World

Wed Jul 24

How the power of pop music has influenced 60 years of US elections

Written by Prudence Flowers, Senior Lecturer in US History, College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences, Flinders University

Hours after United States President Joe Biden announced he was dropping out as the 2024 Democratic presidential nominee, British musician Charli XCX endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, tweeting “kamala IS brat ^[1].”

The tweet immediately went viral, bemusing ^[2] media commentators yet electrifying certain segments of the electorate.

Charli XCX’s chart-topping album Brat is a brash mix of dance and electronic club hits that celebrates drugs, cigarettes, messiness and vulnerability. To be “brat”, then, is to embrace your messiness and vulnerability – being your own authentic self.

It is dominating chunks of Gen Z and queer culture, for whom it is now “brat summer ^[3]” (or for her Australian fans ^[4], “brat winter”).

The link between Harris and Brat has been building ^[5] for weeks ^[6], driven by online fan communities and linking seamlessly into pre-existing Harris memes ^[7].

To the delight of many, on the day Biden stepped down a group of gay men were spotted in unofficial ^[8] Brat/Harris crop tops.

Harris’ campaign has embraced the pop culture moment, sensing its potential to excite young voters. Her account immediately followed Charli XCX on X, and the background on Harris’ official account briefly changed to Brat’s distinctive “slime green ^[9]” colour.

Music and presidential elections

While the “brat vote” is unlikely to decide the election, the role of music and popular culture in a political contest is one of the few historical continuities in a campaign that has been unprecedented on multiple fronts.

For decades, presidents and presidential aspirants have tried (with varying degrees of success) to use music and musicians to connect with voters.

In the 20th century, this was primarily through the campaign song.

In 1960, John F. Kennedy used a modified version of High Hopes ^[10], performed by the celebrated crooner and his personal friend Frank Sinatra.

In 1992, Bill Clinton ran a Baby Boomer campaign, using Fleetwood Mac’s Don’t Stop ^[11] as his song. The band reunited to headline Clinton’s 1993 inauguration ball ^[12].

Republicans tended to rely on more personalised songs rather than popular hits, with titles such as Go with Goldwater ^[13] in 1964 and Nixon’s the One ^[14] in 1968.

When Republicans did try and engage with contemporary artists, they tended to fare poorly.

In 1984, Ronald Reagan referenced Bruce Springsteen’s hit Born in the USA, claiming they had a shared vision of the American Dream. Springsteen – who had already refused to allow the campaign to use his song – quickly expressed ^[15] his profound disagreement

Yet subsequent Republican presidential aspirants, including Pat Buchanan and Bob Dole ^[16], also used the song until Springsteen objected.

The politics of contemporary music

In the 21st century, the politics of popular culture and the music industry are front and centre. Presidential contenders choose songs by artists who are in broad ideological agreement with their core themes. They aim for songs that will be a sonic shorthand for their base.

Thus Republicans tend to rely on country music and patriotic rock songs by artists such as Billie Ray Cyrus, Lee Greenwood, Billie Dean and Van Halen. Kid Rock, a conservative country rock/rap rock artist, has been both a song choice and a performer at the Republican National Convention ^[17].

Democrats have emphasised civil rights and feminist icons such as Curtis Mayfield, Dolly Parton and Aretha Franklin, politically conscious rock stars such as Bruce Springsteen and John Mellencamp, and pop artists such as Katy Perry.

Sometimes, musical choices offer instructive insights into how politicians see themselves.

Reflecting his Gen X status and punk rock past ^[18], Democrat Beto O’Rourke’s 2020 presidential campaign song was by The Clash.

In 2020, Donald Trump liked to dance at campaign events to the Village People’s camp classics YMCA ^[19] and Macho Man ^[20]. The group sent him a cease and desist letter ^[21].

Republican Nikki Haley, a 2024 presidential challenger, waxes lyrical about the inspiration she draws from Joan Jett ^[22] and liked to walk out on stage to I Love Rock’N’Roll and Bad Reputation.

Obama, music super fan

No discussion of music and the presidency would be complete without reference to Barack Obama.

Where once rap and hip hop groups like 2-Live Crew ^[23] and NWA ^[24] were arrested on obscenity charges, Obama enthusiastically enjoyed these genres and defended them as both forms of artistic expression and sources of social commentary.

As President, Obama loved to quote Jay Z ^[25], invited Beyoncé to perform the national anthem ^[26] at his second inauguration, called Kanye West a “jackass ^[27]”, and shrugged off Trump’s conspiracy theories about his birth certificate by jokingly demanding to know, “Where are Biggie and Tupac ^[28]?”

Obama’s association with popular culture has continued unabated since he left the White House. Twice a year, he releases playlists of his “favourite songs” and has defended himself ^[29] from charges that youthful interns are curating the eclectic choices.

On social media, artists often share when they have been added to Obama’s “liked songs” on Spotify. Recently, there was the hilarious claim by The Dare that ^[30] Obama had favourited Girls ^[31], a two minute “indie sleaze” ode to horniness.

The power of music

Harris talks frequently about her love of R&B. On election eve in 2020, she chose to walk out ^[32] on stage to Mary J Blige’s Work That, a song celebrating female empowerment and self love.

Given the many firsts Harris represented, it was a fitting song in a moment of profound symbolism.

And on the day that Harris became the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, Beyoncé, who is extraordinarily strict about approving song use ^[33], gave permission for Harris to use Freedom ^[34] as an official campaign song. Freedom honours the historic power and resilience of Black women and is a rallying cry for the future.

While Harris likely won’t be filmed doing the viral Tik Tok dance ^[35] to Charli XCX’s track Apple anytime soon, “kamala IS brat” is just another, perhaps more memetastic moment, where music functions as a means of political connection and community for Americans.