"All Along the Watchtower" by The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Monday, January 17, 2022 + Playlist: "If Every Man Became a King"
Written by Bob Dylan, yet often remembered as The Jimi Hendrix Experience's biggest radio hit, "All Along the Watchtower" is one of the biggest songs in rock music. Dylan's songwriting earned the 2016 Nobel Prize in literature. The cryptic lyrics of today's representative song, taking inspiration from Isaiah 21:5-9, have been speculated to be about everything from a conversation between Dylan and Elvis Presley to an allegory for the Vietnam war or the apocalypse. Maybe it's because of Forest Gump but the guitar solo on Hendrix's version of "All Along the Watchtower" feels like a zeitgeist soundtrack to the chaotic '60s--a time of war, drugs, assassinations, and Civil Rights.
"THERE MUST BE SOME WAY OUT OF THIS." "All Along the Watched Tower" deserves its own post, and may get a lengthened post next year; however, today, I'm sharing a playlist in honor of the late, great Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. There are 17+ stories I want to delve into with today's playlist, but I will only quickly talk about each one. The theme of this playlist is Civil Rights. I feel that my playlist is inadequate in many ways. How can a privileged white guy come up with a list of songs about Civil Rights? I wanted to share songs that I listen to or that fit in my brand. I grew up favoring mostly white artists. I've written about how I believe music has been racially curated in the past, but now with streaming services we can start to mix and match more freely. So for today's list, we're mixing and matching. We'll hear from artists of multiple ethnicities, and we'll ask the question, "What if every man, woman, and child could become a King?" First let's look at the Spotify Playlist:
2. "All Along the Watchtower" by The Jimmy Hendrix Experience. Today's song continues the rock part of the playlist.
3. "Looking for America" by Switchfoot ft. Lecrae. Switchfoot has been the CCM critic of consumerism and empire since their 1997 debut. Lecrae was a CCM darling until he became more and more outspoken to the racism in the Christian music community. On Switchfoot's 2016 album Where the Light Shines Through, the band features Lecrae rapping about the hypocrisy of a "Christian nation." Nearly six years later, with controversies about Critical Race Theory being taught in schools and voter suppression floated in the name of godliness, "Looking for America" seems all the more relevant. 
4. "Points of Authority / 99 Problems / One Step Closer" by JAY-Z, Linkin Park. This song makes my playlist explicit. JAY-Z's 2003 hit talks about being pulled over by the police for going one mile-an-hour over the speed limit. Set to the tune of two Hybrid Theory Linkin Park tracks, the song adds an aggressive take on the original, and Chester Bennington's "I'm about to break" is a cathartic end to the track.5. "We Owe This To Ourselves" by Anberlin. Like Bono, featured later on this list, Stephen Christian was influenced by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. When I first heard the lyrics to their 2011 Dark Is the Way, Light Is a Place opener, "We Owe This to Ourselves," I wondered what Christian meant by "If every man became a King," but the following line "We could do more than just dream" made sense. What if everyone could have a vision of equality? Instead, everyone is trying to live like a king, taking more and more for him or herself.
6. "Mental" by Hundred Year Storm is a speech by Dr. King set to music.
7. "Cynical" by Propaganda ft. Aaron Marsh & Sho Baraka. I wrote about this one last year for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. 8. "Where Is the Love" by Black Eyed Peas ft. Justin Timberlake. This was my first introduction to the Peas. I thought that all of their music was inspirational. Then I heard "My Humps." This song shows what a group of diverse singers/rappers can do to change the world.
9. "Cold Air" by Acceptance. A band that's struggled with the meaning of its name wrote this song about "a community that is being broken apart by prejudice, indignation, and division." The music video depicts four friends of different races burning a map of America, with the message in the lyrics: "We don't belong here." That message struck me last January after witnessing the Capitol riots on the sixth.
10. "Blue Monday" by New Order. Besides Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, the third Monday of January is also Blue Monday, the most depressing day of the year. I'd need to do a little more research, but I don't think New Order was actually referencing the pseudo-scientific date, though. New Order's classic was a great leap forward in dance music, though.
11. "All Deliberate Speed" by Mae is the latest addition to the playlist. The phrase comes from Chief Justice Earl Warren, declaring segregation in schools to be unconstitutional. He stated that school should be desegregated with "all deliberate speed." What the hell does that mean? Move quickly, but deliberately (slowly, carefully). The Supreme Court's glacial support of desegregation has been criticized over the years. Mae uses this phrase as they are restless to record their debut album and tour, frustrated with their management(?). Maybe this isn't the best metaphor for a group of white musicians in my playlist, but this "All Deliberate Speed" attitude toward change that needs to happen is frustrating these days.
12. "Revolution" by Kirk Franklin. I wanted to include Kirk Franklin because he's so influential in gospel, that he was featured on Kanye tracks before Kanye was Ye and doing gospel. In recent years, Franklin has become more outspoken about the inherent racism in the Christian music industry. I hope that Franklin can help to make a change away from the status quo.
13. "(Simply) The Best" by Tina Turner. The more and more I learn about Tina Turner, the more this woman inspires me.14. "Black or White" by Michael Jackson was controversial when it came out for the overtly sexual music video which undermined one of MJ's most inspirational anthems of peace. The King of Pop's legacy is further clouded by accusations of sexual molestation. However, let's just take this song for what it was in it's time: epic.
15. "Pride (In the Name of Love)" by U2 was inspired by Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr., particularly referencing the latter's assassination on April 4 in Memphis. U2 released the song "MLK" as the same album's closer.
16. "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" by Diana Ross. I recently listened to a podcast about the two most popular versions of this song. Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell's original version is iconic, but I wanted to save Marvin for the next song. And Diana Ross's version blows off the roof. She makes us all feel like nothing is impossible.
17. "What's Going On" by Marvin Gaye. Released in 1971, Marvin looks at a country after the death of King, fighting a futile war in Vietnam, and struggling with racial inequality. Just as Jesus often dismantled his critics with a simple question, "What's Going On" reminds us to question the injustice around us.
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