October 23, 2024 • 61 mins
In this episode of Listen to This, host Eric Leckey takes a deep dive into the songs that have become staples at political rallies. From Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the U.S.A." to Neil Young's "Rockin' in the Free World," Leckey explores how these tracks, often misunderstood or reinterpreted, have been adopted by political campaigns to fire up crowds. With a mix of rock anthems and pop hits, he unpacks the stories behind the artists' reactions to their songs being used in political contexts and how music continues to play a powerful role in shaping public movements. Tune in for an eye-opening look at the intersection of music and politics.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to listen to this. This is the podcast dedicated
to bringing you stories behind the artists, behind the songs,
and hopefully introducing you to old songs that have influenced
all that music that we hear today. The goal is
I want you to hear an artist that you might
not normally listen to, and search out their music on
whatever streaming service you subscribe to, and hopefully, just maybe
(00:20):
you'll buy it on physical media. We invite you to subscribe, comment,
and please please recommend this podcast to a friend. Every
episode has a theme, and today's theme is politicians.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Never in the history of the United States a monster
of such size and power.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
Welcome to listen to this, a podcast that brings you
the stories behind the songs and artists, with the theme
to tie it all together.
Speaker 4 (00:46):
Here's your hosts, Eric Leckey.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
I have never really believed that politics and art have
ever really been comfortable partners. It always feels a little
forced and wedged in. I know that most people believe
that art and politics go hand in hand, but I
feel that it is one area that music and art
have been lazy in addressing. No one really takes a
(01:10):
controversial stance anyhow, It might be shocking for the sake
of being shocking, but it's never really smart or intelligent.
Some Bob Marley songs and some Dylan songs that were
labeled as protest songs, although by the way, they also
they really weren't are the exception though, because some of
them are really quite well done but overall.
Speaker 4 (01:29):
Mostly weak stuff.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
Every four years, when an election comes around, we get
a dozen or so artists claiming that they're gonna leave
the country if a conservative Canada is elected. You ever,
notice how none of them have ever followed through on
that threat, And that is what I mean about being
uncomfortable partners. I don't know if an artist knows how
to be political anymore. They just know how to virtue
(01:51):
signal to their own side. You will notice a lot
of similarities in today's stories behind the songs, basically since
every musical artist is always pretty less of center, and
most stories involved Republican politicians using the songs and then
being threatened with lawsuits to stop doing so by the artists.
One of these days, I would love a politician to
tell the artist to shove it and keep using the
(02:12):
song anyhow. But even with my dislike of most political songs.
It is still a category that has a lot of
songs addressing politics or being used by politicians to help
move their message along. So I felt it was time
to check out some songs about politicians. And I figure
the time of the year is also a good time
of the year to do this topic.
Speaker 4 (02:32):
So let's get it started.
Speaker 5 (02:49):
Take a little less conversation, a little more action, all
the sagobations.
Speaker 6 (02:55):
That is patch in the media, a.
Speaker 7 (02:58):
Little more by it, a little less part, a little
less fight, and a little more smart, and.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
Hold your mouth and don't put up your heart. And
because that isn't.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
Buy me, that isn't buy me, baby.
Speaker 5 (03:08):
Maybe close your eyes and listen to the music. A
dig to the summer breach. It's the groove of night,
and I can show you how to use it to
come along with me and put your mind and then
hate little less conversation.
Speaker 8 (03:18):
Children, and the more actual breath.
Speaker 7 (03:21):
All this s confesion and that ain't fashion in the me.
Speaker 9 (03:25):
A little more fight, a little less part, a little
less fight, a little.
Speaker 10 (03:28):
More smart, and said to marble, open up your heart.
Speaker 7 (03:31):
And what I said, it's by me.
Speaker 5 (03:33):
I didn't buy me, baby, man, Come on, baby, I'm
tired of talking. Grave your cold, then let's start walking.
Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on.
Speaker 7 (03:48):
Come on, come on, come on.
Speaker 5 (03:49):
Come don't progressed a joint articulated girls generate, You just
setuate a ride. Wow, less competition, journey, little more action.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
I've been a pretty vocal critic of Elvis throughout the years,
but this song kind of rocks. Mac Davis and Billy
Strange wrote this for the nineteen sixty eight Elvis movie
Live a Little, Love a Little, which was one of
Presley's last The song is all about taking action enough
talk already, or the way he says it, a little
(04:21):
less conversation. Davis wrote the original version for a Wretha Franklin,
but when Billy Strange, who was handling music for the film,
approached Davis about contributing a song, he realized that a
little Less Conversation fit the scene perfectly, so he reworked
it with Strange and Elvis then saying it for the
film quote, I read the script and the place where
(04:42):
they needed a song was in a scene where he
was seducing a girl at a pool and she's talking
too much and he's trying to get her to leave
with him. Davis has said I had the song already
started that I was hoping Aretha Franklin would like, and
I really wrote it with her in mind, just fit
right into that spot. And so they asked me to
clean up the lyrics a little bit. It was a
little funky, I guess for his image at the time,
(05:04):
so I changed the lyrics to fit Elvis and to
fit the times. It was a fairly obscure Elvis song,
peaking at a very unkingly number sixty nine in America
when it was released in nineteen sixty eight, But when
it was remixed and released as a single in two
thousand and two, this new version shot up to number
one in the UK, giving Elvis eighteen number one hits there,
(05:26):
the most of any artist. Previously, he was tied with
the Beatles at seventeen. Former Vermont Governor Howard Dean used
this as his campaign song when he ran for the
Democratic nomination in two thousand and three, his message that
he was a man of action, not words.
Speaker 4 (05:43):
Mitt Romney also used.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
This as a campaign song when he ran for President
of the United States in two thousand and eight.
Speaker 11 (06:07):
Well I Stemp said, I deals, I think right, and
I stemp sad, Yeah, I did stand damn fat.
Speaker 12 (06:16):
I do believe that's a dream forever long.
Speaker 13 (06:20):
This is I contrive.
Speaker 14 (06:26):
That's room enough.
Speaker 11 (06:28):
Him for science to live, and that's room enough in
for religion to fuking and try to understand other people
are the same.
Speaker 13 (06:41):
This is our country.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
From the coast to how this gost.
Speaker 4 (06:51):
Now I'm going to see how I came. This is
I con true.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
That was our country. By John Mellencamp. This song celebrates
the freedom and opportunity in America. Mellencamp acknowledges that the
American people still have problems with poverty and bigotry, but
he feels a common man will continue to make America great.
Long before this was officially released, it was used in
commercials for Chevrolet Silverado trucks. This was unusual, as Mellencamp
(07:30):
had never let his songs be used for commercial purposes
and had spoken out against the practice. Even he changed
his mind because it felt very difficult for him to
get his music heard, as radio stations and MTV generally
ignore older artists and record companies don't promote.
Speaker 4 (07:46):
Them very well.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
The Chevy campaign gave him the opportunity to present the
song to a very large audience. During the two thousand
and eight US presidential campaign, John McCain used this song
as it events while campaigning for the Republican nominee Mellencamp,
who supported the Democrat John Edwards, sent a letter to
the McCain camp in which his publicist asked, quote, if
you're such a true conservative, why are you playing songs
(08:09):
that have a very populist pro labor message written by
a guy who would find no argument if you characterized
him as left of center.
Speaker 15 (08:16):
So McCain stopped using the song, thinking.
Speaker 6 (08:54):
A little lot everything and Jackie fallen in this.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
Ami that was from the indie band The National, and
(09:35):
their song is Fake Empire. This is the third single
from the Brooklyn based indie rock band The National's fourth album, Boxer.
The song was written by guitarist Bryce Dessner and features
a horn fanfare penned by Padma Newsom from the sister
band The Clogs. Deer told San Francisco Chronicle about the
song's original concept, quote, Conceptually, I said I would love
(09:58):
to write a song that was based on a certain
poly rhythm four over three pattern, which is what you
hear in the piano. It's something I personally have never
heard in rock music before. What's interesting is the song
sounds like it's in four time, but it's really in three.
The harmonies and the way I'm playing the piano and
the music are actually incredibly simple, sort of like chopsticks simple,
(10:19):
with this really weird rhythm. The song has a basic
commentary on a generation lost to disillusion and apathy. It
was used by the Obama administration during his second time running.
Regarding Obama's use of the song, Desner said, quote, We've
never met Obama, but we had a few people in
their administration who were fans. When they first asked permission
(10:41):
to use Fake Empire, we wondered, do they know it's
about how eft up America is and wanting to leave?
Speaker 4 (10:46):
But screw it, they wanted to use it.
Speaker 16 (11:00):
Here ragain fasts a Bombay again. Let us sing a
song of g again, Happy Days, holdy Ugain all together
out it now.
Speaker 17 (11:18):
There's no one who can now is now, So let's
tell the world of about it now, Heavy Days Yugain.
Speaker 8 (11:31):
You wanna Carson troubles a goon.
Speaker 14 (11:35):
Levy from the.
Speaker 16 (11:40):
Happy Day Ark Again, Fair Skies abovey Again, let us
sing a song of cheer again, Wabby day Dog Rogain.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
That oldie but a goody song there was by Leo
Iceman and his Orchestra. The song is called Happy Days
Are Here Again. It's kind of just an upbeat anthem
and it goes hand in hand with America's recovery from
the Great Depression. But the song was actually written before
the stock market collapse was triggered. On October twenty fourth,
nineteen twenty nine. The songwriting team of Jack Yellen and
(12:19):
Milton Odger wrote it for the film Chasing Rainbows, which
was being made in nineteen twenty nine, but wasn't released
until early nineteen thirty, a few months after the stock
market crash.
Speaker 4 (12:31):
The song, though, was released as.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
A single in late nineteen twenty nine by Leo Risman
and his Orchestra, with lou Conrad on vocals. A few
different versions were released in nineteen thirty, which is a
bit macabre considering the Great Depression was well underway at
that point. Some popular versions issued that year were by
Ben Selvin and his Orchestra and Jack Hilton and his Orchestra.
(12:54):
The song was revived in nineteen thirty two when FDR
used it as his campaign song in nineteen thirty two
when he ran for president. Not only did he win,
he helped kind of pull America out of the depression
with a new deal, and was re elected three times,
serving until his death in nineteen forty five. This is,
of course, before term limits. The song has since been
(13:16):
associated with the Democratic Party, which Roosevelt has affiliated with.
Speaker 9 (13:24):
If you're gonna play in Texas, you gotta have a
fiddle in the band. That league guitar is hot but
not far losing a man, so roll enough that both
a faded love.
Speaker 4 (13:37):
And that's all dance.
Speaker 9 (13:38):
If you're gone play in Texas, you gotta have.
Speaker 7 (13:41):
A fiddle in the band.
Speaker 18 (13:51):
I remember down in Houston, we were putting it on
a show when a cow on in the back stood
up Van Yell Can Joe.
Speaker 4 (14:01):
He said, we love what you're doing.
Speaker 7 (14:03):
Boys.
Speaker 18 (14:04):
Don't get us wrong. There's just something missing in your song.
If you're gonna play in Texas, you gotta have a
fiddle in the band. That leg guitar is hot but
not farther in a band so rouse enough that love
les all dames.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
If you're gonna.
Speaker 9 (14:25):
Play in Texas, you gotta have a fiddle in the band.
