Why musicians hate it when politicians like their songs

I was amused to hear that Eminem has sent a cease-and-desist letter to the Republican presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy — who “rapped” in his youth under the name “Da Vek” — warning him not to use the song “Lose Yourself” again.  Ramaswamy sang it onstage at the Iowa State Fair while on the campaign trail two weeks ago.

Mr. Em did allow Joe Biden to use “Lose Yourself” in his 2020 presidential campaign for a television commercial though, and even shared it online with the caption: “One opportunity… #Vote.” Bit of an unfortunate choice there — if any politician doesn’t need encouragement to lose himself, it’s the befuddled, bemused and bewildered Biden.

It’s interesting that Eminem has recreated himself as a gun-hating, abortion-supporting liberal — must be the money, as another rapper said — considering that he was once keen on using every gay and misogynistic slur under the sun. He even went so far as to pen the shocking lyric: “Blacks and whites they sometimes mix/ But black girls only want your money ’cause they’re dumb chicks/ Don’t date a black girl/ If you do it once you won’t do it twice/ Black girls are dumb, and white girls are good chicks.”

Mind you, it wouldn’t be the first time a red in tooth and claw capitalist crooner has pointed at those nasty politicians over there to distract from their own avarice. Mick Jagger — “My heart is Labour, my head is Liberal but my money is Conservative” — has a reputation for being “careful,” code for an almost surreal, standalone class of penny-pinching. This hasn’t stopped the Stones from writing songs scolding neocons or obsessing over the fact that Donald Trump liked to use their old toe-tapper “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” whenever he got a chance.

Trump couldn’t catch a break, pop-picker-wise; Adele, Pharrell, REM, Queen, the Village People and even Tom Petty from beyond the grave (his family protesting on his behalf) have sought to disassociate their music from him. But he wasn’t the first Republican politician to make musicians nervous about possible attention being drawn to the fact that old white multi-millionaires tend to like the music of other old white multi-millionaires.

Ronald Reagan, campaigning in New Jersey, mentioned the native Bruce Springsteen and his “message of hope” and got the thumbs down for his trouble, which didn’t stop Bob Dole from similarly trying it on in 1996 — and similarly getting rebuffed.

Kindly, Sam of Sam and Dave recorded a new version of their 1967 classic “Soul Man” changing the first word to Dole’s surname, delighting the Republican candidate with the rebooted “I’m a Dole man” line and digs at Bill Clinton. The fun came to an end when producer Isaac Hayes reminded the Republicans that he wrote the song and asked for it back.

These disagreements have happened with remarkable regularity. Understandably epic tunes such as “Don’t Stop Believin’” and “Eye of the Tiger” have been catnip to grandiose politicians (both chosen by and taken back from Newt Gingrich). But it’s hard to fathom why George Bush Sr. — having been told to get his paws off of Bobby McFerrin’s “Don’t Worry Be Happy” — then chose the communist Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land” as his theme.

Bush Jr., with the aw-shucks amiability typical of him, was always getting slapped down by, among others, Tom Petty, John Mellencamp and Sting. It’s truly strange that the Florida governor Charlie Crist thought that Talking Heads’ “Road to Nowhere” was a rousing anthem for a campaign ad — especially when he was sued for a cool million dollars by David Byrne.

Though it’s mostly Republicans who warblers seek to disassociate themselves from, even the glamorous Barack Obama drew the displeasure of Sam Moore — who was probably still seething from “Dole Man” being discontinued — when he sent the young senator a cease-and-desist about using the old Sam and Dave hit “Hold On, I’m Comin’” at rallies. Mr. Moore said that he found it “rather rude” that no one had bothered to ask his permission as “I have not agreed to endorse you for the highest office in our land… my vote is a very private matter between myself and the ballot box.” But it all ended well, as such a civilized level of disagreement meant that Mr. Moore got to perform at the Obamas’ inaugural ball.

Another Sam and Dave — the Camerons — always considered themselves a bit too cool for private school, her with her dolphin tattoo and him with his love of the Smiths. But when he picked “This Charming Man” as one of his Desert Island Discs, co-composer Johnny Marr cut straight to the chase: “Stop saying that you like the Smiths — no you don’t,” he wrote on Twitter, adding with brilliant preposterousness: “I forbid you to like it!”

This is the nub of the matter. Successful musicians are so used to being adored in exactly the way they want to be adored — preferably by thousands of attractive screaming women — that when they are liked by someone they disapprove of, it rattles their whole image of themselves. If that person is unrepentant — and younger — it really gets their goat. That the perennial brat Eminem is now a grumpy old fifty while his Republican tribute act is just thirty-eight may also hurt his vanity, even more because Ramaswamy bit back sharply: “Eminem used to be a guy who actually stood up to the establishment and said the things that the establishment didn’t want him to say… I have hope for him that he will one day rediscover the renegade that made him great and I’m rooting for that success in his life.” Ouch!

I do see the point in not wanting your creations co-opted by shouty men in suits, if you have spent your life trying to be cool — with the proviso that any composer who lets his music be used in commercials doesn’t have a leg to stand on. But there’s something about the spirit of rock and roll that will make any right-thinking (and not just Right-thinking) person being ticked off by a musician think defiantly: “get over yourself!” I have an Israeli friend who continues to favor the Roger Waters-era Pink Floyd. Some of his countrymen disapprove, but he expressed it simply and elegantly to me: “If Waters knew that I, a Zionist, was deriving pleasure from listening to his music, it would anger him — and that thought gives me even more pleasure.”

Next time “Da Vek” performs his party-piece at some after-hours, behind-closed-doors Republican knees-up, I bet he does it with extra swag.

This article was originally published on The Spectator’s UK website.