• Lasherz@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    I’ve noticed every conservative song can’t quite keep their lack of skills for symbolism for the whole song. The closest they ever came was the dude singing about the rich men north of richmond, but even then, he had to shit on poor people in poor health. Truly a man of the people.

    • Adulated_Aspersion@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      That song isn’t written from the perspective you think it is. Oliver Anthony came out staunchly against the hard right who tried to take his song as a rallying cry against welfare recipients.

      He is saying that we are misappropriating funds that could supply healthy foods to more people. Instead, some are abusing the system to become more unhealthy. The reason thst they get this unhealthy food is (from the song’s perspective) because the country doesn’t do anything to support mental health and this is their chosen outlet.

      “Lord we’ve got folks in the street who aint got nothing to eat And the obese milkin’ welfare If your five foot three and three hundred pounds Taxes ought to not pay for your bags of fudge rounds Young men are putting themselves 6 feet in the ground Because all this damn country does is keep kicking them down”

      • Lasherz@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        I am very dubious of Oliver Anthony’s attempts to retcon his words. If he didn’t come out and try to gaslight us into thinking it’s about how government food stamps aren’t enough to eat healthy or pigeonholing mental health in there then I’d be more amicable to his childish over simplifications and both-sidisms. It’s fine if you don’t know about politics, but when you lie about your lyrics, your narratives inherently take on new meanings. The lyrics were not symbolic enough to be misinterpreted. He said the government ought not pay for your unhealthy food choices… He meandered about other bullshit in the lyrics, but I guess he forgot to mention the actual thing he was talking about.

      • yesman@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        IDK what this dude has in his heart, but he thinks about wealth, power, and corruption geographically. I can’t say he is a confederate, but I can say he thinks like one.

        • shalafi@lemmy.world
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          2 days ago

          He’s singing about lived experience in the South. Did you expect him to address the whole nation or globe? As Stephen King often says, write about what you know.

      • Adulated_Aspersion@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        Replying to my own reply.

        “I mean, we are the melting pot of the world, and that’s what makes us strong, is our diversity, and we need to learn to harness that and appreciate it, and not use it as a political tool to keep everyone separate from each other you know?”

    • Jaderick@lemmy.world
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      2 days ago

      I’m curious what other conservative songs are out there. I’m trying to think of a banger that’s even remotely conservative/political but I’m coming up blank.

      • tresspass@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        Not that any of it is a banger, but kid rock and lil pump come to mind.

        As they might be giants put it: “The Fascists have the outfits But I don’t care for the outfits What I care about is music And the Communists have the music”

        • Jaderick@lemmy.world
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          2 days ago

          I see, yeah I don’t listen to dipshit rock and I don’t think I’ve heard of lil pump.

          Maybe I was the wrong person to ask that question lmao.

      • Lasherz@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        You could argue “Brought to your courtesy of the red white and blue” song after 911 was conservative. It’s still devoid of symbolism except for patriotic slop everyone understands

      • AllNewTypeFace@leminal.space
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        2 days ago

        There was a list floating around (before Trump) of songs that, with sufficiently motivated reasoning, could be claimed for conservatism. I don’t remember the entirety of it, but I recall The Beatles’ “Taxman”, and the reasoning that taxes are bad, being a representative example.

      • glimse@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        Tom McDonald (?) is an awful rightwing rapper. No bangers to be found but he’s got a lot of songs (and I recommend none of them)