Speaker 1 (14:30):
That was if You're Gonna Play in Texas, you Gotta
Have a Fiddle in the Band by the band Alabama.
This song is a salute to Texas traditionalism, giving a
nod to country music's roots. The fiddle was a staple
of early country music and American folk music in general.
Murray Kellum and Dan Mitchell wrote this song. It's the
(14:51):
only track on the album rock On from Alabama that
they wrote. Kellum died in a plane wreck in nineteen
ninety eight, forty seven years old, six years after the
release of If You're Gonna Play in Texas. His recording
of Long Tall Texan was a pretty big hit in
nineteen sixty three, and The Ballad of Archie Wu had
some success in nineteen seventy as well. The song's success
(15:14):
kind of surprised the band. They released it as a
B side to the song I'm Not That Way Anymore,
which was the third single released from the album. Alabama
was sizzling hot when they released this song. Their previous
thirteen singles all went to number one on the Country chart,
and if You're Gonna Play in Texas made it to
number fourteen. They ended up with twenty one consecutive number
(15:37):
one hits on that chart. The chorus references three country tunes.
The first is Louisiana Man by Doug Kershaw. The second
is Faded Love by Bob Willis and his Texas Playboys.
The third is Cotton Eyed Joe, a song whose origins
are lost to time, traceable though back to the eighteen hundreds.
At the very least, all three songs rely on expert
(16:01):
fiddle playing. In twenty eighteen, Texas Senator Ted Cruise to
use a variation of this song in his re election campaign,
changing the title to if You're Gonna Run in Texas,
the Republican Cruise won the seat.
Speaker 8 (16:27):
Darkness at the break of noon shadows even the silver spoon,
the handmade blade, the child's balloon eclipses both the sun
and moon. The understand you know too soon, There is
no sense in trying.
Speaker 18 (16:48):
Point.
Speaker 8 (16:48):
It threats the bluff with scorn suicide remarks our torn
from the fool's gold mouthpiece. The hollow horn plays wasted words,
proves the war and that he not busy being barn
is busy dying. Tempetition's page flies out the door. You
(17:13):
follow find yourself at war Watch water falls of pity roar.
You feel the moan, but unlike before, you discover that
should just be one more person crying.
Speaker 19 (17:29):
So don't fear if you hear, if an't sound to
your ear. It's alright, ma, I'm only sighing.
Speaker 8 (17:59):
As some more victory, some downfall, private reasons great or small,
canvas seen in the eyes of those that call to
make all that should be killed to crawl, while others say,
don't hate nothing at all except hatred, disillusioned words like
(18:21):
bullets bark as human gods aimed for their mark, and
make everything from toy guns that spark to flesh colored
christs that glow in the dark. It's easy to see
without looking too farther. Not much, it's really sacred. Our
(18:42):
preachers preach of evil fates. Teachers teach that knowledge weights
can lead to a hundred dollars plates, and goodness hides
behind its gates. But even the President of the United
States sometimes must have to stand niaked.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
That was mister Dylan there with. It's all right, ma,
I'm only bleeding. Dylan vents about subjects such as commercialism, hypocrisy,
and warmongering in this song. The song sees Dylan acknowledged
the possibility that the most important and least articulated political
issue of our times is that we are all being
fed a false picture of reality, and it's coming for
(19:21):
us in every direction.
Speaker 4 (19:22):
Kind of sounds like today.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
Dylan portrays an alienated individual, identifying the characteristics of the
world around him and thus declaring his freedom from its rules.
This song is one of Dylan's personal favorites. In nineteen eighty,
he stated quote, I don't think I could sit down
now and write It's all right.
Speaker 4 (19:41):
Ma again.
Speaker 1 (19:41):
I wouldn't even know where to begin, but I sure
as hell can still play it. The opening line darkness
at the break of Noon is referring to a nuclear explosion.
After a nuclear explosion, the sky turns black and the
sun disappears. The line, who is not busy being born
is busy dying is popular with politicians. Jimmy Carter used
(20:02):
the line in his acceptance speech in the nineteen seventy
six Democratic National Convention, and while campaigning for president in
two thousand, al Gore told talk show host Oprah Winfrey
that it was his favorite quote. Ironically, the song also
contains the line, but even the president of the United
states sometimes must have to stand naked, which is Dylan
(20:23):
alluding to the fact that even the most powerful people
will ultimately be judged.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
Look Senna.
Speaker 15 (21:11):
Tower, I'm looking Jong get crazy.
Speaker 2 (21:21):
How give me a bag?
Speaker 4 (21:28):
That's lynching chow shot time, don't.
Speaker 13 (21:36):
Make up, Jim Senna.
Speaker 1 (21:47):
That was Aerosmith was Back in the Saddle and the
song describes a cowboy going to a bar, picking up
a girl and spending the night with her. There's lots
of sexual innuendo and the lyrics among Old West images.
I'm like a loaded gun, the snake is gonna rattle,
et cetera, et cetera. The prostitute in this song. Sukie
Jones was the creation of Steven Tyler and not a
(22:10):
real person. One fan of the song is original Guns
N' Roses drummer Steven Adler, who in two thousand and
three formed a band called Suki Jones, which he later
renamed Adler's Appetite. Back in the Saddle Again was a
song popularized by Gene Autrey, who first recorded it back
in nineteen thirty nine. Autrey was known as the Singing Cowboy,
(22:32):
and his song played up the cowboy persona that he portrayed.
Speaker 4 (22:35):
In movies and TV specials.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
Steven Tyler decided to use the cowboy theme for his
lyrics after talking with producer Jack Douglas about using back
in the Saddle as a line as a way of
declaring that the band was back with a new album
and ready to rock hard. Tyler always thought back in
the Saddle meant having sex with your girlfriend more than
once in a night, so he wrote the lyrics about
(22:58):
a cowboy writing into ten to satisfy his sexual urges.
He wrote the lyrics and the stairwell of the Recording
Plant recording studio, where he would often write once a
track was finished. For the bridge, lead singer Steven Tyler
taped tambourines to his cowboy boots and stomped on a
piece of plywood that he laid down in the studio
For the crack of the whip. They actually bought a
(23:21):
bull whip, but no one knew.
Speaker 4 (23:23):
How to use it.
Speaker 1 (23:23):
They ended up faking the whip sound by having Tyler
swing a chord in the studio to make a worrying
noise and a cap gun for the crack. In two
thousand and nine, United States Congressman Eric Cantor, who was
the House, Republican Whip had his office create a video
touting his party's opposition to President Obama's stimulus bill. The video,
(23:44):
which was posted on YouTube, featured this song with the
message that Republican Party was back in the saddle. Errolsmith's
publishing company had the video removed, and a band sent
a letter to Cantor mocking him for using a song
about a cowboy.
Speaker 4 (23:57):
Picking up a hooker for political propaganda.
Speaker 20 (24:16):
See Donna, Louisiana Costa, New Orleans. We're back up in
the woods among the evergreens, the stood the law, having
made of earth and wood? Where leave the country guard
named Johnny B. Boode, who never ever learned a reader
write so well, But he could play a guitar just
like a ring Isabelle go go poor, Johnny goes go Oh,
(24:38):
Johnny go go, Kenny go go oor Johnny go go
Johnny good. He used to carry his guitar in a
Connie sack. Look if he needs a tree by the
red Rose track, ball ang and everything, putting them the
shade strum with the rhythm that the mad people they
(25:03):
would stop in faith, that little country board with Menny
Goney go.
Speaker 1 (25:21):
John That was a legendary Chuck Berry with the legendary
song Johnny Be Good. This song is based on Barry's life.
Just listen to the lyrics. It tells the tale of
a boy with humble beginnings with a real talent for
the guitar. Some details were changed, though Barry was from
Saint Louis, not Louisiana, and he did know how to
(25:43):
read and write very well. He graduated from Beauty School
of all Things, with a degree in hairdressing and cosmatology.
The line boy that little country boy could play was
originally that little colored boy can play, but Barry knew
he had to change it if he wanted the song
played on the radio, and he didn't want to alienate
his white fans, who could better relate to the.
Speaker 4 (26:05):
Tale of a country boy rather than a colored boy.
Speaker 1 (26:08):
Barry got the name Johnny from Johnny Johnson, a piano
player who collaborated with Barry on many songs, including Maybe Lene,
roll Over, Beethoven and Sweet Little Sixteen. Johnson often wrote
the songs on the piano, and then Barry converted them
to guitar and then wrote lyrics on top of it.
Barry joined Johnson's group, the Sir John Trio in nineteen
(26:28):
fifty three and quickly became the lead singer and centerpiece
of the band.
Speaker 4 (26:32):
He had the flair for being.
Speaker 1 (26:34):
A lead Johnson was a very well respected man amongst
many musicians. He played with Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, John
Lee Hooker, and many others before his death at age
eighty in two thousand and five. This song is actually
a great example of the care and precision that Barry
used when writing and delivering his lyrics. He wanted the
(26:54):
words to his songs to tell a story and stand
on their own, and took care to clearly enunciate so
listen could understand all of them. Many of the country
and blue singers who preceded Barry weren't so clear with
their diction and their word. In nineteen eighty one, Keith
Richards went backstage at a Chuck Berry show in New
York where he made the mistake of plucking the strings
(27:16):
on one of Barry's guitars. Chuck came in and punched him,
actually giving Richards a black eye. This really wasn't had
a character for the sometimes prickly Chuck Berry. Richards later said,
I love his work, but I couldn't warm to him
even if I was cremated next to him. In two
thousand and four, John Carey used this as his theme
(27:37):
song at most of his campaign events when he was
running for president. In two thousand and eight, John McCain
us a song and his successful run for the Republican nomination,
but phased it out and began using ABBA's Take a
Chance on Me. Chuck Berry made it clear that he
supported McCain's opponent, Barack Obama. Well, I love playing really
(28:51):
old stuff for you on this podcast, and that is
one of the oldest that I have played.
Speaker 4 (28:56):
That was WC. Handy with the Memphis Blue O. W C.
Speaker 1 (29:01):
Handy kind of became known as the father of the blues,
and this was the reason why the Memphis Blues are
simply known as Memphis Blues. Was written in nineteen oh
nine as a campaign song for Edward H. Crump, who
served as mayor of Memphis from nineteen ten to nineteen sixteen.
The song, which is subtitled Mister Crump, was not published
(29:23):
until nineteen twelve by Handy himself, but it started a
trend and made his outfit the top band in that
musical city. Although it was impossible to date the first
blues song, Handy's, was the only the third to ever
be published as a song, but at least having a
record contract. Memphis Blues has been widely recorded as both
(29:45):
a vocal and an instrumental track, including by Harry James
and his orchestra, Duke Ellington and Nat King Cole.
Speaker 2 (30:00):
Bob was down in.
Speaker 15 (30:09):
A dead nast down the first backer took this latter
hit thir.
Speaker 2 (30:15):
And the luck of dog.
Speaker 15 (30:17):
That's what Big tost to you, s man.
Speaker 2 (30:20):
Last, let just cover up in the USA. I was
bard in the US, was bod in the US? Bond
in the US now a long time Jim sing Born
(30:45):
Apple Limber set it up to a fine lab to
dog kill.
Speaker 4 (30:53):
They know when.
Speaker 2 (30:57):
The US.
