby - The Beatles
I'm Only Sleeping - The Beatles
Love You To - The Beatles
Here, There And Everywhere - The Beatles
Yellow Submarine - The Beatles
She Said She Said - The Beatles
Good Day Sunshine -The Beatles
And Your Bird Can Sing - The Beatles
For No One - The Beatles
Doctor Robert - The Beatles
I Want To Tell You - The Beatles
Got To Get You Into My Life - The Beatles
Tomorrow Never Knows - The Beatles
Wouldn't It Be Nice - Beach Boys
Sloop John B - Beach Boys
God Only Knows - Beach Boys
Sympathy for the Devil - The Rolling Stones
All Tomorrow's Parties (Single Version) - The Velvet Underground
I'm Waiting For The Man - The Velvet Underground
All Tomorrow's Parties - The Velvet Underground
War - Edwin Starr
Stop The War Now - Edwin Starr
Brown Sugar - The Rolling Stones
Piece Of My Heart (Erma Franklin ORIGINAL) - Janis Joplin
Down On Me (Eddie Head & His Family original) - Janis Joplin
Try (Just A Little Bit Harder) (Lorraine Ellison ORIGINAL) - Janis Joplin
Cry Baby (Garnet Mimms ORIGINAL) - Janis Joplin
Get It While You Can (Howard Tate ORIGINAL) - Janis Joplin
Ball and Chain (Big Mama Thornton ORIGINAL) - Janis Joplin
Piece Of My Heart - Janis Joplin
Summertime - Janis Joplin
Try [Just A Little Bit Harder] - Janis Joplin
Cry Baby - Janis Joplin
Me & Bobby McGee - Janis Joplin
Down On Me - Janis Joplin
Get It While You Can - Janis Joplin
Bye Bye Baby - Janis Joplin
Ball & Chain - Janis Joplin
Mercedes Benz - Janis Joplin
Star Spangled Banner & Smashing Of Amps - Jimi Hendrix
Purple Haze - The Jimi Hendrix Experience
Fire - The Jimi Hendrix Experience
Little Wing- The Jimi Hendrix Experience
Foxey Lady - The Jimi Hendrix Experience Experience
I Found That Girl - The Jackson 5
I Want You Back -The Jackson 5
ABC -The Jackson 5
My Guitar Wants to Kill Your Mama - The Mothers of Invention
20th Century Man - The Kinks
Oklahoma U.S.A. - The Kinks
The Village Green Preservation Society - The Kinks
Fingertips, Part 2 - Stevie Wonder
Big Brother - Stevie Wonder
Baby I Need Your Loving - Four Tops
Let's Get It On - Marvin Gaye
What's Going On - Marvin Gaye
Tears Of A Clown - The Miracles
My Girl - The Temptations
Sugar Magnolia - Grateful Dead
Uncle John's Band - Grateful Dead
Casey Jones - Grateful Dead
Friend of The Devil - Grateful Dead
We The People Who Are Darker Than Blue (LP Version) - Curtis Mayfield
Kick Out the Jams - MC5
1969 - The Stooges
War Pigs - Black Sabbath
Paranoid - Black Sabbath
Jeepster - T. Rex
Rip Off - T.Rex
Love and Happiness - Al Green
Personality Crisis - New York Dolls
Jet Boy - New York Dolls
Cherry Bomb - The Runaways
Neon Angels On the Road to Ruin - The Runaways
Bad Reputation - Joan Jett and the Blackhearts
Teenage Lament '74 - Alice Cooper
Ashtray Heart (2006 Digital Remaster) - Captain Beefheart
Ashtray Heart - The White Stripes
Blitzkrieg Bop - The Ramones
Suzy Is A Headbanger - The Ramones
My Brain Is Hanging Upside Down - Ramones
Holidays In the Sun - The Sex Pistols
God Save the Queen - The Sex Pistols
Anarchy In The U.K. - The Sex Pistols
London Calling - The Clash
White Riot (Single Version) - The Clash
Should I Stay Or Should I Go? - The Clash
Straight To Hell - The Clash
Paper Planes - M.I.A.
Racing In The Street - Bruce Springsteen
Because The Night - Bruce Springsteen
The River - Bruce Springsteen
Tom Traubert's Blues - Tom Waits
Step Right Up - Tom Waits
The Piano Has Been Drinking (Not Me) - Tom Waits
Alternative Ulster - Stiff Little Fingers
Bits Of Kids -- Stiff Little Fingers
Disorder - Joy Division
She's Lost Control - Joy Division
Rise Above - Black Flag
Filler - Minor Threat
Guilty of Being White - Minor Threat
Out of Step - Minor Threat
Money - Embrace
Do Not Consider Yourself Free - Embrace
Merchandise – Fugazi
Waiting Room – Fugazi
Suggestion - Fugazi
Sleep Rules Everything Around Me - Wugazi
Nowhere To Wait - Wugazi
Knowledge - Operation Ivy
Sound System - Operation Ivy
You Are (The Government) - Bad Religion
'Merican – Descendents
Weinerschnitzlel – Descendents
I'm Not A Loser - Descendents
I'm Not A Punk – Descendents
Cats And Dogs - Gorilla Biscuits
Longview - Green Day
Welcome To Paradise - Green Day
My Congressman - Fifteen
Family Values - Fifteen
When The Revolution Comes - The Last Poets
The Message - Grandmaster Flash
White Lines -Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five
Rhymin & Stealin - Beastie Boys
Fight For Your Right - Beastie Boys
No Sleep Till Brooklyn - Beastie Boys
F*** tha Police - N.W.A.
Straight Outta Compton - N.W.A.
My Philosophy - Boogie Down Productions
You Must Learn - Boogie Down Productions
Fight the Power - Public Enemy
By the Time I Get to Arizona - Public Enemy
Bring Tha Noize – Anthrax – Anthrax
Scenario - A Tribe Called Quest
Steve Biko (Stir It Up) - A Tribe Called Quest
Billie Jean - Michael Jackson
Thriller - Michael Jackson
Beat It - Michael Jackson
Born In the U.S.A. - Bruce Springsteen
Born in the U.S.A. (BLUES) - Bruce Springsteen
Glory Days - Bruce Springsteen
My Hometown -Bruce Springsteen
Material Girl - Madonna
Like a Virgin – Madonna
Dress You Up - Madonna
They Want EFX - Das Efx
Pop Goes The Weasel - 3rd Bass
Psycho Killer - Talking Heads
Burning Down The House (Alternate Version)
Girlfriend Is Better - Talking Heads
Meat Is Murder - The Smiths
How Soon Is Now? - The Smiths
Wave Of Mutilation - The Pixies
Monkey Gone To Heaven - The Pixies
Floyd the Barber - Nirvana
Smells Like Teen Spirit – Nirvana
Come As You Are - Nirvana
All Apologies - Nirvana
Jeremy - Pearl Jam
Double Dare Ya - Bikini Kill
Shove - L7
Combat Rock - Sleater-Kinney
Rusty Cage – Soundgarden
Rusty Cage - Johnny Cash
Concerto Of The Desperado - The Roots
The Influence - Jurassic 5
Quality Control - Jurassic 5
The Real Slim Shady - Eminem
My Name Is – Eminem
Mosh - Eminem
Dumb This Down – Anticon
Good People Check - themselves
Basin Street Blues - Kid Koala
Just Another Victim - HELMET & HOUSE OF PAIN
Makeshift Patriot Sage Francis
To the Teeth - Ani DiFranco
Bob Dylan's Dream - Bob Dylan
