Rock for Barack

Since December 2007, my favorite musician, Jeff Tweedy, has held several fundraisers with his band, Wilco, in honor of Barack Obama. Wilco headlined the concert-based fundraiser for Obama titled “Change Rocks” in December. At a concert in Washington in February, Tweedy introduced the song "The Thanks I Get" as the "Obama fight song." The refrain repeats "we can make it better” (1).

Wilco does not alone in the room of rockers that support Obama. Jay Z played free shows to encourage voters to choose Obama in Miami and Detroit (2). Justin Timberlake appeared at an Obama rally in Las Vegas two weeks ago.

“We’ve never been so inspired by one person,” Timberlake stated alongside girlfriend Jessica Biel (3).

Gigwise.com realized the massive Obama support within the music industry and compiled a list of “40 Music Stars Who Endorse Barack Obama!” This article published in July 2008, but more musicians have outwardly declared their support since then (4).

Many musicians have incorporated their support of Obama into their set lists. When Death Cab for Cutie (DCFC) played Assembly Hall October 12, Obama stickers decorated an array of their gear. Toronto-based Broken Social Scene followed DCFC’s lead last night when they asked the crowd “to vote for the right candidate” and made a hand motion in the shape of an O.

All the Obama support created difficulty for the McCain camp. In August, Van Halen objected to the McCain campaign’s use their song “Right Now” for McCain’s entrance at a Rally in Dayton, Ohio. A week later, Heart objected to McCain’s use of their track “Barracuda” during rallies and events. The campaign continued to use the song after repeated requests to stop.

"The Republican campaign did not ask for permission to use the song, nor would they have been granted that permission," Heart said in a statement. "We have asked the Republican campaign publicly not to use our music. We hope our wishes will be honored."

In early October, the McCain camp struck again with the unauthorized use of “My Hero” by the Foo Fighters. The publicist of the band released a statement on October 8.

“. . . we hope that the McCain campaign will do the right thing and stop using our song — and start asking artists' permission in general" (5).

Sources:
(1) http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/07/12/obama_3_wilco.html
(2) http://think.mtv.com/044FDFFFF0098989A001600993A53/
(3) http://think.mtv.com/044FDFFFF0098989A001600994216/
(4) http://www.gigwise.com/article.php?id=43749&image=3#gallery
(5) http://think.mtv.com/044FDFFFF0098989A001600993DF5/