Political (song)

"Political" is a song by Spirit of the West. One of the band's most famous songs, it originally appeared on the 1988 album Labour Day. The song was written by John Mann.

Despite the band's reputation for writing politically-themed songs, "Political" is in fact about the end of a personal romantic relationship. The verses detail the friction that led to the couple's breakup, and the chorus confirms that "Everything, every little thing, every little thing/With you and me had to be so political." Although the song was not a mainstream chart breakthrough for the band, it garnered them significant airplay on CBC Radio, CFNY and campus radio stations throughout Canada. This expansion of the band's audience led to a major label deal with Warner Music Canada, who released the band's next studio album, Save This House, in 1990.

On 1991's Go Figure, Spirit of the West's first rock album, the band recorded a new rendition of the song. Although the lyrics remained identical (except for the word "little" being dropped from the chorus), the melody was moderately different and the instrumentation was more electric and rhythm-heavy. The 1991 version was released as a CD single, with the B-sides "Home for a Rest", "Sad But True" and "Again and Again and Again".

Revolutionary song

Revolutionary songs are political songs that advocate or praise revolutions. They are used to boost morale, as well as for political propaganda or agitation. Amongst the most well-known revolutionary songs are "La Marseillaise" and "The Internationale". Many protest songs can be considered revolutionary - or later become canonized as revolutionary songs following a successful revolution. On the other hand, once a revolution is established, some of the aspects of protest song may be considered counter-revolutionary.

Revolutionary songs are a notable part of propaganda. The singing of the such songs is often considered as a demonstrative or revolutionary action. Such songs have been known to lend solidarity to disjointed political communities. Some revolutionary songs have appeared spontaneously; others have been written by notable authors, such as Bertolt Brecht. Revolutionary songs are often frequently targeted at certain governments.

By country

Music was part of the cultural support of the earliest revolutions, and institutionalized as a genre of socialist or workers' music in countries including the Soviet Union, its former Eastern European satellites, China, Vietnam, Cuba and North Korea, as well as less permanent revolutionary movements in other countries.