February 9, 2016 4:30PM # Bernie and the Revolution By [David Boaz](https://www.cato.org/people/david-boaz) --- SHARE John Wagner of the Washington Post [reports](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/02/08/songs-of-revolution-and-others-that-make-bernie-sanderss-playlist/?wpmm=1&wpisrc=nl_daily202) that Bernie Sanders rallies feature a playlist to back up that “political revolution” he keeps talking about: > Supporters of the senator from Vermont who arrive at events early are likely to hear “Talkin’ Bout a Revolution” by folkster Tracy Chapman. And “The Revolution Starts Now” by country rocker Steve Earle. And “Revolution” by reggae legend Bob Marley & the Wailers. And “Revolution” by Celtic punk band Flogging Molly.… > > > There’s “Uprising,” by Muse; “Power to the People,” by the John Lennon/​Plastic Ono Band; “Make a Change,” by Buckwheat Zydeco; and “Give the People What They Want,” by The O’Jays. And as I read through his article, I kept waiting for the most famous “Revolution” song of all, by the Beatles. Apparently you won’t hear that at a Bernie Sanders rally. Now, my more music-savvy colleagues tell me that’s probably because the Beatles’ label, Apple Records, is very tight-fisted about rights. But I wonder if it just might be that John Lennon’s lyrics are a little too cautionary: > You say you got a real solution > Well, you know > We’d all love to see the plan… > > > You say you’ll change the constitution > Well, you know > We all want to change your head > You tell me it’s the institution > Well, you know > You better free you mind instead > But if you go carrying pictures of chairman Mao > You ain’t going to make it with anyone anyhow. Of course, Bernie hasn’t been carrying any pictures of Chairman Mao. But he did [honeymoon](http://www.wsj.com/articles/fighting-for-iowa-voters-bernie-sanders-leads-in-yaroslavl-1454099220) in the Soviet Union — in 1988! — and in the 1960s he spent some time on an Israeli kibbutz [run by a pro-Soviet group](https://pjmedia.com/ronradosh/2016/02/06/bernies-adventures-on-a-stalinist-kibbutz/) (Noam Chomsky [called them](http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/50260/qa-noam-chomsky) “split between Stalinist and Trotskyite”). So that disparagement of Mao might be a little too close for comfort. Not to mention the skepticism about radical solutions and changing the Constitution. In fact, as he moves to a national campaign, maybe he should add a few songs from the American Revolution. ##### Related Tags [Government and Politics](https://www.cato.org/government-politics) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).