Politicians have a long, interesting and sometimes odd history with popular music.
Ronald Reagan hit the campaign trail in 1984, seeking a second term in the White House, wanting Bruce Springsteen's Born In The U.S.A. as his theme song. Springsteen and his record company protested, forcing Reagan and his handlers to find different music.
The song wasn't a good fit for two reasons - Springsteen is a New Jersey liberal democrat through and through - and the lyrics of the song don't match Reagan's "Morning in America" message.
"Down in the shadow of the penitentiary , out by the gas fires of the refinery," Springsteen shouts near the end of the song. "I'm ten years burning down the road, nowhere to run, ain't got nowhere to go."
Far from a patriotic anthem, Born In The U.S.A. is a furious scolding of Americans who turned their backs on Vietnam veterans, both when they were in uniform and again when they came home and tried to find work and rebuild their lives.
Maybe it's a Republican thing in the U.S. because various candidates have hoped to use the music of Heart, Foo Fighters, Tom Petty and others, only to have the artists turn them down.
On the Democrat side, Bill Clinton did have the permission of Fleetwood Mac to hit the campaign trail with their 1977 classic Don't Stop blaring as his theme song, trying to get America to turn its back on Reagan and 12 consecutive years of Republican rule, with its hopeful chorus ending in "yesterday's gone, yesterday's gone."
Except the song, like most Fleetwood Mac songs, is far more personal and emotional than just a shallow "cheer up and look on the bright side of life" jingle.
"All I want is to see you smile, if it takes just a little while," goes the last lyric. "I know you don't believe that it's true, I never meant any harm to you."
A more fitting song for Clinton to send out to his wife and daughter for the humiliation of the Monica Lewinsky affair, Don't Stop is an apology and a best wishes going forward from a lover at the end of a broken relationship.
Spring ahead to 2013 and here's Justin Trudeau, the new leader of the federal Liberals, who also had an ill-fitting theme song at his campaign events and leading him up to the stage Sunday for his victory speech.
The Veldt by Canadian electronic music sensation Deadmau5, featuring a vocal by Chris James, is candy-coated pop goodness with a driving beat and a chorus ("the world that the children made") that seems to acknowledge Trudeau's father and former prime minister while also suggesting it's time for a new generation to lead.
Except the song is actually a tribute to science fiction writer Ray Bradbury and is based on his short story of the same name. The story is about how two children use the technology given to them to subvert the authority of their parents. "Outside, the lions roam feeding on remains," James sings, in the first verse. The middle verse changes it to "outside, the beating sun, can you hear the screams?"
That would be the screams of the parents - the kids lock mom and dad in a virtual reality room featuring an African plain and now the lions are coming to get them. The "happy technology" of the song is not a celebration, but a warning.
Sometimes a song is just a song but The Veldt has to be one of the oddest campaign theme music choices ever. And if Trudeau insisted on a Deadmau5 song to be cool with the kids, there's another Deadmau5 song he could have chosen that describes many politicians perfectly.
It's called Professional Griefers.