Speaker 1 (31:11):
Often misinterpreted as a full throated patriotic anthem, Born in
the USA by Bruce Springsteen, is actually about the problems
that Vietnam veterans faced when they returned to America. While
veterans of other wars received heroes welcomes, those who fought
in Vietnam were mostly ignored when they returned to their homeland,
(31:31):
and many suffered from post traumatic stress disorder and other ailments.
This song was inspired by a chance encounter with ron Kovic,
who was confined to a wheelchair after being shot while
fighting in the Vietnam War. Covic, who enlisted to fight
the war, later then protested against it, actually becoming a
leader of the anti war movement. In nineteen seventy six.
Speaker 4 (31:54):
He published a book.
Speaker 1 (31:55):
Called Born on the Fourth of July that told his
story in nineteen eighty nine, and it was made into
a movie starring Tom Cruise as Covic. Springsteen picked up
a copy of the book in nineteen eighty when he
was on a cross country road trip with a buddy.
They were outside of Phoenix and Bruce found it at
a drug store. About two weeks later, Springsteen was in
(32:15):
Los Angeles staying at the Sunset Marquee Hotel Willer, where remarkably,
Kovix was also staying. They met in the pool area
and had a long conversation with them inviting Springsteen to
join him on a visit to the Veterans Center in
nearby Venice, California. Bruce accepted the invitation and found the
visit really quite enlightening. Springsteen used their stories that he
(32:38):
heard on this trip as the basis for the song
quote the verses are just an accounting of events, he said.
The chorus is a declaration of your birthplace and all
the right to pride in some of the confusion and
shame and grace that comes with it. Springsteen started writing
the song in nineteen eighty one, with the title originally
just called Vietnam.
Speaker 4 (32:59):
He changed the title on.
Speaker 1 (33:00):
The coorus when the director Paul Schrader sent him a
copy of a script for a movie he was working on,
Caledborn in the USA, about a rock band struggling with
life and religion. Schrader was hoping Springsteen would appear in
the movie. The song inspired the famous Anni Lebuitz photo
of Springsteen's butt against the backdrop of the American flag.
(33:20):
Bruce had to be convinced to use it as the
album's cover. Some people thought it depicted Springsteen urinating on
the flag rather than just a glamour butt shot. Born
in the USA was the first CD manufactured in the
United States for commercial release. It was pressed when CBS Records,
parent of Columbia Records, opened its CD manufacturing plant in
(33:42):
Tara Hot, Indiana, in nineteen eighty four. Discs had previously
only been imported from Japan. Well This song was used
by Ronald Reagan in nineteen eighty four and was later
pulled after Bruce said he hated Reagan's policies and forbid him.
Speaker 4 (33:56):
To use it.
Speaker 21 (34:04):
Same snail athmatal.
Speaker 18 (34:12):
Goo shame.
Speaker 21 (34:15):
Leads till my I steal sleeper, the side of the
word voice, can't feel les scene behind could be shifting
your quality be so mass be seen when we see
(34:49):
y'allself in how the thing out said, shy past, wish
we step at night?
Speaker 14 (34:57):
Or please stop.
Speaker 1 (34:59):
Fish A modern one for you. That was the Silver
(35:27):
Sun Pickups with Panic Switch. Frontman Brian o'bear said in
an interview, for some reason, when we were mixing it,
we just kept screwing around with this digital thesaurus that
we had on our computers and messing around with the
computer voice and making it say things, and me and
bassist Nikki Monitor and I kept typing in weird words,
(35:47):
trying to find the dirtiest ones we could. So every
time I listen to that song now, I just keep
hearing this computer voice saying all those dirty words. Anyway,
it's just our dance song. We wrote it later on
in the process of making the album because we were
how the album was shaping up. This had been the
third independently distributed song to ever reach number one on
the Hot Alternative Tracks chart. The other two to achieve
(36:09):
this feat where the Offspring's nineteen ninety four debut Come
Out and Play and Everlasts What It's Like, which had
a nine week run between ninety eight and nineteen ninety nine.
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney used this song during some
of his campaign events without getting permission from the group,
prompted the Silversun Pickups to get their attorney to issue
(36:29):
a cease and assist.
Speaker 8 (36:31):
Quote.
Speaker 1 (36:32):
We don't like people going behind our backs using our
music without asking, and we don't like the Romney campaign,
said Albert. We're nice, approachable people. We won't bite, unless,
of course, you're Mitt Romney.
Speaker 13 (37:00):
Others when Marial Fortune used together, I've got some real estate.
Speaker 19 (37:09):
Here in my back.
Speaker 7 (37:13):
So we brought a bag of cigarettes and this sus
Wi the Pats and walked.
Speaker 13 (37:22):
Off to look for the.
Speaker 22 (37:26):
Record.
Speaker 13 (37:33):
Kathie As said, as we're born in degree gets Burg,
the chickens sleeps lack of dream to me now, it took.
Speaker 9 (37:48):
Me four days to hit hack fro Sagon off.
Speaker 7 (37:53):
To look for ab.
Speaker 2 (37:56):
Records.
Speaker 13 (38:00):
The May Games with the face she said the man
in the gabty.
Speaker 21 (38:10):
By I said the cat both eyes really a cat.
Speaker 1 (38:24):
That was America by Simon and Garfunkel. In this song
Paul Simon and his longtime girlfriend Kathy from the song
Kathy Song he also wrote for Well, They're coming to America.
Speaker 4 (38:35):
They're moving from England.
Speaker 1 (38:36):
In this concept, Paul is deeply confused and unsatisfied, but
he doesn't know why.
Speaker 4 (38:42):
He just knows that something is missing. It's also about the.
Speaker 1 (38:45):
American dream, the guarantee that you will make it if
you stumble upon this country. That's why they are coming
to America. Song is a great example of Paul Simon
and our Garfunkels singing in Unison, which was a hallmark
of their sound. Garfunkel is a especially fond of the
section where they sing and walked off to look for America.
Garfunckles said this in nineteen ninety three. They had a
(39:07):
real upright earnest quality because we both had the identical
soul at that moment in time. We come from the
same identical place and identical in our attitude, and that's
what's holding this up. We were the same person, the
same college kid, the same musicians, trying to make it
the movie almost famous. The teenage character Anita plays this
song to explain why she is leaving home to explore
(39:30):
the country. The song is included on the soundtrack of
the film Prolific Session. Drummer Hal Blaine of The Wrecking
Crew played on this and considers it to be one
of his personal favorites. Blaine also played on Simon and
Garfunkle's Missus Robinson. Paul Simon gave Bernie Sanders permission to
use this song in a campaign ad when Sanders was
campaigning for the Democratic nomination against Hillary Clinton in twenty sixteen.
(39:55):
Simon said in an interview quote, Look, here's the guy.
He comes from Brooklyn, my age. He voted against the
Iraq War. He's totally against Citizens United and thinks it
should be overturned. He thinks climate change is an imminent
threat I should be dealt with. And I said, hats
off to you.
Speaker 4 (40:10):
You're just like me. You can use my song.
Speaker 7 (40:14):
Good Timess for a change. See the look I've had
can make a good man turn bad. So please please
please let me, let me, let me, let me get
(40:36):
what I want.
Speaker 17 (40:38):
This time.
Speaker 7 (40:47):
Haven't had a dream in a long time. See the
luck I had can make a good man bad, So.
Speaker 12 (41:02):
For onso in my life.
Speaker 7 (41:05):
Let me get what I want?
Speaker 10 (41:09):
Lord knows it would be the first time. Lord knows
it would be the first time.
Speaker 1 (41:27):
That was the Smiths with Please Please, Please, let me
get what I want. This is a tender acoustic little
ditty and it's written from the perspective of someone in a.
Speaker 4 (41:37):
Desperate need for some good luck.
Speaker 1 (41:39):
As Lord knows, it would be the first time they
had any. This features in the film Ferris Bueller's Day Off,
Never Been Kissed and five Hundred Days of Summer. It
was the B side to the song William It Was
Really Nothing, and later featured on the nineteen eighty four
compilation album Hatful of Hollow. In nineteen eighty seven, Morrissey
said in an interview that he regretted not releasing that
(42:01):
song as a single in its own.
Speaker 4 (42:03):
Right, quote, hiding it away on the B side was sinful.
Speaker 1 (42:06):
I feel sad about it now, although we did include
it on Hatful of Hollow as by way of semi repentance.
When we first played it to Rough Trade, they kept
asking where's the rest of the song. But to me,
it's a very brief punch in the face. Lengthening the
song would, to my mind, simply have been explaining the
blindingly obvious. Morrissey was not impressed when the song was
(42:30):
used without his permission to advertise Gordon Ramsey's TV program
Christmas Cook Along Live the Devout Animal Activists and Vegetarians
settled his dispute with the UK commercial TV channel four
and donated the fourteen eight hundred dollars he received to
a fund, an organization that campaigns against Fois Gras and
(42:52):
its distributors. It was Johnny Mar's turn to be outraged
when he got winn That please, please, please let me
get what I want was used at a Donald Trump
South Dakota Republican primary rally in twenty and twenty three.
I never in a million years would have thought this
could come to pass. Consider the ship shut down right now,
(43:12):
he said.
Speaker 2 (43:27):
Coloring on the street, red white.
Speaker 13 (43:32):
Room, people shuffling in a fat.
Speaker 4 (43:38):
People sleeping in your shoes.
Speaker 2 (43:41):
There's a warning sign on the road.
Speaker 23 (43:45):
There's a lot of people.
Speaker 2 (43:46):
Saying keeping man or of man. Not feel I say,
but I am William. We love me.
Speaker 6 (44:26):
Well.
Speaker 1 (44:26):
Of course, on this episode we had to hear something
from the ever grumpy, ultra left liberal Neil Young. This
song was inspired by the political changes at the time
and was highly critical of the George Bush presidential administration,
the first George Bush. Some of the lyrics mock his
campaign speeches. We got one thousand points of light for
(44:48):
the homeless man. We got a kinder Gentler machine gun
in our hand. This was released a few months before
the fall of the Berlin Wall. It became kind of
an anthem for the event as freedom spread through Eastern Europe.
Pearl Jam have performed this song from time to time
live with Neil Young, who is their musical mentor. The
first time they performd it together was at the nineteen
(45:09):
ninety three MTV Video Music Awards, where the song Jeremy
won four awards. Young came on as a surprise guest
after the band played a new song called Animal. By
the end of the performance, Vetter had tossed his mic
stand into the audience, Mike McCready had smashed his guitar,
and the crowd was just in a tizzy. Young and
Pearl Jam proved a great fit as both kind of
(45:32):
a shoe convention when it comes to music and promotion,
catering instead to their ardent fan bases.
Speaker 4 (45:37):
The song is on occasion used as.
Speaker 1 (45:40):
A pro America anthem, which actually just kind of ignores
most of the ironic overtones of the lyrics. While the
chorus does seem to celebrate the United States, it's juxtaposed
with grim verses which paint a haunting portrait of life
in modern America.
Speaker 4 (45:54):
The song is sometimes.
Speaker 1 (45:56):
Interpreted as a critique of the keep on Rockin' in
a Free World sentiment, meant that US citizens used to
ignore global problems that don't concern them. This track was
used in Donald Trump's announcement that he will run as
the Republican candidate in the twenty sixteen presidency. Young, a
longtime supporter of Bernie Sanders, said that the mogul was
(46:16):
not authorized to use this song. However, Trump's campaign responded
by saying it actually did pay to use the Neil
Young tune at the presidential announcement, but they wouldn't use
it at any future events. Through a licensing agreement with ASCAP,
mister Trump's campaign paid for and obtained legal right to
use Neil Young's recording of Rockin' in the Free World.
