Who’s Left?

Add the Foo Fighters to the list of bands who have told the McCain campaign to quit using their music—actually I think they said stop “perverting” and “tarnishing” their music.

“It’s frustrating and infuriating that someone who claims to speak for the American people would repeatedly show such little respect for creativity and intellectual property. The saddest thing about this is that ‘My Hero’ was written as a celebration of the common man and his extraordinary potential,” the Foo Fighters said in a statement. “To have it appropriated without our knowledge and used in a manner that perverts the original sentiment of the lyric just tarnishes the song. We hope that the McCain campaign will do the right thing and stop using our song — and start asking artists’ permission in general!”

Ouch.

Harps and Angels

Randy Newman might love LA, but his verbal delivery always puts me in smack dab in the middle of New Orleans, which somehow seems appropriate today. That sense is magnified by many of the tunes having a NOLA jazz feel to the arrangements, although some sound more like something from a musical. But if you like Newman's style of telling you a story more than singing you one, and the synthesis of stage and jazz is something you appreciate, you are going to really love this album.

Of course, on any Newman album, lyrics are key--I mean how many people can work "arrhythmic" into a song. That would be part of his heart attack/near death title track in which God and his angels provide the following advice:

When they lay you on the table
Better keep your business ("bid-ness") clean
'Fore they lay you on the table
Better keep you business clean
Don't want no back stabbing, ass grabbing
You know exactly what I mean
Alright girls -- we're outta here

Is it inappropriate of me to laugh at the idea of God calling his angels girls? Speaking of girls, how about these heartfelt lines for his daughter in "Potholes":

I even love my teenage daughter
There's no accounting for it
Apparently I don't care how I'm treated
My love is unconditional or something

Of course, all of these edgier observations that make the soft songs all the more sincere.

But ultimately, much of this album is political commenatry on the state of our country, particularly the direction we have been heading as of late. There is this from "A Piece of the Pie":

Jesus Christ it stinks in here high and low
The rich are getting richer
I should know
While we're going up
You're going down
And no one gives a shit but Jackson Browne

And then there is the most direct criticism of the album offered up in "A Few Words in Defense of Our Country"--here are a few choice verses.

I'd like to say a few words
In defense of our country
Whose people aren't bad
Nor are they mean
How the leaders we have
While they're the worst that we've had
Are hardly the worst
This poor world has seen

Take the Ceasars for example
Within the first few of them
They were sleeping with their sister,
Stashing little boys in swimming pools
And burning down the city
And one of 'em, on of 'em
Appointed his own horse to be Consul of the Empire
That's like vice president or something
Wait a minute, that not a very good example is it?

[snip]

A President once said,
"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself"
Now we're supposed to be afraid
It's patriotic and color-coded
And what are we supposed to be afraid of?
Why being afraid
That's what terror means, doesn't it?
That's what it used to mean

You know it kind of pisses me off
That this Supreme Court is going to outlive me
A couple of young Italian fellas and a brother on the Court now, too
But I defy you, anywhere in the world,
to find me two Italians as tight-assed as the two Italians we got
And as for the brother, well
Pluto's not a planet anymore either.

The end of an Empire is messy at best
And this Empire is ending
Like all the rest
Like the Spanish Armada adrift on the sea
We're adrift in the land of the brave and the home of the free

Somehow, Newman's concerns about this country's leadership seem appropriate given the news from both ends of the Mississippi today. Let us sincerely hope the the focus today and this week is on the natural event as opposed to the political one.

Running on Empty?

I am sure TR readers continue to check in for updates on presidential campaign tunes, so let me oblige with an update on John McCain's travails with musical artists (which you surely all know about already). Mr. Mellencamp may have requested that Johnny Mac stop using his tunes, but Jackson Browne is actually suing The Maverick's campaign for using "Running on Empty" in a campaign ad.

Unfortunately (from this perspective) his campaign may be running on empty (or less "fuel") but is doing it more effectively than Barack's full-tank-campaign--yes, I know this is a long-distance race and not a sprint.

But seriously, isn't it time for everyone to suggest a new (pissed-off?) soundtrack for the Dems? I know (sans Lisa B) you all have refrained from weighing in on campaign music, but c'mon! What tunes are needs to turn this thing around?

Update: For more interesting campaign music discussion read David Issacson's wonderings about what happens when you have a Rage Against the Machine concert across the river from the Republican National Convention.

Nothing Says "Vote For Me" Like . . .

I already noted John Mellencamp's request of the McCain campaign regarding their use of his tunes on the campaign trail. Now it appears that someone has stepped in to fill the void and provide "The Maverick" with his own custom rally tune.

So let's open up the blog lines here and see what people think about campaign tunes. Best campaign tunes from the past? If you could pick a campaign tune for Obama or McCain (or your candidate), what would it be?

Straight Talkin' Son of a Gun

According to Rolling Stone:

Earlier this year, John McCain used John Mellencamp's hits "Our Country" and "Pink Houses" during stump speeches, until the Democratic singer asked him to stop.

Uh, yeah. I mean, really, who would want to have their music used in that train wreck of a campaign? Hmmm . . . .