When The President Talks To God: 5 Songs Criticizing Specific Political Leaders

This week's songs are from the Ramones, Elvis Costello, TV on the Radio, Stevie Wonder, and Charles Mingus

Still climbing back from the holidays, and back in the States. Given today’s date I’ve opted to mark the anniversary of a dark chapter in modern American history with an appropriate theme.

Working weeks in advance, I didn’t expect this theme to be so timely, given that an American president is now once again removing a dubiously elected leader of a foreign country under bullshit pretenses with no plans to help the people who live there beyond exploiting their land’s natural resources for profit. Again, I want to keep this little thing we’ve got as a break from all the chaos. But this entry runs head-on into it. And unfortunately (again) with recent developments that seem to be a repeat of recent history, it’s become more timely than it should’ve been.

In the current fragmented, tribal political culture, it’s hard to imagine someone like Eddie Vedder getting booed and met with the “USA USA” chant at his own concert for criticizing the president, but that happened in 2003. The Chicks received swift and harsh blowback from the country music community for doing the same. The lines are a bit clearer now than they were then, and I really don’t see that as a good thing.

Protest music has a history as long as the history of music. The best of that music is purposefully vague, focused instead on a moral wrong and right—confronting a social problem or an idea. Being intentionally vague affords a song an evergreen quality. To work in the moment and to apply in the future, the song needs to capture the emotion, point the finger at power, and bring like-minded people together in broad terms.

But songs about specific political leaders are really focused on expressing feelings the songwriter has in a moment in time. As a result of going narrow, in hindsight these songs can sometimes sound like petty grievances and rarely stand up to the test of time. Even with a clear target in mind, a song should stay vague if it can.

Here are 5 songs criticizing specific political leaders.

“We had watched Reagan going to visit the SS cemetery on TV and were disgusted. We're all good Americans, but Reagan's thing was like forgive and forget. How can you forget six million people being gassed and roasted?..[Reagan] sort of shit on everybody” - Joey Ramone

Ramones - “Bonzo Goes to Bitburg”

“Bonzo Goes to Bitburg” isn’t just a specific attack on Ronald Reagan, but a specific thing Reagan did to mark the 40th anniversary of the end of WWII: visit a German military cemetery where members of the SS were buried.

Born Jeffrey Ross Hyman, Joey Ramone was Jewish. But Joey maintained that the song was primarily driven by Dee Dee Ramone, who spent part of his childhood in West Germany as the son of a soldier stationed there. They wrote it alongside Jean Beauvoir of the Plasmatics. As the song purposely conflates Reagan with his chimpanzee co-star from one of his more well-known movies (Bedtime for Bonzo), the famously conservative Johnny Ramone got the song re-titled to “My Brain is Hanging Upside Down” when it was released in the US. The song itself describes a physical reaction to seeing Reagan’s visit to the cemetery.

Bonzo goes to Bitburg, then goes out for a cup of tea
As I watched it on TV, somehow it really bothered me
Drank in all the bars in town to understand your foreign policy
Pick up the pieces

My brain is hanging upside down
I need something to slow me down

Anthemic, filled with righteous anger, cathartic. For me this is one of those songs to put on in any emotional state and it will make you feel better. Maybe not good, but…better.

“The Thatcherite revolution is looked at historically as a great cleansing moment but it was not. A lot of things that belonged to us all communally were sold out from under us. They weren’t sold to private interests in England that enriched the country, they were sold to people in other countries. And it’s still the same bunch of slimes sitting there running it all.” - Elvis Costello

Elvis Costello - “Tramp the Dirt Down”

Back before the internet made every artists full discography available to anyone anytime, the best way to get into deep catalogue artists was Best of collections. In the late 90s, Rhino put together a double disc set of Elvis Costello that was very comprehensive. The first disc was loaded with the early bangers (“Pump it Up”, “Radio Radio”) and hits (“Allison”, “What’s So Funny About Peace, Love, & Understanding”), and “Tramp the Dirt Down” was midway through the second disc, just about where I would lose interest. Even as a 16 year-old, I wondered why anyone needed another version of “My Funny Valentine.” But I also wasn’t attuned to British politics and history either, so the connection to Thatcher on “Tramp the Dirt Down” was over my head. I didn’t really pay attention the lyrics, but I really liked the melody. The song is also a showcase for Costello’s voice in a way that, say, most people think “My Funny Valentine” might be while they’re singing it.