(46:39):
The statement read, Nevertheless, there are plenty of other songs
to choose from. Despite Neil's differing political views, mister Trump
likes him very much. Trump later hit back, posting a
photo of him and Young shaking hands and explained that
Young asked him for financing on an audio deal and
invited Trump to a concert. In a tweet, Trump called
Young a total hypocrite, adding the Free World was just
(47:00):
one of ten songs we used as background music that
we paid for. Anyways, don't know why all these musicians
get their pants and a bunch over a bunch of
people using their song.
Speaker 4 (47:11):
Who the hell cares? I have other songs to choose from. Anyway.
Speaker 13 (47:25):
There is unrest in the forest. There is trouble with
the trees.
Speaker 4 (47:31):
Will the maples want.
Speaker 13 (47:33):
And the oaks ignore these.
Speaker 14 (48:01):
Trouble with b fighbors and thes there.
Speaker 2 (48:06):
But they see in your son just to love me,
and they love my father life. But y'all got their
their fetings if they like the way.
Speaker 14 (48:20):
They're maid and they wonder why the mapel can be happy.
Say there is troubles in the forest and the creature
can help them.
Speaker 15 (48:40):
That's the mainel scream question.
Speaker 13 (48:43):
And it's just the ps.
Speaker 1 (49:01):
That was Rush with the trees. And though it seems
to be steeped in meaning, according to lyricists and drummer
Neil Pert, there's no meaning at all in this song.
When asked in the nineteen eighty issue of Modern Drummer
magazine about whether there is a message to the song,
Perrett said, nope, it was just a flash. I was
working on an entirely different thing when I saw a
(49:21):
cartoon picture of these trees carrying on like fools, and
I thought, what if trees acted like people? So I
saw it as a cartoon really and wrote it that way.
I think it's the image that conjures up a listener
or reader to think a certain way about the environment.
It's a very simple statement. The song is made up
of three distinct time signatures, which was not unusual for
(49:42):
Rush as they were pretty advanced in their musical knowledge.
They used six eighth time, which is used through most
of the acoustic sessions, and then traditional four to four time,
which is used in the heavier lead guitar sessions, and
the unusual time signature of five four in the instrumental bridge.
This song can be seen as an extremely over dramatic
(50:03):
representation on how Canadians feel about Americans. Note the maple
leaf is at the center of the Canadian flags. We
all know they love trees. The American politician Rand Paul
sometimes mentions this song in interviews and speeches, using it
as an example of his libertarian ideology. Neil Pert, whose
political views don't always sync with Paul's, had Russia's management
(50:25):
send a cease and desist order to Paul, asking him
to stop quoting the lyrics, which is, by the way,
pretty whiny. I mean, I get not wanting a politician
to use your song, but to cease into system from
even mentioning you or your song seems pretty anti free
speech to me.
Speaker 12 (50:47):
Everyone is voting Pael Jackman Pause, He's got what all
the rest Lackey.
Speaker 6 (50:54):
Everyone wants to back jack Jack is on the right track.
Speaker 7 (51:00):
He's gotten.
Speaker 22 (51:02):
Hopes, He's gotten.
Speaker 23 (51:06):
Hopes.
Speaker 6 (51:07):
Nineteen sixties the year for.
Speaker 13 (51:10):
His fine hopes.
Speaker 12 (51:13):
Come on and vote for Kannedy, vote Forganity and you'll come.
Speaker 4 (51:19):
On on top boots.
Speaker 6 (51:22):
There goes the opposition girls.
Speaker 11 (51:25):
Theres the opposition girls.
Speaker 12 (51:28):
There goes the opposition girl from kad double n e
d Y. Jack's the nation's favorite guy.
Speaker 13 (51:45):
Everyone wants to back the Jack.
Speaker 11 (51:49):
Jack is on the right track because he's gotten.
Speaker 23 (51:54):
Hopes.
Speaker 13 (51:55):
He's gotten the host nineteenth.
Speaker 8 (52:05):
And both.
Speaker 20 (52:10):
America.
Speaker 1 (52:26):
That was the chairman of the board, Frank Sinatra with
high Hopes. It's an aspirational song and it was written
by Jimmy Van Heusen and Sammy Kahn for the nineteen
fifty nine movie A Hole in the Head, which starred
Sinatra and was directed by Frank Capra. In the film,
Sinatra performs a song with Little Eddie Hodges, who played
Sinatra's twelve year old son. Jimmy Van Hewson and Sammy
(52:47):
Kahn had several other successful collaborations, resulting in the songs
Love and Marriage, Come Fly with Me, and many many others.
They were all recorded by Sinatra. In fact, con wrote
eighty seven songs that were recorded by Sona. A children's
choir was used on the single release of the song,
which was credited to Frank Sinatra and a bunch of Kids.
(53:08):
I played for you, though the revamped song not the
version that you would normally hear. That's because Sinatra sang
this during John F. Kennedy's successful nineteen sixty presidential run,
and it became Kennedy's campaign song. The song writers Van
Hughson and conrote a new set of lyrics to cheer
on Kennedy with the first lines, Everyone's voting for Jack
(53:30):
because he's got what the rest lack. Everyone wants to
back Jack. Jack is on the right track. This version
was recorded as High Hopes with Jack Kennedy. There was
no artists listed on the label and it wasn't sold,
likely for legal reasons, but it was distributed to jukeboxes
and radio stations. Kennedy had a more traditional custom campaign
(53:51):
song called Kennedy for Me, but it lacked Sinatra star power,
and everyone requested the Sinatra song instead at the rallies.
Speaker 4 (54:16):
Because your sky because your sky full start.
Speaker 23 (54:24):
I'm going to give you my heart because your sky
casure sky full of stars, because you live up the pad.
Speaker 4 (54:47):
Not okay, wanta ta me a bad.
Speaker 11 (54:54):
Not okay, sid scy sin scys.
Speaker 6 (55:08):
Side.
Speaker 1 (55:16):
That was the band Coldplay, who I never thought I
would play for you on this podcast with their song
A sky Full of Stars. The song was recorded during
the sessions for the album ghost Stories with Avici, the
Swedish edm artist was invited by Chris Martin to play
the piano, and his imprint can be heard all along
the song's piano lines. Martin, who usually tinkles the ivories
(55:38):
on Coldplay's recordings, admitted he felt like he was cheating
on the band when he asked the Swede to play
the piano instead of him. This was the last song
that Coldplay added to the Ghost Stories album, and the
band appreciated the fresh injection by the artist of Vicci.
The rest of the band was very gracious as usual,
Martin said, so they said, we trust you.
Speaker 4 (55:59):
Let's just keep this rolling.
Speaker 1 (56:01):
The song played after acceptance speeches of President elect Joe
Biden and Vice President elect Kamala Harris following their victory
in the twenty twenty presidential election. It was the favorite
song of Biden's late son, Bo Chris Martin, and then
performed it actually at his funeral in twenty fifteen. And
now it seems like all the votes have been counted,
(56:21):
an election season is over, so we must end well.
Speaker 4 (56:25):
I wanted to end with an example of what a.
Speaker 1 (56:27):
Good combo of art and politics can be. A true
song with vision, passion, and a message all in one.
The inspiration for everything that Bob Dylan became Woody Guthrie
had first with This Land is Your Land, Originally titled
God Bless America, go Thrie wrote this song as a
(56:48):
parody of Irving Berlin's God Bless America. When Guthrie started
writing the song in nineteen forty, the last line of
the chorus was God blessed America for me, which guthrie
is eventually changed to this land was made for un Me.
Speaker 4 (57:04):
It evolved into a.
Speaker 1 (57:05):
Protest anthem as generations of folk singers performed the song,
but it is often misinterpreted as a patriotic song. The
lyrics express Guthrie's belief that the working class should have
the same rights as the rich. Guthrie got the melody
for this song from an old Carter family tune called
When the World's on Fire. He wrote the music and
(57:26):
could play a ton of different instruments, but his strength
was certainly in his lyric writing. He would often borrow
tunes and as would he put it, well if they
already know the tune, they're halfway to knowing the song.
The Carter family was certainly a big influence on him.
He always loved the idea of having a family band
Guthrie started writing the song in nineteen forty when he
hitchtike his way from Los Angeles to New York City.
(57:49):
Along the way, God Bless America was playing in jukeboxes
across the country, which is where he got the idea
to parody the song. Guthrie didn't record the song until
nineteen forty four, and he changed the lyrics over the years,
performing it many different ways. It was not released until
nineteen forty nine, when a small company called Folkway's Recording
Company issued the disc. This version became the one picked
(58:11):
up by other folk singers and often sung in schools
in summer camps, and it is by far the best
known rendition of the song. Earlier performances by Guthrie contained
way more verses, including lyrics about seeing a no trespassing
sign but realizing there was nothing written on the other
side of the sign and that that sign was only
made for you and me. Thanks to a legal snaffoo,
(58:33):
this song, somewhat fittingly, is in the public domain. Most
of Guthrie's songs have had their copyrights renewed, keeping them
locked down for ninety five years after the date they
were first published. While This Land is your Land, however,
wasn't registered until nineteen fifty six, and the owner of
that copyright, Ludlow Music, renewed that copyright in nineteen eighty four.
(58:54):
Law at the time stated that a copyright had to
be renewed after twenty eight years. Guthrie published the song
in nineteen ten forty five, when he created a pamphlet
with the words and music and sold it as sheet music.
This means that the copyright was up for renewal in
nineteen seventy three, not nineteen eighty four, so the Ludlow
copyright was not valid. Ronald Reagan used lyrics from the
(59:15):
song in a speech as part of his nineteen eighty
four re election campaign. At the twenty twenty one US
presidential inauguration, Jennifer Lopez saying, this Land is Your Land,
followed by America the Beautiful before Joe Biden took the
oath of office. So we're going to leave you today
with this Land Is Your Land by Woody Guthrie, a true,
real good merge of art and politics. Then we of
(59:38):
course encourage you not only to review this podcast and
recommend it to a friend, but please get out there
and vote, and please vote for the party that gives
you the most freedom, not the most restrictions. Other than that,
turn this song up and we'll see you next week
for our season finale.
Speaker 6 (59:55):
This land is your land.
Speaker 7 (59:57):
This land is my land.
Speaker 6 (01:00:00):
California to the New York Island, from the Redwood Forest
to the Costream Waters. This lam was.
Speaker 9 (01:00:10):
Made for you and me.
Speaker 22 (01:00:14):
As I went walking, I saw a sign and on
the sign it said no trespassing. But on the other
side you didn't say nothing.
Speaker 6 (01:00:28):
That sign was made for you and me. This lab
is your land. This lab is my land, from California
to the New York Island, from the Redwood Forest to
the co Stream Waters. This lam was made for you
(01:00:49):
and me.
Speaker 22 (01:00:52):
In the shadows of the steeple, I saw my people
in the relief office, I saw my people. They stood
hungry after they asking. This land really made for you
and me.
Speaker 4 (01:01:21):
Thank you for listening.
