Russia’s most famous song was written in remembrance of one of Russia’s most important historic moments: Napoleon’s invasion of Russia. Music is often the medium in which people remember key historical events. Below, are some examples of songs that commemorate/remember/tell the story of a historical event.
SONG #1: SUNDAY, BLOODY SUNDAY by U2
LYRICS:
Yeah
Mmm hmm
I can't believe the news today
Oh, I can't close my eyes and make it go away
How long? How long must we sing this song?
How long? How long?
'Cause tonight
We can be as one, tonight
Broken bottles under children's feet
Bodies strewn across the dead-end street
But I won't heed the battle call
It puts my back up, puts my back up against the wall
Sunday, Bloody Sunday
Sunday, Bloody Sunday
Sunday, Bloody Sunday
Sunday, Bloody Sunday
All right, let's go!
And the battle's just begun
There's many lost, but tell me who has won?
The trenches dug within our hearts
And mothers, children, brothers, sisters torn apart
Sunday, Bloody Sunday
Sunday, Bloody Sunday
How long? How long must we sing this song?
How long? How long?
'Cause tonight
We can be as one, tonight
Tonight (Sunday, Bloody Sunday)
Tonight
Tonight (Sunday, Bloody Sunday)
Tonight
Oh, let's go!
Wipe the tears from your eyes
Wipe your tears away
I'll wipe your tears away
I'll wipe your tears away (Sunday, Bloody Sunday)
I'll wipe your bloodshot eyes (Sunday, Bloody Sunday)
Sunday, Bloody Sunday
Sunday, Bloody Sunday
Ah
Sunday, Bloody Sunday
Sunday, Bloody Sunday
Ah, yeah, let's go!
And it's true we are immune
When fact is fiction and TV reality
And today the millions cry (Sunday, Bloody Sunday)
We eat and drink while tomorrow they die (Sunday, Bloody Sunday)
The real battle is begun (Sunday, Bloody Sunday)
To claim the victory Jesus won (Sunday, Bloody Sunday)
On
Sunday, Bloody Sunday
Hey, yeah
Sunday, Bloody Sunday
LINKS:
WIKIPEDIA: CLICK HERE for the WIKI for the song above.
WIKIPEDIA: CLICK HERE for the WIKI for the historical event of the song above.
HISTORY.com: CLICK HERE for another look at the history of the event.
SONG #2: YORKTOWN (WORLD TURNED UPSIDE DOWN) from HAMILTON
LYRICS:
Monsieur Hamilton.
Monsieur Lafayette.
In command where you belong.
How you say, no sweat.
Finally on the field. We've had quite a run.
Immigrants, we get the job done.
So what happens if we win?
I go back to France
I bring freedom to my people if I'm given
the chance.
We'll be with you when you do.
Go lead your men.
See you on the other side.
‘Til we meet again, let's go!
I am not throwin' away my shot!
I am not throwin' away my shot!
Hey yo, I'm just like my country, I'm young
scrappy and hungry
and I'm not throwin' away my shot!
I am not throwin' away my shot!
‘Til the world turns upside down...
‘Til the world turns upside down!
I imagine death so much it feels more like
a memory.
This is where it gets me: on my feet the enemy ahead of me.
If this is the end of me, at least I have a friend with me
weapon in my hand, a command, and my
men with me.
Then I remember my Eliza's expecting me...
not only that, my Eliza's expecting.
We gotta go, gotta get the job done
gotta start a new nation, gotta meet my son!
Take the bullets out your gun!
What?
The bullets out your gun!
What?
We move under cover and we move as one
through the night, we have one shot to live
another day.
We cannot let a stray gunshot give us away.
We will fight up close, seize the moment and stay in it.
It's either that or meet the business end of
a bayonet.
The code word is ‘Rochambeau, ' dig me?
Rochambeau!
You have your orders now, go, man, go!
And so the American experiment begins with my friends all scattered to the winds.
Laurens is in South Carolina, redefining
brav'ry.
We'll never be free until we end slavery!
When we finally drive the British away
Lafayette is there waiting in Chesapeake Bay!
How did we know that this plan would work?
We had a spy on the inside. That's right
Hercules Mulligan!
A tailor spyin' on the British government!
I take their measurements, information and then I smuggle it!
Up
To my brother's revolutionary covenant
I'm runnin' with the Sons of Liberty and I am lovin' it!
See, that's what happens when you up against the ruffians.
