The Music of Politics
It’s that time again. Well, I say that, but America feels like she’s in a constant election cycle anymore. Any reason to “other” someone will not be allowed to go by without exploiting it. Am I right, America?
All that aside, getting to my point here about the intersection of music and politics. I’ve previously written about protest songs on this very blog, so I’ll leave you to go look that up. That leaves just two topics (off the top of my head) to address: songs being used at campaign rallies and political musicians in general.
Songs at Campaign Rallies
I’ve beat this drum before, but once you release your music, you don’t get to choose who listens to it. If you take your painting to an auction, you don’t get to say that Trump voters can’t bid on the painting. You just cash the check. You don’t have to like it, but it no longer belongs to you exclusively. Yes, you created it, but it now belongs to someone else. If you don’t like that, don’t sell it.
I hate to pick on Johnny Marr because I love him so much, but the recent situation with him illustrates just how dumb things have gotten. He was notified, via fans on social media, that a Smiths song was played at a Trump rally. The video was of an empty gymnasium, obviously hours before the actual event. The song was probably on Spotify radio, or at most, a campaign staffer’s playlist. Best I could tell, almost no one was there to hear it, let alone it being used for Trump’s walk-up song. That didn’t stop him from condemning it as if that would somehow matter.
Some time ago, apparently, Trump was using “I Won’t Back Down” by Tom Petty at his rallies (legitimately, he was there, whether he chose the song or not, it was being played before he walked on stage). While I doubt very seriously Tom would have been a Trump voter, his widow and daughter filed (or at least threatened) a lawsuit and took to social media to make a nasty statement. I assume they really hate Trump because Tom’s body wasn’t even cold before they were selling his NIL rights (Name, Image, Likeness) to every person or company willing to part with a dollar.
I don’t take issue with them issuing statements, that’s their right. But when they say it’s “my song” with such self-righteous indignation, I think it makes them look bad. No one on planet earth thinks that our dearly departed Tom Petty endorses Trump from beyond the grave because that song is being played. The message resonates with Trump for obvious reasons. Isn’t that the point of art? For people to connect with your message? Who do you think you are getting to choose who connects with your message? Yes, Pink, Eminem, etc., I’m talking to you.
And if you think these people are so bad, why wouldn’t you want them to hear your message and hopefully see things differently? Art has the power to change minds and hearts, but apparently Pink and Eminem don’t think enough of their art to believe they can do that.
Political Musicians in General
When I think about musicians who continually engage in political discourse, they tend to be the cheese pizza of music. There’s nothing wrong with any of them musically, but they’re all just so incredibly uninteresting. Why eat cheese pizza when you can have a gourmet pizza at almost any pizza joint these days? Sure, it’s fine in a pinch, or while you have twenty people over to watch the Super Bowl, but otherwise, it’s the definition of “meh”. Taylor Swift, Eddie Vedder, Jack White on the left, John Rich, Jason Aldean, or Ted Nugent on the right… boring. You can argue Ted Nugent was innovative back in the day, but that was sixty years ago. The rest of them are all popular, but they’re not re-inventing the wheel at all.
I didn’t research this to be 100%, but I don’t believe there’s a college degree among the six of them. Don’t we count education as a means of authority? Is Eddie Vedder a feminist theory professor, or does he just feel threatened by the fact the kicker on a football team disagrees with the most popular singer of 1992? I heard he got into an online argument with Ted Nugent last week. I didn’t look it up, but in my book, they’re both a couple of immoral dingbats. Pardon my French, but I don’t give a merde.
Why do you care?
Even if a candidate were to campaign for a candidate I despised, it wouldn’t matter one bit. John Mellencamp’s endorsement of Hillary Clinton might be something I’ll never understand, but that son of a bitch can write a song, that’s all I know.
Artists make use of their first amendment rights more than anyone else (save maybe the politicians themselves). I prefer they use their art, not X, but that’s up to them.
When I hit the “upload” button at DistroKid, I’m putting my music out into the world. I no longer control it. I don’t get to decide who I give it to. It’s there, anyone can grab onto it. Personally, I want everyone to love it. Trump voters, Harris voters, even those people who will vote for Jill Stein. White, black, brown, gay, straight, man, woman or anything you want to call yourself, I want you to enjoy my record. No judgment, no hate, no exclusion. I want everyone to buy my record.
Seriously, I want everyone to buy my record. I may not discriminate, but I do like Ben Franklin the best.