Speaker 3 (01:01:22):
To listen to this, please recommend to a friend and
don't forget to rate, review, and subscribe. For more podcasts
and online content, please visit this isfunner dot com.
Speaker 2 (01:01:32):
This is Funner
Welcome to listen to this. This is the podcast dedicated
to bringing you stories behind the artists, behind the songs,
and hopefully introducing you to old songs that have influenced
all that music that we hear today. The goal is
I want you to hear an artist that you might
not normally listen to, and search out their music on
whatever streaming service you subscribe to, and hopefully, just maybe
(00:20):
you'll buy it on physical media. We invite you to subscribe, comment,
and please please recommend this podcast to a friend. Every
episode has a theme, and today's theme is politicians.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Never in the history of the United States a monster
of such size and power.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
Welcome to listen to this, a podcast that brings you
the stories behind the songs and artists, with the theme
to tie it all together.
Speaker 4 (00:46):
Here's your hosts, Eric Leckey.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
I have never really believed that politics and art have
ever really been comfortable partners. It always feels a little
forced and wedged in. I know that most people believe
that art and politics go hand in hand, but I
feel that it is one area that music and art
have been lazy in addressing. No one really takes a
(01:10):
controversial stance anyhow, It might be shocking for the sake
of being shocking, but it's never really smart or intelligent.
Some Bob Marley songs and some Dylan songs that were
labeled as protest songs, although by the way, they also
they really weren't are the exception though, because some of
them are really quite well done but overall.
Speaker 4 (01:29):
Mostly weak stuff.
Speaker 1 (01:30):
Every four years, when an election comes around, we get
a dozen or so artists claiming that they're gonna leave
the country if a conservative Canada is elected. You ever,
notice how none of them have ever followed through on
that threat, And that is what I mean about being
uncomfortable partners. I don't know if an artist knows how
to be political anymore. They just know how to virtue
(01:51):
signal to their own side. You will notice a lot
of similarities in today's stories behind the songs, basically since
every musical artist is always pretty less of center, and
most stories involved Republican politicians using the songs and then
being threatened with lawsuits to stop doing so by the artists.
One of these days, I would love a politician to
tell the artist to shove it and keep using the
(02:12):
song anyhow. But even with my dislike of most political songs.
It is still a category that has a lot of
songs addressing politics or being used by politicians to help
move their message along. So I felt it was time
to check out some songs about politicians. And I figure
the time of the year is also a good time
of the year to do this topic.
Speaker 4 (02:32):
So let's get it started.
Speaker 5 (02:49):
Take a little less conversation, a little more action, all
the sagobations.
Speaker 6 (02:55):
That is patch in the media, a.
Speaker 7 (02:58):
Little more by it, a little less part, a little
less fight, and a little more smart, and.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
Hold your mouth and don't put up your heart. And
because that isn't.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
Buy me, that isn't buy me, baby.
Speaker 5 (03:08):
Maybe close your eyes and listen to the music. A
dig to the summer breach. It's the groove of night,
and I can show you how to use it to
come along with me and put your mind and then
hate little less conversation.
Speaker 8 (03:18):
Children, and the more actual breath.
Speaker 7 (03:21):
All this s confesion and that ain't fashion in the me.
Speaker 9 (03:25):
A little more fight, a little less part, a little
less fight, a little.
Speaker 10 (03:28):
More smart, and said to marble, open up your heart.
Speaker 7 (03:31):
And what I said, it's by me.
Speaker 5 (03:33):
I didn't buy me, baby, man, Come on, baby, I'm
tired of talking. Grave your cold, then let's start walking.
Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on.
Speaker 7 (03:48):
Come on, come on, come on.
Speaker 5 (03:49):
Come don't progressed a joint articulated girls generate, You just
setuate a ride. Wow, less competition, journey, little more action.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
I've been a pretty vocal critic of Elvis throughout the years,
but this song kind of rocks. Mac Davis and Billy
Strange wrote this for the nineteen sixty eight Elvis movie
Live a Little, Love a Little, which was one of
Presley's last The song is all about taking action enough
talk already, or the way he says it, a little
(04:21):
less conversation. Davis wrote the original version for a Wretha Franklin,
but when Billy Strange, who was handling music for the film,
approached Davis about contributing a song, he realized that a
little Less Conversation fit the scene perfectly, so he reworked
it with Strange and Elvis then saying it for the
film quote, I read the script and the place where
(04:42):
they needed a song was in a scene where he
was seducing a girl at a pool and she's talking
too much and he's trying to get her to leave
with him. Davis has said I had the song already
started that I was hoping Aretha Franklin would like, and
I really wrote it with her in mind, just fit
right into that spot. And so they asked me to
clean up the lyrics a little bit. It was a
little funky, I guess for his image at the time,
(05:04):
so I changed the lyrics to fit Elvis and to
fit the times. It was a fairly obscure Elvis song,
peaking at a very unkingly number sixty nine in America
when it was released in nineteen sixty eight, But when
it was remixed and released as a single in two
thousand and two, this new version shot up to number
one in the UK, giving Elvis eighteen number one hits there,
(05:26):
the most of any artist. Previously, he was tied with
the Beatles at seventeen. Former Vermont Governor Howard Dean used
this as his campaign song when he ran for the
Democratic nomination in two thousand and three, his message that
he was a man of action, not words.
Speaker 4 (05:43):
Mitt Romney also used.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
This as a campaign song when he ran for President
of the United States in two thousand and eight.
Speaker 11 (06:07):
Well I Stemp said, I deals, I think right, and
I stemp sad, Yeah, I did stand damn fat.
Speaker 12 (06:16):
I do believe that's a dream forever long.
Speaker 13 (06:20):
This is I contrive.
Speaker 14 (06:26):
That's room enough.
Speaker 11 (06:28):
Him for science to live, and that's room enough in
for religion to fuking and try to understand other people
are the same.
Speaker 13 (06:41):
This is our country.
Speaker 2 (06:46):
From the coast to how this gost.
Speaker 4 (06:51):
Now I'm going to see how I came. This is
I con true.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
That was our country. By John Mellencamp. This song celebrates
the freedom and opportunity in America. Mellencamp acknowledges that the
American people still have problems with poverty and bigotry, but
he feels a common man will continue to make America great.
Long before this was officially released, it was used in
commercials for Chevrolet Silverado trucks. This was unusual, as Mellencamp
(07:30):
had never let his songs be used for commercial purposes
and had spoken out against the practice. Even he changed
his mind because it felt very difficult for him to
get his music heard, as radio stations and MTV generally
ignore older artists and record companies don't promote.
Speaker 4 (07:46):
Them very well.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
The Chevy campaign gave him the opportunity to present the
song to a very large audience. During the two thousand
and eight US presidential campaign, John McCain used this song
as it events while campaigning for the Republican nominee Mellencamp,
who supported the Democrat John Edwards, sent a letter to
the McCain camp in which his publicist asked, quote, if
you're such a true conservative, why are you playing songs
(08:09):
that have a very populist pro labor message written by
a guy who would find no argument if you characterized
him as left of center.
Speaker 15 (08:16):
So McCain stopped using the song, thinking.
Speaker 6 (08:54):
A little lot everything and Jackie fallen in this.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
Ami that was from the indie band The National, and
(09:35):
their song is Fake Empire. This is the third single
from the Brooklyn based indie rock band The National's fourth album, Boxer.
The song was written by guitarist Bryce Dessner and features
a horn fanfare penned by Padma Newsom from the sister
band The Clogs. Deer told San Francisco Chronicle about the
song's original concept, quote, Conceptually, I said I would love
(09:58):
to write a song that was based on a certain
poly rhythm four over three pattern, which is what you
hear in the piano. It's something I personally have never
heard in rock music before. What's interesting is the song
sounds like it's in four time, but it's really in three.
The harmonies and the way I'm playing the piano and
the music are actually incredibly simple, sort of like chopsticks simple,
(10:19):
with this really weird rhythm. The song has a basic
commentary on a generation lost to disillusion and apathy. It
was used by the Obama administration during his second time running.
Regarding Obama's use of the song, Desner said, quote, We've
never met Obama, but we had a few people in
their administration who were fans. When they first asked permission
(10:41):
to use Fake Empire, we wondered, do they know it's
about how eft up America is and wanting to leave?
Speaker 4 (10:46):
But screw it, they wanted to use it.
Speaker 16 (11:00):
Here ragain fasts a Bombay again. Let us sing a
song of g again, Happy Days, holdy Ugain all together
out it now.
Speaker 17 (11:18):
There's no one who can now is now, So let's
tell the world of about it now, Heavy Days Yugain.
Speaker 8 (11:31):
You wanna Carson troubles a goon.
Speaker 14 (11:35):
Levy from the.
Speaker 16 (11:40):
Happy Day Ark Again, Fair Skies abovey Again, let us
sing a song of cheer again, Wabby day Dog Rogain.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
That oldie but a goody song there was by Leo
Iceman and his Orchestra. The song is called Happy Days
Are Here Again. It's kind of just an upbeat anthem
and it goes hand in hand with America's recovery from
the Great Depression. But the song was actually written before
the stock market collapse was triggered. On October twenty fourth,
nineteen twenty nine. The songwriting team of Jack Yellen and
(12:19):
Milton Odger wrote it for the film Chasing Rainbows, which
was being made in nineteen twenty nine, but wasn't released
until early nineteen thirty, a few months after the stock
market crash.
Speaker 4 (12:31):
The song, though, was released as.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
A single in late nineteen twenty nine by Leo Risman
and his Orchestra, with lou Conrad on vocals. A few
different versions were released in nineteen thirty, which is a
bit macabre considering the Great Depression was well underway at
that point. Some popular versions issued that year were by
Ben Selvin and his Orchestra and Jack Hilton and his Orchestra.
(12:54):
The song was revived in nineteen thirty two when FDR
used it as his campaign song in nineteen thirty two
when he ran for president. Not only did he win,
he helped kind of pull America out of the depression
with a new deal, and was re elected three times,
serving until his death in nineteen forty five. This is,
of course, before term limits. The song has since been
(13:16):
associated with the Democratic Party, which Roosevelt has affiliated with.
Speaker 9 (13:24):
If you're gonna play in Texas, you gotta have a
fiddle in the band. That league guitar is hot but
not far losing a man, so roll enough that both
a faded love.
Speaker 4 (13:37):
And that's all dance.
Speaker 9 (13:38):
If you're gone play in Texas, you gotta have.
Speaker 7 (13:41):
A fiddle in the band.
Speaker 18 (13:51):
I remember down in Houston, we were putting it on
a show when a cow on in the back stood
up Van Yell Can Joe.
Speaker 4 (14:01):
He said, we love what you're doing.
Speaker 7 (14:03):
Boys.
Speaker 18 (14:04):
Don't get us wrong. There's just something missing in your song.
If you're gonna play in Texas, you gotta have a
fiddle in the band. That leg guitar is hot but
not farther in a band so rouse enough that love
les all dames.
Speaker 2 (14:24):
If you're gonna.
Speaker 9 (14:25):
Play in Texas, you gotta have a fiddle in the band.
Speaker 1 (14:30):
That was if You're Gonna Play in Texas, you Gotta
Have a Fiddle in the Band by the band Alabama.
This song is a salute to Texas traditionalism, giving a
nod to country music's roots. The fiddle was a staple
of early country music and American folk music in general.