We in the shit now, somebody gotta shovel it!
Hercules Mulligan, I need no introduction
when you knock me down I get the fuck back up again!
Left! Right! Hold!
Go!
What! What! What!
After a week of fighting, a young man in a red coat stands on a parapet.
We lower our guns as he frantically waves a white handkerchief.
And just like that, it's over. We tend to our
wounded, we count our dead.
Black and white soldiers wonder alike if this really means freedom.
Not. Yet.
We negotiate the terms of surrender.
I see George Washington smile.
We escort their men out of Yorktown.
They stagger home single file.
Tens of thousands of people flood the streets.
There are screams and church bells ringing.
And as our fallen foes retreat
I hear the drinking song they're singing…
The world turned upside down.
The world turned upside down
the world turned upside down
the world turned upside down
down, down, down, down.
Freedom for America, freedom for France!
Down, down, down.
Gotta start a new nation, gotta meet my son.
Down, down, down.
We won!
We won!
We won!
We won!
The world turned upside down!
LINKS:
WIKIPEDIA: CLICK HERE for the WIKI for the song above.
WIKIPEDIA: CLICK HERE for the WIKI for the historical event of the song above.
HISTORY.com: CLICK HERE for another look at the history of the event.
SONG #3: I’VE BEEN LOOKING FOR FREEDOM by DAVID HASSELHOFF
LYRICS:
One morning in June
some twenty years ago
I was born a rich man's son
I had everything that money could buy,
but freedom I had none
I've been looking for freedom
I've been looking so long
I've been looking for freedom
Still the search goes on
I've been looking for freedom
since I left my home town
I've been looking for freedom
Still it can't be found
I headed down the track
my baggage on my back
I left the city far behind
Walking down that road
with my heavy load
trying to find some ease of mind
Father said: "You'll be sorry, son,
if you leave your home this way
And when you realize
the freedom money buys
You'll come running home someday"
I've been looking for freedom
I've been looking so long
I've been looking for freedom
Still the search goes on
I've been looking for freedom
Since I left my home town
I've been looking for freedom
Still it can't be found
I made a lot of dues
had plenty to lose
travelling across the land
Worked on a farm,
got some muscle in my arms
but still I'm not a self-made man
I feel the run for many years to come
I'll be searching door to door
And given some time
some day I'm gonna find
the freedom (freedom, freedom) I've been searching for
I've been looking for freedom
I've been looking so long
I've been looking for freedom
Still the search goes on
I've been looking for freedom
Since I left my home town
I've been looking for freedom
Still it can't be found
Still it can't be found
LINKS:
WIKIPEDIA: CLICK HERE for the WIKI for the song above.
WIKIPEDIA: CLICK HERE for the WIKI for the historical event of the song above.
HISTORY.com: CLICK HERE for another look at the history of the event.
SONG #4: THE RISING by BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN
LYRICS:
Can't see nothin' in front of me
Can't see nothin' coming up behind
I make my way through this darkness
I can't feel nothing but this chain that binds me
Lost track of how far I've gone
How far I've gone, how high I've climbed
On my back's a sixty pound stone
On my shoulder a half mile line
Come on up for the rising
Come on up, lay your hands in mine
Come on up for the rising
Come on up for the rising tonight
Left the house this morning
Bells ringing filled the air
Wearin' the cross of my calling
On wheels of fire I come rollin' down here
Come on up for the rising
Come on up, lay your hands in mine
Come on up for the rising
Come on up for the rising tonight
Li, li, li, li, li, li, li, li, li
Spirits above and behind me
Faces gone black, eyes burnin' bright
May their precious blood forever bind me
Lord as I stand before your fiery light
Li, li, li, li, li, li, li, li, li
I see you Mary in the garden
In the garden of a thousand sighs
There's holy pictures of our children
Dancin' in a sky filled with light
May I feel your arms around me
May I feel your blood mix with mine
A dream of life comes to me
Like a catfish dancin' on the end of the line
Sky of blackness and sorrow (a dream of life)
Sky of love, sky of tears (a dream of life)
Sky of glory and sadness (a dream of life)
Sky of mercy, sky of fear (a dream of life)
Sky of memory and shadow (a dream of life)
Your burnin' wind fills my arms tonight
Sky of longing and emptiness (a dream of life)
Sky of fullness, sky of blessed life (a dream of life)
Come on up for the rising
Come on up, lay your hands in mine
Come on up for the rising
Come on up for the rising tonight
LINKS:
WIKIPEDIA: CLICK HERE for the WIKI for the song above.
