Songs, Campaigns, and Political Images

It happens every four years–some dispute about campaigns and their appropriation of specific songs at rallies, in ads, at conventions, etc. The newest dust-up involves Michele Bachman and her use of Tom Petty’s American Girl at rallies in Iowa and South Carolina.

Of course, one interesting dimension of these struggles involves the lyrics. In the chorus of American Girl, for example, Petty sings “Oh yeah, all right/Take it easy, baby/Make it last all night.” What exactly is the “it” that should last all night, and is “it” something Bachman wants associated with her campaign!?

Here’s an interesting article in the Washington Post about this campaign problem.

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