High Fidelity: Stars & Stripes

No big lead-in for the gig this week--top 5 songs that most affected the way I see the country.

1. The entire catalogue of Rage Against the Machine, for coming along at a time when I was just starting to question what I was learned and taught. My parents started the ball rolling there, and pretty much severly underestimated how much speed it was going to gather and far down the hill as it was going to end up going.
2. Marvin Gaye, and a tie. "What's Going On", "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)", and "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)". Good to see in 30 years the plight of the average black American's improved so that we don't have to worry about things like war, urban blight, and the environment, eh, comrades?
3. Sly & the Family Stone, "Don't Call Me Nigger, Whitey". It's got two lines, and is the most concise and accurate song ever.
4. The Eagles, "Life In The Fast Lane". Yes, I do live in Southern California! Why do you ask?
5. Nirvana, "Smells Like Teen Spirit". You have to understand--like a decade of Poison and the Crue and Cinderella and all of a sudden out of the television comes this unwashed mass and that fucking riff and I was 12--after that 4 minutes, hitting puberty was a layup. Man.

You Got Me the Roots feat. Erykah Badu