Costello wrote a few anti-Thatcher songs, including “Pills and Soap” and “Shipbuilding,” as well as other politically-motivated songs like “Green Shirt” and “Oliver’s Army.” He’s apparently revisited a number of these and other political songs in a collaboration with the Roots on 2013’s Wise Up Ghost, but I wasn’t aware of it until now, and haven’t given it a listen (yet).

“Tramp the Dirt Down,” starts like an old English folk song—flute and “Greensleeves”-like classical guitar. The initial set-up in the lyrics is also idyllic, describing the image of a woman kissing a child that “spills with compassion.” The song then gets in a few Haymakers and doesn’t let up.

Can you imagine all that greed and avarice coming down on that child’s lips?

Well I hope I don’t die too soon
I pray the lord my soul to save
Oh I’ll be a good boy, I’m trying so hard to behave
Because there’s one thing I know, I’d like to live long enough to savor
That when they finally put you in the ground
I’ll stand on your grave and tramp the dirt down

If you think that’s harsh, Costello goes on to call Thatcher out by name, calling her the Madam that made England “the whore of the world.” Yes, this blunt and scorched-Earth criticism that mentions Thatcher by name, went over my head—me the discerning teenager who thought “My Funny Valentine” was pretentious and over-done—for probably a decade, if not more. A really good melody can do that.

“After 9/11 we basically decided there’s no reason for being here besides to make the things we like to make and share them or not share them, because who’s keeping score now? Try and find some kind of joy or meaning in your own life because it’s suddenly really fucked up outside. Dave and I just said, ‘You know what we should do? Since the world might end—we should just stay inside and work. If we’re going to die, we should probably just make a ton of shit that we like first.” - Tunde Adebimpe

TV on the Radio - “Dry Drunk Emperor”

Being in New York on September 11, 2001 galvanized artists and roommates Tunde Adebimpe and Dave Sitek to double down on their creative endeavors. Dave Sitek made music to figure out recording tools and techniques, which I assume is why early TV on the Radio music sounds like patched together textures, with layers of texture cutting in and out. It still sounds modern and unique. Not to take anything away from Geese, but everything being said about Geese’s Getting Killed could also be said about 2004’s Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes—album closers “Bomb Yourself” and “Wear You Out” wouldn’t sound out of place on Getting Killed. The duct taped-together chaos culminated in their magnum opus, 2006’s Return to Cookie Mountain. I’ll go ahead and argue that “Wolf Like Me” is the best out-and-out rock song since at least 1994. Cookie Mountain is not overtly political, but is loaded with allusions to Katrina, the War on Terror, Iraq, and a sense of apocalypse.

Prior to Cookie Mountain’s release, and before it was a common release strategy, “Dry Drunk Emperor” was released online as a free single in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Politics aside, it remains one of my favorites of theirs—it sounds colossal, a symphony of distortion. It positions George W. Bush as a fool and a useful idiot for others to profit and pillage from his various blunders. While words and phrases are situation-specific, a lot of the language and references are shaded:

did you believe the lies they told you
that Christ would lead the way
and in a matter of days, he
hand us victory?

In fact some of it has seems more applicable to the current president than Bush:

oh, unmentionable disgrace
shield the children’s face
all the monied apes
display a unimaginably poor taste
in a scramble for mastery

Mirroring the opposing ideas of the ends—peace, security, democracy, freedom—with the means—bombs, war, violence, militarized police, abduction and confinement without trials—the song weaves peaceful, clean guitar line is overtaken by strengthening waves of distortion. A steady drum beat builds into a march as the song progresses. Vocal tracks by singers Kyp Malone and Tunde Adebimpe are layered into a Greek Chorus that calls for Bush’s removal and trials for the criminal activity in his administration, which seem as unlikely as their other proposal:

what if all the bleeding hearts
took it on themselves
make a brand new start
organs pumping on their sleeves
paint murals on the white house
feed the leaders LSD

“Everybody promises you everything, but in the end, nothing comes out of it…You always hear the president or people say that they are doing all they can. And they feed you with hopes for years and years. I'm sick and tired of listening to all their lies.” - Stevie Wonder

Stevie Wonder - “You Haven’t Done Nothin”

Stevie Wonder’s Fulfillingness' First Finale arrived amid a hot streak, and less than a year after Innervisions, less than 2 years after Talking Book. He was only 24 years old. Wonder was and is not one to hold back on political messages, although he stays issue-focused and positive, rather than point fingers. Innervisions contains not one, but three politically charged songs aimed in Nixon’s direction: “Living for the City,” “Higher Ground” and “He's Misstra Know-It-All.” But “You Haven’t Done Nothin” from Fulfillingness’ First Finale is the most directly pointed.

