As John McCain wrapped up his speech at the Republican National Convention last night and was joined on stage by Sarah Palin and their respective spouses, I noticed that they were playing the song “Barracuda,” a classic 70’s rock anthem by Heart.



Not being up on every aspect of Sarah Palin’s life history, I couldn’t help but speculate on the meaning of that. This morning I found out: apparently Palin’s nickname as a star high-school basketball player was “Sarah Barracuda.”



I think that’s kind of catchy and can see the desire to use the song. But Heart’s Ann and Nancy Wilson aren’t having it — in fact they’re outraged.



According to Entertainment Weekly, the Wilsons have condemned the use of the song and sent out a statement Thursday afternoon asking the McCain camp not to use it:

“The Republican campaign did not ask for permission to use the song, nor would they have been granted that permission,” it read. “We have asked the Republican campaign publicly not to use our music. We hope our wishes will be honored.”



This morning, according to Entertainment Weekly, the Wilsons released a statement that said Palin in “NO WAY” represents them as women and also noted the irony of the McCain campaign continuing to use the song despite their request given that the lyrics, essentially, are about the exploitation of artists:

“Sarah Palin’s views and values in NO WAY represent us as American women. We ask that our song ‘Barracuda’ no longer be used to promote her image. The song ‘Barracuda’ was written in the late 70s as a scathing rant against the soulless, corporate nature of the music business, particularly for women. (The ‘barracuda’ represented the business.) While Heart did not and would not authorize the use of their song at the RNC, there’s irony in Republican strategists’ choice to make use of it there.”

Apparently, Universal Music Publishing and Sony BMG have sent a cease-and-desist notice to get the McCain camp to stop using the song.



The Wilsons attitude about the use of their song is markedly different from that of Brooks & Dunn, who are happy to let either political party use their songs.



Clicking through links in the Entertainment Weekly piece took me to this interesting report about what EW calls the “eyebrow raising” use of the Brooks & Dunn song “Only in America” at the end of Barack Obama’s speech in Denver last week. I noticed the use of that song also, but didn’t realize the subtext. Apparently it’s the song that was used by George Bush in 2000 and Cheney in 2004:

Forget the audacity of hope, for a moment. How about the audacity of the Democrats stealing the Republicans’ favorite song? If you’re not aware of the history of the GOP using “Only in America,” a refresher is in order: Brooks & Dunn played it at the Bush inauguration in 2000. At the 2004 GOP convention, Dick Cheney used it as his exit music after his speech. And President Bush frequently used it on the campaign trail four years ago, even asking Brooks & Dunn to come out and play it live at rallies in the final week of the race. So you have to think its sudden repurposing served two purposes for the Democrats. Number one, it told millions of Americans that Obama is heartland-friendly enough to use a country smash rather than a Will.i.am ditty to cap off perhaps the most critical moment of his career to date. And number two, for anyone aware of the tune’s political history, it was also a subtle, funny, knowing tweak — too benign to really count as an old-school dirty trick, but almost in that risible spirit.

Apparently, in the world of country music the song became an anthem of sorts after the 9/11 tragedy. The author goes on to say he’s “sensed far less passion for the GOP cause among country stars in general than there was four years ago,” when he was writing his book, Rednecks & Bluenecks.



It’s an interesting article about the use of music in political campaigns, in general, and worth a full read.