Top 10 90s vegan hardcore songs

 

1. 

Earth Crisis "New Ethic" (Destroy the Machines, 1995)
Earth Crisis are like Gary Francione. They said some dodgy things, but you can't deny they had some hits. Everyone in Earth Crisis was vegan. This is an anthem, if there ever was one. Here's a live version from their home town. This band was widely criticized. Few bands have influences so many. You cannot deny the brilliance of this song.

Lyrics:
"This is the new ethic.
Animals' lives are their own
and must be given respect.
Reject the anthropocentric falsehood 
that maintains the oppressive hierarchy of mankind
over the animals.
It's time to set them free.
Their lives reduced to biomachines
in the factory, farm and laboratory.
Dairy, eggs and meat, fur, suede, wool, leather are the end products of torture, confinement and murder.
I abjure their use out of reverence for
all innocent life.
Wildlifes' right to live in peace
in their natural environment
without this civilization's
interference can no longer be denied.
Must no longer be denied.
To make a civilization worthy of
the word civilized
the cruelty must end,
starting within or own lives.
Reject the anthropocentric falsehood
that maintains the oppressive hierarchy
of mankind
over the animals.
It's time
to set them free.
Veganism is the essence of compassion and peaceful living.
The animals are not ours to abuse or dominate.
I abjure their use out of reverence ...
I abjure their use out of reverence ...
I abjure their use out of reverence for all innocent life."


2.

Into Another "Herbivore" (Poison Fingers single, 1995)
This was a PeTA benefit single. Everyone in Into Another was vegetarian, the singer vegan, the drummer a dietary vegan. 


Richie Birkenhead's arm

Lyrics:
"I am herbivorous
Don't like to eat what I don't need
And I don't need to eat my fellow animals
Oh, but what do you know?
That's not all right with you?
You don't approve of my lifestyle?
Well, your deathstyle destroys
The world you're standing on
I think you know you're wrong

I don't eat animals
I love them

Most are oblivious
To all the suffering and waste
A taste for blood and flesh
And skin and bone creates
Oh, but what do you say
You think it's your right
Well, I think that you are a liar
There's no fire in your eyes
I think you know you're wrong
I KNOW you know you're wrong

Lord, rescue me from this hell
I don't feel very well
And you know
You can tell me there's hope
And I will have faith because I must

Please rescue me from this hell
If you won't
Very well
Release me

I don't eat animals

I won't eat animals"


3.

Self Conviction "Words of Hope" (A War To Show That Peace Means Justice For Everyone, 1998)
Self Conviction were from Sao Paulo, Brazil. They had songs in Portuguese and English. Everyone in the band was vegan. 

 

Lyrics ("Words of hope"):
"Get ready to the facts!
A whole generation in complete alienation.
Wise enough to change it, but too weak to face the situation.
Possessed with lust, hatred burns within all of us.
Will we let this society turn into dust?
Blinded, we have been given a looking glass so that we could see all the self made mess.
Emancipate from such a suicidal state.
Don´t let insanity seal our fate.
Human liberation through drug abstinence.
Doping brings apathy and fear of confrontation.
Sobriety can grant us enough energy to face social oppression and achieve equality.
Seeds of hope!
Animal liberation for Earth preservation.
Veganism is a powerful tool to stop nature´s exploitation.
Abjuring cruelty. Embracing sympathy.
The basis for a civilized humanity.
Future lays in our hands.
It´s up to us to change it and I´m sure we can.
The hands that have built it all will be the same to make it fall.
Let´s make reality out of these
Words
Of
Hope."

Also see the song "Where's the justice?" from the same album:

 

Lyrics ("Where's the justice?"):
"What else will have to happen to make you open your eyes?
Will you have to feel it yourself to take away this disguise?
You don´t need to go far away to see the bad things you watch on your TV.
And if you take a look around you someday,
you will see they´re very close to you.
The police behind death squads, animals being slaughtered by human hands.
Corruption among politicians while people live in subhuman conditions.
So, now I´m gonna ask you:
What´s the point of so called democracy if it´s just in defense
Of the powerful and to keep this inequality?
Where´s The Justice?
Where´s The Justice?
Where´s
The
Justice?"