Murray Kellum and Dan Mitchell wrote this song. It's the
(14:51):
only track on the album rock On from Alabama that
they wrote. Kellum died in a plane wreck in nineteen
ninety eight, forty seven years old, six years after the
release of If You're Gonna Play in Texas. His recording
of Long Tall Texan was a pretty big hit in
nineteen sixty three, and The Ballad of Archie Wu had
some success in nineteen seventy as well. The song's success
(15:14):
kind of surprised the band. They released it as a
B side to the song I'm Not That Way Anymore,
which was the third single released from the album. Alabama
was sizzling hot when they released this song. Their previous
thirteen singles all went to number one on the Country chart,
and if You're Gonna Play in Texas made it to
number fourteen. They ended up with twenty one consecutive number
(15:37):
one hits on that chart. The chorus references three country tunes.
The first is Louisiana Man by Doug Kershaw. The second
is Faded Love by Bob Willis and his Texas Playboys.
The third is Cotton Eyed Joe, a song whose origins
are lost to time, traceable though back to the eighteen hundreds.
At the very least, all three songs rely on expert
(16:01):
fiddle playing. In twenty eighteen, Texas Senator Ted Cruise to
use a variation of this song in his re election campaign,
changing the title to if You're Gonna Run in Texas,
the Republican Cruise won the seat.
Speaker 8 (16:27):
Darkness at the break of noon shadows even the silver spoon,
the handmade blade, the child's balloon eclipses both the sun
and moon. The understand you know too soon, There is
no sense in trying.
Speaker 18 (16:48):
Point.
Speaker 8 (16:48):
It threats the bluff with scorn suicide remarks our torn
from the fool's gold mouthpiece. The hollow horn plays wasted words,
proves the war and that he not busy being barn
is busy dying. Tempetition's page flies out the door. You
(17:13):
follow find yourself at war Watch water falls of pity roar.
You feel the moan, but unlike before, you discover that
should just be one more person crying.
Speaker 19 (17:29):
So don't fear if you hear, if an't sound to
your ear. It's alright, ma, I'm only sighing.
Speaker 8 (17:59):
As some more victory, some downfall, private reasons great or small,
canvas seen in the eyes of those that call to
make all that should be killed to crawl, while others say,
don't hate nothing at all except hatred, disillusioned words like
(18:21):
bullets bark as human gods aimed for their mark, and
make everything from toy guns that spark to flesh colored
christs that glow in the dark. It's easy to see
without looking too farther. Not much, it's really sacred. Our
(18:42):
preachers preach of evil fates. Teachers teach that knowledge weights
can lead to a hundred dollars plates, and goodness hides
behind its gates. But even the President of the United
States sometimes must have to stand niaked.
Speaker 1 (18:58):
That was mister Dylan there with. It's all right, ma,
I'm only bleeding. Dylan vents about subjects such as commercialism, hypocrisy,
and warmongering in this song. The song sees Dylan acknowledged
the possibility that the most important and least articulated political
issue of our times is that we are all being
fed a false picture of reality, and it's coming for
(19:21):
us in every direction.
Speaker 4 (19:22):
Kind of sounds like today.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
Dylan portrays an alienated individual, identifying the characteristics of the
world around him and thus declaring his freedom from its rules.
This song is one of Dylan's personal favorites. In nineteen eighty,
he stated quote, I don't think I could sit down
now and write It's all right.
Speaker 4 (19:41):
Ma again.
Speaker 1 (19:41):
I wouldn't even know where to begin, but I sure
as hell can still play it. The opening line darkness
at the break of Noon is referring to a nuclear explosion.
After a nuclear explosion, the sky turns black and the
sun disappears. The line, who is not busy being born
is busy dying is popular with politicians. Jimmy Carter used
(20:02):
the line in his acceptance speech in the nineteen seventy
six Democratic National Convention, and while campaigning for president in
two thousand, al Gore told talk show host Oprah Winfrey
that it was his favorite quote. Ironically, the song also
contains the line, but even the president of the United
states sometimes must have to stand naked, which is Dylan
(20:23):
alluding to the fact that even the most powerful people
will ultimately be judged.
Speaker 2 (21:00):
Look Senna.
Speaker 15 (21:11):
Tower, I'm looking Jong get crazy.
Speaker 2 (21:21):
How give me a bag?
Speaker 4 (21:28):
That's lynching chow shot time, don't.
Speaker 13 (21:36):
Make up, Jim Senna.
Speaker 1 (21:47):
That was Aerosmith was Back in the Saddle and the
song describes a cowboy going to a bar, picking up
a girl and spending the night with her. There's lots
of sexual innuendo and the lyrics among Old West images.
I'm like a loaded gun, the snake is gonna rattle,
et cetera, et cetera. The prostitute in this song. Sukie
Jones was the creation of Steven Tyler and not a
(22:10):
real person. One fan of the song is original Guns
N' Roses drummer Steven Adler, who in two thousand and
three formed a band called Suki Jones, which he later
renamed Adler's Appetite. Back in the Saddle Again was a
song popularized by Gene Autrey, who first recorded it back
in nineteen thirty nine. Autrey was known as the Singing Cowboy,
(22:32):
and his song played up the cowboy persona that he portrayed.
Speaker 4 (22:35):
In movies and TV specials.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
Steven Tyler decided to use the cowboy theme for his
lyrics after talking with producer Jack Douglas about using back
in the Saddle as a line as a way of
declaring that the band was back with a new album
and ready to rock hard. Tyler always thought back in
the Saddle meant having sex with your girlfriend more than
once in a night, so he wrote the lyrics about
(22:58):
a cowboy writing into ten to satisfy his sexual urges.
He wrote the lyrics and the stairwell of the Recording
Plant recording studio, where he would often write once a
track was finished. For the bridge, lead singer Steven Tyler
taped tambourines to his cowboy boots and stomped on a
piece of plywood that he laid down in the studio
For the crack of the whip. They actually bought a
(23:21):
bull whip, but no one knew.
Speaker 4 (23:23):
How to use it.
Speaker 1 (23:23):
They ended up faking the whip sound by having Tyler
swing a chord in the studio to make a worrying
noise and a cap gun for the crack. In two
thousand and nine, United States Congressman Eric Cantor, who was
the House, Republican Whip had his office create a video
touting his party's opposition to President Obama's stimulus bill. The video,
(23:44):
which was posted on YouTube, featured this song with the
message that Republican Party was back in the saddle. Errolsmith's
publishing company had the video removed, and a band sent
a letter to Cantor mocking him for using a song
about a cowboy.
Speaker 4 (23:57):
Picking up a hooker for political propaganda.
Speaker 20 (24:16):
See Donna, Louisiana Costa, New Orleans. We're back up in
the woods among the evergreens, the stood the law, having
made of earth and wood? Where leave the country guard
named Johnny B. Boode, who never ever learned a reader
write so well, But he could play a guitar just
like a ring Isabelle go go poor, Johnny goes go Oh,
(24:38):
Johnny go go, Kenny go go oor Johnny go go
Johnny good. He used to carry his guitar in a
Connie sack. Look if he needs a tree by the
red Rose track, ball ang and everything, putting them the
shade strum with the rhythm that the mad people they
(25:03):
would stop in faith, that little country board with Menny
Goney go.
Speaker 1 (25:21):
John That was a legendary Chuck Berry with the legendary
song Johnny Be Good. This song is based on Barry's life.
Just listen to the lyrics. It tells the tale of
a boy with humble beginnings with a real talent for
the guitar. Some details were changed, though Barry was from
Saint Louis, not Louisiana, and he did know how to
(25:43):
read and write very well. He graduated from Beauty School
of all Things, with a degree in hairdressing and cosmatology.
The line boy that little country boy could play was
originally that little colored boy can play, but Barry knew
he had to change it if he wanted the song
played on the radio, and he didn't want to alienate
his white fans, who could better relate to the.
Speaker 4 (26:05):
Tale of a country boy rather than a colored boy.
Speaker 1 (26:08):
Barry got the name Johnny from Johnny Johnson, a piano
player who collaborated with Barry on many songs, including Maybe Lene,
roll Over, Beethoven and Sweet Little Sixteen. Johnson often wrote
the songs on the piano, and then Barry converted them
to guitar and then wrote lyrics on top of it.
Barry joined Johnson's group, the Sir John Trio in nineteen
(26:28):
fifty three and quickly became the lead singer and centerpiece
of the band.
Speaker 4 (26:32):
He had the flair for being.
Speaker 1 (26:34):
A lead Johnson was a very well respected man amongst
many musicians. He played with Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, John
Lee Hooker, and many others before his death at age
eighty in two thousand and five. This song is actually
a great example of the care and precision that Barry
used when writing and delivering his lyrics. He wanted the
(26:54):
words to his songs to tell a story and stand
on their own, and took care to clearly enunciate so
listen could understand all of them. Many of the country
and blue singers who preceded Barry weren't so clear with
their diction and their word. In nineteen eighty one, Keith
Richards went backstage at a Chuck Berry show in New
York where he made the mistake of plucking the strings
(27:16):
on one of Barry's guitars. Chuck came in and punched him,
actually giving Richards a black eye. This really wasn't had
a character for the sometimes prickly Chuck Berry. Richards later said,
I love his work, but I couldn't warm to him
even if I was cremated next to him. In two
thousand and four, John Carey used this as his theme
(27:37):
song at most of his campaign events when he was
running for president. In two thousand and eight, John McCain
us a song and his successful run for the Republican nomination,
but phased it out and began using ABBA's Take a
Chance on Me. Chuck Berry made it clear that he
supported McCain's opponent, Barack Obama. Well, I love playing really
(28:51):
old stuff for you on this podcast, and that is
one of the oldest that I have played.
Speaker 4 (28:56):
That was WC. Handy with the Memphis Blue O. W C.
Speaker 1 (29:01):
Handy kind of became known as the father of the blues,
and this was the reason why the Memphis Blues are
simply known as Memphis Blues. Was written in nineteen oh
nine as a campaign song for Edward H. Crump, who
served as mayor of Memphis from nineteen ten to nineteen sixteen.
The song, which is subtitled Mister Crump, was not published
(29:23):
until nineteen twelve by Handy himself, but it started a
trend and made his outfit the top band in that
musical city. Although it was impossible to date the first
blues song, Handy's, was the only the third to ever
be published as a song, but at least having a
record contract. Memphis Blues has been widely recorded as both
(29:45):
a vocal and an instrumental track, including by Harry James
and his orchestra, Duke Ellington and Nat King Cole.
Speaker 2 (30:00):
Bob was down in.
Speaker 15 (30:09):
A dead nast down the first backer took this latter
hit thir.
Speaker 2 (30:15):
And the luck of dog.
Speaker 15 (30:17):
That's what Big tost to you, s man.
Speaker 2 (30:20):
Last, let just cover up in the USA. I was
bard in the US, was bod in the US? Bond
in the US now a long time Jim sing Born
(30:45):
Apple Limber set it up to a fine lab to
dog kill.
Speaker 4 (30:53):
They know when.
Speaker 2 (30:57):
The US.
Speaker 1 (31:11):
Often misinterpreted as a full throated patriotic anthem, Born in
the USA by Bruce Springsteen, is actually about the problems
that Vietnam veterans faced when they returned to America. While
veterans of other wars received heroes welcomes, those who fought
in Vietnam were mostly ignored when they returned to their homeland,
(31:31):
and many suffered from post traumatic stress disorder and other ailments.
