''Third World Warrior'' is an album by

Kris Kristofferson Kristoffer Kristofferson (June 22, 1936 – September 28, 2024) was an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He was a pioneering figure in the outlaw country movement of the 1970s, moving away from the polished Nashville sound and toward a m ...

, released on

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. Mercury Records released ...

in 1990 (see

1990 in music This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1990. This year was the peak of Compact Cassette, cassette sales in the United States, with sales declining year on year since then. Specific locations *1990 in British mu ...

). It is a

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...

composed of topical songs on

politics Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...

, primarily expressing

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...

support. The album was commercially unsuccessful, due in part to Kristofferson's declining career as a singer and the release of The Highwaymen's second album, ''

Highwayman 2 ''Highwayman 2'' is the second studio album released by American country supergroup the Highwaymen. This album was released in 1990 on the Columbia Records label. Johnny Cash had left Columbia several years earlier, making this a "homecoming", ...

'', the week before. Kristofferson expressed support for

Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ( , ; born Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa f ...

and the

Sandinista National Liberation Front The Sandinista National Liberation Front (, FSLN) is a socialist political party in Nicaragua. Its members are called Sandinistas () in both English and Spanish. The party is named after Augusto César Sandino, who led the Nicaraguan resistan ...

; not long prior to the album's release, Mandela was freed from prison and the Sandinistas were defeated in elections, transferring power to the

National Opposition Union National Opposition Union may refer to: * National Opposition Union (El Salvador), a Salvadoran political coalition * National Opposition Union (Nicaragua, 1966), a Nicaraguan political coalition * National Opposition Union (Nicaragua, 1990) ...

. ''Third World Warrior'' was originally released on both LP and CD, and was reissued on CD by

Oh Boy Records Oh Boy Records is an independent American record label founded in 1981 by singer John Prine, his manager Al Bunetta, and their friend Dan Einstein. The label has released more than 40 audio and video recordings by singer-songwriters Prine, Kris ...

via Universal Music Special Markets in 2004, along with Kristofferson's other Mercury album, ''Repossessed''. On the tribute CD ''The Pilgrim: A Celebration of Kris Kristofferson'', Country singer

Patty Griffin Patricia Jean Griffin (born March 16, 1964) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician.Griffin, Patricia She is a vocalist and plays guitar and piano. She is known for her stripped-down songwriting style in the folk music genre. Her songs ...

covers the controversial but melodic song "Sandinista".

Track listing

All songs written by Kris Kristofferson except where noted. #"The Eagle and the Bear" – 3:34 #"Third World Warrior" – 3:06 #"Aguila del Norte" – 4:00 #"The Hero" – 2:48 #"Don't Let the Bastards (Get You Down)" – 3:44 #"Love of Money" (Kristofferson, Danny Lawson, Glen Clark,

Billy Swan William Lance Swan (born May 12, 1942) is an American country singer-songwriter, best known for his 1974 single " I Can Help". Background Swan was born in Cape Girardeau, Missouri southeast of St. Louis on the Mississippi River. As a child, ...

, J. J. Meeker) – 3:40 #"Third World War" (Kristofferson, Danny Timms) – 4:47 #"Jesse Jackson" – 2:23 #"Mal Sacate" – 3:34 #"Sandinista" – 5:08

References

Kris Kristofferson albums 1990 albums Mercury Records albums {{1990s-country-album-stub