A political playlist: The battle for election campaign songs

During John F. Kennedy’s presidential campaign in 1960, the popular song “High Hopes” was played, with specially written lyrics sung by Frank Sinatra:

KE Double-N EDY
Jack is the nation's most popular guy
Everyone wants to support Jack
Jack is on the right track
Because he has high hopes
He has high hopes
Nineteen sixty is the year of his great hopes

The right music can set a candidate apart from the crowd, and that's why it's been part of the American political landscape since day one. Mark Clague, a professor of music history at the University of Michigan, says campaign music dates back to the founding of our nation, “to the days of George Washington, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. In fact, it goes back even further than that, when we had broad, popular elections, when the Electoral College was still in place. Music was still part of the discourse and a way to bring passion into politics.”

Speaking of passion, the 2024 election has become a “Battle of the Bands,” starting with Kid Rock at the Republican National Convention in July:

And a few weeks later, Democrats turned their roll calls into a dance party led by DJ Cassidy:

A catchy song can be a campaign's calling card, a free advertisement that is played endlessly. Take Bill Clinton with Fleetwood Mac's “Don't Stop” or Ronald Reagan with Lee Greenwood's “God Bless the USA.” This song took on a special meaning in the days following 9/11.

Greenwood said he wrote the song for all Americans and did not initially intend to use it as part of a political campaign: “No, that bothered me at first. The Democratic Party called me in 1984 and wanted me to sing 'USA' at their convention in San Francisco, and I said no. I declined. The Republicans also called me for their convention in Dallas; I also declined.”

But when President Reagan asked Greenwood to sing the song in 1988, he did, and it has become a Republican anthem ever since.

Lee Greenwood sings “God Bless the USA” at the 1988 Republican National Convention:

Greenwood also sang it at the RNC last summer.

So if a Democrat asked him to use his song, would he allow it? “If that question was asked, I would have to think about it,” Greenwood said. “He's the fourth or fifth Republican president I've sung for. But I've sung for 10 presidents, including Presidents Obama, Clinton, Carter, Nixon and Bush. So if another Democratic Party president wanted to use 'God Bless USA,' I don't know if that would be wise, but I would have to think about it.”

Vice President Kamala Harris also has her friends, most notably Beyoncé, who allowed Harris to use the song “Freedom” in her election campaign.

The Harris campaign commercial “We choose freedom” with the Beyonce Song “Freedom”:

But what happens when a musician not want their music to be used? Dozens of artists, from ABBA To The Rolling Stoneshave said “no” to the Trump campaign.

The Family of Issac Hayes objected on the Trump campaign's use of “Hold On, I'm Comin',” and last week a judge in Atlanta issue an injunction prohibiting them from using.

And Celine Dion When the Trump campaign used the Titanic movie theme “My Heart Will Go On,” they responded with, “Seriously, that song?”

Lawrence Iser is a music copyright attorney in Los Angeles who successfully fought John McCain's campaign for using “Running on Empty” by Jackson Browne. “If they were told they can't use it and they use it anyway, then that is indeed copyright infringement,” Iser said. “And that can be sued. In federal court. So they can sue.”

“So if you're a political candidate, those candidates have to respect the constitutional right of a musician or songwriter to simply object to the use of their song in a political campaign,” Iser said.

Music may not change voters' minds, but it can definitely influence them. “It's the chorus that sticks in your head and you don't forget it,” Clague said. “And that's part of the power of music, in a way that a campaign speech will never achieve.”

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Story produced by John D'Amelio. Editor: Steven Tyler.