Anti-gun Music?

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Anyone ever listen to James McMurtrie? He's the son of Larry McMurtrie who wrote the Lonesome Dove books.

He's pretty Pro-gun.

Some highlights from a song of his called Choctaw Bingo:
Strap them kids in
Give em a lil bit of vodka
in a cherry coke
were goin to oklahoma
to the family reunion
for the first time in years
its up at uncle slatons
cuz hes gettin on in years
no longer travels but hes
still pretty spry
hes not much on talk
and hes too mean to die...
...
and he stopped off in tuska
at the pop knife and gun place
bought a sks rifle
and a couple full cases
of that steel core ammo
with the berdan primers
from some east bloc nation
that no longer needs em
and a desert eagle
thats one great big old pistol
I mean fifty caliber
made by bad-ass ebers
and some surplus tracers
for that old BAR of slatons
as soon as it gets dark
were gonna have us a time
were gonna have us a time
...
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This is a good song. Probably not suitable to post all the lyrics here but James McMurtrie is definitely worth a listen.
 
Texas native Miranda Lambert's "Gunpowder & Lead," from her latest cd, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend:
...I'm goin' home, gonna load my shotgun
Wait by the door and light a cigarette
If he wants a fight, well now he's got one
And he ain't seen me crazy yet
He slapped my face and he shook me like a rag doll
Don't that sound like a real man
I'm going to show him what a little girl's made of
Gunpowder and lead

His fist is big but my gun's bigger
He'll find out when I pull the trigger...
Click to expand...

Abused significant other protecting herself with firepower. Seems pretty pro-gun to me.
 
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Many blues singers and writers have penned various ditties with "firearm themes".

Johnny Winter and Robert Johnson come to mind:

Dallas by Johnny Winter

"Goin' back to Dallas, take my razor and my gun
Goin' back to Dallas, man, take my razor and my gun, oh yeah
Lots of people lookin' for trouble, man, sure gonna give 'em in some
I believe old Dallas, man, is the meanest town I know
I believe that Dallas, man, is the meanest town I know
Because you're not safe in Dallas, I don't care where you go
You know that I'm evil, just wanna have some fun
There's so much s*** in Texas, I'm bound to step in some
Goin' back to Dallas, take my razor and my gun
If there are people lookin' for trouble, sure gonna give 'em some
I load up my revolver, sharpen up my knife
Some redneck messin' with me man, I'm bound to have his life
Down to Dallas, take my razor and my gun
Man, people there lookin' for trouble, sure gonna give 'em some"


And this example of musical art, truth, and beauty from Robert Johnson

"32-20"

'F I send for my baby and she don't come.
'F I send for my baby, man, and she don't come.
All the doctors in Hot Springs sure can't help her none.
And if she gets unruly, things she don't wan' do.
And if she gets unruly and thinks she don't wan' do.
Take my 32-20, now, and cut her half in two.
She got a .38 special but I b'lieve it's most too light.
She got a .38 special but I b'lieve it's most too light.
I got a 32-20, got to make the camps alright.
If I send for my baby, man, and she don't come.
If I send for my baby, man, and she don't come.
All the doctors in Hot Springs sure can't help her none.
I'm gonna shoot my pistol, gonna shoot my Gatling gun.
I'm gonna shoot my pistol, gotta shoot my Gatling gun.
You made me love you, now your man have come.
Ah-oh, baby, where you stay last night?
Ah, baby, where you stayed last night?
You got the hair all tangled and you ain't talkin' right.
Her .38 special, boys, do it very well.
Her .38 special, boys, it do very well.
I got a 32-20 now, and it's a burnin'.
If I send for my baby, man, and she don't come.
If I send for my baby, man, and she don't come.
All the doctors in Wisconsin sure can't help her none.
Hey, hey, baby, where'd you stay last night?
Hey, hey, baby, where'd you stay last night?
You didn't come home until the sun was shining bright.
Ah-oh, boy, I just can't take my rest.
Ah-oh, boy, I just can't take my rest.
With this 32-20 laying up and down my breast."

And from the inimitable Howlin' Wolf:

"44"
"I wore my .44 so long, I've made my shoulder sore.
I wore my .44 so long, I done made my shoulder sore.
Well, I'm wondrin everybody, where'd my baby go.
Well, I'm so mad this mornin, I don't know where in the world to go.
Well, I'm so mad this mornin, I don't know where in the world to go.
Well, I'm lookin for me some money, pawned gun to have some gold."