This song was inspired by a chance encounter with ron Kovic,
who was confined to a wheelchair after being shot while
fighting in the Vietnam War. Covic, who enlisted to fight
the war, later then protested against it, actually becoming a
leader of the anti war movement. In nineteen seventy six.
Speaker 4 (31:54):
He published a book.
Speaker 1 (31:55):
Called Born on the Fourth of July that told his
story in nineteen eighty nine, and it was made into
a movie starring Tom Cruise as Covic. Springsteen picked up
a copy of the book in nineteen eighty when he
was on a cross country road trip with a buddy.
They were outside of Phoenix and Bruce found it at
a drug store. About two weeks later, Springsteen was in
(32:15):
Los Angeles staying at the Sunset Marquee Hotel Willer, where remarkably,
Kovix was also staying. They met in the pool area
and had a long conversation with them inviting Springsteen to
join him on a visit to the Veterans Center in
nearby Venice, California. Bruce accepted the invitation and found the
visit really quite enlightening. Springsteen used their stories that he
(32:38):
heard on this trip as the basis for the song
quote the verses are just an accounting of events, he said.
The chorus is a declaration of your birthplace and all
the right to pride in some of the confusion and
shame and grace that comes with it. Springsteen started writing
the song in nineteen eighty one, with the title originally
just called Vietnam.
Speaker 4 (32:59):
He changed the title on.
Speaker 1 (33:00):
The coorus when the director Paul Schrader sent him a
copy of a script for a movie he was working on,
Caledborn in the USA, about a rock band struggling with
life and religion. Schrader was hoping Springsteen would appear in
the movie. The song inspired the famous Anni Lebuitz photo
of Springsteen's butt against the backdrop of the American flag.
(33:20):
Bruce had to be convinced to use it as the
album's cover. Some people thought it depicted Springsteen urinating on
the flag rather than just a glamour butt shot. Born
in the USA was the first CD manufactured in the
United States for commercial release. It was pressed when CBS Records,
parent of Columbia Records, opened its CD manufacturing plant in
(33:42):
Tara Hot, Indiana, in nineteen eighty four. Discs had previously
only been imported from Japan. Well This song was used
by Ronald Reagan in nineteen eighty four and was later
pulled after Bruce said he hated Reagan's policies and forbid him.
Speaker 4 (33:56):
To use it.
Speaker 21 (34:04):
Same snail athmatal.
Speaker 18 (34:12):
Goo shame.
Speaker 21 (34:15):
Leads till my I steal sleeper, the side of the
word voice, can't feel les scene behind could be shifting
your quality be so mass be seen when we see
(34:49):
y'allself in how the thing out said, shy past, wish
we step at night?
Speaker 14 (34:57):
Or please stop.
Speaker 1 (34:59):
Fish A modern one for you. That was the Silver
(35:27):
Sun Pickups with Panic Switch. Frontman Brian o'bear said in
an interview, for some reason, when we were mixing it,
we just kept screwing around with this digital thesaurus that
we had on our computers and messing around with the
computer voice and making it say things, and me and
bassist Nikki Monitor and I kept typing in weird words,
(35:47):
trying to find the dirtiest ones we could. So every
time I listen to that song now, I just keep
hearing this computer voice saying all those dirty words. Anyway,
it's just our dance song. We wrote it later on
in the process of making the album because we were
how the album was shaping up. This had been the
third independently distributed song to ever reach number one on
the Hot Alternative Tracks chart. The other two to achieve
(36:09):
this feat where the Offspring's nineteen ninety four debut Come
Out and Play and Everlasts What It's Like, which had
a nine week run between ninety eight and nineteen ninety nine.
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney used this song during some
of his campaign events without getting permission from the group,
prompted the Silversun Pickups to get their attorney to issue
(36:29):
a cease and assist.
Speaker 8 (36:31):
Quote.
Speaker 1 (36:32):
We don't like people going behind our backs using our
music without asking, and we don't like the Romney campaign,
said Albert. We're nice, approachable people. We won't bite, unless,
of course, you're Mitt Romney.
Speaker 13 (37:00):
Others when Marial Fortune used together, I've got some real estate.
Speaker 19 (37:09):
Here in my back.
Speaker 7 (37:13):
So we brought a bag of cigarettes and this sus
Wi the Pats and walked.
Speaker 13 (37:22):
Off to look for the.
Speaker 22 (37:26):
Record.
Speaker 13 (37:33):
Kathie As said, as we're born in degree gets Burg,
the chickens sleeps lack of dream to me now, it took.
Speaker 9 (37:48):
Me four days to hit hack fro Sagon off.
Speaker 7 (37:53):
To look for ab.
Speaker 2 (37:56):
Records.
Speaker 13 (38:00):
The May Games with the face she said the man
in the gabty.
Speaker 21 (38:10):
By I said the cat both eyes really a cat.
Speaker 1 (38:24):
That was America by Simon and Garfunkel. In this song
Paul Simon and his longtime girlfriend Kathy from the song
Kathy Song he also wrote for Well, They're coming to America.
Speaker 4 (38:35):
They're moving from England.
Speaker 1 (38:36):
In this concept, Paul is deeply confused and unsatisfied, but
he doesn't know why.
Speaker 4 (38:42):
He just knows that something is missing. It's also about the.
Speaker 1 (38:45):
American dream, the guarantee that you will make it if
you stumble upon this country. That's why they are coming
to America. Song is a great example of Paul Simon
and our Garfunkels singing in Unison, which was a hallmark
of their sound. Garfunkel is a especially fond of the
section where they sing and walked off to look for America.
Garfunckles said this in nineteen ninety three. They had a
(39:07):
real upright earnest quality because we both had the identical
soul at that moment in time. We come from the
same identical place and identical in our attitude, and that's
what's holding this up. We were the same person, the
same college kid, the same musicians, trying to make it
the movie almost famous. The teenage character Anita plays this
song to explain why she is leaving home to explore
(39:30):
the country. The song is included on the soundtrack of
the film Prolific Session. Drummer Hal Blaine of The Wrecking
Crew played on this and considers it to be one
of his personal favorites. Blaine also played on Simon and
Garfunkle's Missus Robinson. Paul Simon gave Bernie Sanders permission to
use this song in a campaign ad when Sanders was
campaigning for the Democratic nomination against Hillary Clinton in twenty sixteen.
(39:55):
Simon said in an interview quote, Look, here's the guy.
He comes from Brooklyn, my age. He voted against the
Iraq War. He's totally against Citizens United and thinks it
should be overturned. He thinks climate change is an imminent
threat I should be dealt with. And I said, hats
off to you.
Speaker 4 (40:10):
You're just like me. You can use my song.
Speaker 7 (40:14):
Good Timess for a change. See the look I've had
can make a good man turn bad. So please please
please let me, let me, let me, let me get
(40:36):
what I want.
Speaker 17 (40:38):
This time.
Speaker 7 (40:47):
Haven't had a dream in a long time. See the
luck I had can make a good man bad, So.
Speaker 12 (41:02):
For onso in my life.
Speaker 7 (41:05):
Let me get what I want?
Speaker 10 (41:09):
Lord knows it would be the first time. Lord knows
it would be the first time.
Speaker 1 (41:27):
That was the Smiths with Please Please, Please, let me
get what I want. This is a tender acoustic little
ditty and it's written from the perspective of someone in a.
Speaker 4 (41:37):
Desperate need for some good luck.
Speaker 1 (41:39):
As Lord knows, it would be the first time they
had any. This features in the film Ferris Bueller's Day Off,
Never Been Kissed and five Hundred Days of Summer. It
was the B side to the song William It Was
Really Nothing, and later featured on the nineteen eighty four
compilation album Hatful of Hollow. In nineteen eighty seven, Morrissey
said in an interview that he regretted not releasing that
(42:01):
song as a single in its own.
Speaker 4 (42:03):
Right, quote, hiding it away on the B side was sinful.
Speaker 1 (42:06):
I feel sad about it now, although we did include
it on Hatful of Hollow as by way of semi repentance.
When we first played it to Rough Trade, they kept
asking where's the rest of the song. But to me,
it's a very brief punch in the face. Lengthening the
song would, to my mind, simply have been explaining the
blindingly obvious. Morrissey was not impressed when the song was
(42:30):
used without his permission to advertise Gordon Ramsey's TV program
Christmas Cook Along Live the Devout Animal Activists and Vegetarians
settled his dispute with the UK commercial TV channel four
and donated the fourteen eight hundred dollars he received to
a fund, an organization that campaigns against Fois Gras and
(42:52):
its distributors. It was Johnny Mar's turn to be outraged
when he got winn That please, please, please let me
get what I want was used at a Donald Trump
South Dakota Republican primary rally in twenty and twenty three.
I never in a million years would have thought this
could come to pass. Consider the ship shut down right now,
(43:12):
he said.
Speaker 2 (43:27):
Coloring on the street, red white.
Speaker 13 (43:32):
Room, people shuffling in a fat.
Speaker 4 (43:38):
People sleeping in your shoes.
Speaker 2 (43:41):
There's a warning sign on the road.
Speaker 23 (43:45):
There's a lot of people.
Speaker 2 (43:46):
Saying keeping man or of man. Not feel I say,
but I am William. We love me.
Speaker 6 (44:26):
Well.
Speaker 1 (44:26):
Of course, on this episode we had to hear something
from the ever grumpy, ultra left liberal Neil Young. This
song was inspired by the political changes at the time
and was highly critical of the George Bush presidential administration,
the first George Bush. Some of the lyrics mock his
campaign speeches. We got one thousand points of light for
(44:48):
the homeless man. We got a kinder Gentler machine gun
in our hand. This was released a few months before
the fall of the Berlin Wall. It became kind of
an anthem for the event as freedom spread through Eastern Europe.
Pearl Jam have performed this song from time to time
live with Neil Young, who is their musical mentor. The
first time they performd it together was at the nineteen
(45:09):
ninety three MTV Video Music Awards, where the song Jeremy
won four awards. Young came on as a surprise guest
after the band played a new song called Animal. By
the end of the performance, Vetter had tossed his mic
stand into the audience, Mike McCready had smashed his guitar,
and the crowd was just in a tizzy. Young and
Pearl Jam proved a great fit as both kind of
(45:32):
a shoe convention when it comes to music and promotion,
catering instead to their ardent fan bases.
Speaker 4 (45:37):
The song is on occasion used as.
Speaker 1 (45:40):
A pro America anthem, which actually just kind of ignores
most of the ironic overtones of the lyrics. While the
chorus does seem to celebrate the United States, it's juxtaposed
with grim verses which paint a haunting portrait of life
in modern America.
Speaker 4 (45:54):
The song is sometimes.
Speaker 1 (45:56):
Interpreted as a critique of the keep on Rockin' in
a Free World sentiment, meant that US citizens used to
ignore global problems that don't concern them. This track was
used in Donald Trump's announcement that he will run as
the Republican candidate in the twenty sixteen presidency. Young, a
longtime supporter of Bernie Sanders, said that the mogul was
(46:16):
not authorized to use this song. However, Trump's campaign responded
by saying it actually did pay to use the Neil
Young tune at the presidential announcement, but they wouldn't use
it at any future events. Through a licensing agreement with ASCAP,
mister Trump's campaign paid for and obtained legal right to
use Neil Young's recording of Rockin' in the Free World.
