# Popular songs that teach a lesson (i.e. We didn't start the fire) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 4, 2002, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-teach-a-lesson-i-e-we-didnt-start-the-fire/130803 "2002-10-04T06:32:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![fizgig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f04885/32.png) [@fizgig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fizgig)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2002, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-teach-a-lesson-i-e-we-didnt-start-the-fire/130803/21 "2002-10-04T22:12:58Z")
Zoot Suit Riot by Cherry Poppin’ Daddies. No, really. That’s the first time I’d ever heard of the riots. Zombie by The Cranberries Lots of Randy Newman’s songs. ---
**Author:** ![Tars\_Tarkas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tars\_Tarkas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tars_Tarkas)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2002, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-teach-a-lesson-i-e-we-didnt-start-the-fire/130803/22 "2002-10-04T22:26:45Z")
Snoopy and the Red Baron, recreates the greatest aerial battle in history!!! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![reprise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ea666f/32.png) [@reprise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/reprise)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2002, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-teach-a-lesson-i-e-we-didnt-start-the-fire/130803/23 "2002-10-05T01:48:29Z")
_Hurricane_ _I Shot the Sheriff_ _And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda_ _No Man’s Land_ (The Green Fields of France) IIRC, _I Don’t Like Mondays_ is also based on real events ---
**Author:** ![Luckie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dc4da7/32.png) [@Luckie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Luckie)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2002, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-teach-a-lesson-i-e-we-didnt-start-the-fire/130803/24 "2002-10-05T03:03:55Z")
sorry, i just have to pick these particular nits. gitfiddle: you should use ‘e.g.’ when you give an example, not ‘i.e.’ telcontarStorm: I think you missed the point of the song. now back to your regularly scheduled useful replies… my favorite teaching songs are the schoolhouse rock tunes. I especially like ‘No More Kings’, ‘Interjection’, ‘I’m just a Bill’, and ‘Adjectives’. should also mention the Monte Python Galaxy Song from The Meaning of Life. -Luckie ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2002, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-teach-a-lesson-i-e-we-didnt-start-the-fire/130803/25 "2002-10-05T03:09:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by happyheathen \* > \*\*Follow The Drinking Gourd > > (look it up - it’s worth the effort - esp. for Americans) \*\* I _love_ that song…it helps that the person who taught us the words also gave us a history leason on it at the same time; I really like that guy(TJ Wheeler) he was a lot of fun to work with and is wonderful with kids. If you’re not from the NH seascoast, the name probably means nothing to you, right? Um…Paper Lace’s “The Night Chicago Died”(Al Capone), a song which everyone but me hates, apparently. Other songs that teach history leasons include “Ohio” by Neil Young (Kent State); "100 Million Little Bombs " by Buddy Miller (land-mines still in the ground around the world- if you’ve never heard this, you **must** listen to it); “Seminole Wind” by John Anderson(the tole “progress” has taken on both land and people); "Paper Dolls by Tuscadero (soci-commentary on media’s effects on young girls)… ---
**Author:** ![Albert\_Rose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Albert\_Rose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Albert_Rose)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2002, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-teach-a-lesson-i-e-we-didnt-start-the-fire/130803/26 "2002-10-05T04:25:30Z")
I’ll go with _The Ten Commandments of Love_, for all you lovers out there. And don’t forget _The Hokey Pokey_. Lots of learning going on in this one! ---
**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:** [October 5, 2002, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-teach-a-lesson-i-e-we-didnt-start-the-fire/130803/27 "2002-10-05T04:28:40Z")
Paradise, by John Prine was a true story about his childhood home being taken over by a coal company. In Warren Zevon’s “Run Straight Down” the choruses are the chemical names of known environmental poisons. ---
**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:** [October 5, 2002, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-teach-a-lesson-i-e-we-didnt-start-the-fire/130803/28 "2002-10-05T05:27:45Z")
Paradise, by John Prine was a true story about his childhood home being taken over by a coal company. In Warren Zevon’s “Run Straight Down” the choruses are the chemical names of known environmental poisons. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2002, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-teach-a-lesson-i-e-we-didnt-start-the-fire/130803/29 "2002-10-05T06:32:00Z")
I’ll second Tom Lehrer, including everything from _That Was The Year That Was_ and _The Elements_. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by gonzoron \* > _James K. Polk_, _Meet James Ensor_, and _Why does the Sun Shine?_ by **They Might be Giants** I have to point out that TMBG didn’t write that second song. According to [http://www.acme.com/jef/science\_songs/](http://www.acme.com/jef/science_songs/), it was written around 1960 by Hy Zaret (lyricist of _Unchained Melody_ and Lou Singer. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2002, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-teach-a-lesson-i-e-we-didnt-start-the-fire/130803/30 "2002-10-05T13:00:21Z")
“Olivers army” Elvis Costello, about high unemployment and joining the armed forces to escape one sort of hell, only to end up somewhere worse. “Home at last” Steely Dan, not historic but rather an extraction of a differant meaning from Homers Illiad, which after a couple of thousand years where folk have been analysing his work all that time is quite an amazing feat. “My white bicycle” by Tomorrow, its about a student Amsterdam provo anarchist group and their attempt to provide free cycle transport (doesn’t sound all that subversive nowdays) ---
