Alternative Communist Anthems

• [DELETED] +3
• shea nowicki +1
• Edward James +1 — Bullseye
• fionmul +1 — I wanted to submit this hell yeah
• Regina Scime +1 — Hmmm
• judd.baker +1 — Absolutely inspired choice
• Claire +1 — the good doctor cooked with this one (and unfortunately scooped another member of this league who will remain anonymous)
• Joseph Harvey 0 — Boo hoo, I am gainfully employed

shea nowicki: "Of all the classes that stand face to face with the bourgeoisie today, the proletariat alone is a really revolutionary class." -Karl Marx, Communist Manifesto

• ared56 +1
• fionmul +1 — See: the song can be both pleasant and on theme
• Regina Scime +1
• judd.baker +1 — This was my favorite song of the round. The lyrics are pretty overt but they are spot-on without being affiliated with any particular political moment which I think gets at the spirit of the round. Also just such a beautiful song wow
• Claire +1 — Tracy is the goat send tweet
• shea nowicki 0 — tbh, the Helder Camara quote "when I feed the poor, they call me a saint, but when I ask why the poor are hungry, they call me a communist" lives rent free in my brain and that's why I submitted this song
• SamRobertsND 0 — I couldn't tell if this was a man or a woman I was really sure that it was a man but then I googled it
• Edward James 0 — This was great, I’ve never heard it! Beat slightly by others.
• Joseph Harvey 0 — What’s with that *whisper* thing
• Sam Ary -1 — Too many big words in the Marx quote my brain doesn’t know what to do

• SamRobertsND +1 — I didn't begin the song thinking I'd love it, but it captured me by the end. The anger and frustration is palpable. Seething resentment for the play-acting rich college student--very well done.
• Edward James +1 — I want to give this +2 because it’s such an incredible, near perfect song. However, it doesn’t jive as well with Sammy’s description. +1
• Joseph Harvey +1 — Bangs, more so than it has any right to
• Regina Scime 0 — Didn’t quite feel like an anthem
• Claire 0 — excellent song but not maximally fitting for theme (sorry Judd)

• shea nowicki +1
• Joseph Harvey +1 — This is what this is about. Captures that “screw you dad” pubescent energy essential to the revolutionary spirit
• Sam Ary +1
• SamRobertsND 0 — Better picks for this category on American Idiot that the titular song.
• Edward James 0 — Anti-American does not a communist anthem make
• fionmul 0 — figured maybe Joseph would like it and not too many would hate it
• Claire 0 — I dearly love this song but it is not the most on theme song from this album (Jesus of Suburbia is more fitting and I strongly considered submitting but decided it was too long and this audience wouldn’t have the attention span for it)

Joseph Harvey: burn it all to the ground

• ared56 +1
• Sam Ary +1
• shea nowicki 0 — Yep, that hit
• SamRobertsND 0 — "A bit much" - Larry David
• Edward James 0 — As a RATM purist, I actually think there are like 5 other songs from them that would fit the category better. However, it’s a banger
• Claire 0 — idk this was too overtly about Bush/Gore for me, and while there is plenty one can criticize about them this response feels more like an angsty teenage rebellion than a true proletariat call to action

• SamRobertsND +1 — Harry McClintock is one of the great masters; if you like American folk, you better be thanking him, as he is at the head of that tradition in its modern form. This song perfectly captures the theme, portraying the fantastic, anarchic dreamland of the American hobo, whose modern successors are the schizophrenic drifters at OLR who will get into heaven long before any of us. You get my last upvote.
• Joseph Harvey +1 — Hits the nail on the head. Also pokes fun at the socialist utopian fantasy as being just that
• judd.baker +1 — Also inspired choice. I love reading this as a sort of ironic communist anthem. Great submission
• Edward James 0 — I LOVE this song, but don’t feel it gets the category fit well enough to earn a vote. Watch “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” if you haven’t
• fionmul 0 — I think we need more votes since there are this many songs now… I liked this
• Claire -1 — Maybe this is way off (but I wouldn’t be the first person in this group to give a way of interpretation)…I read this as a satire on the absurdity of a communist utopia. Hard to pick a downvote this round but it must be done