Of course, no list would be complete with Tennessee Ernie Ford's
"Shotgun Boogie"

There it stands in the corner with the barrel so straight
I looked out the winder and over the gate
The big fat rabbits are jumpin' in the grass
Wait 'till they hear my old shotgun blast

Shotgun boogie, I done saw your track
Look out Mr. Rabbit when I cock my hammer back

Well, over on the ridge is a scaly bark
Hickory nuts so big you can see'em in the dark
The big fat squirrels, they scratch and they fight
I'll be on that ridge before daylight

With a shotgun boogie, all I need is one shot
Look out bushy-tails, tonight you'll be in the pot

Well, I met a pretty gal, she was tall and thin
I asked her what she had, she said a Fox four-ten
I looked her up and down, said boy this is love
So we headed for the brush to shoot a big fat dove

Shotgun boogie, boy the feathers flew
Look out Mr. Dove when she draws a bead on you

I sat down on a log, took her on my lap
She said wait a minute bud, you got to see my pap
He's gotta sixteen gauge choked down like a rifle
He don't like a man that's gonna trifle

Shotgun boogie, draws a bead so fine
Look out big boy, he's loaded all the time

Well, I called on her pap like a gentleman oughter
He said no brush hunter's gonna get my daughter
He cocked back the hammer right on the spot
When the gun went off I outrun the shot

Shotgun boogie, I wanted weddin' bells
I'll be back little gal, when your pappy runs out of shells



All "pro gun", don't you think?;)
 
Anti

Pearl Jam

"Glorified G"

got a gun, fact i got two
that's ok man, cuz i love god
glorified version of a pellet gun
feels so manly, when armed
glorified version of a pellet gun
glorified version of a pellet gun
glorified version of a pellet gun
glorified version of a pellet gun
don't think, dumb is strength
never shot at a living thing
glorified version of a pellet gun
feels so manly, when armed
glorified version of a pellet gun
glorified version of a pellet gun
glorified version of a pellet gun
glorified version of a...
always keep it loaded
always keep it loaded
always keep it loaded
kindred to be an american...
life comes...i can feel your heart...
life comes...i can feel your heart through your neck...
life comes...i can feel your heart through your neck...
like some...i can steal your heart from your neck...
glorified...glorified...
 
Technosavant said:
I'm not sure that song is really anti-gun. It seems to be more anti-"ol'lady who's been running 'round with another man."
Click to expand...

Yeah sorry 'bout that, the thread has kind of moved in a more songs that mention guns direction. I should have been more clear.
 
A few anti-gun songs that I can remember:
Aerosmith:Janie's got a gun
Prince:Sign O the times
Cat Stevens:One of his songs mentions get or git me a gun(Can't remember which,but I'm sure I heard it and Im sure,it was by him.)
Martika:Toy Soilders (Anti-drugs and implied anti-gun lyrics.)
Boomtown Rats:I don't like Mondays(A reference to Brenda Spencer's shooting spree in 1979.)
Guns don't Kill people Rappers do:Goldie Looking Chain.(References to gangsta's in modern Britain and to Micheal Ryan's 1987 massacre in Hungerford,with an AK47.Interstingly the rappers were outsmarting the cops,in the same way as Ryan did,during the John O'Gaunt High School Seige.
So Soild Crew:24 seconds to go.
Bob Dylan/Guns and Roses:Knockin on Heavens Door.The 1996 version was released as a tribute to the victims of the Dunblane massacre.
 
I honestly think some of you are failing to make the distinction between anti-gun and anti-violence. "Janie got a Gun" isn't about guns, it's about sexual abuse. It never says that guns are bad, or that people shouldn't be allowed to have them.

"God is a Bullet" by Concrete Blonde (One of my very favorite bands) seemed anti to me, until a few years ago, when I actually had a chance to meet and talk to the people who wrote it. It was after a show in Salt Lake, and I expressed my concern to them, and they said, "We certainly aren't gun fans, but we aren't into telling people what they should do with their lives. It's really an anti-COP song."

"Invisible Sun" by The Police only says; "I don't want to spend the rest of my life; looking down the barrel of an Armalite." It sounds to ME like they are saying, "I don't want to live under the oppression of a tryannical government." That's what the REST of the lyrics refer to. 'Armalite' was just handy assonance. (Sting used to teach English, you know.) In all the rest of The police's music, I can't pinpoint any anti-gun messages. Even in "I hung my head", (covered by Johnny Cash shortly before he died,) it's about a foolish person who disregards rules 1-4, and pays for the result with his life. He doesn't say the gun was bad. He says the actions were foolish.

