By Taylor Long
It’s true. With one of the most suspenseful presidential elections approaching, everyone is scrambling to rally supporters for their candidate of choice, including some of our favorite musicians. Among all the Bush Bashing and Kerry Kicking, many people are angry over musicians spouting off their opinions-but why?
When Don Henley performed in Costa Mesa, Calif. on his recent tour this summer, he was booed simply for referring to Linda Ronstadt, who was booed off the stage in Las Vegas earlier this year for dedicating a song to Michael Moore. I saw Henley play at a winery in Woodinville, Wash. (a more conservative part of usually-liberal-voting Washington state) later that month. Though he got a few jeers for some political commentary, few seemed to be in an outrage when Henley performed a cover of Randy Newman’s “Political Science,” stating that he envisioned it as a duet between Bush and Cheney, but perhaps the wine helped there. (For the unfamiliar, “Political Science” is the song that starts off with the verse: “no one likes us – I don’t know why / we may not be perfect, but heaven knows we try / but all around even our old friends put us down / let’s drop the big one and see what happens…”) Considering that Henley created the Walden Woods Project, an effort to save Walden (the area made famous by Thoreau’s book of the same name) from being developed into an office building and condominium, his point of view on politics hardly comes as a surprise.
Bruce Springsteen, though long known for trying not to associate with partisan politics (he wouldn’t allow either party to use his “Born In The USA” as a campaign song), has also put his mark on the campaign trail. One of the headliners for the Vote For Change Tour, Springsteen no longer hides his opinions behind a mask. Part of the motivation behind this, he told Rolling Stone, is because “sitting on the sidelines would be a betrayal of the ideas I’d written about for a long time. Not getting involved, just sort of maintaining my silence or being coy about it just wasn’t going to work this time out. I felt that it was a very clear historical moment.” Springsteen also wrote an opinion piece in the New York Times. Being that Springsteen is basically poet laureate for the working class, it’s safe to say his candidate of choice also is not a surprise.
“Sure,” you might say, “but when I go to a concert, I’m not paying for the artist to get up on a soapbox.” But what, then, are you paying for? The artist’s performance? Then look at all the other aspects you’re not paying for-the fans who sing louder than the performer, the drunks who get sick three songs into the set, the 50 minute wait for the artist to set up, the kid who repeatedly shouts the name of his favorite song-there are plenty of variables at concerts; it’s all part of the experience. If something that effects large quantities of people is happening/will happen/happened, you can expect commentary; 9/11, the war in Iraq-the election is no different. If some political commentary is going to ruin the whole thing for you, save yourself some money, go home, put on the CD and wait until the artist comes through after the election.
A few friends of mine recently got upset when Death Cab For Cutie made shirts that feature the democratic donkey and the phrase “we have the facts and we’re voting,” a play on the title of their second album, We Have The Facts And We’re Voting Yes. Again, being that Death Cab For Cutie is based out of Seattle, Wash., their mindset comes as no shock. Yet, one openly conservative friend wanted an explanation of why the band felt this way. But the thing with that is that we don’t have to answer to them, so why should they answer to us? That is to say, they don’t make us fill out forms claiming we’re Republican or Democrat before we buy concert tickets or CDs, so how is it fair to demand something like that from them? None-the-less, the band still backed up their opinions on their Web site.
Another friend mentioned that some people might vote for a candidate simply because their favorite band does. The problem with this is that if someone is that easily influenced, there’s plenty of propaganda out there: Fox News, Air America, Non-Profit Organizations, Religious Organizations, not to mention our friends and family, to name a few. If people are voting because someone tells them to, then that’s just proof that America needs to focus more on keeping its citizens informed (about events and the importance of voting), instead of in the dark.
“But Taylor,” you might say, “you’ve only talked about Kerry supporters-what about Bush supporters?” Well, to be honest, for whatever reason, not as many musicians have flaunted their love for the current President. But after some research on google.com and gopconvention.com, I discovered some of the President’s supporters include Hatebreed, Brooks & Dunn, Kid Rock, Ted Nugent, Toby Keith, Jaci Velasquez, Alice Cooper, Dexter Freebish and Third Day. (None of which are all that surprising.) Britney Spears received some attention for her “we should never question the President” stance, as was seen in Fahrenheit 9/11, but has since been rumored to have changed her mind.
Now you might still argue that all of this doesn’t matter, that even though it’s rather easy to predict a performer’s opinion on the election that we shouldn’t hear it, that musicians still have no place in politics, and still I beg to differ. They are citizens of this country; just like you and me. Bruce Springsteen has the same right to write to the New York Times as we do. What makes his opinion more likely to get printed than that of Jamie Doe from Wantagh is the same thing that helped Arnold Schwarzenegger win in California-celebrity. It all stems from our society, so if you want to point a finger, point it right back at yourself, along with everyone in this country.
Regardless of political affiliation, personally, I would rather see musicians being advocates for voting than advocates of not voting or things like violence. Certainly, an hour of political stage banter is not what I’m looking for at a concert, but most are kind enough to limit their monologues to less than five minutes. When you think about it, whether or not the artist has time to perform their big hit from their latest record (which you know they’ll play anyway) has little importance, so just let them talk-elections are almost over, and even if they reach just one person, it could change something that is important to more than just you.
Taylor Long is Senior Entertainment Editor for The Chronicle. You can e-mail her at [email protected].