Conservative Rock?

Pity the conservative rock fan. So many musicians are ganging up on the president. Bruce Springsteen is on tour playing protest songs. The Dixie Chicks just put out an album with a song that finds them standing firm against President Bush. And the Rolling Stones last year released a song calling the president a hypocrite.
But to prove there is still some music for conservative rockers, National Review has published a list of the 50 greatest conservative rock songs. John J. Miller, who compiled the list, explains the criteria: "The lyrics must convey a conservative idea or sentiment, such as skepticism of government or support for traditional values. And, to be sure, it must be a great rock song."
At the top of the list is the Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again," which Miller calls a theme song for "disillusioned revolutionaries" who've forsaken their naive idealism. Also in the top 10 are "Wouldn't It Be Nice" by the Beach Boys (for its pro-abstinence and -marriage message), "Gloria" by U2 and "Revolution" by the Beatles. Other selections include songs by Bob Dylan ("Neighborhood Bully"), David Bowie ("Heroes") and John Mellencamp ("Small Town").
Not surprisingly, liberal rock fans weren't going to concede these tunes without a fight. After the list was posted online late last month, liberal blogs quickly lighted up with outrage and offered song deconstructions...
...Even the liberal bloggers admit that some of the songs do seem to have a conservative bent. Take, for instance, the Ben Folds Five song "Brick," which tells of a young man's regret and heartbreak over taking his girlfriend to get an abortion.
But on others, Miller seems to have read the lyrics rather selectively. His expanded list includes "Teen Angst (What the World Needs Now)" by Cracker, included for its line about the world having more than enough folk singers, apparently a notoriously liberal lot. But the song also includes the lines: "Cause what the world needs now / is a new Frank Sinatra / so I can get you in bed." That would seem to contradict the pro-abstinence message that Miller so admires in "Wouldn't It Be Nice."
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