Rock and roll anthem
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A rock and roll anthem is a celebratory rock and roll song. The subject that the anthem celebrates can vary, although one common anthemic theme is the celebration of rock and roll for itself.
Chuck Berry probably wrote more of these than any other songwriter:
- "School Days" (1956) "Hail, Hail Rock and Roll, deliver me from the days of old"
- "Roll Over Beethoven" (1956) -- "and tell Tchaikovsky the news"
- "Rock and Roll Music" (1957) -- "got a back beat you can't lose it"
- "Johnny B. Goode" (1958) -- "never ever learned to read or write so well, but he could play a guitar just like ringing a bell"
- "Let it Rock" (1959)
The essence of the rock and roll anthem may be best captured in the Leiber and Stoller song "That is Rock and Roll", sung first by The Coasters in 1959:
- You say our music's for the birds and you can't understand the words,
- Well honey if you did, you'd really blow your lid, 'cause baby that is rock and roll
There are many others:
- 1954 "Rock Around the Clock" -- Bill Haley and his Comets -- cited by Dick Clark in 1981 as the "international anthem of rock and roll".
- 1957 "Jailhouse Rock" -- Elvis Presley, "Warden threw a party at the county jail, prison band was there and they began to wail."
- 1958 "Rock and Roll is Here to Stay" -- Danny and the Juniors
- 195? "Vive Le Rock and Roll" -- Bill Haley and Catarina Valente
- 1961 "It Will Stand" -- The Showmen
- 1962 "PFC Rhythm and Blues Jones" -- Ray Stevens, "I'm a lover not a fighter, I'm a BMI songwriter"
- 1964 "Do You Remember" -- The Beach Boys
- 1965 "My Generation" -- The Who ("I hope I die before I get old")
- 1965 "Do You Believe in Magic" -- The Lovin' Spoonful, who sang "It's like trying to tell a stranger about rock and roll"
- 1966 "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" -- The Rolling Stones
- 1967 "Heavy Music" -- Bob Seger
- 1967 "I Dig Rock & Roll Music" -- Peter, Paul and Mary, ambivalent anthem by folk singers, "The message may not move me, Or mean a great deal to me"
- 1967 "Rock and Roll Woman" -- Buffalo Springfield
- 1970 "Had Me A Real Good Time" -- The Faces
- 1971 "Won't Get Fooled Again" -- The Who
- 1971 "Rock and Roll" - Led Zeppelin
- 1971 "American Pie" -- Don McLean
- 1972 "God Gave Rock and Roll To You" -- Argent (later covered by Petra and Kiss)
- 1972 "Rock and Roll Lullaby" -- B. J. Thomas
- 1972 "Cities on Flame with Rock and Roll" -- Blue Öyster Cult
- 1972 "Rock and Roll Part 2", Gary Glitter, instrumental anthem
- 1972 "Rock and Roll" -- Lou Reed, Mitch Ryder and his band Detroit, (successor to the Detroit Wheels)
- 1973 "Stay With Me" -- The Faces
- 1973 "Cum On Feel The Noize" -- Slade
- 1973 "The Rocker" -- Thin Lizzy
- 1973 "I'm Just a Singer (in a Rock and Roll Band)" -- Moody Blues
- 1974 "Life is a Rock (and the Radio Rolled Me)" -- Reunion
- 1974 "Long Live Rock" -- The Who
- 1974 "Rock On" -- David Essex
- 1974 "Rock and Roll Heaven" -- The Righteous Brothers
- 1974 "Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo" -- Rick Derringer
- 1974 "It's Only Rock and Roll (But I Like It)" -- The Rolling Stones
- 1975 "Long Live Rock 'n' Roll" -- Kim Fowley
- 1975 "Rock Show" -- Paul McCartney and Wings
- 1975 "Rock and Roll All Nite" -- first hit for KISS, recorded live
- 1976 "Rock and Roll Band" -- Boston
- 1976 "Anything That's Rock and Roll" -- Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
- 1976 "Rock and Roll Heart" -- Lou Reed
- 1976 "Rock 'n' Roll Singer" -- AC/DC
- 1976 "It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Wanna Rock 'n' Roll)" -- AC/DC
- 1977 "Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll" -- Ian Dury & the Blockheads, updating the grand old slogan, "Wine, women & song!"
- 1977 "We Will Rock You" -- Queen
- 1977 "Blank Generation" -- Richard Hell an anthem of nihilism
- 1977 "Hot Legs" -- Rod Stewart
- 1977 "Let There Be Rock" -- AC/DC
- 1978 "Long Live Rock 'n' Roll" -- Rainbow
- 1979 "Old Time Rock and Roll" -- Bob Seger
- 1979 "Hey Hey, My My (Out of the Blue)" -- Neil Young
- 1980 "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me" -- Billy Joel
- 1980 "Rock 'n' Roll" -- Human League
- 1980 "Rock and Roll Ain't Noise Pollution" -- AC/DC
- 1981 "I Love Rock 'n' Roll" -- Joan Jett
- 1981 "For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)" -- AC/DC
- 1983 "The Heart of Rock and Roll" -- Huey Lewis & the News
- 1983 "Rock of Ages" -- Def Leppard (featuring the classic opening words, "Gunter glieben glauchen globen")
- 1984 "Rock You like a Hurricane" -- Scorpions
- 1984 "Let's Go Crazy" -- Prince
- 1984 "I Wanna Rock" -- Twisted Sister
- 1984 "Turn Up the Radio" -- Autograph
- 1985 "R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A." -- John Mellencamp
- 1985 "We Built This City (On Rock and Roll)" -- Starship [1]
- 1985 "Vive Le Rock" -- Adam Ant
- 1987 "Paradise City" -- Guns N' Roses
- 1989 "Rockin' in the Free World" -- Neil Young
- 1991 "Smells Like Teen Spirit" -- Nirvana
- 1992 "The Spirit of Rock 'n' Roll" -- Brian Wilson
- 1995 "Punk Rawk Show" -- MxPx
In addition to those which celebrate rock and roll, other rock anthems that have celebrated other subjects have included:
- 1965 "My Generation" -- a youth anthem by The Who
- 1968 "Born to be Wild" -- a celebration of freedom by Steppenwolf.
- 1969 "Volunteers" -- Jefferson Airplane
- 1969 "We Can Be Together" -- Jefferson Airplane
- 1974 "Teenage Rampage" by Sweet. ("Come join the revolution, get yourself a constitution, and join the revolution now. Recognize your age it's a teenage rampage, turn another page on the teenage rampage now" - Anthem to teenage oppression and general teen years."
- 1975 "Blitzkrieg Bop" -- The Ramones
- 1975 "God Save the Queen" -- The Sex Pistols
- 1976 "Anarchy in the U.K." -- The Sex Pistols
- 1977 "We Are The Champions" -- Queen, a song that glorifies winners and is popular in sport events
- 1983 "Down Under" -- Men at Work, an Australian anthem
- 1984 "Born in the U.S.A." -- Bruce Springsteen, an anthem for Vietnam veterans
- 1991 "Smells Like Teen Spirit" -- Nirvana, a popular anthem for teenage youth in the nineties
- 1998 "Prisoner of Society" -- The Living End
