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Banned Campaign Songs: Music Stars Who Stopped Politicians Using Their Tunes

It's become an election-season occurrence as common as kissing babies: A politician uses a popular tune as a campaign song, and a songwriter immediately sends them a cease-and-desist letter. Tom Petty recently asked Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann to refrain from using his song 'American Girl' at her campaign stops, probably because he's not a fan of her right-wing views. But he's certainly not the first artist to do this; in fact, it's already happened to him! Check out that incident and nine other songs that were banned from use on campaigns.
'I Won't Back Down,' Tom Petty
George Bush, 2000
Tom Petty got then-governor George Bush to back down from using this song during his campaign. Then, moments after Bush's opponent, Al Gore, conceded the presidency in the hotly contested race, Petty sang the song at Gore's house -- backed by the candidate's wife, Tipper, on drums.
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Tom Petty
SGranitz/WireImage
'Brand New Day,' Sting
George Bush, 2000
After the former Police man told the Republican candidate to stop using his song, he gave his blessing to Gore's campaign. Not that it did any good ...
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Sting
Amanda Edwards/AFP/Getty Images
'Born in the USA,' Bruce Springsteen
Ronald Reagan, 1984
Looking to score points on a stop in New Jersey, the Great Communicator mentioned the state's favorite son. A few days later, Springsteen joked that the incumbent was almost surely not a fan of his bleak, broken-dreams album 'Nebraska.' And obviously, Reagan didn't realize that this anti-war song is definitely not in favor of the government.
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Bruce Springsteen
Ebet Roberts/Redferns
'Soul Man,' Sam and Dave
Bob Dole, 1996
Sam Moore actually revamped the song as 'Dole Man,' but the campaign was obliged to drop the plug after the song's publishers objected. Oddly, Moore asked Barack Obama to stop using another of his hits, 'Hold On, I'm Comin',' in 2008, claiming he wasn't endorsing anyone that year.
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Sam and Dave
Ebet Roberts/Redferns
'Still the One,' Orleans
George Bush, 2004
Orleans singer John Hall actually became a Democratic congressman from New York two years after yanking his band's biggest hit from the Bush campaign.
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Orleans
YouTube
'Barracuda,' Heart
Sarah Palin, 2008
When the future VP candidate punctuated her star-making speech at the Republican National Convention with this Heart track, the Wilson sisters were not amused. Palin's "views and values in no way represent us as American women," Ann Wilson groused in Entertainment Weekly.
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Heart
Bobby Bank/WireImage
'More Than a Feeling,' Boston
Mike Huckabee, 2008
After the bass-playing former Arkansas governor got ex-Boston member Barry Goudreau to sing along with him on the campaign trail, his old bandmate Tom Scholz loudly protested that his band wasn't in the business of making endorsements.
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Boston
Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
'Right Now,' Van Halen
John McCain, 2008
The erstwhile maverick ran afoul of more than his share of entertainers when he took on Barack Obama for the presidency in '08. Besides Van Halen, Jackson Browne sued the candidate for $75,000 for using the song 'Running on Empty' to belittle his opponent.
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Van Halen
Jeffrey Ufberg/WireImage
'Take a Chance on Me,' ABBA
John McCain, 2008
McCain's most egregious song usage was probably this ditty by the Swedish pop stars -- not so much because they objected (which they did), but because the choice gave new meaning to the term "McCain camp."
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ABBA
Gai Terrell/Redferns
'Road to Nowhere,' Talking Heads
Charlie Crist, 2010
David Byrne filed a $1 million lawsuit against the former Florida governor, who used the Talking Heads song in a TV ad that ridiculed his Senate-race opponent, Marco Rubio. Rubio won and Crist was forced to apologize to Byrne on YouTube.
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Talking Heads
Matt Carmichael/Getty Images

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champ3x7

Some good songs for Obama would be "Catastrophe" by Julia Stone, or, "Don't fear The Reaper" by Blue Oyster Cult, or, Pink Floyd's "Dazed And Confused", in light of his recent revelations about his drug use in the 70's, or, when he visits the south, "The Devil Went Down To Georgia"...........although I KNOW Charlie Daniels wouldn't let him use it. Romney, when referring to Obama's re-election bid, could use "Dream On" by Aerosmith.

May 30 2012 at 12:50 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Bill

Liberal punks, and not one does music I care to hear except maybe Sting, maybe.....

November 21 2011 at 12:40 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Mathew Hopkins

I just paid $ 24,31 for an iPad2-64GB and my girlfriend loves her Panasonic GF 1 Camera that we got for $ 34,26 there arriving tomorrow by UPS. I will never pay such expensive retail prices in stores again. Especially when I also sold a 42 inch L.E.D TV to my boss for $ 678 which only cost me $68,18 to buy. Here is the website we use to get it all from, CentSpace.com

August 04 2011 at 8:56 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
geokaz

Funny how only republicans were stopped from using those songs. But then again, what would one expect from a lib music industry? Obama should grab "The Great Pretender", an oldie by the Platters for his campaign song

July 13 2011 at 3:12 AM Report abuse +2 rate up rate down Reply
BLUESOOZESNOOZE

The greatest lyricist of all time is Robert Zimmerman aka Bob Dylan.

July 12 2011 at 11:47 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Earl

Obama`s song should be " Spinning Wheel", by B.S.&T
Or how about

"Vehicle" by the Ides of March

July 12 2011 at 4:52 PM Report abuse +1 rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Earl's comment
Brian Blank

I know the wife of Ides of March songwriter, They are proud liberals and would never consider letting republican'ts use their music.

October 19 2012 at 2:41 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
azeka3

Barrack Obama got to go should be a new song and a big hit .

July 12 2011 at 11:42 AM Report abuse +2 rate up rate down Reply
Marie Brown

Maybe President Obama can get permission to use the song, "Road to Nowhere."

July 12 2011 at 12:31 AM Report abuse +11 rate up rate down Reply