Three Classic Songs about Political Idealism

Dion, John Stewart, Paul Winter: Rate a Record challenge

Photo by Suzy Brooks on Unsplash

“Easy to be hard” in these turbulent times, but there’s another way. Music can give us hope. Three songs that might do that. (If you’re an idealist, have a box of tissues handy. If you’re a cynic, have a box of tissues handy.)

Dion, “Abraham, Martin, and John”

Didn’t you love the things that they stood for?
Didn’t they try to find some good for you and me?

An obvious choice (for a boomer), but listening to it again for the zillionth time, I was surprised at how moving the song still was.

John Stewart, “Shoot All the Brave Horses”

You can take this simply structured song as an environmental protest about our destruction of wild nature (and it works perfectly), but Stewart (a member of the Kingston Trio and the composer of “Daydream Believer”) was also reacting to the assassination of Robert Kennedy, with whose campaign he had helped. Unfortunately, it’s as timely as ever. We’re still…