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Colin McEnroe (opinion): Can we call a truce between politics and music?
SF Gate ^ | September 1, 2023 | Colin McEnroe

Posted on 09/01/2023 5:27:59 PM PDT by DoodleBob

No one should have been surprised when Eminem told Vivek Ramaswamy to stop rapping to his music….Eminem is famously not chill about candidates from the right using his music, …In 2020, Eminem not only allowed Joe Biden to use the song but actually appeared in a campaign commercial adapting the song as an endorsement of Uncle Joe.

Less expected was the reaction of Oliver Anthony, owner and operator of 2023’s hottest song. “Rich Men North of Richmond” jumped onto the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 1 and stayed there a second week…At first blush, “Rich Men” seems like a right-wing anthem…And then …Oliver Anthony released a video…He said the song “has nothing to do with Joe Biden — it’s a lot bigger than Joe Biden. That song is written about the people on that stage — and a lot more, too. Not just them, but definitely them.”

The whole episode made me wish, hopelessly, for some kind of glasnost around music and politics. The history is one of tension and is overwhelmingly tipped in the direction of rock and pop artists denouncing the use of their music by conservative politicians.

I’m not sure that’s a good thing.

The whole mess started in 1984 when…Reagan’s folks asked permission to use (Born in the USA) in the campaign and were rebuffed. Reagan (I blame his speechwriter) then said, “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.”

Springsteen told a concert audience, in so many words, that he didn’t think Reagan understood him very well.

One school of thought says the incident launched Springsteen on an unplanned trajectory toward being a much more overtly political musician.

(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: music; politics
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First, don’t give the enemy a chance at free publicity. If someone inside a campaign did a little research on the entertainer’s politics, and found a good fit, incidence this would be minimized.

Second, it isn’t always the left that wins. The Navy SEAL who killed Osama bin Laden said "When we first started the war in Iraq, we were using METALLICA music to soften people up before we interrogated them. METALLICA got wind of this and they said, 'Hey, please don't use our music because we don't want to promote violence.' I thought, Dude, you have an album called 'Kill 'Em All. But we stopped using their music, and then a band called DEMON HUNTER got in touch and said, 'We're all about promoting what you do.' They sent us CDs and patches. I wore my DEMON HUNTER patch on every mission. I wore it when I blasted bin Laden."

Third, and always and forever, Springsteen sucks.

1 posted on 09/01/2023 5:27:59 PM PDT by DoodleBob
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To: DoodleBob

Music has always been a reflection of culture. Politics flows downstream from culture.


2 posted on 09/01/2023 5:31:44 PM PDT by Right Brother
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To: Right Brother

This issue has come up before, as noted with Reagan wanting to use Springsteen’s music.

the girls from the group, Heart, asked that Sarah Palin not use their music.

Or is it just an issue where the musicians are afraid that somebody might think they are conservative if conservative politician uses their music? Do these idiot musicians want to make sure the people know that they are liberal?


3 posted on 09/01/2023 5:39:44 PM PDT by Dilbert San Diego
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To: DoodleBob
Springsteen told a concert audience, in so many words, that he didn’t think Reagan understood him very well.

That was true.

Springsteen always has been an un-American jerk.

4 posted on 09/01/2023 5:40:17 PM PDT by Harmless Teddy Bear (Keep America Beautiful by keeping Canadian Trash Out. Deport Jennifer Granholm!)
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To: DoodleBob

The author must not have been around in the 60’s and 70’s...


5 posted on 09/01/2023 5:44:59 PM PDT by Repeal The 17th (Get out of the matrix and get a real life.)
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To: DoodleBob

Springsteen can shove “Born in the USA” up his kazoo.


6 posted on 09/01/2023 5:47:17 PM PDT by Ge0ffrey
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To: DoodleBob

Nope! Funny how they say that when they’re losing. Quite honestly there is no way to take politics out of music and I can’t imagine anyone trying to.


7 posted on 09/01/2023 5:48:15 PM PDT by fightin kentuckian
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To: DoodleBob
Taylor Swift famously tried to stay out of politics, even not endorsing a candidate in 2016 when she was the biggest pop star in the world (a title she still holds).

