For me, Piano Man by Billy Joel is a perfect example of a song about the working class without it being communist or anything.
It’s just a song about the regular people at the bar, from all walks of life. A bar is one of the quintessential working class symbols around here in my opinion, and the songs perfectly captures the joys and the loneliness one may find in a bar. The drunks, the people remembering the old days, the party folks, etc. all coming together to have a laugh, a drink and a song. It’s such a cliche song but it always makes me emotional lol.
You guys got any suggestions?
Man I never thought about the song in that way lol. There’s so much main stream songs that carry a socialist sentiment despite it not being the intention. Turns out people make music for the people.
Exactly! The context of the song also makes it significantly more poignant, as according to Bon Jovi the song focused on the people he saw everyday in his small industrial hometown who were being crushed by the horrible economic decisions of the Reagan era in the name of capitalism.
Music is by the people, for the people. Always has been and always will, as music is a testament to the human spirit.