With Cambridge Police hot on the trail of now-illicit bacchanals, students require musical catharsis. For those of you whose social lives are under threat from The Man, we present a playlist featuring artists who share your pain.
1. “Fuck tha Police” by N.W.A
The crown jewel of protest songs. Understandably, this ballad has becomea rallying cry for the Compton youth, and, maybe a little more surprisingly, the Crimson youth as well. Want people to think you have street cred? Then get caught reciting a line from this song. We suggest “Beat a police out of shape / And when I’m finished, bring the yellow tape.”
2. “Fuck the Police” by Mellowhype
Inspired by N.W.A.’s song of the same name released 20 years prior, Mellowhype’s take starts with the typical anticop rhetoric but takes a plunge toward the absurd when they start rapping about raping female cops. The song is filled with lyrical gems, including “Kidnap a detective, tie his ass to a cross.”
3. “Police On My Back” by The Clash
Next to hip hop, no genre loves to hate the establishment more than punk rock—cue the Clash. This is one to blast the next time you’re fleeing from the Phoenix or springing from the Spee—Joe Strummer knows how it feels to have the police on yo’ case, wondering what you’ve done to deserve it.
4. “Freedom for a Policeman” by Chad VanGaalen
On the other hand, if the sociology concentrator/bleeding heart in you has ever worried that traditional power structures might be oppressing the oppressors, Canadian indie rocker Chad Van-Gaalen’s got you covered. With such plaintive lyrics as “Policeman, you’ve become such a drag / Why won’t you be our friend / And drop your gun in hand?,” you’re sure to appeal to the marshmallow interior beneath that cold authoritarian veneer.
5. “They Don’t Care About Us” by Michael Jackson
This song is characteristic of Michael Jackson’s life: inspiring, provocative,and very, very controversial. Originally intended to be a rally against police brutality, the song includes ambiguous lyrics such as “Jew me, sue me / Everybody dome”—we’ll let you figure that one out.
6. “Every Step You Take” by The Police
What’s creepier than a band called The Police declaring they’re following every step you take? Answer: The Cambridge police doing it in real life.
