# conservative rock bands? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 10, 2003, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-rock-bands/147680 "2003-01-10T04:09:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![riserius1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7ab992/32.png) [@riserius1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/riserius1)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-rock-bands/147680/1 "2003-01-10T04:09:28Z")
Can someone help me locate bands/musical acts with a strong conservative slant to them? I know Ted Nugent leans very hard to the right, but outside of him I’m really at a loss to name any that exist. Chris w. ---
**Author:** ![Harry\_Lime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Harry\_Lime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harry_Lime)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-rock-bands/147680/2 "2003-01-10T04:32:18Z")
Art Alexakis strikes me as a possible Conservative. Maybe he’s just a jerk. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-rock-bands/147680/3 "2003-01-10T05:42:11Z")
Supposedly Neil Young went thru a Reaganite time in the 1980s. Some of the Metallica guys are into gun rights. One of Van Halen was an outspoken pro-lifer. But most musical conservatives go into country or inspirational. ---
**Author:** ![Goofus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7feea3/32.png) [@Goofus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Goofus)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-rock-bands/147680/4 "2003-01-10T05:44:48Z")
Too bad you’re limiting it to rock bands, otherwise we could probably come up with dozens of conservative country music singers. But really, isn’t Nugent as conservative as ten normal conservatives? Maybe rock, the anti-establishment music, and Republicanism just don’t mix. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-rock-bands/147680/5 "2003-01-10T07:00:32Z")
Ted Nugent is a gun totin’ Libertarian. Rush was a big Ayn Rand supporter, even dedicating 2112 to her. The Beach Boys Hootie and the Blowfish lean libertarian, I think. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-rock-bands/147680/6 "2003-01-10T07:06:05Z")
I would suggest the semantics are lacking – what _kind_ of conservative do you mean? Ted sure loved his underage poontang – does that make him more liberal than Kurt Cobain, who almost never partook of groupies? With respect to fiscal politics: do you mean conservative rock _stars_, or conservative rock _bands_? The former are often pretty well-off, the latter mostly poor. As with the rest of the population, their material wealth tends to predict their fiscal politics. While rock music is a big tent, the life doesn’t seem to be conducive to what I would call conservative values (family, moderation, religious devotion). [Libertarian more so]. I would concur that country music has a stronger emphasis on tradition than most other styles. ---
**Author:** ![Junior\_Spaceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Junior\_Spaceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Junior_Spaceman)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-rock-bands/147680/7 "2003-01-10T07:20:19Z")
There are probably many rock musicians who are right wing, but who interestingly don’t make a big deal about it in the same way that a lot of liberal rock musos do - maybe because it’s not as ‘cool’ or not as accepted. Or maybe it’s because, being conservative, there isn’t a lot to mouth off about (I’m thinking of that scene in the Simpsons when there are protestors at the White House with signs saying things like ‘Everything’s Fine’). One that stands out is Tom H. from the group Halo of Flies, who also runs (ran?) the Amphetamine Reptile label. He stated on a few occasions that Barry Goldwater was one of his heroes. Another factor is that lots of ‘rock star’ behaviour, such as the groupies and drugs, tends to annoy both the religious right and the PC left, and is more hedonistic than libertarian. ---
**Author:** ![Harry\_Lime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Harry\_Lime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harry_Lime)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-rock-bands/147680/8 "2003-01-10T07:27:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sam Stone \* > Rush was a big Ayn Rand supporter, even dedicating 2112 to her. Neil Peart, their drummer and lyricist, is deeply into that stuff. Listen to _The Trees_. One major reason I haven’t liked that band for a long, long time. ---
**Author:** ![gonzalo\_de\_cordoba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/848f3c/32.png) [@gonzalo\_de\_cordoba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzalo_de_cordoba)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-rock-bands/147680/9 "2003-01-10T07:58:47Z")
Neil Young. But he is sui generis – not necessarily pro-Reagan, but definetely pro a lot of the values that Reaganism stood for (strong defense against the evil empire, pro American heartland kind of stuff). He isn’t buying into the hippie/ lefty shit on 9/11. See “Let’s Roll.” But you can’t pin him down either as a specific conservative. However, Anyone who writes a ballad to an American car, “Long may you run” Is definitely someone with conservative values deep in his soul. Bob Dylan is a conservative person/ conservative outlook, even though he hasn’t given a damn about politics since he wrote “My Back Pages” in 1964. There is way too much evidence against him being a silly lefty. But I am not going to make this argument here, there are way too many people who think Dylan was a leader of the sixties, and don’t want to be corrected in their beliefs. He made two public appearances between 1965 and 1973. One was at the Concert for Bangladesh, the other was at a Woody guthrie tribute in NYC, at the very height of the Vietnam War where he sang Guthrie’s Grand Coulee Dam. Not very antiwar. But again, Dylan is sui generis, not very political one way or another, but he is a God’ fearing, God made America special, Midwesterner. I believe he has a pretty conservative outlook on things, and it shows in his lyrics. ---
**Author:** ![Muad\_Dib](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/35a633/32.png) [@Muad\_Dib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muad_Dib)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-rock-bands/147680/10 "2003-01-10T08:32:20Z")
Depends what you mean by Conservative. If you include Libertarianism, I am sure that you will find many bands who would fall under that banner. ---