• shea nowicki +1 — Okay wow this went way harder than I anticipated
• SamRobertsND 0 — Imagining an army of Transformers Miatas and other cars marching in place and singing this song before a high maestro Joseph, high collared dracula cape around neck and hands busily turning knobs and dials on his synthesizer, conducting the mechanical orchestra.
• Edward James 0 — Fine
• Joseph Harvey 0 — Meh
• fionmul 0 — Feels Corey-core
• Regina Scime 0 — Felt more like a common anthem, but not quite communist enough for me
• Claire 0 — Maybe it’s bc I don’t know the context of the game but to me, while this was a song about the working class, this was not obviously a song about the working class being oppressed

• ared56 +1
• Regina Scime +1 — Communist , yes Anthem, not quite?
• Sam Ary +1
• SamRobertsND 0 — Nice but a third of the song was unnecessary intro. Endearing to some, but it annoyed me.
• judd.baker 0 — Submitting an actual 20th century leftist political song for this round has the same energy as Evanescence for the unintentionally Christian round
• Claire 0 — Obviously on theme but arguably too obviously on theme. Not an “alternative” anthem
• Joseph Harvey -1 — I never wanted to know what it would sound like if white people had invented rap, but now I do, unfortunately
• fionmul -1 — Okay I am sorry this was just purgative and arguably not a song

• Edward James +1 — I LOVE this read of the category, fits the description but also has an independent flair. Also Steely Dan is the GOAT
• SamRobertsND 0 — My father would have me go against the wall for not voting for this, but I just ran out of votes! I absolutely love the interpretation of the category; reflects deep reading.
• fionmul 0 — Pleasant; in the end I had to give it to Tracy but it was close. Needed more votes. This sounds like something Judd would cover (in a good way)
• Regina Scime 0 — Is this a song just about an affair…?
• judd.baker 0 — Banger and a great submission for this category but it is hard for me to hear the proposed alternative interpretation of the lyrics without still hearing the very overt actual meaning of the lyrics

• SamRobertsND +1 — What an amazing pick for this category; it would have slipped my mind. Captures both a negative and positive aspect. Gotta love it and reward it.
• Claire +1 — It’s just such an excellent song. And lends itself to being interpreted in a variety of ways, one of which is to fit this theme
• Joseph Harvey 0 — Connection to theme is a little tenuous, but it is pretty classic
• fionmul 0 — Feels on-theme and maybe creative?
• judd.baker 0 — The connection is there but it’s tenuous
• shea nowicki -1 — I'm v sad to downvote such a bop & want to be convinced more that this is "communist anthem"! Though I'm open to being corrected, first listen reads to me like an exploration of the suffering/real life challenges experienced by many and how love might serve as a response/motivator through those things
• ared56 -1
• Edward James -1 — I’m gonna make a bold (educated) guess here. This is a Joseph submission, chosen because he resents the category and wanted to subvert it with something not radical in the way Sammy intended it. And therefore, -1

• fionmul +1 — Actually probs hella accurate
• Edward James 0 — No Italians, we’ve made this clear
• Joseph Harvey 0 — Don’t care enough to translate
• Claire 0 — Too on theme. This is a strong round and my chosen criterion for judgment is leaning into the “alternative.” It needs to be something that’s not overtly a communist anthem but that captures the spirit
• SamRobertsND -1 — Bella ciao is the best of the communist folk songs and remains a hot button thing in Italy today, but it is, as I said, a communist folk song. I was look for something more incidental and not directly communist here.
• [DELETED] -1
• Regina Scime -1
• judd.baker -1 — Literally a communist anthem tho (at least in part)