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defrogYr Revisionist History/Wishful Thinking headline of the day:
A number of my Repub friends (who are also Beatles fans) have been passing this one around for fairly obvious reasons. “See? John Lennon was a hippie and even HE liked Reagan! Now you have to admit Reagan was the greatest president ever! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”
Or maybe they’re just savoring the irony.
Of course, the sole "evidence" is an anecdote that Lennon was disappointed with Jimmy Carter and would vote for Reagan over him in the 1980 election if he could vote in US elections. He might have said that, but it’s easy to forget in the current era of Either/Or politics that back in 1980, plenty of people were able to actually look at candidates rather than parties, and it’s still not unusual for people to vote against a candidate or party that they feel is screwing up and need to be sent a message.
So even if it’s true, that’s pretty slim evidence that Lennon was a “closet Republican”.
However, it does get me to thinking about musicians and politics and how much it ultimately matters in relation to their artistic work. Put country simple: as a fan of both Lennon and the Beatles – and as someone who has never been much of a Reagan fan, either as a president or an actor – does it really matter to me if Lennon was a closet Republican?
Not really.
There’s always been a debate about how much politics (if any) there should be in music. I think there’s definitely a place for political songs, though they come at the risk of potentially alienating that part of the audience that disagrees with you. That said, the outcome is hardly predictable. For example, most of my Republican friends love a lot of hippie music from the 60s, as well as bands like U2 and REM. Artists like Steve Earle and Neil Young, not so much.
I can’t explain that. What I can tell you is that, despite my feelings towards the GOP in general, some of my favorite music acts are staunch Republicans. Ted Nugent wants to shoot Barack and Hillary and jams with Mike Huckabee. Jesse Hughes, the frontman for Eagles Of Death Metal, is a former Republican speechwriter who interned with Sonny Bono and says Obama is a Damn Commie. Alice Cooper hearts Sarah Palin. And of course, Johnny Ramone was a big Bush Mk II fan.
All of them are in regular rotation on my iPod. And I have one of Johnny Ramone’s guitar picks in my wallet. (True.)
Granted, it may help that most of their music isn’t overtly political in the first place. If The Nuge ever sets his thoughts on Hillary and Obama to music, I probably wouldn’t buy it (the fact that he hasn’t really done anything good since Scream Dream notwithstanding). So it’s not like I’m fair and balanced about this.
Anyway, it’s generally not a requirement or all that big a deal for me that my favorite bands and pop-culture icons support my sociopolitical outlook, whether they do it on or offstage
Unlike some people.
Playing those mind games,
This is dF
A number of my Repub friends (who are also Beatles fans) have been passing this one around for fairly obvious reasons. “See? John Lennon was a hippie and even HE liked Reagan! Now you have to admit Reagan was the greatest president ever! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”
Or maybe they’re just savoring the irony.
Of course, the sole "evidence" is an anecdote that Lennon was disappointed with Jimmy Carter and would vote for Reagan over him in the 1980 election if he could vote in US elections. He might have said that, but it’s easy to forget in the current era of Either/Or politics that back in 1980, plenty of people were able to actually look at candidates rather than parties, and it’s still not unusual for people to vote against a candidate or party that they feel is screwing up and need to be sent a message.
So even if it’s true, that’s pretty slim evidence that Lennon was a “closet Republican”.
However, it does get me to thinking about musicians and politics and how much it ultimately matters in relation to their artistic work. Put country simple: as a fan of both Lennon and the Beatles – and as someone who has never been much of a Reagan fan, either as a president or an actor – does it really matter to me if Lennon was a closet Republican?
Not really.
There’s always been a debate about how much politics (if any) there should be in music. I think there’s definitely a place for political songs, though they come at the risk of potentially alienating that part of the audience that disagrees with you. That said, the outcome is hardly predictable. For example, most of my Republican friends love a lot of hippie music from the 60s, as well as bands like U2 and REM. Artists like Steve Earle and Neil Young, not so much.
I can’t explain that. What I can tell you is that, despite my feelings towards the GOP in general, some of my favorite music acts are staunch Republicans. Ted Nugent wants to shoot Barack and Hillary and jams with Mike Huckabee. Jesse Hughes, the frontman for Eagles Of Death Metal, is a former Republican speechwriter who interned with Sonny Bono and says Obama is a Damn Commie. Alice Cooper hearts Sarah Palin. And of course, Johnny Ramone was a big Bush Mk II fan.
All of them are in regular rotation on my iPod. And I have one of Johnny Ramone’s guitar picks in my wallet. (True.)
Granted, it may help that most of their music isn’t overtly political in the first place. If The Nuge ever sets his thoughts on Hillary and Obama to music, I probably wouldn’t buy it (the fact that he hasn’t really done anything good since Scream Dream notwithstanding). So it’s not like I’m fair and balanced about this.
Anyway, it’s generally not a requirement or all that big a deal for me that my favorite bands and pop-culture icons support my sociopolitical outlook, whether they do it on or offstage
Unlike some people.
Playing those mind games,
This is dF
