REPORTS: Stop Using My Song: 35 Artists Who Fought Politicians Over Their Music

caption: Jackson Browne [Ed Rode – WireImage]; William Caine [Getty Images]

In 1932, FDR became the first presidential candidate to use a pre-existing popular tune for a campaign when he embraced “Happy Days Are Here Again” for his White House bid. It was a move that set future politicians on a collision course with the artists whose songs they adopted.

The first major collision took place in 1984, when Bruce Springsteen objected to President Ronald Reagan’s plans to use “Born in the U.S.A.” during his reelection run. But it was hardly the last. Springsteen ushered in a new dimension to the campaign-song hit parade: the practice of speaking out against, and sometimes suing, mostly Republican politicians who appropriated tunes without the musicians’ endorsement.

“I don’t think it has anything to do with money. It has to do with the political viewpoint of the artist or songwriter or publisher,” Chuck Rubin, founder of Artists Rights Enforcement Corporation, tells Rolling Stone. “But they do have the right to either say yea or nay.” The fact that politicians feel compelled to link themselves to particular songs, he adds, “just goes to show how powerful music can be.”

The issue of who gets to decide how that power is used, politically, flares up every campaign season, it seems – most recently when Neil Young took Donald Trump to task over the latter playing “Rockin’ in the Free World” at the kickoff event for his presidential bid. “I do not trust politicians. . . I trust people,” the rocker stated on Facebook, expressing the shared sentiments of many of his fellow musicians. “So I make my music for people, not for candidates.”

Here, to make battles past, present and future just a little less confusing, is a history of artists taking a stand against politicians using their songs.

Jackson Browne vs. John McCain
When: 2008
Song: “Running on Empty”
Controversy: After the McCain campaign used a snippet of “Running on Empty” in an ad mocking Barack Obama’s statements about gas conservation, longtime Democrat Browne filed a lawsuit against the candidate and the Republican Party. “The misappropriation of Jackson Browne’s endorsement is entirely reprehensible,” the musician’s lawyer stated, “and I have no doubt that a jury will agree.”

Result: Browne won an undisclosed cash settlement and a public apology from McCain. The New York Times called the suit, along with David Byrne’s successful 2010 suit against Charlie Christ, a “turning point” in the long history of politicians using pop tunes without artists’ permission. The controversy also helped McCain earn the dubious distinction of most artist objections to song use in campaigns.

Bruce Springsteen vs. Ronald Reagan, Bob Dole and Pat Buchanan
When: 1984, 1996, 2000
Song: “Born in the U.S.A.”
Controversy: Springsteen’s 1984 classic has become an election-season go-to for politicians who don’t seem to get the biting critique behind the song’s ostensibly jingoistic title and chorus. The misappropriation began right out the gate, just after the single and its album became monster hits. A Reagan advisor asked if they could use the song in the president’s reelection campaign, and Springsteen said no. Even so, Reagan referenced the musician in a stump speech: “America’s future rests in a thousand dreams inside our hearts. It rests in the message of hope in the songs of a man so many young Americans admire: New Jersey’s own Bruce Springsteen. And helping you make those dreams come true is what this job of mine is all about.” Springsteen began to speak out against Reagan, questioning during a show whether Reagan actually listened to his music, and later telling Rolling Stone, “I think people have a need to feel good about the country they live in. But what’s happening, I think, is that that need – which is a good thing – is getting manipulated and exploited.” Later, Bob Dole and then Pat Buchanan also used the song in their campaigns, until Springsteen objected.

Result: At least one commentator has argued that being co-opted by Reagan is in large part what politicized Springsteen, making him the outspoken liberal he is today. Whether this is the case or not, Bruce inarguably paved the way for other artists to take a stand by telling politicians to stop using their songs.

Bobby McFerrin vs. George H.W. Bush
When: 1988
Song: “Don’t Worry, Be Happy”
Controversy: The VP used the a cappella chart-topper as his presidential campaign theme, but McFerrin was a Dukakis supporter, and asked team Bush to stop. The Republican candidate went on a charm offensive, telling McFerrin he loved the song and inviting him to dinner, but the singer was unmoved. To drive home the point, he even stopped performing the song for a while.
Result: The Bush campaign dropped the tune, and “This Land Is Your Land” by Woody Guthrie became its official song instead.
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http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/stop-using-my-song-34-artists-who-fought-politicians-over-their-music-20150708/