Author: Aidan Lewis
As the Nov. 4 election draws near, and candidates have less and less time to make their concluding remarks, I thought I might divert the political focus to a more light-hearted aspect of the Obama-McCain race: the musical journey. Over the past few months, both candidates have made intriguing song selections to represent their ideals and messages to the public. Sadly, even the immaculate world of melody hasn’t escaped some of the stains of exploitation. There have been copyright infringements, smears, and lyrical content that, in retrospect, failed to make the already tenuous link between romance and political dedication. Ultimately, the music probably hasn’t mattered much—but it’s a good distraction.
McCain finds himself practically friendless in the music world after several months of using songs without permission. Like Jimmy Cox sang in 1923, “Nobody knows you when you’re down and out.” In August, old rocker Jackson Browne sued McCain and his cohort for using the 1977 hit “Running On Empty” to deride Obama without the composer’s consent. In September, the ’70s band Heart similarly disappointed the Republican candidate by telling him to stop associating the song “Barracuda” with Sarah Palin at public events. Band members Ann and Nancy Wilson said the song was originally written as an attack on the “soulless, corporate nature of the music business, particularly for women.” They added a vitriolic comment about the “irony” of using it at a Republican convention.
Most recently, Bon Jovi, an Obama supporter, released a statement saying he didn’t authorize McCain’s use of “Who Says You Can’t Go Home” for campaign purposes. It would seem McCain’s playlist is mostly unapproved. However, the fact that he can still use “Take A Chance On Me” by Swedish pop band ABBA should comfort him somewhat. It embodies his attitude toward the race at this point—it may be a losing battle, but it’s still worth an honest plea for support.
Obama, true to form, has tried to appeal to the younger generation with a selection of contemporary songs—with the exception of Stevie Wonder’s “Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours.” Ben Harper endorsed Obama with a performance of “Better Way,” a song that focuses on values like unity and opportunity, which are central to the candidate’s platform. In August, Obama walked onstage at the Democratic National Convention as the poignant intro to U2’s “City of Blinding Lights” emanated from the podium. Clearly, the man knows how to win an audience.
His mildly embarrassing blunder was making “Only In America,” a song by country duo Brooks and Dunn, a campaign song. George W. Bush used the same song in 2004 with hearty approval from the group. The only comment Kix Brooks made on the subject this year—rather graciously, I thought – was that he found it “flattering” that his song had “crossed parties,” a very kind way of saying that he was as baffled as the rest of us as to why Obama would imitate Bush in that regard.
I’m not sure to what extent campaign songs affect a candidate’s popularity, but I can safely conclude one thing from all of this: People always make the celebrity-appeal criticism unilaterally when, realistically, it applies to both candidates. As the recent Obama-McCain comedy routines given at the Al Smith dinner illustrated, we as a society place a lot of emphasis on humor, amiability and commonality in our interests, be they musical or comedic. Music is just another bridge between the lofty politician and the common man (if you’ll pardon the default gender usage), and the candidates can always correct their more out-of-tune moments with other facile campaign attractions. As Freddie Mercury belted out in the final stages of a dazzling career, “The show must go on.”
Aidan Lewis is a first-year ECLS major. He can be reached at alewis@oxy.edu.
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