Musicians have been turning up the volume in support of political causes for ages - performing at rallies and fund-raisers, penning topical tunes, and lending star power, for what it's worth, to their candidate of choice.
But this is the first election of the YouTube era, and will.i.am - frontman for the socially conscious rap group Black Eyed Peas, which performed at the Democratic National Convention in Boston four years ago - wanted to do more. Inspired by the speech Barack Obama delivered in Nashua the night of the state primary, will.i.am set Obama's text to simple guitar and a soulful melody, recruited 36 artists to appear in a music video that was conceived, shot, and edited over three days last week, and posted "Yes We Can" online over the weekend.
It's been spreading like wildfire across the Web. As of midday yesterday, "Yes We Can" had been viewed more than 2 million times on YouTube and, according to a project spokesman, 10 million times on the host website, YesWeCanSong.com.
We like to watch, that much is clear. But will page views translate to votes?
Obama's camp is predictably sanguine.
"When supporters act in big and small ways to reach out to folks still making up their minds, all those acts can make an impact," Obama spokesman Bill Burton said from Chicago on Tuesday.
John Hart, president of Nashville-based Bullseye Marketing Research and a self-described conservative, concurs.
"I believe this election is going to be heavily influenced by new media, especially among younger demographics," Hart said. "Many young people are less issue-oriented than icon-oriented, and no doubt this stuff has an impact on impressionable people. I don't think it will influence political views, but it may very well bring folks to the polls that normally wouldn't have gone to the polls."
The split-screen video features clips of the candidate speaking alongside shots of R&B singer John Legend, actress Scarlett Johansson, rapper Common, jazz pianist Herbie Hancock, actor-singer Nick Cannon, rocker Ed Kowalczyk, and others echoing Obama's spoken words in song. Will.i.am set the song's tempo to synch up with the New Hampshire audience, which supplies the song's rhythm with chants of "We want change, we want change!"
Obama's speech itself is full of echoes that connect his message, about the urgent and exhilarating prospect of change, to watershed moments throughout history: the founding of a nation, the abolition of slavery, traveling to the moon, and the work of Martin Luther King Jr.
Despite an aggressive word-of-mouth campaign to recruit participants, when the director, Jesse Dylan, arrived at a Los Angeles studio to begin the two-day recording session and shoot last week, only three people had signed on to the project: will.i.am, Legend, and Johansson.
"I'm always looking for different avenues to spread Obama's message of hope," Johansson said in an e-mail. "Barack's speech featured in the video was one that I feel to be particularly inspiring, and I've been fortunate enough to have the opportunity to share my excitement. The song has become a sort of anthem for this progressive movement."
As day one unfolded, people started pouring in. "It's a testament to the passion of that speech, but also to Will's little piece of genius," Dylan said. "He dramatized those words in a song."
A friend sent Obama's wife, Michelle, a link to "Yes We Can," and on Monday she sent out a mass e-mail touting the video: "After nearly a year on the campaign trail, I've seen a lot of things that have touched me deeply, but I had to share this with you," she wrote. The 4 1/2-minute video was screened Sunday on the JumboTron at an Obama rally at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion and posted Tuesday on Obama's website.
The creators say that they didn't communicate or coordinate with the Obama campaign, nor did they explicitly plan the video's release to coincide with the run-up to Super Tuesday. According to Dylan, whose father, Bob, is no stranger to activist songcraft, "we didn't even have any giant aspirations. We wanted to do something for Obama, but this has taken off beyond our wildest expectations."
It's been particularly embraced by young people, who are mobilizing in impressive numbers behind Obama and whose turnout at the voting booth may be a key component of an Obama victory.
"I do think it allows people an accessible way into politics," Jesse Dylan said. "Rallies can be dry, but Will has taken the words and dramatized them with these wonderful artists and it gives people an easy way to become passionate."
Will.i.am isn't the only artist using new media to rally support for Obama. On Monday, surviving members of the Grateful Dead reconvened for the first time since 2004 to play a Deadheads for Obama concert, which was streamed on Iclips.net. Pearl Jam's Stone Gossard, Jeff Ament, Mike McCready, and Matt Cameron posted "Rock Around Barack," a retooling of the '50s hit "Rock Around the Clock," on PearlJam.com - just days after the band's website featured a song called "Fired Up and Ready to Go!" by Seattle's Bergevin Brothers and the Total Experience Gospel Choir.
Others singing out in support of Obama include indie-rock heroes Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes and M.Ward, electronica artist Daedelus, rock band OK Go, R&B icon Stevie Wonder, and former Smiths frontman Morrissey.
"Yes We Can" transformed a few galvanizing paragraphs into a virally distributed rallying cry in a matter of days - although it's still a mystery whether Obama has actually witnessed the musical fruits of his oratory.
"I don't know if Barack has seen the video," said Obama spokesman Burton. "But I have. . . . Of all the great ways people have expressed their support, this is one of the really, really cool ways."
Joan Anderman can be reached at anderman@globe.com.
