It’s music to voters’ ears

COX NEWS SERVICE

AUSTIN, Texas

They pump up the crowd and fill the air with inspirational messages of hope and unity. Campaign tunes, those songs of the stump taken from albums by Bruce Springsteen, U2, John Mellencamp and other fist-pumpers, put the “party” in partisan. When the music is uplifting, you don’t even notice that the candidate is running late.

A bad choice can’t stall a campaign, as President Reagan proved in 1984, when he won in a landslide after being called out by Mr. Springsteen for trying to align himself with “Born In the USA,” a song Mr. Reagan didn’t realize was about a veteran who had been let down by his country.

However, a great, momentum-stoking campaign theme song, such as Sen. Barack Obama’s “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” by Stevie Wonder and Bill Clinton’s use of Fleetwood Mac’s “Don’t Stop (Thinking About Tomorrow)” in 1992, can come off like the soundtrack to victory.

Mr. Obama also is the beneficiary of an original, unsolicited campaign song, “Yes We Can,” from Black Eyed Peas member Will.i.am. That track, a tad deeper than “Obama Girl,” harks back to the days of “Tippecanoe and Tyler Too” (1840 presidential election ) when campaign songs were crafted especially for the candidates. The celeb-infested video for “Yes We Can” has been seen online by more than 10 million people, making Mr. Obama the YouTube candidate.

Last summer, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton asked her supporters to democratically choose her lead campaign song, and they voted for Canadian chanteuse Celine Dion’s “You and I.” Republicans charged outsourcing. After the Huffington Post called “You and I” the worst campaign song of all time (even worse than “Hello, Lyndon,” a 1964 rewording of “Hello, Dolly”?) Mrs. Clinton picked up the tempo, using “Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic” by the Police, “The Rising” by Mr. Springsteen and “Blue Sky” by Big Head Todd and the Monsters. With yesterday’s crucial Texas primary hinging, in part, on the Hispanic vote, Mrs. Clinton’s campaign introduced a new Spanish theme song titled “Hillary, Hillary Clinton,” written and performed by the Houston Latin pop band Walter Suhr and Mango Punch.

Surprisingly, no Texas campaigners looked into the catalog of the “Lone Star Springsteen,” Joe Ely. “Musta Notta Gotta Lotta (Sleep Last Night)” could have been the most realistic campaign song of 2008. To carry the Houston vote, some candidate could have used a “screwed and chopped” version, though risking being the first candidate to be ticketed for noise complaints.

The most effective and enduring partisan ditties have come from the Democratic side, from “Happy Days Are Here Again” (Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1932) and “High Hopes” (John F. Kennedy, 1960) to “Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I’m Yours),” suitably released on Motown, the first black label to market itself to white America.

The poor ol’ Republicans are at a disadvantage when it comes to campaign songs because, well, Wayne Newton and Lee Greenwood haven’t had hits in years. Although 1996 candidate Bob Dole turned Sam & Dave’s “Soul Man” into “Dole Man,” there usually aren’t many R&B songs played at Republican rallies. The Republicans prefer the blatantly patriotic “Proud to Be an American” route, though Sen. John McCain has come onstage to such tunes as “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” by Pat Benatar and ABBA’s “Take a Chance on Me.”

The candidate doesn’t need permission to use a song unless it’s for a commercial or a documentary. However, because many songwriters are Democrats or nonpolitical, there usually are protests and criticism when a Republican candidate tries to latch onto a song with a pulse. When Mike Huckabee started using “More Than a Feeling” by Boston, the song’s writer, Obama supporter Tom Scholz, fired off an angry letter to the campaign, writing “by using my song, and my band’s name Boston, you have taken something of mine and used it to promote ideas to which I am opposed. In other words, I think I’ve been ripped off, dude!” Candidates pay a licensing fee, just as radio stations and nightclubs do, to such performing-rights organizations as BMI and ASCAP.

If the artist is adamant enough, the candidate usually will drop the song, as Mr. McCain did with “Our Country” after John Mellencamp requested it. Even Mr. Obama has received a cease-and-desist request from Sam Moore of Sam & Dave, whose “Hold On, I’m Coming” was used to warm up Obama love fests. Mr. Moore said he doesn’t want his music used for endorsing any candidates.

In 2000, Tom Petty threatened to sue candidate George W. Bush, who had been coming onstage to Mr. Petty’s “Won’t Back Down.” Mr. Bush backed down, then got more flak in his re-election bid when Orleans’ “Still the One” was a theme song until writer John Hall, a Democratic member of the House of Representatives from New York, cried misappropriation. Mr. Bush had such a tough time that his campaign had to approach Billy Ray Cyrus to pen a new patriotic song.

Campaign managers and candidates spend a lot of time finding and choosing songs with the message and melody that can create a mood of euphoria. After all, more is at stake than an engaged couple making a mix CD to give out at their wedding.

The perfect song can make a difference, especially in a race as close as the Texas Democratic primary. The search is always on for the sound of a surge. If all else fails, there’s always “We Are Family” by Sister Sledge.