# Songs relating to ethics **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 14, 2007, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-relating-to-ethics/400143 "2007-04-14T20:39:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Killer\_of\_thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8797f3/32.png) [@Killer\_of\_thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Killer_of_thoughts)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-relating-to-ethics/400143/21 "2013-03-06T10:56:23Z")
AJKS (A Jezusowi kazali spać). Polish rapper who is making music about hard stuff with little philosophical meaning. Destructive, nihilistic, anti-hedonist, rebellious, suicidal, depressive, misanthropic. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/e8yecUoq700/hqdefault.jpg "A J K S - 301") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8yecUoq700) ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-relating-to-ethics/400143/22 "2013-03-06T12:47:48Z")
Meatloaf - Paradise by the Dashboard Light Keeping a promise ‘til the end of time’. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-relating-to-ethics/400143/23 "2013-03-06T21:10:21Z")
“(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don’t Want to Be Right” by Homer Banks, Carl Hampton and Raymond Jackson. It has been performed by Luther Ingram, Millie Jackson, and Barbara Mandrell, among others. ---
**Author:** ![CatherineZeta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@CatherineZeta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CatherineZeta)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-relating-to-ethics/400143/24 "2013-03-06T21:19:03Z")
“Snakes” by No Doubt is about being tempted to lose sight of your values and selling out. ---
**Author:** ![B.Serum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/b.serum/32/14266_2.png) [@B.Serum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/B.Serum)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-relating-to-ethics/400143/25 "2013-03-06T21:29:23Z")
For “Race, Ethnicity & Nation,” “Rednecks” by Randy Newman is as good as it gets (weird how that guy keeps coming up). Language caution: The word “n\*gger” is used as part of refrain. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-relating-to-ethics/400143/26 "2013-03-07T10:10:45Z")
I kept changing my own definition of what constitutes “ethics” and I ended up with a list where all the songs either describe or prescribe an, er, attitude, toward how to live life. Payin’ the Cost to Be the Boss – BB King Tell It Like It Is – by about a million artists Third Rate Romance – Amazing Rhythm Aces Love for Sale – Billie Holiday Imagine – John Lennon Blowin’ In the Wind – Bob Dylan The Times They Are A-Changing – Bob Dylan Chicago / We Can Change The World – Crosby, Stills & Nash Find The Cost Of Freedom – Crosby, Stills & Nash Ohio – Crosby, Stills & Nash Wasted on the Way – Crosby, Stills & Nash The Heart of the Matter – Don Henley Working It – Don Henley The End of Innocence – Don Henley All She Wants to Do Is Dance – Don Henley Don’t Stop – Fleetwood Mac My Way – Frank Sinatra This Masquerade – George Benson Get It While You Can – Janis Joplin I Walk the Line – Johnny Cash Dust In The Wind – Kansas Woodstock – Joni Mitchell Inner City Blues – Marvin Gaye For the Love of Money – The O’jays This Land Is Your Land – Woodie Guthrie Fight the Power – Public Enemy I Am A Rock – Simon & Garfunkel Mr Wendal – Arrested Development Best literal title relevant to the OP: The Right Thing to Do – Carly Simon ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-relating-to-ethics/400143/27 "2013-03-07T17:06:54Z")
The first thing that popped into my mind was Fugazi’s “Suggestion”, which is about women dealing with harassment on the street. The last 40 seconds seem particularly relevant from an ethics perspective: \* She does nothing to deserve it. He looks at her because he wants to observe it. We sit back like they taught us, Keep quiet like they taught us. He just wants, he wants to prove it. She does nothing to remove it. We don’t want anyone to mind us, We play the roles that they’ve assigned us. She does nothing to conceal it. He touches her 'cause he wants to feel it. We blame her… For being there.\* [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songs-relating-to-ethics/400143.md?page=1)