Late Thursday night, HoundDog's post noted with considerable amusement that Silversun Pickups sent a "Knock it off, Asshat" order to the Romney-Ryan campaign, telling it to stop using their song "Panic Button."
So as they become the latest band to tell Republicans, "No!" I wonder which song best represents the Romney-Ryan campaign.
Please take "One Step Beyond" the Kos clef for more.
Songs in presidential campaigns rarely have a lasting impact, although I still flash back to the 1992 Democratic convention every time I hear Fleetwood Mac's "Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow." (The exception that proves the rule, perhaps?)
will.i.am's adaptation of President Obama's "Yes, we can" speech is still memorable and moving, and encapsulated the excitement over and promise of the 2008 campaign. It wasn't an official campaign song, but it won an Emmy Award for Outstanding New Approaches:
HoundDog got me thinking about songs that represent Romney-Ryan -- not ones that they use at their rallies, but which songs encapsulate their combined essence. The first one that came to my mind was
Well, no cannon ball did fly, no rifles cut us down
No bombs fell from the sky, no blood soaked the ground
No powder flash blinded the eye
No deathly thunder sounded
But just as sure as the hand of God
They brought death to my hometown
They brought death to my hometown
Now, no shells ripped the evening sky
No cities burning down
No army stormed the shores for which we’d die
No dictators were crowned
I awoke on a quiet night, I never heard a sound
The marauders raided in the dark
And brought death to my hometown
They brought death to my hometown
They destroyed our families, factories
And they took our homes
They left our bodies on the plains
The vultures picked our bones
So, listen up my sonny boy, be ready when they come
For they’ll be returning sure as the rising sun
Now get yourself a song to sing
And sing it ’til you’re done
Sing it hard and sing it well
Send the robber barons straight to hell
The greedy thieves who came around
And ate the flesh of everything they found
Whose crimes have gone unpunished now
Who walk the streets as free men now
They brought death to our hometown, boys
Death to our hometown
Death to our hometown, boys
Death to our hometown
If that doesn't quite represent Romney-Ryan, what song does a better job? Or, what song also represents them? Too?