SOUNDTRACK to a campaign

They differ on foreign policy, they differ on domestic policy and, it can only be assumed, they differ on the music they would load onto an iPod. As the 2004 presidential election reaches its homestretch, President George W. Bush and Senator John Kerry have become entangled in a battle to create deep and transparent differences. For the most part, they've been successful -- and one of the many areas where this has become increasingly noticeable is in the soundtracks which accompany the campaign season. From Bob Dylan's "Times They Are A-Changin'" to Black Sabbath's "War Pigs," from John Mellencamp's "Peaceful World" to the Sex Pistols' "God Save The Queen," music and politics have never been too far detached from one another. But this year's election is offering up a revival of activism in political music unprecedented since Vietnam and Watergate-era America. POLITICS IN MUSIC: IT'S BLOWIN' IN THE WIND
"When I grew up, music had a terrific influence on the mindset of young people," IU music professor Glenn Gass said. "It was a lot more than just saying, 'I like Bob Dylan,' or 'I like Jimi Hendrix.' It was being part of a culture, a counterculture with its own language, hairstyles, fashion, politics and lifestyle choices. The times were so politicized, and music was sort of the common thread that grounded all of that." Political songs reached their zenith in the 1960s and early 1970s when issues that couldn't be ignored took center stage -- namely the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War. Coupled with the turbulent politics of the time, these social issues had a crucial influence on the music coming from the era and on the sensibilities of the culture, Gass said. The overtly political songs of that area were usually awful, Gass said. The great political songs, which stirred the passions, were few and far between and were much more nuanced than merely singing the virtues or vices of your particular candidate. "You didn't have to come out and say it in music," Gass said. The strongest examples of exemplar political songs would be any number of Bob Dylan's early works, which grew in popularity for their messages as well as the music. "He was so important because he'd say these things that you felt but couldn't put into words," Gass said. "I remember singing Dylan songs at church camp when I was kid with no sense that they were left-leaning songs." Gass said another influential political song to emerge from the Vietnam era was Neil Young's "Ohio," written after four students were killed and nine were wounded by the National Guard at Kent State University in Ohio during the spring of 1970. "It made you feel connected, not to feel so alone and not so powerless," Gass said. "It was a direct answer to an event, and that's what people try to do when they try to write a song about Iraq." The current political involvement from musicians has grown for the 2004 election more so than any in recent memory. Russell Simmons' Hip Hop Action Network had dozens of celebrities to choose from this season in an attempt to register new voters. The release of albums and songs with political overtones is snowballing, from Toby Keith's "Courtesy Of The Red, White, And Blue (The Angry American)" and his album, Shock'n Y'all, to NOFX's War on Errorism and Green Day's American Idiot. "Arguably, we're in the worst crisis this country has been in since Watergate and Vietnam, and that's mobilized people," Gass said. Gass said, for better or for worse, artists should embrace whatever their political ideologies are and not fear for their careers as they attempt to motivate voters or play roles in public discourse. "I get so tired of people saying you shouldn't listen to artists," Gass said. "Well, who should you listen to? That's what artists have always done: commenting on society. The difference is whether you view it as coming from artists or from entertainers, and pop has gone back to being more of entertainment rather than an artform." SONGS USED FOR POLITICS: CAN JINGLES REALLY GET VOTES?
Music is a commodity. It's a pipeline that can be used to sell almost anything, a fact not lost on any political operative. The pervasive use of songs in commercials has been a cornerstone of the advertising industry for decades, so it should come as no surprise then that every presidential candidate in the nation's history has had a campaign theme song of some sort. Today, songs are typically used in protest or used to rally and energize supporters at campaign events. And although "every candidate has to have one," political scientists and musicians alike are unsure what kind of impact theme songs ultimately have on any given election. Before World War II, campaign theme songs were typically written for specific candidates. The election of 1840 first crystallized the necessity for a campaign song as a way to drum up support while furiously slinging mud toward the opponent. Whig Party candidate William Henry Harrison -- nicknamed "Tippecanoe" after he led a defeat of a Native American rebellion at the Battle of Tippecanoe -- and his running mate, John Tyler, turned their successful "Tippecanoe and Tyler, Too" campaign slogan into a rallying song against President Martin Van Buren:
Like the rush of mighty waters (waters, waters) onward it will go,
And its course will bring you through for Tippecanoe and Tyler, too!
