CAMPAIGN AND PROTEST SONGS

Songs used by politicians to support their campaigns have been around for a long time.

In the Depression ravaged early 1930’s, Franklin Roosevelt used a previously written song which easily conveyed his campaign hopes, “Happy Days are here Again”.  Who wouldn’t fall for these lyrics when the country was down and out?

Happy days are here again
The skies above are clear again
Let us sing a song of cheer again
Happy days are here again.

One of the most effective tunes was used by Harry Truman when he ran for president in the late 1940’s.  Appropriately, it was “I’m Just Wild about Harry” which was written in 1921 for a Broadway show hence, it didn’t have the stigma of being trumped up just for Truman’s campaign.  Harry was behind in the polls against Dewey for much of the campaign but won anyway so maybe the song really did make people wild about Harry.

Then there is pop music which helps liberal candidates more than conservatives because it aims at the younger crowds who are more vulnerable and always dissatisfied with the status quo.  While the conservatives may rely primarily on patriotic themes the liberals will usually tie into a popular group or person bent on change with their definition of change including taking from the rich to give to the poor.  To them that is an easy solution regardless of whether many of the poor are deserving to take from those who have earned their way.

Bob Dylan, c. 1965

I was first eligible to vote in 1962 when most of the protest folk songs were beginning their popularity.  There was no FM radio to speak of then so the AM airwaves were packed with complaints about our government, war, etc. by acts like Peter Paul and Mary, Bob Dylan, Judy Collins, and to a lesser extent The Kingston Trio and Pete Seeger.

I’m sure they meant well but I don’t remember ever hearing of them giving the profits from their million selling discs to the needy.   Does anyone really think that Joan Baez and Peter Paul and Mary would have made it big without the anti war liberal rants?  Many of the youth of that era fell right into their hands while the rest of us rocked to the “Peppermint Twist” and “Runaround Sue” as we voted Republican. 

We were mostly military guys in an era of the mandatory draft while the “anti” gang was college kids mostly straight out of high school who thought they could solve the world’s problems after taking a course in politics from some liberal college professor who never served a day.  

It’s carried on to today as groups like Crosby, Stills, and Nash are bald and aging but still are fighting the establishment.  Starting in the late 1970’s the punk rock movement joined the crowd espousing left wing and anti-establishment philosophies.  Most of these bands look like their members are twelve years old and just want to be “in” on something.  By the time they are thirty and driving a Honda they will probably wonder what the hell they were thinking all those years ago.

A member of The New Christy Minstrels (Barry McGuire) had a big anti war hit in September of 1965. I especially remember it because that’s the month I got out of the USAF and met my future wife.

Interesting note on Bob Dylan: In 1965 he changed to an electric guitar which infuriated most of his fans. Did he change because by then the protest era was fading and he felt he needed to move on or were his fans being unrealistic in their expectations of him? I think it was the former. The coffee house mentality was waning and fans wanted to hear more stuff on the cutting edge. Plus, the British Invasion was arriving and Bob had to eat like everyone else. To make matters worse disco was just around the corner. Sometimes a guy has to swallow his pride. Anyone remember "Lay Lady Lay"?