Her efforts got her slandered as a Nazi-enabler and a closet Trump voter by the left.

She then bent the knee and embraced every woke issue on the left's platform. However, she forgot that George Soros is a liberal icon and later called him out for greedily buying up her music rights.

8 posted on 09/01/2023 5:51:22 PM PDT by Drew68 (Ron DeSantis for President. A conservative who fights and wins.)
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To: Repeal The 17th
The author must not have been around in the 60’s and 70’s...

No, he's old enough. I remember him as a whiny snot writing for the Hartford Courant and hosting a radio show in Hartford, CT. The radio promotions made a big deal of him being a Yale graduate.

That said, he occasionally had his moments. He did a great job mocking Michael Jackson, suggesting that at night he put on a bunny costume, and slept in a recreation of the bedroom from "Goodnight Moon", hiring Ruth Buzzi to dress as a rabbit mom, saying "Hush!" That made me chuckle, and I remember it 30 years later.
9 posted on 09/01/2023 5:54:41 PM PDT by Dr. Sivana ("If you can’t say something nice . . . say the Rosary." [Red Badger])
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To: Right Brother

Music has always been a reflection of culture. Politics flows downstream from culture.


you are correct sir

and it is a silly suggestion in a free society


10 posted on 09/01/2023 5:54:50 PM PDT by joshua c (to disrupt the system, we must disrupt our lives, cut the cable tv)
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To: DoodleBob

“McEnroe (opinion): Can we call a truce between politics and music?”

I don’t care what others say, but arguing a call, complete with profanities, that was 1 inch from either side of the line is simply UNPROFESSIONAL. People don’t pay good money to have to deal with that.


11 posted on 09/01/2023 5:55:33 PM PDT by BobL (I eat at McDonald's and shop at Walmart, I just don't tell anyone)
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To: DoodleBob

Don’t try to be a comedian.


12 posted on 09/01/2023 6:07:55 PM PDT by Jumper
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To: Dilbert San Diego

Boycott music from liberals just like we did with Bud Light.

Push for AI to replace liberal haters in music, art and movies.

Tell conservative artists their music could hit the top of the charts in days — ‘cause there’s lots of us and liberals are haters.


13 posted on 09/01/2023 6:08:01 PM PDT by GOPJ (Hunter Biden’s pet name for his father on his cellphone? It was “Pedo Peter”. -- Jim Hoft )
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To: Harmless Teddy Bear

I prefer Ted Nugent or Kid Rock myself.


14 posted on 09/01/2023 6:31:31 PM PDT by No name given (Anonymous is who you’ll know me as )
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To: Drew68

She now won’t shut up about politics and sticks her nose into Nashville’s and Tennessee’s voting, pushing the Communists. Thankfully, I get to cancel out her votes for Mayor, Federal and statewide office.


15 posted on 09/01/2023 6:32:38 PM PDT by fieldmarshaldj (America Owes Anita Bryant An Enormous Apology)
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To: GOPJ

Well said.


16 posted on 09/01/2023 6:35:37 PM PDT by No name given (Anonymous is who you’ll know me as )
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To: No name given
I am into Christopher Tin right now.

Don't know his politics and do not care to know. But he write lovely music with soul.

17 posted on 09/01/2023 6:42:32 PM PDT by Harmless Teddy Bear (Keep America Beautiful by keeping Canadian Trash Out. Deport Jennifer Granholm!)
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To: DoodleBob

>>>Third, and always and forever, Springsteen sucks.<<<

Yep, totally agree.


18 posted on 09/01/2023 6:44:10 PM PDT by Old Grumpy
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To: Jumper

You like Bruuuuuusssss?


19 posted on 09/01/2023 7:59:28 PM PDT by DoodleBob (Gravity's waiting period is about 9.8 m/s²)
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To: DoodleBob

The problem did not originate with listeners.

Democrats politicize everything within their grasp.

The Dixie Chicks exemplified that.

When conservatives occasionally respond or counter we are lectured and attacked.


20 posted on 09/01/2023 8:31:33 PM PDT by Iron Munro (An evil man will burn his own nation to the ground to rule over the ashes)
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