I have dabbled in the music business a bit, promoting concerts and such, I have provided (unpaid) armed security for visiting artists. Sometimes they got curious about if I was carrying a gun, and why I was allowed to. I would just tell them, "A lot of us have gone through the process to carry here. We are very safe." After that, they either kept quiet or showed positive comments because I was concerned for their safety.

Several years ago, Rollins was in Salt Lake at the Tower Theater, doing spoken word. A friend got me tickets, and we wound up talking to him after the show. I asked him if Pacino was really that tough in real life, tossing him around in "Heat", since he's about a foot taller. He kind of smiled and said that Pacino is tougher than he looks and he takes roles very seriously. The feel I get from Rollins is that he has a reputation for being tough and inflammatory, but he really doesn't want to tell anyone how to live their life. Ha had made a reference during the show about these ---holes who keep voting for Orrin Hatch, and I told him I was one of them. He laughed. It's his job to be in everyone's face about everything and challenge all positions of authority. In reality he's getting old and soft. (If he was ever really that hard in the first place.)

I read many years ago that one thing Valerie Bertinelli hated about living with Eddie Van Halen was "he keeps guns all over the place." Never heard him say a word about it. But I think that a LOT of guys who are into the rock stick to the rock, and hate anyone telling them how to live their lives.

In 1992 Motley Crue did a documentary/interview video, and Mick Mars did his segments from his reloading bench, explaining that he was loading bullets for his favorite .454 Casull. He included some video clips of him out at the range with a hot blonde spalttering watermelons and such.

Numerous musicians have been arrested for various gun violations over the years. Harry Connic Jr. was arrested about 15 years ago for taking a gun he htough the had put in his checked luggage past airpost security. He had to do some PSAs.

Sheryl Crow got hammered about 10 years ago, because she had a lyric about "Kids killing with guns that they got at a Wal-mart discount store". She was confronted in an interview, and she said she was stating a fact. Some kids DID commit crimes with guns they got at a Walmart, and she wanted to write about it. Walmart swore never to sell her records again, but they forgave her. She hasn't made any other comments at all I'm aware of.

Just keep in mind, that musicians try to turn your head with their work. Some of them feel like we are being 'politically correct' with our absolute views. Sometimes they wite one song about one opinion, it doesn't mean it's their ONLY opinion. I will never tell any of them what to write or not, but when you criticize an artist, look for the lines written with a big black magic marker, not the little ones in pencil.
 
Me and my friend like to think Saturday Night Special is about convincing people to throw away their guns so we still have them. And in the first verse, I'm not clear on whether the homeowner is shot and killed or the guy sneaking in the house is.

But "Give me Back My Bullets" by Skynyrd is more pro-gun, talking about how a man has been bullied and mistreated and he's not going to take it anymore. I don't feel like this is a "I'm going to kill the bullies" song, but more a self defense song.

Thats just me, maybe, but I do love my Lynyrd Skynyrd so I have to make sure they're mostly pro-gun :)

--
And for the record, Henry Rollins used to be REAL hardcore. Bad kid growing up, lots of fights, violence, etc. I like his poetry and some of his music. Never knew he was that anti-gun from listening to his music. He is very supportive of our troops and goes and visits them frequently. Part of the reason he's anti-gun (if he is, like I said, didn't notice) is probably because he watched his best friend get shot in the face and day when he was younger.
 
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"Give Me Back My Bullets" is more about how the band thought the record company was burying them, with collusion from the publications...

i.e., "the record came on the charts at #14, with a bullet."

I don't listen to that band.
 
"Guns are for p*ssies" - 311
Click to expand...

This song isn't so much anti-gun as it is anti-gangbanging-p*ssies...ya know, the ones that hold their "heater" sideways because it looks cool and are quick to pick up a gun just because someone looked at them wrong. Not so much guns are bad, but the gang thugs are bad is what I get from that song.

(I actually liked their music, but then I grew up and realized that the're abunch of pencilneck potheads)
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and this is why I kinda like them:D always upbeat, positive, and blissfully happy. Plus, their concerts are a lot of fun, if you can stand the bunch of annoying teenyboppers that tend to plague their shows.:p
 
"handguns were meant for killing, they ain't no good for nothing else" Mr Saturday night special- lynard skynard.

"I bought a gun the other day it's cute! fits right in my pocket, yeah right in my pocket." it goes on about abusing his girlfriend but i forget the rest of the lyrics. anyways, it's "sugar" from system of a down. Older mambers wouldn't know about them.
 
"Tell sanchito that if he knows what is good for him, he best go run and hide, Daddy's got a new fourty five, And I won't think twice to stick that barrel straight down sancho's throat, believe me when I say that I got somethin' for his punk ass!"
- Sublime
 
Regarding those old Blues songs which feature guns, they're not actually about guns. Instead, guns are used as a form of subtle (or not so subtle) sexual innuendo. Other inanimate objects are used in the same manner in blues music, such as food and cars.
 
