On May 4, 2016, The Rolling Stones requested that Republican Presidential Candidate, Donald Trump, "cease all use immediately" of their discography at his rallies, according to the Associated Press. Trump has been noticed for his use of certain songs during his rallies, especially considering the themes he was trying to express, such as with the Stones' "You Can't Always Get What You Want", Twisted Sister's "We're Not Gonna Take It", and the Boss' "Born in the U.S.A."- to assert his dominance over the Cruz citizenship controversy, no less. Many other musicians have publicly asked Trump to stop using their music during this election season, including Neil Young, Steven Tyler and Adele. Yet, as has been the case with most of his actions, Trump does not seem to care about their requests.
While there are no sanctions against politicians using musicians' songs in their campaigns as long as they acquire a 'blanket license' from ASCAP and BMI, which are performing arts right protection organizations, artists can choose to opt-out of the blanket license. This, however, is not truly helpful because it does not target the unwanted use of one person, but rather removes the artist from any licensing for any use.
Musicians and politics have had a long history of influencing one another. While many, including The Rolling Stones, have never publicly endorsed a political campaign, the act of writing music relating to the political atmosphere is more than common- its almost intrinsic. It became a rite of passage for many folk singers in the beginning of the 20th century. Pete Seeger established People's Songs on New Year's Eve in 1945, a New York City organization meant to "create, promote and distribute songs of labor and the American people". From here, came the counterculture of the 1960s and 1970s; this was a time in music where songs of anti-war and social protest abounded, from Jefferson Airplanes' "Volunteers" to Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Fortunate Son". Bob Dylan was, and still is, prominent among political musicians. Starting with "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan", he began singing about socio-political issues that paved the way for musicians of the British Invasion and Punk Rock movements soon to come to sing the anti-establishment lyrics for which they are known.
Music and politics have been connected since Beethoven's Third Symphony, which was dedicated to Napoleon Bonaparte. Why is it that politics and music are always so closely tied? Many artistic expressions are the result of an emotional response to a stimulus. These stimuli can vary from everyday to current events on a national or global level. Politics and social issues are always stitched together, and therefore these songs about anti-war, civil rights, and other social protests are intrinsically political. Instead of writing a letter to their local governments or stepping out to protest, these artists felt their best effort was writing lyrical content that tells a story and causes an emotional response. Bob Dylan sings about a racial injustice done to a young Rubin Carter in his song "Hurricane", the famous Sex Pistol song, "God Save the Queen" was banned in 1977 for its anti-monarchical themes, and Springsteen's "Born in the U.S.A." is not a song of patriotism but rather the mistreatment of returning Vietnam veterans.
Music also affects politics as much as politics affects music. The Beatles' 1968 song "Helter Skelter", off the White Album, was the name of the race war and the explanation for the murders a small counterculture group committed to stimulate it. This group of people are now known to the world, and serving death-turned-life sentences, as The Manson Family. A short three years later, ex-Beatle John Lennon released the peace anthem "Imagine". This song, due to Lennon's prior international fame with the mop tops, became a worldwide connection between humanity for the goal of peace. "Imagine", along with the help from the aforementioned anti-Vietnam songs, are very easily asserted as catalyzing the end of one of the most unfavorable wars.
Political songs give heart and fire to subjects that are often drained of emotion on the Senate and House floors, which are necessary to good lyrical content. As long as there are reaction-invoking socio-political environments- which are hard to remove- there will always be musicians producing 'political music', whether it is meant for a cause or as an expression of emotion.