4.

Refused "Jag Äter Inte Mina Vänner" (Rather Be Dead EP, 1996)
This song was on the "Rather Be Dead EP" and also on the "This Album Contains ..." LP (1997). Everyone in Refused was vegan.

Lyrics:
"Djuren, djuren är människor, katter är människor.
Hundar är människor. Hästar, hästar är människor.
Apor är människor. Kossor är människor.
Och människor ska vara vänner, det finns inga "dom" bara "vi".
Det finns något vackert i allting som föds.

Jag äter inte mina vänner för dom är en del av mig -
som jag kan leva med och växa med i all evighet.

Tanken, tanken är männsikor.
Fåglar är människor.
Elefanter är männsikor.
Råttor, råttor är människor.
Ormar är människor.
Lammet är människa.
Och lammet skall leka med hajar när freden är mer än ett ord.
Det du äter skall döma din själ.

Jag äter inte mina vänner för dom är en del av mig -
som jag kan leva me och växa med i all evighet.

Hur kan vi vara fridfulla när vi skapar sån misär.
Hur kan vi vara kärleksfulla när vi kärleken förtär.
Låt kärleken vara nu.
Låt sanningen vara du...
Jag äter inte mina vänner för dom är den del av mig -
som jag kan leva med och växa med i all evighet."



5. 

Snapcase "Guilty By Ignorance" (Progression Through Unlearning, 1997)
Not explicitly about veganism, but I'm sure it's at least about veganism and capitalism. Everyone in Snapcase was vegetarian, the singer and the drummer vegan.

Lyrics:
"The life you live ignoring whoIgnoring who you're giving money to
And you, you support the corrupt industries and companies
Who don't think to care
Guilty, guilty, guilty by ignorance
No feeling, no substance, killing
You're killing through your ignorance
So understand they kill
They kill for the sake of capital gain
And you don't care to know that your life steals life
So take a look at your empty conscience
Because ignorance is not innocence
You have become, you have become the enemy to those
To those victims of greed
To those victims of greed
To those victims"


6.

Refused "Hook, Line and Sinker" (Songs To Fan The Flames Of Discontent, 1996)
There are surprisingly (or unsurprisingly) quite many vegan revenge type of songs. But who could blame Refused for making one? The unofficial number 1.

 

Lyrics ("Hook, Line and Sinker"):
"The bait, the prey, the mice
Debate, the method of demise
Debate, your high
I'll lie beside you, walk you down and lay the beat beneath your bed
Beneath, the dead
Debate, the method in your head
Chemical misanthropy saving you from blame
I'll stand below you, lift you up, increase the pain
I'll stand below you, lift you up, increase the pain
I wanna see you, hear your voice regret the choice.
Rejoice in watching you collapse
Destroy the map, falling headlong into the gap
Swallow poison
Swallow the bait
Swallow poison
Swallow every word
Said to free you from blame
I'll stand below you, lift you up, increase the pain
I'll stand below you, lift you up, increase the pain
I wanna see you, hear your voice regret the choice.
Rejoice in watching you collapse
Destroy the map, falling headlong into the gap
The hunter dying in his trap
The hunter dying in his trap
The hunter dying in his trap
The hunter
Dead
Swallow poison
Swallow the bait
Swallow poison
Swallow every word
Hook
Line
And
Sinker"

Actually, "The Slayer" from the same album was much more of a vegan song.
Lyrics ("The Slayer"):
"Turn off
Hail to the deafening
End life for ego reasoning

Consumer of selfishness,
Feel it bleed
Death traditions,
Feeds the suffering
Acquire by-products,
Breed the industry
Modern death camps,
Feel their suffering

Soul destroyer
Never question consequence
Pain won't end
So we gag our sense
Kill the conscience,
Lies over lives
Kill the conscious
Lies over lives

Consumer of selfishness,
Feel it bleed
Death traditions,
Feeds the suffering
Acquire by-products,
Breed the industry
Modern death camps,
Feel their suffering

Their pain won't end
Their pain won't end
With blood in my eyes
I won't see the light shine ...
With blood in my eyes
I won't see the light shine ...
With blood in your eyes
You won't see the light shine ..."


