Political Music Videos

Brigette Proctor

Music and Politics

Music a major component of campaigns and elections through Campaign Songs - John Quincy Adams: Little Know Ye Who's Coming

His song warns of fire, slavery, pestilence and plague if Adams does not win the election over Andrew Jackson: “Fire's a-comin', swords a-comin'/pistols, guns and knives are comin'/...if John Quincy not be comin'.”

- FDR: Happy Days are Here Again (from the 1930 musical Chasing)

Roosevelt was the first President to pick a pre-existing song for his campaign, handing the Democratic Party its unofficial theme song for years to come

- John F. Kennedy: Kennedy for Me theme song

Time Magazine online http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/0,28757,1840981,00.html

Early Music Videos• 1984 God Bless the USA by Lee Greenwood

– Released in the wake of the deep early 1980s recession and at the beginning of Reagan’s 1984 re-election campaign

Early Music Videos

• God Bless the USA cont.– “God Bless the USA” became that GOP’s theme

song, and Greenwood sang it during the Republican convention

– Its popularity has surged anew first in 1991 during the Gulf War and later during the Iraq War

– Shows values: family, flag, freedom, liberty– Democrats had a visceral reaction:

• Video reiterates values to distract the lower class from Republicans true economic interests

Early Music Videos

• 1989 Fight the Power by Public Enemy– “Fight the Power!” is the political statement of

the group– Spike Lee produced and directed two music

videos for the group• 1st video featured various clips from the movie Do

the Right Thing• 2nd video is a simulation of a massive political rally

in Brooklyn

Early Music Videos

• Fight the Power cont.– Video and song were a major hit for black youth

black power anthem– Cameo by Tawana Brawley - young black girl

allegedly raped by 6 white police officers– First hip hop video to feature ideas of political and

historical importance– MTV and VH1 did support the video– Song not widely accepted:

• Older generations did not approve of Chuck D calling the March on Washington “nonsense”

• Both black and white radio stations refused to play the song

Recent Music Videos

• 2005 Wake Me Up When September Ends, Green Day– Video features the story of a teenage couple– Highlights anti-war sentiment of US

occupation in Iraq– Song eventually became a tribute to

Hurricane Katrina victims– Is the video effective?

Recent Music Videos

• 2005 Get Ya Hustle On, Juvenile– Tribute to victims of Hurricane Katrina– Shot in the rubble from housing communities– Makes strong political statements:

• paper heads of Bush and Cheney with “Help is Coming” on the back

• Kids dress up as Bush and Cheney• Sign reads “2005 or 1905”

– Is this video effective?

Recent Music Videos

• 2007 What I’ve Done, Linkin Park– Juxtaposition of ironies– World Trade Center towers collapsing– Ku Klux Klan footage– Images of important historical figures

including Abraham Lincoln, Saddam Hussein, and Fidel Castro

– Racism, nuclear war, starvation– Is the video effective?

2008 Election• Raisin’ McCain, John Rich

– Original anthem by country music star in support of John McCain– McCain t-shirts and signs; American flag;special needs person

• Hank Williams, Jr.The McCain-Palin Tradition

John Rich performing Raisin’ McCain

2008 Election• 2008 Yes We Can, Will.i.am

– Collage style video created from Obama’s concession speech in the New Hampshire primary

– Considered a viral video: a video that gets widespread popularity through Internet sharing

– Conservatives view the video as over-the-top and worshipful

– Emmy award for Best New Approaches in Daytime Entertainment

– Guest appearances: Scarlet Johansson, Herbie Hancock, Common, John Legend

2008 Election

• 2008 We Are The Ones, Will.i.am and Zoe

• 2008 American Prayer, Will.i.am(Barack Obama Music Video)

New Technology• Development of commercial editing

programs and increasing Internet bandwidth has allowed everyday citizens the means to create videos

• Free video-hosting sites such as YouTube.com and Hulu.com:– provide sharing capabilities with other users– allow for user-generated content– Support and foster viral video

Harp, Dustin. “Programmed by the People: The Intersection of Political Communication and the YouTube Generation.” Conference Papers -- International Communication Association; 2007 Annual Meeting, pp1-23.

New Meaning

• Political music videos take on a whole new meaning– Videos now seem to replace the enthusiasm achieved

from campaign songs– Raisin McCain and Yes We Can are music videos in

support of one particular candidate– Most recent political music videos are parodies or

humorous• John.he.is• Rainin’ McCain• JibJab.com• Obama girl videos