For those who don’t get it yet, our government is shut down. The last time our government shut down was in 1995. That was the year some of the students here were born. But here we are again. If you’re fed up with pop music, rock and alternative music, or even the country stations, here is a festive list of songs to remind you that the government doesn’t have their act together.
1. Bobby Fuller Four — “I Fought the Law (And the Law Won)”
I couldn’t think of a more appropriate song. Oh, you don’t like the Affordable Heath Care Act? Okay, shut the government down. When one fights the law, it usually wins. The law is an institutional establishment, and when messed with, the effects are felt by hundreds of thousands of Americans.
2. Semisonic — “Closing Time”
The one thing people would never think of being closed during the 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. workday is government institutions. Well, unfortunately for you, they are. I wonder if government workers on Mon., Sept. 30 were silently singing, “Closing time. You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here.” Even though we are looking at the shutdown as a bad thing, “[a] new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end.”
3. Disturbed — “Land of Confusion”
A song about trying to remember a brighter time when everything around you now just seems so bleak. Sounds familiar, right? Yeah. Even though the government has been shut down for a little more than a week, the resolution seems bleak. The eight days the government has been shut down have seemed longer than necessary because the two parties can’t get along.
4. Public Enemy — “Shut ‘Em Down”
“Shut ‘Em Down” discusses the hardships communities of color face when it comes to their relationship with the government. Broadening the song’s perspective, the government as a whole is screwing over all of the United States. Almost 800,000 workers have been furloughed, and countless others have been directly affected. This song is critical for any government shutdown playlist.
5. School House Rock — “I’m Just a Bill”
The song features an elementary school version of how a bill is passed through the House of Representatives, then to the Senate and finally signed into law by the president. This song reminds us that even though the Affordable Health Care Act is just a bill, it went a long distance and time to get signed in by President Obama. But now, with both parties from both sections of Congress acting out about funding for this bill, our government is shutdown.
If these five songs don’t cut it for you, maybe adding in some music from the last time the government was shut down might spice things up. Even though some of the student population were still in their toddler years, these songs are still well-known. Some of the most popular songs of 1995 were Coolio’s “Gangsta’s Paradise,” Smashing Pumpkins’ “Bullet with Butterfly Wings,” Mariah Carey featuring Boyz II Men’s “One Sweet Day” and Bush’s “Glycerine.”