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Electioneering: Obama/McCain Biographical Playlists

We've heard the arguments, endured the pundits, watched the debates, marveled at the winks and gaffes, and it all comes down to today. Election Day. We wouldn't dare wade into the murky waters of proselytizing for one candidate or another, and we won't add on to the already deafening din of people telling you how to vote. But we will try and add a bit of music to the narratives of the two main presidential candidates, Senators Barack Obama and John McCain. Go to the links below to take a musical journey that follows the road these two men have taken up to this historic day, from the Hawaiian music of Obama's youth to the protest songs surrounding McCain's time in the Vietnam War. Enjoy the tunes -- and don't forget to vote!

Further Listening:
John McCain Biographical Playlist [Rhapsody]
Barack Obama Biographical Playlist [Rhapsody]

Alan Jackson's Country, Right or Wrong

For some reason, I thought 2008 might be the year that country music helped articulate the Democrats’ Southern strategy. Guess I was wrong – for one thing, the Dems turned out not to have a Southern strategy. (Thanks, John Edwards!) Then John Rich, who not too long ago was explicitly circumventing the two-party system in “Love Train,” turned out to be music’s most sycophantic mouthpiece for certain corrupt and dangerous serial liars. Toby Keith’s embrace of Obama was admittedly unexpected good news, and it was stirring to hear Brooks & Dunn’s great “Only in America” after Obama’s convention speech (even if the duo’s not necessarily on his side). But none of this has really translated as new songs; my favorite politics moment of the country year is still Alan Jackson fondly remembering “Georgia boy just like me” Jimmy Carter in “1976.” Which doesn’t quite make up for "If Jesus Walked the World Today,” where Alan asserts that a modern-day Son of God would be a Chevy-driving hillbilly, and "preach in some little country church, outside the city." Wait, let me guess – he wouldn’t be a community organizer either, right? What bigoted bull. But at least it gives me a peg with which to deal with Jackson’s six-months-old Good Time album. (Neat how I did that, huh?)

Electioneering: Democratic National Convention

by Chris Ryan

The Democratic National Convention wound down with all the subtlety of the final homerun scene in The Natural; with all the fireworks, banners and cheer, I was half-expecting Randy Newman's rousing, mythos-invoking score to blast out of the Invesco Field PA system after Barack Obama concluded his historic acceptance speech. It would have been less surprising than what we did hear: the Brooks & Dunn happy-hour-in-the-USA anthem, "Only in America," a song that frequently concluded the rallies of another presidential hopeful eight years ago: George W. Bush.

Ronnie Dunn found the song's useage both "ironic" and "flattering" (how's that for a bi-partisanship?), but in truth, it was somewhat out of place, both given its place as a bookend to the epic sweep and save-the-world message of  U2's "City of Blinding Lights," which served as Obama's intro music, and the decidedly non-Music-City vibe that surrounded the Dem Party gathering. Here's a wrap-up of the convention's musical moments.

Electioneering '08: White House vs. "Love Shack"

by Chris Ryan

Check out this video from last night's Daily Show featuring the B-52's mainman Fred Schneider giving an inspired reading (or as Jon Stewart calls it, "a coat of Schneider") from the new tell-all/tell-off book by former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan. (via Videogum)

Electioneering '08: Political Boss

by Matty Karas

It's hard to find the right Bruce Springsteen pun/link with which to introduce his just-announced presidential endorsement. The Boss was keenly averse to any kind of electioneering in the '80s, when he was at the peak of his popularity and his thoughts and intentions were being mangled by Republicans and Democrats alike. In recent years, he started to come around, but would he finally find a candidate who has the right magic? No, wrong kind of magic in that song. Does he know which one can return us to glory days? Um, no, them glory days will just pass you by in the wink of a young girl's eye anyway.

Electioneering '08: Don Omar Believes in Obama

by Angela Bruno

People en Español reports that reggaetón's Don Omar is backing Barack Obama and will be participating in a as yet unidentified documentary in support of the candidate. The Puerto Rico Democratic primary, one of the last before Montana and South Dakota, will take place on June 1 -- even though residents of Puerto Rico are barred from voting during general presidential elections. (Factoid: Puerto Ricans who live on the island statistically participate in elections at much higher rates than mainland voters.) 

Electioneering '08: Your Band Could Be Meghan McCain's Life

by Chris Ryan

Next time you find yourself shuffling through the crowd at a D.C. indie-rock show, and you hear a young, blonde woman listlessly utter, "I liked their early stuff," take note! It could be John McCain's indie-spawn Meghan McCain! Check out Meghan's campaign trail playlist over at her McCain Blogette site (which we came across via the always quick to the draw folks at Wonkette). One look at the abundance of indie (from Wolf Parade to Neutral Milk Hotel to mid-'90s Screaming Trees) will be enough to prove Meghan ain't a member of the Republican or Democratic party; sister votes All Tomorrow's Parties (rimshot!).

Further Reading:
Meghan McCain's Blogette Playlists (McCain Blogette)

Electioneering '08: Violin Diplomacy

by Piotr Orlov

Even in election years, the music-and-politics story isn’t always about the soundtrack of the campaign trail. Sometimes it’s about the soundtrack behind the DMZ.

The New York Philharmonic Orchestra made news this week by traveling to North Korea to play what turned out to be a historic, internationally televised concert in Pyongyang on Tuesday. The visit took on both ambassadorial and artistic trappings. The trip was the first-ever to North Korea by an American cultural organization, and included the biggest delegation of Americans to visit the country since the end of the Korean War in 1953. It also included a Wednesday morning rehearsal during which members of the Philharmonic and the Orchestra’s musical director Lorin Maazel played with the State Symphony Orchestra of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, allowing for historic interaction between groups of people who may as well be ghosts to one another. (It may be the first of many: if reports of continued cultural exchange are to be believed, classic rock/blues legend Eric Clapton may be following the Phil to play for and with the North Koreans.)

Electioneering '08: Not in (My Band's) Name

by Chris Ryan

With his toothy smile, "aw shucks" modesty and wide-eyed sincerity, a lot of people have fallen under the charming spell of former Arkansas governor and Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee. But with his Master's Degree from M.I.T. and multiple multi-platinum record plaques, Boston mastermind Tom Scholz is not one of them.

Electioneering '08: Protest Songs for a Day at the Beach

by Nate Cavalieri

(Real-life political musicians)

After so much feverish lead-up -- IM squabbles concerning the details of John McCain's heroism, will.i.am duets with Obama circulating YouTube, and "I don't usually send emails like this" messages from otherwise politically indifferent friends -- it was two relatively trivial events of Super Tuesday that left an odd taste on Back-to-Usual Wednesday. Don't laugh: the release of Jack Johnson's Static Through the Silence and Sheryl Crow's Detours.