[G:]
I'm gettin jacked, I'm breakin myself
I can't believe they taking Warren's wealth
they took my rings, they took my rolex
I looked at the brotha said "Damn, what's next?"

[Nate:]
They got my homey hemmed up and they all around
ain't none of them seeing if they going straight pound for pound
I gotta come up real quick before they start to clown
I best pull out my strap and lay them busters down

[G:]
They got guns to my head
I think I'm going down
I can't believe this happenin in my own town
If I had wings I could fly
let me contemplate
I glanced in the cut and I see my homey Nate

[Nate:]
Sixteen in the clip and one in the hole
Nate Dogg is about to make some bodies turn cold
now they droppin and yellin
it's a tad bit late
Nate Dogg and Warren G had to regulate
Click to expand...

- Regulators, by Nate Dogg & Warren G
 
"Regarding those old Blues songs which feature guns, they're not actually about guns."

really??;)

You mean when Robert Johnson sang, "Lemme mash down on your little starter, momma" he wasn't writing a car song?:D
 
yes, another reason to make dad listin to them.... i love Blues Traveler.

ohhhh yeah..... and dad has that marty robins album on vinyl......
 
I honestly think some of you are failing to make the distinction between anti-gun and anti-violence. "Janie got a Gun" isn't about guns, it's about sexual abuse. It never says that guns are bad, or that people shouldn't be allowed to have them.
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I know it is about sexual abuse,but she uses a gun to resolve her problem,in the song as did that kid Jeremy,in the Pearl Jam sog 'Jeremy' about a bullied kid who eventually went beserk and killed all of his classmates in a fit of rage,with a gun-which inspired another moron,to do the same in 1996.Although there is no obvious anti-gun lyrics or any other lyrics dissaproving firearms-,a gun was used to resolve the problem of sexual abuse,so it could be seen as an anti-gun song,even if it wasn't intended to be.This is how the antis think and these songs are implied anti-gun songs,but aren't obvious ones.Alot of these anti-songs contain the anti-gun message,implied in them,as opposed to actual and obvious lyrics,depicting this.
 
Staggolee, this version performed by Pacific Gas & Electric:

It was early, early one morning
When I heard my bulldog bark
Was Staggolee and Billy Lyons
Squabblin' in the dark.

Staggolee told Billy Lyons
'What do you think of that?
You win all my money, Lawd,
Now you spit in my Stetson hat.'

Staggolee, he went a-walkin'
In the red-hot, broilin' sun
Says, 'Bring me my six-shooter,
Lawd, I wants my forty-one.'

Staggolee, he went a-walkin'
Through the mud and through the sand
Says, 'I feel mistreated this morning
I could kill most any man.'

Billy Lyons told Staggolee
Please don't take my life
I've got three little helpless chillun
And one poor, pitiful wife.'

'Don't care nothin' about your chillun,
And nothing about your wife,
You done mistreated me, Billy
And I'm bound to take your life.'

He shot him three times in the shoulder
Lawd, and three times in the side
Well, the last time he shot him
'Cause Billy Lyons to die

Staggolee told Mrs Billy
'You don't believe your man is dead
Come into the bar-room
See the hole I shot in his head.'

The high sheriff told the deputies
Get your pistols and come with me
We got to go arrest that bad man
No mercy Staggolee.'

The deputies took their pistols
And they laid them on the shelf
If you want that bad man Staggolee
Have to 'rest him by yourself.'

The High sheriff ask the bartender,
'Who can that bad man be?'
'Speak softly,' said the bartender,
It's that bad man Staggolee.'

He touch Stack on the shoulder,
Say, 'Stack, why don't you run?'
'I don't run, white folks,
When I got my forty-one.'

The hangman put the mask on,
Tied his hands behind his back
Sprung the trap on Staggolee
But his neck refuse to crack

The Hangman, he got frightened
Said, 'Chief, you see how it be
I can't hang this man
Better set him free.'

Three hundred dollar funeral
Thousand dollar hearse
Satisfaction undertaker
Put Stack on down in the earth

Staggolee, he told the Devil
Says, 'Come on and have some fun
You stick me with your pitchfork
And I'll shoot you with my forty-one.'

Staggolee took the pitchfork
And he laid it on the shelf
Says, 'Stand back, Tom Devil, Lawd
I'm gonna rule Hell by myself.'

-----
Don't take Your Guns to Town - Johnny Cash

-----
 
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