Humbly My Liberty Mixtape

My top 10 songs promoting liberty and freedom.

(Click the album cover to go to my Liberty Mixtape on Spotify)

“Liberty is the mother of virtue.” – Mary Wollstonecraft

Anyone who follows me on social media knows that I highly value classic liberal principles, such as liberty. So, I created this mixtape on Spotify of my favorite top 10 songs about our liberties and freedoms.

#10 Billy Joel, “My Life” – The first time I recall hearing this song was during the opening of the 1980 television sitcom, Boson Buddies, starring Tom Hanks and Peter Scolari. This song was Billy Joel’s seventh Billboard Top 40 hit. As a person who values independence, the chorus speaks to me.

I don't need you to worry for me 'cause I'm alright
I don't want you to tell me it's time to come home
I don't care what you say anymore, this is my life
Go ahead with your own life, leave me alone

#9 Beastie Boys, “(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (to Party)” – This song became a huge hit in 1987, with its release on their 1986 album, Licensed To Ill. Even though the band disowned the song as a novelty and stopped playing it live after their ’87 tour, it has remained one of my favorite songs that they ever produced. This song was my gateway into the world of rap and an appreciation for that genre of music. And as a youth at the time, I embraced this idea of rebellion and was ready to fight for my right to party!

#8 Megadeath, “Peace Sells” – Another song from 1986. Despite having an eclectic taste in music, which includes many genres that spans several centuries, my mixtape here is filled with 80s music. Peace is one of the core principles of classic liberalism, and Megadeath brings this message home with this song on their second studio album release. It’s true that peace sells, but who’s buying?

#7 BackWordz, “Self Ownership” – Naturally, with a band whose leader, Eric July, is a libertarian and a political activist, they are going to create songs that promote liberty. True to the core principles of libertarianism, BackWordz sings about how individuals own themselves and are independent of government. “So realize you own yourself & no one else…Slavery’s not the best and self ownership is what we’re lacking; Freedom will be the course no matter if you’re rich or poor”

#6 Tom Petty, “I Won’t Back Down” – A major hit from Tom Petty’s first solo album, Full Moon Fever, this song has been enjoyed and played by people across the political spectrum. It makes sense because this is a fighting song. If anyone has been to a political campaign over the past few decades, there is a good chance that they have heard this great rock song.

Well I know what's right
I got just one life
In a world that keeps on pushin' me around
But I'll stand my ground
And I won't back down

#5 Twisted Sister, “We’re Not Gonna Take It” – Dee Snider sings a classic song about rebellion against authority with lyrics left open for some interpretation. Anyone can pick their own oppressor and raise the roof singing these lines, “we’re not gonna take it.” This song has been played everywhere from sporting events, in movies, in political campaigns, at protests, and played by resistance fighters against would be tyrants. An interesting fact, this song was inspired by “O Come, All Ye Faithful.”

We've got the right to choose, and
There ain't no way we'll lose it
This is our life, this is our song
We'll fight the powers that be, just
Don't pick our destiny, 'cause
You don't know us, you don't belong

#4 Ice-T, “Freedom of Speech” – Talking about how we’re not gonna take it, Ice-T’s “Freedom of Speech” is a wonderful rap song giving censorship a middle-finger. With the assault on songs and their lyrics during the mid-1980s by Tipper Gore’s Parental Music Resource Center (PMRC), many well-known musicians took a stand and pushed back against their attempts to control their artistic speech. Ice-T was one who didn’t hold back with this song, and it is an anthem for free speech advocates everywhere. The fourth verse is my favorite:

Freedom of Speech, let 'em take it from me
Next they'll take it from you, then what you gonna do?
Let 'em censor books, let 'em censor art
PMRC, this is where the witch hunt starts
You'll censor what we see, we read, we hear, we learn
The books will burn
You better think it out
We should be able to say anything, our lungs were meant to shout
Say what we feel, yell out what's real
Even though it may not bring mass appeal
Your opinion is yours, my opinion is mine
If you don't like what I'm sayin'? Fine
But don't close it, always keep an open mind
A man who fails to listen is blind
We only got one right left in the world today
Let me have it or throw The Constitution away

#3 Steve Lee, “I’ll Give Up My Gun” – Looking at the title of this song, it’s not unreasonable for a person to mistake it for a red-blooded American’s ballad of the Second Amendment; however, Steve Lee is actually an Australian, who grew up in the outback with a long family history of gun ownership. Having a passion and love for firearms, he decided to create an entire album full of songs about his favorite pastime and natural right. While he laments the loss of some of his people’s freedoms down under, he is quite clear when he’ll give up his right to self-defense. Liberty loving Americans will agree with Steve’s heartfelt message.

I'll give up my gun
When politicians don't lie

#2 Alice Cooper, “Freedom” – We are forever indebted to Frank Zappa for discovering this artistic master of theatrics and hard rock. The master of shock-rock and awe challenges the authority of any generation and all guardians of the status quo. His song of “Freedom” is a song for the People.

Freedom, we're gonna ring the bell
Freedom to rock, freedom to talk
Freedom, raise your fist and yell
Freedom to rock, freedom to talk

#1 Jordan Page, “Liberty” – Like Eric July from BackWordz, Jordan Page is a musician and activist for libertarian principles and values. He has been acclaimed as “the Bob Dylan of the Liberty movement” and supported the presidential campaign of Ron Paul during his 2012 run for office. This is my number one song of liberty, so I would like to share the song’s lyrics in their entirety:

Why do we sit down when all should be standing
And why do we back down at the critical moment
Like running away from the waves of the ocean
We head for the hills with the high tide approaching
As sand slips away from the castle

When it’s time to stand upright why do we falter
Like placing our freedom on the sacrificial altar
We hold tight to our fears and defend our oppressors
As we fight for their lies and become the transgressors
As pacifists transform to violent aggressors

But I’m only a stranger here
I’m a long long way from my home
And they say I can’t change
All the things I find strange
For what can one man do alone
What can one man do alone

When is the right time to stand up for freedom
Could it be when you start to feel creating children
Who’ll inherit the pain and the debt of this nation
And be slaves to the banks that cause hyper-inflation
Who are masters of commerce, lies, and bad legislation

If you looked in the eyes of a thousand young children
Through fences of razors, their innocence stolen
As the red flag of tyranny flies in the open
Is that when you’ll finally notice

But I’m only a stranger here
I’m a long long way from my home
And they say I can’t change
All the things I find strange
For what can one man do alone
Yes what can one man do alone

I’m only a stranger looking to find better nature in my fellow man
But they keep telling me it’s a sin to be free
And that’s more than I’m willing to stand

Where will you be when the order is given
To censor your mind as free speech is forbidden
As martyrs for peace from the world will be driven
Away by the sound of a bellowing thunder
And choke on the blood of a dream going under

As arrogant men tear up our Constitution
And from every direction we cry R3VOLution!
Standing together and without permission
Soldiers for truth in the war of attrition
The love of our country as our ammunition

But I’m only a stranger here
I’m a long long way from my home
And I’m going to change
All the things I find strange
For I am not one man alone
Yes I’m only a stranger
I’m a long long way from my home
And I’m going to change
All the things I find strange
For I know that I’m not alone
Yes I know that I’m not alone, not alone

If you like this mixtape, and would like to hear the songs in their entirety, please click on the Spotify link right here. And, to hear more mixtapes as they come out, please subscribe to my Substack and Spotify accounts. Thanks for reading and listening to my thoughts!

~ my Brain