backroad bohemia.

DUCHESS OF COOLSVILLE  Rickie Lee Jones nailed the fallacies of the Bush administration
on several searing songs that can be found on her 2003 album The Evening of My Best Day.

bush whacked!

Okay, so boomer rockers Bruce Springsteen and
John Fogerty have new albums out with songs that allude to President Bush and his misguided MidEast foreign policy, ie., the quagmire in Iraq. Neil Young got their first, sort of, with the polemic Living with War album. Backroad Bohemia knows all of that's gonna whet your appetite for a fresh supply of anti-Bush tunes, to feed your iPod rebel-radio playlist, so here are a few faves well worth the price of a download:

1) RICKIE LEE JONES: "Ugly Man," "Little Mysteries," "Lap Dog,"
"Tell Somebody (Repeal The Patriot Act)"—all from her stunning The Evening Of My Best Day.

2) VARIOUS ARTISTS: Anti-Bushisms abound on the two-volume Rock Against Bush compilations. But there's just something about the infectious Get Up Kids' "Lion and the Lamb" that says it all when it comes to a powerful anti-war message.

3) JOE STRUMMER: As the driving force behind the politico-punk outfit the Clash, Joe Strummer penned
some potent anti-establishment songs—"The Call Up"
is still one of the best anti-draft songs, a track that might become all too relevant if the Pentagon gets Iran in its sights. As
the top dog in the post-Clash band the Mescaleros, Strummer left us with the life-affirmin"Johnny Appleseed" from Global A-Go-Go. And the world is a better place for it.

4) SON VOLT: Jay Farrar and company's 2005 masterwork Okemah and the
Melody of Riot is full of anti-Bushisms, all set to maximum sonic fury, including "Bandages & Scars," "Jet Pilot" and "Endless War."

Got a favorite anti-Bush song?
Green Day?
Operation Ivy?
Dropkick Murphy's?
Send your Backroad Bohemia playlist pick to greg@backroadbohemia.com.  

                            —Greg Cahill