Category: Music

“Kickin’ Hitler’s Butt: Vintage Anti-Fascist Songs 1940-1944” – An Annotated Playlist (Introduction)

On By Adam AstraIn Annotated Playlists, Music, Protest Songs9 Comments

“Kickin’ Hitler’s Butt: Vintage Anti-Fascist Songs 1940-1944” – An Annotated Playlist (Introduction)

Welcome!

Welcome back to the blog, comrades! I’m trying something new that I hope will be of interest to many of you—my first annotated playlist! This introduction is being published simultaneously with Part 1 of this 10-part series. If I’m feeling ambitious once I’ve finished, I may try to consolidate it all into a single mega-post. But for now, I’ll be posting weekly through the new few months. So be sure to check back regularly.

Due to a lack of availability, I have recreated this album as a playlist on YouTube, collecting the highest-quality videos from verified sources. All of the songs except ‘Hitler Song’—credited to Josh White and Lead Belly—are included (more on that later). For increased ease of access, I’ve linked the playlist via TuneMyMusic, which lets you stream a playlist on your platform of choice. That said, I recommend listening on YouTube, as track availability on other platforms will vary. If you happen to give my page a follow while you’re there, I’d be much obliged : ) 

~~Stream The Album Here~~

Album Cover

About the Album

The Release

This album was released in the UK on May 13, 2007. Three companies were involved in the production, manufacturing, and distribution of the album: Buzzola, Chrome Dreams, and Gonzo Distributed. This release may have been limited, as the album is not currently widely available. I don’t currently own a copy myself, but I hope to track one down eventually and get a look at that sweet “full-colour booklet.” (PS I don’t give money to Amazon.) 

Product details list the album as having a single disc, which is a little surprising. With 18 songs included, I assumed it would be a two-disc set, primarily to avoid loss of audio quality due to compression. Unfortunately, without having the physical album or even a streamable version available, I’m unable to compare the sound quality of this “remastered” release to other releases of the same recordings. 

The Title

“Kickin’ Hitler’s Butt” is a fun title, right? I was surprised to see the term ‘Anti-Fascist’ in the subtitle, as I tend to think of it as a more modern term (its shortened form ‘antifa’ certainly is). So it was interesting to see it in reference to songs from the early 40s. Then again, this compilation was released in 2007. Nowadays, the idea of ‘anti-fascism’ has been somewhat compromised by the mischaracterization of ‘antifa’ as not just a socio-political organization, but a domestic terrorist organization. In reality, this is the result of a deliberate misunderstanding; nothing more than a right-wing pipe dream invented to provoke a fear-driven political base—people unable to wrap their heads around this simple concept: to condemn anti-fascism is to condone fascism.

The Art

The cover art is clearly inspired by pulp comics and American dime novels of the ear. I love how literally the art (designed by Jon Storey) takes the album’s title. Front and center, we have a woman with her knee in a nazi’s back, but it’s clear she’s threatening more than “kickin’ butt.” She’s smothering him with her left hand, and that’s definitely a dagger in her right—with a point that seems destined for that nazi punk’s windpipe. In the background, two more badass women brandish rifles, and a man fires a machine gun at an SS officer; all while, in the upper-right-hand corner, the floating head of der Führer looks towards his anti-fascist attackers with an ‘oh shit’ look on his face.

Are these depictions of bodice-ripped beauties a bit gratuitous? Sure. Entirely unnecessary? Definitely. Do they help to grab your attention? Yep. I asked my wife how she felt about the art, and she said that, yes, on one hand, it’s gratuitous, but on the other…she would buy a calendar of pin-up girls kicking nazi ass. So there you go. 

Back Album Cover and Track Listing

The Music

Genres and Styles on the album are impressively varied, including: Jazz, Blues, Brass & Military, Folk, Country, Easy Listening, Big Band Swing, and Acapella Vocal. And there are some big names on this album, including tracks by Lead Belly and Woody Guthrie (two major contenders for Protest Song GOAT), Pete Seeger (with folk supergroups The Almanac Singers and Union Boys), and Josh White, who outdoes them all with his stunning ‘Führer’ (Track 9). Not to mention the most popular track on the album, the zany ‘Der Fuehrer’s Face’ (Track 14), a Walt Disney-produced lampooning of Hitler and the nazi ideal of “der master race” by Spike Jones & His City Slickers.

That’s all I’ll say about the music for now. Come back for the next ten posts for MUCH more on that.

