Young, Democrat presidents usually inspire lame pop trendsBy Tony Sclafani - updated 9:59 a.m. ET, Mon., Feb. 16, 2009When Barack Obama was sworn in as the 44th President of the United States on Jan. 20, Lady Gaga’s “Just Dance” sat atop the pop charts. The ode to escapism might not have captured the mood of the whole country (everyone didn’t vote for change, after all), but it definitely reflected the sentiments of most of the musical community.
During the past few years, countless artists have vehemently despised George Bush, while voicing support for Obama. In the U.K., the Guardian noted “You could construct a decent box-set of anti-Bush songs… covering ground from Bright Eyes to Eminem, Pink to Public Enemy, Jay-Z to Elbow.”
All of which begs the question: what’s next? If history is any indicator, expect dance music. Lots of it. Lady Gaga seems to have lobbed the first volley in what might be the biggest dance music blitz since the disco era.
It’s easy to see why. When musicians are dissatisfied with presidential administrations, they write protest songs, march on Washington and mouth off on stage. When they’re happy, they make dance music. And even if some artists don’t follow this pattern, the public’s buying patterns do.
So, for the most part, that’s meant Republican administrations have inspired much of the best pop music of the past decades. Maybe they can put that in their next platform.
I would say the same might be true of comedy and satire....but Obama has Joe Biden.
Comments
The best music comes out of bad relationships.