WIKIPEDIA: CLICK HERE for the WIKI for the historical event of the song above.
HISTORY.com: CLICK HERE for another look at the history of the event.
SONG #5: APRIL 29, 1992 by SUBLIME (edited)
LYRICS:
I don't know if you can, but can you get an order for Ons, that's O-N-S,
Junior Market, the address is 1934 East Anaheim, all the windows are
Busted out, and it's like a free-for-all in here and uh the owner should
At least come down here and see if he can secure his business-
If he wants to
April 26th, 1992
There was a riot on the streets
Tell me where were you?
You were sittin' home watchin' your TV
While I was participating in some anarchy
First spot we hit it was my liquor store
I finally got all that alcohol I can't afford
With red lights flashin' time to retire
And then we turned that liquor store into a structure fire.
Next stop we hit it was the music shop
It only took one brick to make that window drop
Finally we got our own p.a.
Where do you think I got this guitar that you're hearing today? ey!
Call fire at the mobile station at Alamedas and Anahiem,
Its, ah, flaming up good]
10-4 Alamedas and Anahiem
Homicide, never doin' no time!
When we returned to the pad to unload everything
It dawned on me that I need new home furnishings
So once again we filled the van until it was full
Since that day my livin' room's been more comfortable
Cause everybody in the hood has had it up to here
It's getting harder and harder and harder each and every year
Some kids went in a store with their mother
I saw her when she came out she was gettin some pampers
They said it was for the black man,
They said it was for the mexican
And not for the white man
But if you look at the streets
It wasn't about Rodney King
It's bout this … up situation and these … up police
It's about coming up
And staying on top
And screamin' 187 on a … cop
It's not written on the paper it's on the wall
National guard!
Smoke from all around!
Units- Units be advised of an attempt 211 to arrest now at 938 Temple, 9-3-8
Temple, many subjects with bats trying to get inside the CB's
House, they're trying to kill him]
As long as I'm alive, I'm a live el rico.
Let it burn
Wanna let it burn
Wanna let it burn
Wanna wanna let it burn
Riots on the streets of Miami
W'oh, Riots on the streets of Chicago
On the streets of Long Beach
And San Francisco (Boise Idaho)
Riots on the streets of Kansas City (Salt Lake, Hunnington Beach, CA)
Tuscalusa, Alabama ( Compton Michigan)
Cleveland, Ohio (Pensacola)
Fountain Valley (Texas, Barstow, let's do this every year),
Paramount, Victorville (Twice a Year), Eugene OR
Eureka, CA (Let it burn, let it burn)
Hesperia (Oh, ya let it burn, wont'cha wont'cha let it burn)
Santa Barbara, Nevada, Phoenix Arizona, San Diego, Lakewood Florida
… 29 Palms.
LINKS:
WIKIPEDIA: CLICK HERE for the WIKI for the song above.
WIKIPEDIA: CLICK HERE for the WIKI for the historical event of the song above.
HISTORY.com: CLICK HERE for another look at the history of the event.
SONG #6: WHAT’S GOING ON by MARVIN GAYE
LYRICS:
Mother, mother
There's too many of you crying
Brother, brother, brother
There's far too many of you dying
You know we've got to find a way
To bring some lovin' here today, eheh
Father, father
We don't need to escalate
You see, war is not the answer
For only love can conquer hate
You know we've got to find a way
To bring some lovin' here today, oh oh oh
Picket lines and picket signs
Don't punish me with brutality
Talk to me, so you can see
Oh, what's going on
What's going on
Yeah, what's going on
Ah, what's going on
In the mean time
Right on, baby
Right on brother
Right on babe
Mother, mother, everybody thinks we're wrong
Oh, but who are they to judge us
Simply 'cause our hair is long
Oh, you know we've got to find a way
To bring some understanding here today
Oh oh oh
Picket lines and picket signs
Don't punish me with brutality
C'mon talk to me
So you can see
What's going on
Yeah, what's going on
Tell me what's going on
I'll tell you what's going on, ooh ooo ooo ooo
Right on baby
Right on baby
LINKS:
WIKIPEDIA: CLICK HERE for the WIKI for the song above.
WIKIPEDIA: CLICK HERE for the WIKI for the historical event of the song above.
HISTORY.com: CLICK HERE for another look at the history of the event.