**Author:** ![stofsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dfb087/32.png) [@stofsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stofsky)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2002, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-teach-a-lesson-i-e-we-didnt-start-the-fire/130803/31 "2002-10-05T13:48:58Z")
“Afternoons & Coffeespoons” by The Crash Test Dummies is a take on T.S. Eliot’s “Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.” ---
**Author:** ![AzRaek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/azraek/32/16739_2.png) [@AzRaek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AzRaek)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2002, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-teach-a-lesson-i-e-we-didnt-start-the-fire/130803/32 "2002-10-05T23:06:39Z")
Lets go with some Rush tunes, shall we? Manhattan Project Beneath, Between, Behind Natural Science Red Tide Nobody’s Hero Totem And Metallica? …And justice for All Eye of the Beholder Disposable Heroes Don’t Tread on Me ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2002, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-teach-a-lesson-i-e-we-didnt-start-the-fire/130803/33 "2002-10-06T05:24:43Z")
“Pride” by U2–_Monday morning, April 4, a shot rings out in the Memphis sky…_ That helps me remember where and when MLK Jr. was shot. Tons of Warren Zevon songs have historical bits and pieces in them. “Run Straight Down” was mentioned. I like “Frank and Jesse James.” Also “Turmoil–” _I was talking to the Muhajedeen, Down in Afghanistan. Comrade Gorbachev, Get me back to Vladivostok, man!"_ It may not recount actual historical events, but it familiarized me with a lot of late Cold War concepts and terms. Plus, I bothered to look on a map and see where Vladivostok is. (Way in the East part of Siberia, near Mongolia) Come to think of it, I learned a heck of a lot from ol’ Roland, the Headless Thompson Gunner: _In '66 and '7, they fought the Congo War, Fingers on their triggers, knee deep in gore. For days and nights they battled the Bantu to their knees, They killed to earn their living, and to help out the Congolese._ Also, “Boom Boom Mancini:” \*From Youngstown, Ohio, came Boom Boom Mancini. A lightweight contender, like father like son. He fought for the title, with Frias in Vegas, And put him away in round number one." I could go on with this Zevon stuff for hours… ---
**Author:** ![happyheathen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5e925/32.png) [@happyheathen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/happyheathen)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2002, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-teach-a-lesson-i-e-we-didnt-start-the-fire/130803/34 "2002-10-06T06:24:23Z")
You may wish to look further into Vladivostok - it was the overflight of this closed military city that got Korean flight 007 shot down. What it had to do with Afghanistan is inconceivable, but a song is a song… ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2002, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-teach-a-lesson-i-e-we-didnt-start-the-fire/130803/35 "2002-10-06T12:57:01Z")
I like the country song _I Hope You Dance_. It’s a nice song about all the hopes parents have for their children. Always makes me tear up a bit. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2002, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-teach-a-lesson-i-e-we-didnt-start-the-fire/130803/36 "2002-10-06T14:47:36Z")
Frank Zappa – “Don’t Eat the Yellow Snow” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2002, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-teach-a-lesson-i-e-we-didnt-start-the-fire/130803/37 "2002-10-06T15:03:25Z")
**happyheathen** –I think the song is written from the perspective of a Soviet soldier stationed in Afghanistan. He doesn’t see why it’s necessary for him to be there. He wants to go home to Vladivostok. (The chorus of the song is “Turmoil down in Moscow put this turbulence down on me…”) ---
**Author:** ![Badtz\_Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@Badtz\_Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Badtz_Maru)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2002, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-teach-a-lesson-i-e-we-didnt-start-the-fire/130803/38 "2002-10-06T17:50:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by happyheathen \* > \*\*You may wish to look further into Vladivostok - it was the overflight of this closed military city that got Korean flight 007 shot down. > > What it had to do with Afghanistan is inconceivable, but a song is a song… \*\* Vladivostok was closed to non-Soviets until 1991, but recently has become a rather international city, lots of foreign businesses, high cost of living, also a lot of problems with organized crime. I was considering using it as a setting for part of a near-future SF story I was writing a couple of years ago. Interesting place. ---
**Author:** ![Badtz\_Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@Badtz\_Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Badtz_Maru)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2002, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-teach-a-lesson-i-e-we-didnt-start-the-fire/130803/39 "2002-10-06T17:55:19Z")
BTW, if anybody is interested in Vladivostok an interesting site to visit is [http://vn.vladnews.ru/](http://vn.vladnews.ru/) ---
**Author:** ![DeepPurple](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@DeepPurple](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeepPurple)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2002, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-teach-a-lesson-i-e-we-didnt-start-the-fire/130803/40 "2002-10-06T18:42:31Z")
**elfkin477** I love The Night Chicago Died, I even have the sheet music. how about Biko by Peter Gabriel & I suppose they aren’t ‘popular’ songs, but there’s lots of good ones done on the Animaniacs. So long Magellan! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-teach-a-lesson-i-e-we-didnt-start-the-fire/130803.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/popular-songs-that-teach-a-lesson-i-e-we-didnt-start-the-fire/130803.md?page=3)