(46:39):
The statement read, Nevertheless, there are plenty of other songs
to choose from. Despite Neil's differing political views, mister Trump
likes him very much. Trump later hit back, posting a
photo of him and Young shaking hands and explained that
Young asked him for financing on an audio deal and
invited Trump to a concert. In a tweet, Trump called
Young a total hypocrite, adding the Free World was just
(47:00):
one of ten songs we used as background music that
we paid for. Anyways, don't know why all these musicians
get their pants and a bunch over a bunch of
people using their song.
Speaker 4 (47:11):
Who the hell cares? I have other songs to choose from. Anyway.
Speaker 13 (47:25):
There is unrest in the forest. There is trouble with
the trees.
Speaker 4 (47:31):
Will the maples want.
Speaker 13 (47:33):
And the oaks ignore these.
Speaker 14 (48:01):
Trouble with b fighbors and thes there.
Speaker 2 (48:06):
But they see in your son just to love me,
and they love my father life. But y'all got their
their fetings if they like the way.
Speaker 14 (48:20):
They're maid and they wonder why the mapel can be happy.
Say there is troubles in the forest and the creature
can help them.
Speaker 15 (48:40):
That's the mainel scream question.
Speaker 13 (48:43):
And it's just the ps.
Speaker 1 (49:01):
That was Rush with the trees. And though it seems
to be steeped in meaning, according to lyricists and drummer
Neil Pert, there's no meaning at all in this song.
When asked in the nineteen eighty issue of Modern Drummer
magazine about whether there is a message to the song,
Perrett said, nope, it was just a flash. I was
working on an entirely different thing when I saw a
(49:21):
cartoon picture of these trees carrying on like fools, and
I thought, what if trees acted like people? So I
saw it as a cartoon really and wrote it that way.
I think it's the image that conjures up a listener
or reader to think a certain way about the environment.
It's a very simple statement. The song is made up
of three distinct time signatures, which was not unusual for
(49:42):
Rush as they were pretty advanced in their musical knowledge.
They used six eighth time, which is used through most
of the acoustic sessions, and then traditional four to four time,
which is used in the heavier lead guitar sessions, and
the unusual time signature of five four in the instrumental bridge.
This song can be seen as an extremely over dramatic
(50:03):
representation on how Canadians feel about Americans. Note the maple
leaf is at the center of the Canadian flags. We
all know they love trees. The American politician Rand Paul
sometimes mentions this song in interviews and speeches, using it
as an example of his libertarian ideology. Neil Pert, whose
political views don't always sync with Paul's, had Russia's management
(50:25):
send a cease and desist order to Paul, asking him
to stop quoting the lyrics, which is, by the way,
pretty whiny. I mean, I get not wanting a politician
to use your song, but to cease into system from
even mentioning you or your song seems pretty anti free
speech to me.
Speaker 12 (50:47):
Everyone is voting Pael Jackman Pause, He's got what all
the rest Lackey.
Speaker 6 (50:54):
Everyone wants to back jack Jack is on the right track.
Speaker 7 (51:00):
He's gotten.
Speaker 22 (51:02):
Hopes, He's gotten.
Speaker 23 (51:06):
Hopes.
Speaker 6 (51:07):
Nineteen sixties the year for.
Speaker 13 (51:10):
His fine hopes.
Speaker 12 (51:13):
Come on and vote for Kannedy, vote Forganity and you'll come.
Speaker 4 (51:19):
On on top boots.
Speaker 6 (51:22):
There goes the opposition girls.
Speaker 11 (51:25):
Theres the opposition girls.
Speaker 12 (51:28):
There goes the opposition girl from kad double n e
d Y. Jack's the nation's favorite guy.
Speaker 13 (51:45):
Everyone wants to back the Jack.
Speaker 11 (51:49):
Jack is on the right track because he's gotten.
Speaker 23 (51:54):
Hopes.
Speaker 13 (51:55):
He's gotten the host nineteenth.
Speaker 8 (52:05):
And both.
Speaker 20 (52:10):
America.
Speaker 1 (52:26):
That was the chairman of the board, Frank Sinatra with
high Hopes. It's an aspirational song and it was written
by Jimmy Van Heusen and Sammy Kahn for the nineteen
fifty nine movie A Hole in the Head, which starred
Sinatra and was directed by Frank Capra. In the film,
Sinatra performs a song with Little Eddie Hodges, who played
Sinatra's twelve year old son. Jimmy Van Hewson and Sammy
(52:47):
Kahn had several other successful collaborations, resulting in the songs
Love and Marriage, Come Fly with Me, and many many others.
They were all recorded by Sinatra. In fact, con wrote
eighty seven songs that were recorded by Sona. A children's
choir was used on the single release of the song,
which was credited to Frank Sinatra and a bunch of Kids.
(53:08):
I played for you, though the revamped song not the
version that you would normally hear. That's because Sinatra sang
this during John F. Kennedy's successful nineteen sixty presidential run,
and it became Kennedy's campaign song. The song writers Van
Hughson and conrote a new set of lyrics to cheer
on Kennedy with the first lines, Everyone's voting for Jack
(53:30):
because he's got what the rest lack. Everyone wants to
back Jack. Jack is on the right track. This version
was recorded as High Hopes with Jack Kennedy. There was
no artists listed on the label and it wasn't sold,
likely for legal reasons, but it was distributed to jukeboxes
and radio stations. Kennedy had a more traditional custom campaign
(53:51):
song called Kennedy for Me, but it lacked Sinatra star power,
and everyone requested the Sinatra song instead at the rallies.
Speaker 4 (54:16):
Because your sky because your sky full start.
Speaker 23 (54:24):
I'm going to give you my heart because your sky
casure sky full of stars, because you live up the pad.
Speaker 4 (54:47):
Not okay, wanta ta me a bad.
Speaker 11 (54:54):
Not okay, sid scy sin scys.
Speaker 6 (55:08):
Side.
Speaker 1 (55:16):
That was the band Coldplay, who I never thought I
would play for you on this podcast with their song
A sky Full of Stars. The song was recorded during
the sessions for the album ghost Stories with Avici, the
Swedish edm artist was invited by Chris Martin to play
the piano, and his imprint can be heard all along
the song's piano lines. Martin, who usually tinkles the ivories
(55:38):
on Coldplay's recordings, admitted he felt like he was cheating
on the band when he asked the Swede to play
the piano instead of him. This was the last song
that Coldplay added to the Ghost Stories album, and the
band appreciated the fresh injection by the artist of Vicci.
The rest of the band was very gracious as usual,
Martin said, so they said, we trust you.
Speaker 4 (55:59):
Let's just keep this rolling.
Speaker 1 (56:01):
The song played after acceptance speeches of President elect Joe
Biden and Vice President elect Kamala Harris following their victory
in the twenty twenty presidential election. It was the favorite
song of Biden's late son, Bo Chris Martin, and then
performed it actually at his funeral in twenty fifteen. And
now it seems like all the votes have been counted,
(56:21):
an election season is over, so we must end well.
Speaker 4 (56:25):
I wanted to end with an example of what a.
Speaker 1 (56:27):
Good combo of art and politics can be. A true
song with vision, passion, and a message all in one.
The inspiration for everything that Bob Dylan became Woody Guthrie
had first with This Land is Your Land, Originally titled
God Bless America, go Thrie wrote this song as a
(56:48):
parody of Irving Berlin's God Bless America. When Guthrie started
writing the song in nineteen forty, the last line of
the chorus was God blessed America for me, which guthrie
is eventually changed to this land was made for un Me.
Speaker 4 (57:04):
It evolved into a.
Speaker 1 (57:05):
Protest anthem as generations of folk singers performed the song,
but it is often misinterpreted as a patriotic song. The
lyrics express Guthrie's belief that the working class should have
the same rights as the rich. Guthrie got the melody
for this song from an old Carter family tune called
When the World's on Fire. He wrote the music and
(57:26):
could play a ton of different instruments, but his strength
was certainly in his lyric writing. He would often borrow
tunes and as would he put it, well if they
already know the tune, they're halfway to knowing the song.
The Carter family was certainly a big influence on him.
He always loved the idea of having a family band
Guthrie started writing the song in nineteen forty when he
hitchtike his way from Los Angeles to New York City.
(57:49):
Along the way, God Bless America was playing in jukeboxes
across the country, which is where he got the idea
to parody the song. Guthrie didn't record the song until
nineteen forty four, and he changed the lyrics over the years,
performing it many different ways. It was not released until
nineteen forty nine, when a small company called Folkway's Recording
Company issued the disc. This version became the one picked
(58:11):
up by other folk singers and often sung in schools
in summer camps, and it is by far the best
known rendition of the song. Earlier performances by Guthrie contained
way more verses, including lyrics about seeing a no trespassing
sign but realizing there was nothing written on the other
side of the sign and that that sign was only
made for you and me. Thanks to a legal snaffoo,
(58:33):
this song, somewhat fittingly, is in the public domain. Most
of Guthrie's songs have had their copyrights renewed, keeping them
locked down for ninety five years after the date they
were first published. While This Land is your Land, however,
wasn't registered until nineteen fifty six, and the owner of
that copyright, Ludlow Music, renewed that copyright in nineteen eighty four.
(58:54):
Law at the time stated that a copyright had to
be renewed after twenty eight years. Guthrie published the song
in nineteen ten forty five, when he created a pamphlet
with the words and music and sold it as sheet music.
This means that the copyright was up for renewal in
nineteen seventy three, not nineteen eighty four, so the Ludlow
copyright was not valid. Ronald Reagan used lyrics from the
(59:15):
song in a speech as part of his nineteen eighty
four re election campaign. At the twenty twenty one US
presidential inauguration, Jennifer Lopez saying, this Land is Your Land,
followed by America the Beautiful before Joe Biden took the
oath of office. So we're going to leave you today
with this Land Is Your Land by Woody Guthrie, a true,
real good merge of art and politics. Then we of
(59:38):
course encourage you not only to review this podcast and
recommend it to a friend, but please get out there
and vote, and please vote for the party that gives
you the most freedom, not the most restrictions. Other than that,
turn this song up and we'll see you next week
for our season finale.
Speaker 6 (59:55):
This land is your land.
Speaker 7 (59:57):
This land is my land.
Speaker 6 (01:00:00):
California to the New York Island, from the Redwood Forest
to the Costream Waters. This lam was.
Speaker 9 (01:00:10):
Made for you and me.
Speaker 22 (01:00:14):
As I went walking, I saw a sign and on
the sign it said no trespassing. But on the other
side you didn't say nothing.
Speaker 6 (01:00:28):
That sign was made for you and me. This lab
is your land. This lab is my land, from California
to the New York Island, from the Redwood Forest to
the co Stream Waters. This lam was made for you
(01:00:49):
and me.
Speaker 22 (01:00:52):
In the shadows of the steeple, I saw my people
in the relief office, I saw my people. They stood
hungry after they asking. This land really made for you
and me.
Speaker 4 (01:01:21):
Thank you for listening.
Speaker 3 (01:01:22):
To listen to this, please recommend to a friend and
don't forget to rate, review, and subscribe. For more podcasts
and online content, please visit this isfunner dot com.
Speaker 2 (01:01:32):
This is Funner
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