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 Lieber 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:

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, who sang "hope I die before I get old" for more than 35 years
  • 1968 "Born to be Wild" -- a celebration of freedom by Steppenwolf.
  • 1969 "Volunteers of America" -- Jefferson Airplane, a very anthem-oriented band, on their most anthemic album
  • 1969 "We Can Be Together" -- Jefferson Airplane, a very anthem-oriented band, on their most anthemic album
  • 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 "I Write the Songs", the ironic anti-anthem, written by Beach Boy Bruce Johnston for David Cassidy and Barry Manilow.
  • 1975 "Blitzkrieg Bop" -- The Ramones
  • 1975 "God Save The Queen" -- The Sex Pistols
  • 1976 "Anarchy In The U.K." -- The Sex Pistols, channels the feelings of frustration and anger of the British youths into an anthem of chaos and anarchy which they desired.
  • 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 USA" -- Bruce Springsteen, a cry of anguish from the forgotten vets of America, which ironically has become the ultimate American anthem due to the power of the music and the chorus
  • 1991 "Smells Like Teen Spirit" -- Nirvana (band), a youth anthem about teen angst and boredom, and the band's most popular song, it placed #9 on Rolling Stone Magazine's 500 Greatest Rock and Roll Songs of all time. ("I feel stupid and contagious. Here we are now. Entertain us.")
  • 1998 "Prisoner of Society" -- The Living End, analyzes the distant attitudes between teenagers and their adults ("Our generation gap means the war is never won") and defends it as only a product of their surroundings ("You see I'm not the enemy/Just a prisoner of society")
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