7.

Dropdead "Superior" (s/t, 1998) 
I don't know too much about Dropdead to be honest. I saw them live once though.

 

Lyrics ("Superior"):
"Because we are superior
We believe we have the right
To enslave, torture and murder
And no ending is in sight
Because we are superior
We slaughter what we eat
Clothed in what once was living
And gorged upon the meat
Because we are superior
We perpetuate disease
Consuming self made cancer
To feed traditions needs
Because we are superior
Are alters flow with blood
Embracing our extinction
We drown within the flood"

And from the same record: "What Once Was Life":

Lyrics ("What Once was Life"):
"My murder has become justified
In your sick-barbaric world
My skin is ripped from the bone
What once was life you ingest
A holocaust unrealized
My lifeblood feeds a selfish world
My suffering-goes unknown
What once was life you ingest"


8.

Loxiran "Wa(h)re Wesen" (s/t, 1997)
A band from northern Germany. As far as I know everyone in the band was a vegetarian, but at least the singer was vegan.


Lyrics:
"Wa(h)re Wesen verdienen deinen Respekt
Sie fühlen, sie leben
Sie verdienen deinen Respekt
Doch wenn der Rubel rollt
Ist dir ihr Leid egal
Und wenn die Kasse stimmt
Scheißt du auf die Moral!

Jedes Leid Unschuldiger ist Leid zu viel
Jede Duldung dieses Unrechts ist mir schon zu viel
Doch irgendwann, irgendwann ist Schluss
Es wird Zeit, sich zu wehren!

Ungerechtigkeit gibt es schon zu viel
Und deine Gerechtigkeit ist mir
viel zu selbst gerecht
Doch irgendwann platzt mir der Kragen
Ich kann Dein Geheuchel nicht länger ertragen!

Ich handel nach Gefühl und nicht nach
irgendwelchen aufgestellten Regeln
Von wem auch immer
Du hältst noch immer viel zu lange Reden
Doch für mich gibt’s kein wenn
Für mich gibt’s kein wenn und aber:
Mord ist Mord und Leben ist Leben!

Wa(h)re Wesen verdienen deinen Respekt
Sie fühlen, sie leben
Sie verdienen deinen Respekt
Doch wenn der Rubel rollt
Ist dir ihr Leid egal
Und wenn die Kasse stimmt
Scheißt du auf die Moral!"


9. 


Well, Propagandhi don't need an introduction. This song too can be considered an anthem, an anthem of a whole generation maybe.
Lyrics:
"Stop consuming animals ...
I speak outside what is recognized as the border between "reason" and "insanity".
But I consider it a measure of my humanity
to be written off by the living graves of a billion murdered lives.
And I'm not ashamed of my recurring dreams about me and a gun and a different species
(hint: starts with "h" and rhymes with "Neuman's")
of carnage strewn about the stockyards, the factories and farms.
Still I know as well as anyone that it does less good than harm
to be this honest with a conscience eased by lies.
But you cannot deny that
meat is still murder.
Dairy is still rape.
And I am still as stupid as anyone, but I know my mistakes.
I have recognized one form of oppression, now I recognize the rest.
And life's too short to make another's shorter - (animal liberation now!)."


10.

Beastie Boys "I Can't Think Straight" (Aglio E Olio EP, 1995)
Not your typical vegan song. Mike D and Adam Yauch were vegetarians. Mike D was vegan for a few years, probably around that time. I don't think Mike D is still a vegetarian. Adam Yauch, bless his soul. Of course, the song is alluding to the song "Thinking Straight" by Youth of Today.

 
Lyrics:
"I can't think straight
Take a look, look at me
What you get is what you see
Ride a bike, drive a car
Vegan pie, cut a fart
On the bus, on the train
Tami D, on the brain
Can't explain, like The Who
Now it's time to do the do
I can't think straight

On my couch with a pen
Where's the phone, again, again
Can't control rhythm, rhyme
Naked beats on the mind

I am yes, you are no
I am yes, you are no
You are no, I am yes
I can't think straight

Good Evening, ladies
My name is Roy Cormier
Uh, I like it smooth, generally
I mean, a lot of fellas, they like it raw
Personally, I prefer smooth, um, you know
I like the coconut lotion, I'm talkin’
I run a lot of productions, company productions
Uh, keepin' it on the smooth, generally
And on the regular, and uh
You know, with the coconut lotion and all
Keepin' it lovely, it's uh, you know
Nothing but love, baby, baby"



Extras:

11.

