Stop Using My Song, Asshole: A Playlist of Campaign Songs Politicians Were Asked to Stop Using
When it comes time to run for President—few things are more crucial to any good campaign than a rockin’, vaguely patriotic tune to blast as your stuffy, out-of-touch candidate comes bumbling out onstage. The second most crucial thing: A slightly less-rockin’ backup song to play when your first one gets canned because, as luck would have it, every good band hates you.
Politicians—Democrats and Republicans alike—suffer from a long and storied history of being forced to pull campaign songs just as soon as they’ve pressed play. Whether the candidate in question has simply misunderstood the song (like Ronald Reagan’s misguided attempt to commandeer “Born in the U.S.A.”) or the musician simply prefers to stay out of the political realm entirely (Sam Moore’s cease-and-desist letters to Obama, for example), no party’s candidates are totally safe.
So for your listening pleasure (and with some help from FiveThirtyEight), we’ve compiled a Spotify playlist of some of our various presidential campaigns’ biggest musical upsets. And for those about to rock, we salute you (unless we don’t, in which case please stop rocking immediately or else you will be hearing from our lawyers).
Democrats
2000 - Sting asks Al Gore to stop playing “Brand New Day.”
2008 - Sam of Sam & Dave asks Barack Obama to stop playing “Hold On, I’m Coming.”
Republicans
1984 - Bruce Springsteen asks Ronald Reagan to stop playing “Born in the U.S.A.”
1984 - John Cougar Mellencamp asks Ronald Reagan to stop playing “Pink Houses.”
1988 - Bobby McFerrin asks George H.W. Bush to stop playing “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.”
1996 - Sam & Dave ask Bob Dole to stop playing “Soul Man.”
1996 - Bruce Springsteen asks Bob Dole to stop playing “Born in the U.S.A.”
2000 - John Cougar Mellencamp asks George W. Bush to stop playing “R.O.C.K. in the U.S.A.”
2000 - Tom Petty asks George W. Bush to stop playing “I Won’t Back Down.”
2000 - Sting asks Bush to stop playing “Brand New Day.”
2000 - Sting then also asks Al Gore to stop playing “Brand New Day.”
2004 - John Hall of Orleans asks Bush to stop playing “Still the One.”
2008 - Boston asks Mike Huckabee to stop playing “More Than a Feeling.”
2008 - Van Halen asks John McCain to stop playing “Right Now.”
2008 - John Cougar Mellencamp asks McCain to stop playing “Our Country.”
2008 - John Cougar Mellencamp (once again) asks McCain to stop playing “Pink Houses.”
2008 - Heart asks Sarah Palin to stop playing “Barracuda.”
2008 - Jackson Browne asks McCain to stop playing “Running on Empty.”
2008 - Bon Jovi asks McCain to stop playing “Who Says You Can’t Go Home.”
2008 - The Foo Fighters ask McCain to stop playing “My Hero.”
2008 - Tom Petty asks McCain to stop playing “I Won’t Back Down.”
2008 - Abba asks McCain to stop playing “Take a Chance on Me.”
2012 - Survivor asks Newt Gingrich to stop playing “Eye of the Tiger.”
2012 - The Heavy asks Gingrich to stop playing “How You Like Me Now.”
2012 - Dee Snider of Twisted Sister asks Mitt Romney to stop playing “We’re Not Gonna Take It.”
2012 - Al Green asks Romney to stop playing “Let’s Stay Together.”
2012 - Silversun Pickups ask Romney to stop playing “Panic Switch.”
2012 - K’Naan asks Romney to stop playing “Wavin’ Flag.”
2012 - Survivor asks Romney to stop playing “Eye of the Tiger.”
2012 - Tom Petty asks Michele Bachmann to stop playing “American Girl.”
2012 - Katrina and the Waves ask Bachmann to stop playing “Walking on Sunshine.”
2016 Dropkick Murphys say this to Scott Walker over “Shipping Up to Boston.”
@ScottWalker @GovWalker please stop using our music in any way...we literally hate you !!! Love, Dropkick Murphys
— Dropkick Murphys (@DropkickMurphys) January 25, 2015
2016 - Neil Young asks Donald Trump to stop playing “Rockin’ in the Free World.”
2016 - Allee Willis asks Trump to stop playing Karate Kid’s “You’re the Best.”
2016 - Steven Tyler of Aerosmith asks Trump to stop playing “Dream On.”
2016 - R.E.M. asks Trump to stop playing “It’s the End of the World as We Know It.”
Enjoy.