And with him we'll beat Little Van, Van, Van is a used up man
And with him we'll beat Little Van! Van Buren, however, countered with a shrewd parody of the beloved "Lullaby," mocking Harrison's reportedly frequent use of alcohol:
Rock-a-bye, baby, Daddy's a Whig,
When he comes home, hard cider he'll swig.
When he has swug, he'll fall in a stew,
And down will come Tyler and Tippecanoe. As the Great Depression began to grip America, Franklin Delano Roosevelt tapped Milton Ager and Jack Yellen's peppy and optimistic "Happy Days Are Here Again" for his theme song, which served as a reassuring antidote to growing American concern:
Happy days are here again,
The skies above are clear again,
So let's sing a song of cheer again,
Happy days are here again! In the years following World War II, campaign theme songs began to evolve from songs specifically written for a candidate into mainstream popular musician. John F. Kennedy used a recording of "High Hopes" by Kennedy family friend Frank Sinatra on the campaign trail in 1960. Ronald Reagan unsuccessfully tried to use Bruce Springsteen's "Born In The USA" in 1984. The Boss fiercely relented; outside the red-white-and-blue chorus, "Born" is actually a sharp protest song about the government and ultimately a poor choice for any presidential campaign. CAMPAIGN MUSIC OF TODAY AND BEYOND
Bill Clinton, the first baby boomer to hold the Oval Office, went rock 'n' roll as well and used Fleetwood Mac's idealistic tune "Don't Stop" for his theme song when he knocked off incumbent George H. W. Bush in 1992. This election cycle, the two candidates' musical selections once again mirror the perennial cultural clash in American politics: Republicans versus Democrats, tradition versus change and, of course, country music versus rock 'n' roll. The Bush campaign has adopted country music duo Brooks & Dunn's "Only in America," an overtly-patriotic tune which praises the can-do work ethic of American citizens in the land of endless opportunity, as one of its campaign songs. The award-winning duo, as well other country and Christian music artists, headlined the Republican National Convention in New York. Kerry took the stage at the Democratic National Convention in Boston to the tune of Springsteen's "No Surrender," an anthem of bravery. Springsteen, who is headlining the "Vote for Change" tour to unseat Bush, is an avid Kerry supporter and, while known for his odes to the common man in his music, has never been involved in partisan politics -- until now. "In this particular election, the decision is so clear, and the potential result so important to the country, that myself, along with a lot of other musicians and artists, felt democracy in the end is something you do," Springsteen told the Associated Press. Kerry's running mate, Sen. John Edwards, frequently used John Mellencamp's "Small Town" during the Democratic primaries. Both candidates are also hoping Chuck Berry's "Johnnie B. Good" will send them to Washington this November. "This is the first time I've really seen clear echoes of (political activism in music) in a long, long time," Gass said. "But I think the music doesn't have the moral authority it used to have. Today there's no Bob Dylan or no Neil Young to write 'Ohio.'" One of the problems, Gass said, is there are no heavyweight moral compasses in the musical industry that there used to be, and people don't look toward music like they used to. Using music as a tool for political exhaustion then has declined overall since the heights of Vietnam, Gass said, but it is still important today in the current blistery political climate, "The issue has to be in your face. Until recently there haven't been global issues in your face. In a weird sort of way, it's a positive thing, and we need to engage this," Gass said. "Music is fragmented, just like our society is. I'm not sure where the new great songs. I think that's really important is that younger bands embrace it. It can't be the same old 1960s musicians doing it when they're 80 years old. There has to be younger people taking up the torch."