Left wing rock musicians tend to believe that rock music changes the world ; left wing journalists believe that the media change the world, and left wing teachers believe it is education. So far, so human. But is it possible to analyse the political effects of rock processes and products? This paper will explore this topic with reference to one rock group, the Tom Robinson Band, which came to prominence briefly in the late nineteen seventies. We will be looking not only at the “message” conveyed but also at the experience proposed by the songs.