My Approach

First and foremost, although I am a writer and musician, I’m approaching this project as a music fan and, of course, a huge fan of anti-fascism. I came upon this album during a deep dive into American Protest Music, beginning with the protest songs of Lead Belly, which seemed as good a starting point as any. This research will also inform other posts, such as my upcoming ‘How to Write a Protest Song’ series. 

What I’m not is any kind of authority on music, WWII, or history in general. Many of you will likely be more educated than I am on some of these topics. Nor am I aiming to write a typical review. Rather, I’ll approach each track as an exploration and a conversation. At times, I may ask questions that I don’t immediately have answers to. You may even be able to help me solve a few mysteries along the way. I encourage feedback and am always open to suggestions. So please, I’d love to hear your thoughts and ideas. All are welcome here! 

Links

“Kickin’ Hitler’s Butt” Playlist – YouTube
“Kickin’ Hitler’s Butt” Album Page – Discogs
“Kickin’ Hitler’s Butt” Album Lyrics – Genius

Special Thanks Go To:

  • Genius user AndyMeister, who seems to have supplied the lyrics for every track on the album.
  • Reddit user geshchichtsklitterung from the /blues sub for research assistance.

Disclaimer

~Content was created without the use of A.I.~
~Media content may be subject to copyright~
~Original content © Adam Astra 2026~

Text reads: "This Music Kills Fascism"

‘Illegal’ – A New Protest Song Lyric by Adam Astra

On By Adam AstraIn Music, Original Music, Protest SongsLeave a comment

Welcome back to the blog, comrades!

Regrettably, this is only my second post since the creation of this blog early last year. Please know that I have big plans for this year and hope to be sharing much more in 2026. My focus this year will be on the protest song, primarily in the form of a weekly project I’m calling ’52 Protest Songs.’ This will be similar to my ’52 Form’ poetry project from my former blog, Astra Poetica, in that the posts will be weekly. It will be different in that I will spend much more than one week prepping and revising each post—in fact, I began researching for this project more than a year ago. I’m not quite ready to launch this new project, but I do have some original music to share with you in the meantime!

In addition to this new content, I’ll periodically bring over refreshed and revised content previously published on other sites. My hope is to have everything available here, or at the very least, discoverable from here.

Thanks again for joining me. And now, without further ado…my newest song.

“How can a human being be illegal?”
– Elie Wiesel*

‘Illegal’ by Adam Astra

Of all the things a human being can be
Right or wrong, weak or strong
Imprisoned or free
There’s one thing that’s simply
An impossibility

A human being cannot be illegal

A human being can be
A member of a gang
A gang that terrorizes
Kidnaps and detains
You can hide your face
Withhold your name
And treat it like a game
But you will reap your
Portion of the blame
Regret and shame will find you
And bind you just the same

Because a human being cannot be illegal
A human being cannot be illegal

A human being can be
Manipulated
By manufactured outrage
Strategically created
To sell the story of a righteous war
A holy land invaded
Have you traded your old friends
Your own family
For a fleeting sense of power
Over an imagined enemy?
Do you find your heart and mind
Now separated?
Are you left feeling alone
And alienated?

Because a human being cannot be illegal
A human being cannot be illegal

A human being can be
Dehumanized
Ostracized, objectified
Their dignity denied
Language loaded with hatred
Designed to demonize
You call him a criminal
You call her an alien
You call them all animals
You call them illegals

But a human being cannot be illegal
A human being cannot be illegal

Of all the things a human being can be
What will we be?

© Adam Astra (2026)

*Quoting Elie Wiesel

You, who are so-called illegal aliens, must know that no human being is “illegal.” That is a contradiction in terms. Human beings can be beautiful or more beautiful, they can be fat or skinny, they can be right or wrong, but illegal? How can a human being be illegal?

– Elie Wiesel, from his 1985 essay ‘The Refugee’

The quote that introduces my song is attributed to writer, Nobel Peace Prize winner, and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, and served as a primary source of inspiration. The full quote, which I likely first encountered on social media, is featured above. As with any quote encountered in this way, I did my best to trace it back to a verifiable source. Wikiquote, a wiki I hold more reliable and trustworthy than most, points to the 1985 essay “The Refugee.” This essay was reportedly featured in the book Sanctuary: A Resource Guide for Understanding and Participating in the Central American Refugees’ Struggle by Gary MacEóin (1985). I hope to someday be able to read the full essay to put to rest any lingering doubts about the quote’s authenticity. Until then, I’ll trust the information I have available to me.