We are amazed but not amused
By all the things you say that you’ll do
Though, much concerned but not involved
With decisions that are made by you

But we are sick and tired of hearing your song
Tellin’ how you are gonna change right from wrong
‘Cause if you really want to hear our views
You haven’t done nothin’

“You Haven’t Done Nothin’” was released as a single on August 7, 1974 and included notes from Wonder The next day Nixon would announce his resignation. It’s doubtful Nixon heard of Wonder’s song, but it’s also oddly fitting that Nixon spent half of his speech listing his accomplishments and emphasizing the outcomes of his public service:

For more than a quarter of a century in public life I have shared in the turbulent history of this era. I have fought for what I believed in. I have tried to the best of my ability to discharge those duties and meet those responsibilities that were entrusted to me.

Wonder’s song offered a terse rebuttal to Nixon’s speech before he gave it. A seasoned debater, Nixon wouldn’t stand a chance against Wonder…because nothing beats the funk. Unlike Nixon, Wonder would be #1 on November 1974. He get’s down on the 1 and draws the beat out, mainly using the hi-hat in place of the snare drum. The horn section speaks for itself. And not that they’re doing much beyond an outstanding “Do Do-Wop,” the backing vocals are provided by the Jackson 5.

“The way they are treating my people in the South, the government can go to hell." - Charles Mingus

Racism planted the bomb, but racists ain't strong enough to kill this music." - Charles Mingus, in response to a bomb threat at Yale

Charles Mingus - “Fables of Faubus”

Charles Mingus recorded “Fables of Faubus” to be included on his most well-known work, Mingus Ah Um. The album intended to pay respects to musical history—twelve bar blues, gospel, Dixieland, and jazz and many songs are titled as tributes to Mingus’ inspirations (Duke Ellington, Jelly Roll Morton, Lester Young, Sonny Rollins, Charlie Parker). “Fables of Faubus” is a standout, as it is named after Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus, who defied Supreme Court orders and not only refused to integrate Arkansas schools, but called up the National Guard to stop Black Americans from entering the schools.

It’s not Mingus’ only political work, as he was outspoken about race and America as he experienced it. In 1965, Charles Mingus recorded “Don’t Let It Happen Here,” which incorporates the Martin Niemöller poem “First They Came...” that has seen renewed focus in the US in the last few years. It’s a powerful piece that starts with the warning in the title and ends with an explosion of free jazz. In 1972, a bomb threat was made during his performance at Yale, while the building was evacuated, he stayed on stage playing alone, remarking

“Racism planted the bomb, but racists ain't strong enough to kill this music.”

“Fables of Faubus” is included on Mingus Ah Um, but due to a contractual limitation, it was only allowed to stay on with the vocals removed. The lyrics included prayers for justice, and calling out political leaders including Sen. Robert Byrd, President Eisenhower, and Gov. Nelson Rockefeller. But Mingus’ ire was especially directed at Faubus.

Oh, Lord, don't let 'em shoot us
Oh, Lord, don't let 'em stab us
Oh, Lord, don't let 'em tar and feather us
Oh, Lord, no more swastikas
Yee-oh

Oh, Lord, no more Ku Klux Klan

Name me someone who's ridiculous, Dannie
Governor Faubus!
Why is he so sick and ridiculous?
He won't permit us in his schools!
Then he's a fool!

The song seems a bit menacing at first, before horns kick in with a frumpy and off-kilter melody that wouldn’t sound out of place as backing music in Curb Your Enthusiasm. The lyrics register the threat they pose, but the music seems to insist these men are clowns and they are to be mocked.

Thanks for reading. Enjoy listening.

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