Final Exit "17 Scoops" (Umea, 1997)
Final Exit were the guys from Refused.

 

Lyrics:
"Thrown up for a loop. He's still my friend. 17 scoops. Never again. Vegan for life."


12.

Timebomb "One Solution" (The Full Wrath of the Slave, 1997)
Roma Vegan Straight Edge Legion. Everyone in this band was vegan. Soon after this record, they completey changed their music style.

Lyrics:
"One Solution
C[.]austic poisons under the skin
Sadistic pleasure of men!
Forced to smoke your daily sins,
they will never breath[e] again!!!
Degradation and mirder, our brothers are slain.
No regard[.] for others['] lives,
all they care about ... is gain!
Vegan lifestyle, the only choice for those who want to fight:
a sober mind, forged by abstinence, prepare his
vengeance through the night!
Battle starts, you choose your part
Nocturnal raid, for mother earth
Army of justice ready to attack
No compromise for the arkangel in black!!!"


13.

MDC "Real Food, Real People, Real Bullets" (Shades of Brown, 1993)
You have to listen to this. A rap song. The singer was vegetarian, maybe vegan. MDC even had a song about Tofutti called "Tofutti"!

Lyrics:
"Aww yeah, Yo, yo, this one's for my homies at McDonalds. Yo listen up, check it
Well, I'm not here to convince you and I'm not gonna preach
But if you keep eating meat, I'm just gonna reach for the gat
And take you out right now because you're not just killing a pig or a cow
You're fucking me up to, now what am I supposed to do
Stand idly by while you do what you do
You're ruing the world with your addiction
To dead animals, I will bust non-fiction
For example, 25 gallons of H20 makes a pound of wheat, but did you know it takes
100 times that much to make a pound of beef, so from our water shortage we get no relief
When over half of the water goes to produce meat and cattle eat up all the grain that we could eat
But we don't 'cause we won't understand the demand to make better use of our food and our land
90% of our corn and oats feed livestock, that's why I hope that you're listening
Yeah I said I wouldn't preach, well I lied. Alright who cares what you eat
I just want you to know while you're getting fat on your burgers, I'm gonna go get the gat
I'm gonna get the gat because it makes a lot of sense, it's not a personal thing
It's just self defense
You're not taking me out with your destructive diet
I'm gonna draw the gat on you just like Wyatt Earp
Yeah, Earp that's the sound that you make when you burp after you eat up a big, thick steak
You know to think of it I'll be helping you out when I end your life quick cause without a doubt
You'll be dying much slower from colon cancer, but hey that's your decision
I'll wait for your answer
Oops, sorry times up, take that
Between cancer and a gun I'll take the gat
It's not only quicker, it's less expensive
The cost of chemotherapy is most extensive
But who pays for it? Me that's who, when my health insurance costs go through the roof
Cancers not the only choice if you please, you can have liver, kidney, and heart disease
Ulcers, constipation, salmonellosis, hypoglycemia, multiple sclerosis
Yes these diseases are funky and fresh
And all can be yours when you eat dead flesh
Rolling rolling rolling, tumors in your colon, blood pressure is growing, RAW HIDE
And just think of the homies who've died
So as a courtesy to you and for your own protection
And before your body's riddled with mass infection and
Before you die of causes that you think are natural, G
I'm gonna go get the gat
Yeah, I hear you, I've heard it all before
'You can't tell me what to buy in the store
I'm sick of you bitching about what's in my kitchen
I find that liberal bullshit your picking.'