Woody Guthrie’s ‘Deportees’

Who are all these friends, all scattered like dry leaves? /
The radio says, “They are just deportees”

“Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos)”

Another source of inspiration was “Deportees (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos),” a song (written as a poem) by Woody Guthrie in 1948, that was later put to music by Martin Hoffman. Woody’s own inspiration for the song came from news accounts of a tragic plane wreck that occurred in January of that year, claiming the lives of 28 migrant farm workers, who were en route to Mexico, being forcefully deported after doing hard labor for little pay on the farms of California. Woody particularly took issue with the fact that these 28 victims of an unjust, exploitative, and ultimately murderous immigration and economic policy went unnamed in the majority of reports shared in the news. He wrote his poem in part to right this wrong and to shine a light on both the identity and humanity of these 28 souls, tragically lost and dishonored even in death. Read the full lyrics here, via Genius. I’ll likely write more on this song in a future post.

Stay Tuned for ‘Illegal’ Full Song Recording – Coming Soon!

Thanks for reading!

~Content was created without the use of A.I.~
~Media content may be subject to copyright~
~Original content © Adam Astra 2026~

Woody Guthrie & The Folk National Anthem

On By Adam AstraIn Music, Protest Songs, Songwriter Spotlight, Songwriting1 Comment
Woody Guthrie, half-length portrait, facing slightly left, holding guitar] / World Telegram photo by Al Aumuller (1943). Courtesy of Library of Congress.
Woody Guthrie (1943). Courtesy of Library of Congress.

*This is the first post in a larger exploration of American Protest Music, Songwriting, and Poetry. If you enjoy this post, please subscribe, share, and comment. Thanks for your time and attention, comrades!

“This Land is Your Land” – The Folk National Anthem

Here in the US, we have an official National Anthem and a Black National Anthem, “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” Closer in spirit to the latter, I say there’s room for another—a Folk National Anthem—and I can’t think of a better candidate than Woody’s best-known song. A song that celebrates not only the unity of a nation, but calls for the sharing of its bounty, champions its freedom-demanding spirit, and honors the glorious diversity found in its natural wonders, its bustling cities, and its hopeful inhabitants.

For me, “This Land Is Your Land” embodies the best kind of patriotism: a love for your country celebrating its wonders and its people, whose impact far exceeds the ‘official’ anthem, with its flag-waving, war-glorifying nationalism. Maybe there’s still a place for the lofty and bombastic “Star-Spangled Banner,” but at this moment, for me, every note of it rings hollow. If this is a democracy (even one on life-support), I should get a vote for my national anthem, and I cast my vote here.

The Radical Verses

Depending on your personal experience with Woody’s masterpiece, you may have expected the above recording to go on for two or three more verses. These verses—which Woody himself never recorded, and were therefore not widely known until much later, thanks to the efforts of his son, Arlo—are sometimes called radical and socialist and bring it into the realm of the protest song.

The ‘complete,’ or ‘extended,’ version of the song may have been first performed by Pete Seeger and Bruce Springsteen as part of the “We Are One” concert for Barack Obama’s first presidential inauguration (January 18, 2009). While we’ll sadly never get to hear Woody sing this version in his own voice and style, performances like this still capture the spirit of both the song and the Great Poet-Folk Singer himself.

Patriotism & Protest

After watching the video above, I ask you to read the official song lyrics at woodyguthrie.org. Then decide for yourself which version you prefer. For me, “This Land Is Your Land” meets every requirement for a Folk National Anthem even without the additional verses. But with them, with their defiance of barriers in the name of freedom, critique of wealth inequality, and unwavering spirit of self-determination, it becomes not just an anthem, but one of the greatest protest songs ever written. I say it’s time (past time) to embrace and bring into balance both of these aspects—the hopeful patriotism and the defiant protest—not just in “This Land Is Your Land” and similar works of art, but in our communities, our families, and ourselves.

One Nation, Many Anthems

Who says that a nation needs to be limited to one (or even a small number) of national anthems? A nation’s anthems should be as numerous and diverse as its peoples. So let’s embrace the Black National Anthem, a Folk National Anthem, a Mexican-American National Anthem, a Trans National Anthem, and on and on. After all, the US is not a melting pot, with all cultures melding into a single, flavorless homogeny. It will take many voices, singing many anthems, to bring this nation into harmony.

Dig Deeper

Read
– More Official Lyrics from woodyguthrie.org
– Song Page from Wikipedia
– The Story Behind the Song from Library of Congress
– This Land is Your Land Picturebook (2020)

Watch
This Land Is Your Land: The Story of an American Anthem – YouTube

~Content was created without the use of A.I.~
~Media content may be subject to copyright~
~Original content © Adam Astra 2026~