Every once in a while, when researching the Top 100 Political Music Countdown, I'd be asked "What do you mean by political songs? You mean protest songs?" My standard answer was "It's whatever 'political' means to you... songs about war and peace, the rich and poor, power and the powerless. Lawyers, guns and money, whatever." There were usually a few follow up questions, as people seemed to look for permission to be political. They'd say "What about feminism?". I'd say "Sure!". They'd say "What about rap music?" I'd say "What century are you living in? How could there not be rap music?".
And every once in a while, around 2 AM, someone would say something like "Hey you know there's this great song I forget the name of, it's about this woman who loves this guy and no one knows she loves him and she waits 7 years for him to come home but he dies in the war and she's heartbroken and no one knows, but she's gonna tell them how glad she is he's coming home, even though he's coming home in a coffin and it's great and so sad I mean it's heartbreaking and you really need to put it on your list."
It's not on the list, because there's nothing in the lyrics to tell me that Box of Cedar carries a soldier. The line 'drone of doom' may hint at war. But it might not. Ask Marissa Nadler the next time you see her. She's incredible. Listen to this song late at night a couple times when no one is around.
And weep.
