Rockin' the Vote

LAST WEEK, John Kerry was joined on the campaign trail by folk singer Peter Yarrow (formerly of Peter, Paul & Mary), who offered him a 10-minute tribute in song, along with some candid criticism on his vote for the military action in Iraq. Meanwhile, Willie Nelson, Bonnie Raitt, and Michelle Shocked sold out an Austin benefit for Dennis Kucinich. In recent months, Madonna, Cher, and Kris Kristofferson have all lined up behind Wesley Clark.

The politics of musical endorsement are not always simple. While Stephen Stills supports Kerry, sometime bandmates David Crosby and Graham Nash back Howard Dean. John Mellencamp's music figures prominently in the campaign of John Edwards, whose cites "Small Town" as his favorite song, but he has played fundraisers for Clark and others. And everyone wants a piece of Bruce Springsteen: Dick Gephardt claimed "Born in the U.S.A" as his favorite, while an ax-wielding John Kerry covered the Boss's "No Surrender," about Vietnam-era soldiers, at a September benefit in Boston featuring Moby.

Some candidates are courting young voters with their own hip-hop endorsements. Howard Dean went out on a limb to name Wyclef Jean's "Jaspora," sung entirely in Haitian Creole, as his all-time favorite. Al Sharpton spent a recent birthday with Jay-Z and P. Diddy. And Clark, who has run a Rock-the-Vote spot reassuring voters that OutKast is not breaking up, took a humble approach, saying in a recent speech, "I don't know much about hip hop, but I do know OutKast can make you shake it like a Polaroid picture."

Meanwhile, supporters famous and obscure have chimed in with some lyrics of their own. As in New Hampshire, Howard Dean leads the musical pack, with some 30 lyrics and MP3 files posted to www.songsfordean.com.

John Kerry

We dreamed of peace, we'd seen the price of war's

obscene destruction

The broken souls, and spirits scarred beyond

all recognition

As the lie was told, their fiction spun, with nary

rhyme nor reason

The emperor has no clothes, we cried.

And they, of course, cried, Treason! . . . .

So now the dream again awaits our courage and

our heart

And you, our friend, we look to you to play the

hero's part

It's not as if you're unprepared, you know

what must be done

Gather all our strength, dear John, and together

we'll reach for the sun

--Peter Yarrow, "America Come Home,"written for John Kerry

Joe Lieberman

Joe Lieberman, he's not flashy but he's good

He's the best president for your neighborhood

So tell all of your friends to go make up their minds

He's got the longest name on the ballot, it's the easiest

to find

Joe Lieberman, he knows just what to do

He voted for the Iraq war but I bet you would have,

too . . . .

A better America is what we all are makin'

So vote for the candidate who refuses to eat bacon --Cody Harris,at Joe2004.com

Howard Dean

Take me out to the blog game

Take me out to the crowd

Send in some change and a few dollar bills

Bat Bush and Cheney right over the hills

So it's boot, boot, boot to the Bush league

Five hundred grand in four days

And it's sixteen words and you're out

At the Dean Blog game!

--Teri Mills,at SongsforDean.com

Dennis Kucinich

I'm Popeye the Sailor Man

I'm Popeye the Sailor Man

I eat all my spinach

And vote for Kucinich

I'm Popeye the Sailor Man

--Jerry Chawes,at FriendsofKucinich.com