Yo shut up, listen up you fuck up, I'm fed up
Yeah, I used to eat meat, but I beat that deceit
And the the crap of the trap of the wrap of the food that's not food
And I'll be rude and crude cause that's my mood
And my voice and my choice and my rhyme this time
Yeah I mind that you're so damn blind
That your eating from the wrong link of the food chain
And I didn't even mention yet about the pain
That the animals live in before they are given the bullet or the mallet
To satisfy your palate
But before it gets to you, there's some things they do
Like chemicals and dyes and nice happy lies
Like 'meat is part of the four food groups'
If you've study nutrition, you know you've been dooped
You get better protein from soy beans
With a third of fat now what cha think about that
When you look at the vitamins and compare the price
You're much better off eating beans and rice
But let me reiterate my own position
I'm a god damn drunk I don't care about nutrition
So just think about what I have said
Then make up your own mind in your head
And throw away your meat or give it your cat
But if not that's OK
I'm gonna go get the gat"


14.

Bikini Kill "Liar" (s/t EP, 1992)
I don't think anyone in Bikini Kill was ever vegan, probably vegetarian. They stopped playing this song at some point, because they didn't agree with the lyrics anymore. Just that actually, the lyrics were right. It's all discrimination.

Lyrics:
"Betty's got the back of her dress all ripped out
Mama's got her face muffled
Twist and shout
You're a liar
Liar, liar, you got your pants on fire
Liar, liar, hanging by the telephone line
You know, you're a goddamn motherfuckin' liar
You know, you are a lie

You profit from the lie
You profit from the lie, yeah
You profit from the lie
You profit from the lie
You profit from the lie
You profit from the lie, yeah
You profit from the rape lie, baby

Eat meat
Hate blacks
Beat your fuckin wife
It's all the same thing
Deny, you live your life in denial, baby
Stand my whole life on trial baby
You are in denial, baby

You profit from the lie
You profit from the lie
You profit from the lie
You profit from the lie, yeah
You profit from the lie
You profit from the lie
You profit from the lie
You profit from the lie

All we are saying is give peace a chance 
All we are saying is give peace a chance

Betty's got the back of her dress all ripped out
Mama's got her face muffled
Twist and shout, and twist and shout, and twist and twist and twist and twist and twist and fuckin' shout and ... 
You're a liar, baby
Liar, liar, you got your pants on fire
Liar, liar, hanging by the telephone line
You know, you're a goddamn motherfuckin' liar
You know, you are a lie"


15.

Good Clean Fun "In Defense of All Life" (On the Streets Saving the Scene from the Forces of Evil, 1999)
As far as I know, everyone in Good Clean Fun was vegan. I once saw them play live, at the Swan in Seven Sisters (North London, England), and the singer held the microphone towards me, and I didn't know the lyrics. Good Clean Fun were the Jim Carey of vegan straight edge. Good Clean Fun are from Washington DC, and I do remember them saying (in an interview) they would like to get on Dischord. But really, this band does not fit Dischord. They are too fun maybe, and too straight edge.


Lyrics: 
"Peaceful protest doesn't get the job done
So I wake up for the rally grab my soy milk and my gun
Breakfast with the family get the grub on see what's up
Then I saw my sister had milk in her cup
I jumped out of my chair and sprayed her with my mace
I yelled "vegan power, " and I kicked her in the face
Dad was bugging, he started to run
But he's a meat eater so I pulled out my gun
Shot him in the back, then I shot his wife
That's how it's got to be in defense of all life."


16.

Good Riddance "Waste" (Ballads from the Revolution, 1998)

Lyrics:
"Who will be their voice
Who will hear their cries
The ones who cannot speak
As we dehumanize
Incarcerated innocents
Their sentience ignored
Slaughtered by the millions
For the pseudo-carnivores
What a waste of our time
Of our land, of our humanity
Blood-spattered carcass, it wets your appetite
Don't you fucking get it
Eating flesh it isn't right for you,
For me our children, the world
Destroy their machines
Burn their staughterhouses to the ground
Now it's time for us all to defend
The oppressed
Meat is murder
Still we consume the dead and rotting
Products of violence
We've got to make that change
For you, for me, our children, the world"


17.

Extreme Noise Terror "Just Think About It" (Phonophobia, 1992)
For the anti-melody crowd. 


