Matt Yglesias

McCain Music Recommendations

Thinking about John McCain’s Foo Fighters problem, some of the issue here is that not only are there few contemporary rock bands that are inclined to support McCain, but there are few contemporary rock songs that are thematically appropriate to the McCain campaign. If it were actually the case that “My Hero” is about the need to look up to a war veteran, then I’m not sure that Dave Grohl’s personal opinion would matter. This problem goes back, of course, to Ronald Reagan’s (mis)appropriation of “Born in the USA.” It’s somewhat counterintuitive, but I think conservative politicians would actually do better to turn to the world of commercial hip-hop, where key conservative values like greed and violence are frequently lauded. Consider T.I.’s “Rubber Band Man”:

Ay, who I’m is?
Rubber band man
Wild as the Taliban
9 in my right, 45 in my other hand
Who I’m is?
Call me trouble man, always in trouble, man
Worth a couple hundred grand, Chevys, all colors man

That’s the McCain message. He’s a maverick (”wild as the Taliban”), endorsed by the NRA (”9 in my right, 45 in my other hand”), understands the need to cut marginal tax rates on the most productive Americans (”worth a couple hundred grand”), and owns thirteen cars (”chevys, all colors man”). The song takes on other McCain themes as well:

Went down, did 10, back ’round and rich again
That’s why I’m young wit’ tha soul of a ole man
I’m shell shocked, get shot slow ya roll man

And, of course, TI even hits the experience issue, arguing “check my resume n—–, my record’s impeccable.”

McCain Versus Foo Fighters

Matt Corley notes that the Foo Fighters are complaining about John McCain’s use of their song “My Hero” at his campaign events:

“The saddest thing about this is that ‘My Hero’ was written as a celebration of the common man and his extraordinary potential,” the band 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.”

In all honesty, I don’t really think artists should have veto power over who plays their songs at rallies. But McCain’s no copyright reformer, so he’s not all that well-positioned to make a point about the desirability of letting people appropriate these works as they see fit.