**Author:** ![skaterboarder87](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@skaterboarder87](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/skaterboarder87)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-rock-bands/147680/11 "2003-01-10T09:22:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Harry Lime \* > \*\*Neil Peart, their drummer and lyricist, is deeply into that stuff. Listen to _The Trees_. > > One major reason I haven’t liked that band for a long, long time. \*\* Oh come on, they’re political masterminds! I’d hardly consider their deep, meaningful lyrics as a distraction from the music. I especially love how many religious based groups favor Rush (since they’re a totally clean group -drug wise), despite several songs which contradict their religion profusely (ala Tom Sawyer, Roll The Bones). ---
**Author:** ![HeatMiser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecd19e/32.png) [@HeatMiser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeatMiser)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-rock-bands/147680/12 "2003-01-10T10:45:49Z")
\ With regards to Rush and Neal Peart’s lyrics, and his/their philosophical stance - I always found it interesting that the lyrics to the song _Free Will_ are sung a bit differently than they appear printed on the sleeve. Specifically: “If you choose not to decide you cannot have made a choice” (printed) “If you choose not to decide you still have made a choice” (sang) Rand, religion, and reversals in the band’s stance regarding free will. An interesting combination, to me anyway. Apologies to everybody who so diligently stayed more-or-less on topic up to this point - we now return you to your regularly scheduled discussion. \ ---
**Author:** ![syncrolecyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f08c70/32.png) [@syncrolecyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/syncrolecyne)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-rock-bands/147680/13 "2003-01-10T11:34:48Z")
James Hetfield’s interviews from the 1990’s (in Rolling Stone) made him sound a bit conservative, but he is also critical of the religious right. I know when his song “Don’t Tread on Me” came out some fans were angry that the one time author of “One” and “Ride the Lightening” came out with an apparently pro-war song. How about some Southern rock bands. Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Sweet Home Alabama” (“Watergate does not bother me”). I am at a loss when I think of more recent bands. Most are either very left wing or completely apolitical. One might assume Creed (or Creed fans) may be conservative, but that is just an assumption. ---
**Author:** ![Coil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Coil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coil)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-rock-bands/147680/14 "2003-01-10T12:15:05Z")
If we extend the question to non-US bands we have the Spice Girls and Gary Numan who I believe are Conservatives (of the UK type). ---
**Author:** ![Harry\_Lime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Harry\_Lime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harry_Lime)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-rock-bands/147680/15 "2003-01-10T12:23:19Z")
The same Neil Young who wrote _Ohio_ and _Cortez the Killer_ is a Conservative? The “apolitical” Bob Dylan, who wrote “To see him so obviously framed / Can’t help but make you feel ashamed to live in a land where Justice is a game.” about Rubin Carter? He’s a Conservative? ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-rock-bands/147680/16 "2003-01-10T12:32:37Z")
Conservatives can’t be pro-justice, **Harry**? ---
**Author:** ![gex\_gex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/94ad74/32.png) [@gex\_gex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gex_gex)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-rock-bands/147680/17 "2003-01-10T13:31:31Z")
Yep, I’m going to have to see some cites if you want me to believe that Bob Dylan or Neil Young are conservative. ---
**Author:** ![Already\_in\_Use](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a9adbd/32.png) [@Already\_in\_Use](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Already_in_Use)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-rock-bands/147680/18 "2003-01-10T14:29:43Z")
**riserius1** , your sig reminds me that Frank Zappa, while _utterly despising_ the religious right, the Republican Party, trickle-down economics, and Reagan, considered himself a “practical conservative,” arguing that lower taxes benefited the little guy. When he considered running for president in 1992 (he abandoned the idea when he became too sick with cancer), he said that one of his platforms would be replacing the income tax with a national sales tax. He also considered joining the Libertarians, but ultimately decided not to because he supported gun control. So Zappa was basically a practical, nonpartisan man (he once said that the Republicans represented pure, unbridled evil and that the Democrats were just a bunch of people trying really hard to look like Republicans) who generally leaned toward less government intervention both socially and fiscally, and called himself a conservative. (When he was on CNN’s Crossfire, he responded to pro-censorship opponents who called him an anarchist by saying, “I’m not an anarchist, I’m a conservative.”) ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-rock-bands/147680/19 "2003-01-10T14:30:46Z")
Let’s not automatically equate “conservative” with Republican. Both Dylan and Young have released albums that have some pretty overtly traditional themes to them (Dylan’s material during his conersion to Christianity, Young’s material dealing with the recent terrorist events). There’s not much reason for them to be any different than anyone else - people in general tend to get more conservative as they age and have a few more life experiences under their belt. I don’t suspect you’ll see either one of them performing at either at DNC or RNC fundraising event in the near future, however. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-rock-bands/147680/20 "2003-01-10T14:32:06Z")
I was asked once to man a Republican voting registration booth at a Creed concert. I didn’t do it, but it would have been fun. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conservative-rock-bands/147680.md?page=2)