Lyrics:
"Grain is needed to feed the starving
But used to make meat for those who can afford to pay
The world is running out of land and water
But the production of meat is a more important cause
It is a fact that one calorie of beef demands ten calories of grain
From the one hundred & forty five million tons of grain & soy
Fed to livestock only twenty one million tons of meat & by products are used
The waste is one hundred & twenty four million tons per year
With a value of twenty billion US dollars it has been estimated
That this sum could feed, clothe & house the whole world's population for one year!
Just you think about it now!
All this waste, pain and suffering
For the greedy majority who just don't care"


18.

Shelter "Civilized Man" (Mantra, 1995)
Krishna consciousness-inspired melodic core. Ray Cappo (the singer, who was also the singer of Youth of Today) was, of course, critized by many punks for his Hare Krishna views. Still this song could be called an anthem, and the whole album was massively popular.


Lyrics:
"There's a war in the day, no peace at night
There's blood on the hands of man, yet we don't sympathize
The meateaters kill the cows. They just depersonalize to justify
Their own lust as the helpless die
And it's ironic how we cry for world peace
But the violence won't decrease unless our murders cease
So understand in the slaughterhouse who's the beast
And I demand that the innocent be released

And I've tried the best I can
I've tried to understand
Civilized man, so-called civilized man
And I've tried the best I can
But who can understand
Civilized man?
So-called, so-called, so-called

Guilt free so-called morality, fallacy
The four food groups just western medicine quackery
$35 a pound but our taxes subsidize
As 35 million starve as we gormandize
The grains that could feed the world go to their industry
To fatten up the catle for death and I protest
Rain forests once here, kiss goodbye the biosphere, ozone nightmare
Just see the people don't even care

And I've tried the best I can
I've tried to understand
Civilized man, so-called civilized man
And I've tried the best I can
But who can understand
Civilized man?
So-called, so-called, so-called

Guilt-free, we overlooked the blood and brutality
And the TV propaganda covers heinous reality
A plea to the people of this land to do what they can
With hope for a civilized man

And I've tried the best I can
I've tried to understand
Civilized man, so-called civilized man
And I've tried the best I can
But who can understand
Civilized man?
Yeah, try to understand, try to understand, try to understand"


19.

Oi Polloi "Anarcho-Pie" (In Defense of Our Earth, 1990)
A vegan pie recipe by Oi Polloi from Scotland. A recipe in song form. I saw these friendly chaps play live in around 1999. The kind of people I'd like to have over for tea.


Lyrics:
"Pastry
Mixed veg
Red beans
Courgettes
Walnuts
Cashews
Almonds
Mushrooms

Let's make a tasty anarcho-pie. Ace vegan food for you and I.
Let's make a tasty anarcho-pie. Ace vegan food for you and I.

Take eight ounces of pastry and, leaving a little bit aside, roll out two equal portions, each a quarter inch thick. Then use one of these to carefully line the bottom of your chosen pie dish.

Cook the ingredients for the pie filling separately and then place these inside the pie dish on top of the pastry base. Wetting the top of the edge of the pastry base, affix the pastry cover to the anarcho-pie.

Now comes the important bit: Using the spare bits of pastry, decorate the top of the pie with a pastry anarchy sign - symbolising our never-ending resistance to the omnicidal system that perverts our lives.

After baking the pie in the oven for between thirty and thirty-five minutes at approximately 400 degrees Fahrenheit it should be ready for serving and by this time should have developed a good ... CRUST!

Mmm ... Uurrgh, I don't like mushrooms howay, pass them over ... I'll have them aye, this pie, this pie's barry ... it's almost as good as - as a singing hiney man! Mmm ... Mmmm ... Alright John eh, aye? Aye barry! That's what it is - pure canny! Uurgh, I don't like walnuts ... I'll have them mmmmm...

Aye, ye canny baet this vegan food, ken? Aye, vegan food oh. It's the best, pure dead brilliant man, anarcho-pie rules, ken? Aye how long does this go on for? Who's doing the dishes? The wimmin! Aaaahhh!! Street cred gone! Knife hi!! Knife the anarcho-pie anyway aye man aye kin raj! Aye ... etc."